Earth Angel by Kate Freiman is part of the continuing Haunting Hearts series published by Penguin Putnam/Jove.

When Ray Lowell is murdered in 1961 his young life and dreams for the future seem to be over.  But when he "wakes up" as a ghost in 1997 he finds that his life and work on earth are far from over.

Ray's death had abruptly ended his plans to elope with his true love Celeste and he is desperate to find out what had happened to her after his "disappearance".

Renata Moretti is a legal prosecutor who finds her new adversary a dangerous enemy.  Determined to bring the man to justice she finds herself hiding out at her friend Melissa's new house, and being drawn to her attractive "cousin" Ray.

Melissa has recently returned to town and is nervous of facing her teenage sweetheart Gabe.  But the nerves she faces when seeing Gabe are nothing compared to the fright she gets when she comes face to face with her resident ghost, Ray.

After the initial shock has worn off Melissa agrees to help Ray and they also agree not to let Renata know of Ray's ghostly state.  But Melissa's promise to help Ray is soon pushed to the background when Gabe is hit by a car and falls into a life-threatening coma.

Pushing aside her fear at facing Gabe's family Melissa works hard to help bring Gabe back from the brink of death.  She sustains her hope with the frequent dreamlike visits made by Gabe and soon realises that what they have is too special to allow their families to destroy.

Renata meanwhile is becoming increasingly attracted to Ray and believes that he is the man who has haunted her dreams all her life.  But while she knows that Ray is also attracted to her she also knows that his main priority is to find the elusive Celeste.

Ray cannot explain the attraction he feels to Renata, but his guilt is enormous as he battles with the temptation he feels to betray Celeste with Renata.  And when Celeste is found, Ray knows he will have a lot of explaining to do and he will risk losing both Celeste and Renata forever.

Ray and Renata, and Melissa and Gabe are all drawn together by love, friendship and darker events which threaten to tear them all apart.

Earth Angel is a complex, well thought out, and original ghost story that carries the reader through page after page of suspense.  With gangsters, spirits of both the living and the dead, and a touch of reincarnation this modern ghost story sparks the imagination in a way that few others can.

Entertaining and charming this is a book that should not be missed.

RATING : 
(if you need an explanation of the hearts ratings see my homepage)

Links to  Online Stores

Read an Interview with Kate Freiman

Also by Kate Freiman:  Lady Moonlight

Visit  Kate Freiman's Website