Book Talk Review; The Ghost Of Ellwood
Theo and Ben are so sweet together
“I didn't believe in ghosts. Until I met him.”
As a horror novelist, Ben makes a living telling scary stories. However, he's struggling in his career and fears he's lost his touch. Not only is there a disconnect in his writing, but in his personal life as well. After his relationship goes south, he decides to start over and moves to Ivy Grove, a small town with a lot of history.
He hopes the quaint town and beautiful Victorian manor he moved into will spark inspiration and help him fall back in love with writing.
And then strange things start happening.
Creaks in the hall, shadows from the corner of his eye, and the sense that he's being watched. Ben soon learns that the manor has a dark past, and within the morbid history, he discovers a century old mystery.
Who is Theo Blackwell? And what happened to him all those years ago?
As Ben begins to unravel the truth, he finds himself not only falling in love with writing again, but also falling for the stunning young man who haunts his manor.
*The Ghost of Ellwood is a paranormal m/m romance. You'll find mystery, a somewhat grumpy writer, a sassy ghost, and of course a HEA.*
*
Jaclyn Osborn can write anything. That is the consensus after spending the past year reading her books. And that is only the books she's released since I started reading her.
I'm sure you're going to be thinking "how can a romance between a ghost and a human even work?" Well, I can't tell you how it will work exactly, you'll have to read the book for that. But I can tell you how amazing it is.
Ben is an author who is in a bit of a rut. His last releases weren't his best and the writer's block is real. Needing a change of scenery he leaves the city and moves to a small town that has more than one supposed haunted house. For a horror writer, Ben is not one to believe in ghosts and other things that go bump in the night.
It's not until he moves into the former Blackwell house that he begins to think that there's something or someone there with him. When he meets Theo Blackwell a tentative friendship forms, and then slowly becomes more. These two men are both a bit broken, worn down by the lives they lived, and the years they've drifted along. Ben might be alive, but he's not living, not really, not until he meets Theo and they connect in ways they probably shouldn't.
My heart ached for Theo. The life he lived while alive was hard. Full of secrets and pain. All he wanted was to live free and be able to be who he really was. Sadly things didn't work out like that and he became trapped in his worse nightmare.
There's a lot of back and forth between these two. It's understandable. Ben is alive and Theo isn't. Something horrible happened to Theo and he is afraid to relive it, which means he pushes Ben away again and again, even though it's the last thing he wants. It is heartbreaking. I wanted to hug Theo and tell him that everything would be okay. He spent so long alone, not having anyone to talk to or to trust. Opening up to Ben was difficult and showed just how much he cared about him.
The small town of Ivy Grove is charming and the fresh start that Ben needs. It becomes home to him. He finds a best friend, a house that becomes home, and a man who turns out to be his soulmate, despite the fact that he's no longer alive. As Ben and Theo explore their relationship, they prove that love can form between very unlikely people. That the connection between two people doesn't care for a pesky thing like death.
While Theo and Ben try to figure out how to make their relationship work, there are also some spooky happenings going on. While the romance is sweet, this is still a ghost story. And Jaclyn Osborn doesn't hold back when it comes to the more sinister side of the story. I will admit that I freaked myself out twice while I was reading thanks to the more creepy ghost elements.
There's so much mystery about Theo and what happened to him. I knew when the truth came out it was going to hurt, so while Ben was frustrated at first because he didn't get the whole story, I was okay with it. I wanted to live in the little bubble the two of them had built. When we finally get the truth I cried. I knew it was going to be hard, but that didn't really prepare me for it.
A romance between a ghost and a human probably shouldn't work. But it does. Ben and Theo's love is beautiful and sweet. The more time they spend together, the more alive they become. Just because Theo is a ghost doesn't mean he can't live. He doesn't need to be alive to love and laugh and spend his days happy instead of just drifting. Ben while alive doesn't really live until he moves to Ivy Grove. He finds a home in Theo. A reason to live, a muse to draw inspiration from.
The Ghost Of Ellwood is the first book in a series about the hauntings of Ivy Grove. The next book deals with ghosts who are not as sweet and caring as Theo and I am both terrified and excited. Jaclyn Osborn gave us enough threads in this book to make me curious and anxious to see where she's going to go in the next book.
*Quote-
"I felt like I had finally found the path in the dark, one that would lead me to where I needed to go."
"Theo might be a ghost, but no one had ever felt more real to me."
"Ghost, human; it didn't matter. What mattered was the way our souls merged together, the way his unbeating heart and my living one embraced the other. Soulmates that had penetrated the veil keeping us apart and found a way to be together anyway."
"He gave me inspiration and encouraged me when doubt reared its ugly head. I suppose he was my muse. My beautiful, ghostly muse who had captured my heart and breathed life back into me."
I'm sure you're going to be thinking "how can a romance between a ghost and a human even work?" Well, I can't tell you how it will work exactly, you'll have to read the book for that. But I can tell you how amazing it is.
Ben is an author who is in a bit of a rut. His last releases weren't his best and the writer's block is real. Needing a change of scenery he leaves the city and moves to a small town that has more than one supposed haunted house. For a horror writer, Ben is not one to believe in ghosts and other things that go bump in the night.
It's not until he moves into the former Blackwell house that he begins to think that there's something or someone there with him. When he meets Theo Blackwell a tentative friendship forms, and then slowly becomes more. These two men are both a bit broken, worn down by the lives they lived, and the years they've drifted along. Ben might be alive, but he's not living, not really, not until he meets Theo and they connect in ways they probably shouldn't.
My heart ached for Theo. The life he lived while alive was hard. Full of secrets and pain. All he wanted was to live free and be able to be who he really was. Sadly things didn't work out like that and he became trapped in his worse nightmare.
There's a lot of back and forth between these two. It's understandable. Ben is alive and Theo isn't. Something horrible happened to Theo and he is afraid to relive it, which means he pushes Ben away again and again, even though it's the last thing he wants. It is heartbreaking. I wanted to hug Theo and tell him that everything would be okay. He spent so long alone, not having anyone to talk to or to trust. Opening up to Ben was difficult and showed just how much he cared about him.
The small town of Ivy Grove is charming and the fresh start that Ben needs. It becomes home to him. He finds a best friend, a house that becomes home, and a man who turns out to be his soulmate, despite the fact that he's no longer alive. As Ben and Theo explore their relationship, they prove that love can form between very unlikely people. That the connection between two people doesn't care for a pesky thing like death.
While Theo and Ben try to figure out how to make their relationship work, there are also some spooky happenings going on. While the romance is sweet, this is still a ghost story. And Jaclyn Osborn doesn't hold back when it comes to the more sinister side of the story. I will admit that I freaked myself out twice while I was reading thanks to the more creepy ghost elements.
There's so much mystery about Theo and what happened to him. I knew when the truth came out it was going to hurt, so while Ben was frustrated at first because he didn't get the whole story, I was okay with it. I wanted to live in the little bubble the two of them had built. When we finally get the truth I cried. I knew it was going to be hard, but that didn't really prepare me for it.
A romance between a ghost and a human probably shouldn't work. But it does. Ben and Theo's love is beautiful and sweet. The more time they spend together, the more alive they become. Just because Theo is a ghost doesn't mean he can't live. He doesn't need to be alive to love and laugh and spend his days happy instead of just drifting. Ben while alive doesn't really live until he moves to Ivy Grove. He finds a home in Theo. A reason to live, a muse to draw inspiration from.
The Ghost Of Ellwood is the first book in a series about the hauntings of Ivy Grove. The next book deals with ghosts who are not as sweet and caring as Theo and I am both terrified and excited. Jaclyn Osborn gave us enough threads in this book to make me curious and anxious to see where she's going to go in the next book.
*Quote-
"I felt like I had finally found the path in the dark, one that would lead me to where I needed to go."
"Theo might be a ghost, but no one had ever felt more real to me."
"Ghost, human; it didn't matter. What mattered was the way our souls merged together, the way his unbeating heart and my living one embraced the other. Soulmates that had penetrated the veil keeping us apart and found a way to be together anyway."
"He gave me inspiration and encouraged me when doubt reared its ugly head. I suppose he was my muse. My beautiful, ghostly muse who had captured my heart and breathed life back into me."
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