Of Midnight Born by Lisa Cach is a ghostly romance set in the year of 1832.

Serena Clerenbold had lived in the year of 1350 with her last surviving brother, Thomas.  With no workers to tend their fields and winter approaching Serena and Thomas attempted to gather the crops themselves but time was short and in desperation Serena came up with a plan that would secure their future.

With her face scarred Serena did not believe that she would ever secure a husband for herself and so between the two of them they plotted how to persuade their neighbour Hugh le Gayne to marry her, persuasion by kidnapping being the main gist of the plot.
 

The plan appeared to work and the story then moves on to 1809 where Serena is the ghost who appears to push a young boy named Alex Woding from a wall in the castle ruins.

Returning to the re-built Maiden Castle in 1832 Alex is searching for the answer to the mystery of shooting stars and a little peace and quiet from his brood of sisters.  With a household comprised totally of men he is not prepared for a female in the form of a ghost, a ghost who is determined to be alone and is intent of scaring all the unwelcome guests from her lonely castle.

But while Serena can easily scare the staff, scaring away Alex proves to be much harder.  When she realises that he appears to sense her presence she forms a new plan that involves dogging his footsteps every waking minute, sleeping in his bed and even watching him bathe.  Which should be enough to drive any man away from her unwelcoming presence.

But Alex is not so easily intimidated and soon he and Serena are engaging in conversations and the presence he has sensed takes form before his eyes.

But as their tentative friendship grows and Serena realises that she is beginning to have feelings for Alex, Alex on the other hand is determined not to love again after losing his wife.

There is also the added problem of the dark spirit that is after Serena and she fears the retribution of the ghost of le Gayne for the mysterious events of their wedding night.

Before Alex and Serena can find happiness together each of them must face up to their pasts.

With a delightful cast of secondary characters (both Alex’s sisters and cousin and the household of workers are an amusing collection of characters that add humour and another perspective to the story of Alex and Serena) and a strong plot with several elements of mystery this is a delightful Halloween novel that is of the high standard we are coming to expect of Lisa Cach.
 

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Also by Lisa Cach: Bewitching the Baron, George and the Virgin, The Mermaid of Penperro and The Changeling Bride

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