ghost on my couchRating: 5 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novel


men in uniform week“Awwwwwww” is how I feel about this heartwarming novel. I’m a big L.A. Gilbert fan, so I was eager to snap up this book for review, since I knew, at the very least, I would like it. I loved it. Obviously, it’s a bit fantastical (the ghost thing is there in the title), but not so much so that it took much of a stretch to believe it. It’s not a book about sex, but a book about falling in love, about realizing that what you thought was always important in a partner really doesn’t mean anything at all. There’s the build-up, the anticipation until the very last page, and the satisfying, sigh-worthy conclusion. It’s all-around just a wonderful book.

Alex Tanner is an underpaid, over-stressed nurse who arrives home from work one evening to find a man sitting on his couch. Alex screams and so does the man, who is actually a ghost. Sid, the ghost, just found himself in Alex’s apartment a couple of days previous and is still not clear how he got there. When Alex finally sees him, Sid apologizes profusely for interrupting his life. After Alex gets over the initial shock, he starts to actually enjoy spending time with the man on his couch and dreads having to leave him alone.

Sid is a big lug of a man — so unlike anyone Alex is used to dating. Alex is a gorgeous little thing, and he’s had relationships with equally beautiful, not very nice guys. Sid is immediately taken with Alex, since he’s been a bit of a Peeping Tom for a couple of days already. Alex is taking a vacation from work for a week, and he spends it at home with Sid, getting to know him, since Sid can’t set foot out of his house. The two start having real feelings for each other, even though they know that falling in love is a terrible idea and they’re not able to even touch one another. When Sid starts to feel the pull from the other side, Alex sees that his life will come crumbling down.

L.A. Gilbert is taking several big risks here with this novel. The first being that Sid is a ghost, since it automatically means the reader should have a hard time feeling invested in a character and a relationship that simply can’t be. Secondly, there are basically two characters and one setting the entire novel. There are a few supporting characters, like Alex’s hilarious straight friend, Andy, but for the most part, it’s just our two MCs, getting to know each other. This is risky because it could get boring quickly unless you have a skilled writer at the helm, but Gilbert is definitely up to the task. She creates wonderful characters and then fills their mouths with hilarious and entertaining dialogue that keeps you reading late until the night.

There’s no sex in this book because, well, need I remind you that Sid is a ghost? However, the sweet love story more than makes up for the chaste nature of the novel. The ending might seem a little silly to some, but I found it absolutely charming, and this book really did not give me any sort of a resolution until the very last page, which is sometimes just the very best thing to happen in a book.

If you need a feel-good, adorable story about love and friendship and overcoming all odds, this is the book you need to read. And then pick up everything else L.A. Gilbert has ever written, because I so adore everything she writes and just want her to keep writing!

A review copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press.

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