:) ( )

Growing up in a decrepit old house that depressed his mother, the hero vowed to never allow his family to experience living in a work zone. When he first sees the mansion, he falls in love with it instantly. He knows this will be the house he'll bring a wife home to, raise his father and grow old in. It's cheap- a major fixer-upper. But it's perfect. But it's also haunted. Not that he believes in all that woo woo nonsense but a man can hardly ignore having an invisible entity climb into bed with him at night. Or the faulty wiring in the house that no one can find the solution to. So, he's brought in a man of science, a researcher to try to find out what's really going on. The problem is, he also needs a medium. That where the heroine comes in. When she first hears that her old flame is needing her help at a bonafide haunted house, she adamant in her refusal. Last time the stupid man ignored her wishes and she ended up with a demon inside of her, the thing eventually killing her mom. But she's also attracted to the hero. She, unlike her selfish ex, actually feels the need to help people. So she agrees to stay that the house and prove to him that not only do ghosts exist, she'll also get rid of them for him. In return, she'll be able to take priceless antiques for her shop. From the second she steps on the property she's hit with a very heavy pressure. The house is full of depression, anger, jealousy and all together possessing a very unhappy vibe. She sees black masses around corners, they hear slamming doors and footsteps. The hero is actually attacked, an icy hand squeezing his heart until he almost passes out. They slowly uncover the mystery of who haunts the beautiful house and work at purging them. This book was horribly boring and rather lifeless in the romance department. The hero very unromantically really only thinks about when he can get into the heroine pants. The heroine herself is a tease, waiting on baited breath for him to make a move but when he finally does, she pushes him away. In fact most of the book was them wandering the house encountering ghosts and memories of the trauma that took place in the past. I can't find myself excited or even the least be invested in the characters development and honestly was just waiting for it to be over. There were parts that scared me, at least in the beginning and I felt a glimmer of hope for a higher rating but it quickly fizzled. ( )

From the front cover: SINGLE MALE SEEKS FEMALE FOR GHOSTBUSTING AND MAYBE MORE. Serious applicants only.

The back matter goes into more detail, but I thought the blurb on the cover was better. It has the plus of not mentioning that the main male character's name is Case Lambert, which I thought was kind of terrible. At any rate, I don't usually read romances, but I thought I'd give a little paranormal romance a spin. I had a good bit of fun reading this one, and there were even some genuinely spooky moments.

The unfortunately named Case Lambert is a real estate guy who flips houses. (Buying old ones, repairing them, and then selling at a profit.) He's just bought an awesome house for himself, but it's haunted! What's a guy to do? The answer, apparently, is to ask around and attempt to hire a psychic, even though Case is a skeptic and doesn't quite believe what's going on. Unfortunately, the psychic Case wants to hire, Megan Barrows, has gone out of the ghostbusting business and now runs an antique store. She doesn't want the job, even though she thinks Case is kind of dreamy. For a jerk. Case, in turn, thinks Megan is kind of hot. For a delusional fraud.

After a nice dinner and a deal Megan can't quite pass up (Case promises her pick of the antiques in the house if she gets rid of the ghost), Megan agrees to go stay in the house and try to exorcise the ghost(s). Naturally, the house really is haunted, adding in a dash of murder mystery. All the time cooped up together gives Megan and Case time to grow on one another. (In a totally emotional-rollercoaster-plus-sexual-tension way.) The two other important characters are Megan's friend Tracie, and a ghosthunter Megan used to work with named Eric Ramsey. Then there are the ghosts, of course. There is, of course, more than one, and they all have their own agendas.

Overall, I liked the book. The romance seemed a little contrived, but there was definitely a natural, if highly accelerated progression. (You, too, can have less than a week to true love!) The actual ghosthunting plot was pretty fun, and, as I said before, had some seriously spooky moments. Temporary possession, people nearly being pushed down the stairs, etc. I wasn't especially pleased with all the body noticing (Case blatantly checks Megan out on the first page), and Eric Ramsey is a very stereotypical skeevy geek. Then again, it's a romance novel. There has to be a level of "OMG OUR HANDS BRUSHED IT MADE ME SOOOO HOT" and a lesser male character who makes the love interest seem more attractive.

Definitely not a keeper for me, but I wouldn't mind taking a Lisa Cach book out of the library one of these days. ( )

This book was fun. Right from the start I could tell that Megan was really hesitant to even use her powers to read the object that Case gives to her that he is looking to sell. Although, deep down she knew that he had another motive for asking her questions about the object. And she does try to hide the fact, but after telling him something that she could have not have known about, he talks her into coming to check out the house.

The house is something seen straight out of a horror movie - it's huge (taking up a whole block of a neighborhood!) and the outside is dank and spooky! As soon as she crosses the threshold of the property, she can feel something is wrong with the house.

Case is a skeptic and clearly doesn't believe in the supernatural, but from the advice of another ghostbuster, Eric (who seems to have a sketchy past with Megan) he doesn't think that Megan's sixth sense is real. But boy, does he soon learn different. He tries to come up with rational theories on the thumps that he hears in the house and his tools disappearing and being found elsewhere in the house.

The book really starts getting heated up when Case nor Megan can seem to keep their minds off each other. Maybe it's the house, maybe it's just attraction. But they both can teach each other a lesson in love. Megan can open up and Case can learn to love all of her flaws. Match made in heaven.

Ms. Cach's character's are amazingly etched into your mind. You can picture meek little Megan lying in a trance somewhere in the house trying to communicate with the spirits and helping to put the puzzle together. Case is a big strapping man, built like an ox, who just can't believe that all of this mumbo jumbo is real. And Eric, chubby boy from the past, with huge rings in his ears. He's funny by the way. But the three of them experience the wrath of the spirits in the house, who are fighting to make sure that no one leaves the property of their own free will. But Megan is strong and she can sure get these pesky ghosts to turn tail and run!

All of the action in the story was neat, cut and clean. Definately something that every ghosthunter would dream of having as an experience. The romance was there, but it reall wasn't the basis of the book. So it was a nice change. A Babe in Ghostland is a keeper! ( )

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