Everlastin' by Mickee Madden is the first book in her Everlastin' series and is a ghost story with a difference.  But as to what the difference is, you will have to read it to find out.  For whilst I have had this book recommended to me by many people by some strange quirk of fate no one told me about one of the major plots differences between this and other ghostly romances.  And since I really enjoyed the surprise I would hate to spoil it for anyone else out there who does not know what makes this ghostly romance so unique.

But here is what I can say about the book.

Beth Staples is a modern woman who has been invited to Baird House in Scotland for a holiday with her old school and college friend Carlene.  Beth has just lost her adoptive mother after caring for her whilst she was dying and the strain has been taking its toll on her.

But no sooner has Beth arrived in Scotland than Carlene leaves her alone at the isolated house whilst she goes to collect her husband from Edinburgh.

But Beth finds that she is not entirely alone and had the company of the seductive if chauvinistic Lachlan Baird.  She finds his presence far more worrying than the tales of restless spirits at the property as told by the taxi driver who collected her from the airport.

Lachlan Baird had built Baird House for his new bride.  Unfortunately whilst his bride loved the house and money she now had through her new husband, she had not loved him and together with her lover they had murdered Lachlan and hidden the body away in a tower.  Discovered by one of her sons Lachlan had even been denied a proper burial and his ghost is, understandably, annoyed about this as well as the fact that he was robbed of his life before it had really begun.

Haunting the house he had first seen the portrait of Beth when Carlene and David had rented the property and placed Carlene's picture of Beth on display.  Drawn to the picture Lachlan had fallen in love with the woman he saw within it and had engineered events so that Beth would come to him. 

He had waited nearly 150 years for love and for Beth to come to him and in a unique link with her they find that they can feel each others emotions.  But Beth is not happy about being kept a prisoner within the house and wants to return to the USA.  Nor is she happy about feeling Lachlan's feelings of hatred for the descendants of the couple who killed him. 

Torn between her growing love for the irresistible ghost and her own fears she struggles to break free of the hold that Lachlan has over her.

But this book is far more than it seems and there is a lot of humour as Lachlan finds that the serene woman in the portrait is not as softly spoken and docile as he would wish, instead he finds that she is about to shake up his world with her forthright opinions and a nature as stubborn as his own.

For Beth and Lachlan to find a future together they will both have to make sacrifices and come to terms with their pasts.  And the story is not over at all as it ends with a new beginning and there are three sequels to this book to extend the story of Everlastin'. 

The other thing that I love about this book is the delightful cover.  I wish that I could portray it here as you can see it in reality but unfortunately my scanner can only do so much.  The cover is in fact a hologram which shows the seductive ghost appearing and disappearing.  If I could I would try to recreate it with an animated picture but unfortunately my scanner will only pick up the image above.
 

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Also by Mickee Madden: Dusk Before Dawn, Love Everlastin' and Hope Everlastin'.