Better Homes and Hauntings Author:Molly Harper Author of the beloved Half Moon Hollow series of vampire romances (Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs), Molly Harper has created a standalone paranormal romance in which a dilapidated haunted house could bring star-crossed lovers together -- if it doesn’t kill them first! — When Nina Linden is hired to landscape a private island off... more » the New England coast, she sees it as her chance to rebuild her failing business after being cheated by her unscrupulous ex. She never expects that her new client, software mogul Deacon Whitney, would see more in her than just a talented gardener. Deacon has paid top dollar to the crews he’s hired to renovate the desolate Whitney estate -- he had to, because the bumps, thumps, and unexplained sightings of ghostly figures in nineteenth-century dress are driving workers away faster than he can say “Boo.”
But Nina shows no signs of being scared away, even as she experiences some unnerving apparitions herself. And as the two of them work closely together to restore the mansion’s faded glory, Deacon realizes that he’s found someone who doesn’t seem to like his fortune more than himself -- while Nina may have finally found the one man she can trust with her bruised and battered heart.
But something on the island doesn’t believe in true love…and if Nina and Deacon can’t figure out how to put these angry spirits to rest, their own love doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.« less
Nina is a struggling landscape architect (through no fault of her own). So when she gets an opportunity to potentially turn her business around, she jumps at the chance. Only possible problems? The home is haunted, requires a boat ride to get there (she gets seasick), and she has to live on site for a few months while the project is underway.
It took some time to get Nina's full story and for the first part of the book, she was meek and not very confident in herself. I thought the secondary characters played a nice role & made it more interesting (Jake, Cindy, and Dottie). I liked Nina's connection with Deacon, who was also not-so-confident in many ways. They complemented each other nicely. Secondary romance with Jake and Cindy which added to this too.
Good mystery too. What really happened to Catherine Whitney? Did her spouse murder her for having an affair? Nina also has to deal with her ex-partner. Fun read!