Review of Ghost Bride by Angela Addams

Publisher: Cobblestone Press

Release date: April 2011

More info: Publisher


Book Blurb:

Not only is she dead, trapped in her house as a bored and useless ghost, but she’s dead and now supposedly married to a mysterious stranger name Cole. Dasha is faced with a dilemma: give into her pulsing desires for her new husband who is hotter than any man she’s ever seen before or play it safe like she always did when she was alive and reject the only passion she has ever felt.

How much faith is she willing to put into a bond that she didn’t ask for, in a marriage that she didn’t even agree too?  


My Thoughts:

Dasha reminded me a bit of myself - bookish, not very adventurous, dislikes being ordered around, a home body. Ironically, now that she's dead and her ghostly self is unable to leave the home she occupied while alive, she wants desperately to leave, to go somewhere, anywhere: "She was dead and damn angry to feel so helpless and trapped, but there was nothing she could do about it." She regrets that she didn't do more living while she was alive. The only thing that she wants more is to see her sister Emma one last time. Unfortunately, Dasha has not seen anyone since her death so she is stunned when a strange man shows up unannounced in her house.

The stranger, named Cole (sorry but that name always makes me think of the demon Cole from the tv show "Charmed") is Dasha's husband, unbeknownst to her. Cole is several hundred years dead and unused to how modern American women behave. He finds himself both annoyed by and attracted to Dasha's behavior. 

Cole is on a deadline to consummate his and Dasha's wedding and he wastes no time in informing Her that they are married. Dasha has no memory of marrying anyone, during her life or agfterlife, and thinks that he's crazy.

Cole is arrogant, old-fashioned, has a sense of humor, and has secrets; he hesitates to trust Dasha, despite their marriage. He has a lot riding on their marriage. Dasha is reluctant to trust Cole while she's also attracted to him, and thinks that maybe here is her chance for a hot torrid romance, if only she coudl trust him. Addams takes the Chinese tradition of ghost brides, updates and tweaks it, and adds some other, more generic mythological elements and mixes them up with some romance and erotica.

I wish that more time has been spent on world building. There's a lot going on and parts were confusing. The afterlife itself and how it works, what it is, could have been further developed, and so could the other mythological elements. In an interview, Addams mentioned that there may possibly be more stories in this world, maybe even a series, though nothing is definite. I hope so as I'd like to see more. The story's length, only 66 pages including the cover, was a factor in the amount of development that could be done.  It's a neat little romance, with some sexy scenes and a nice helping of mythology.

This ebook was received from the author review.