Published October 13, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a perfect read for the days leading up to Halloween: Boston ghost tours, a curse, plenty of swoon, and a pinch of spice. I liked it, though I loved Mallory Marlowe’s earlier books.
Rory is a spiritual medium and tarot reader, the host of a haunted Boston trolley tour, and a key member of staff at Ye Olde Spirit Shop. Ezra also works at the shop and is one of the most popular ghost tour guides, much to Rory’s annoyance. He loves history and yearns to make an impact on the lives of the students he teaches at a local college.
During a tour, Rory and Ezra’s bickering causes an accident, angering the spirit of Temperance Talbot. They find themselves cursed, literally pushed together by a spirit from beyond the grave. The curse is the turning point that reveals the attraction beneath the agitation. But is that enough to resolve a curse and leave behind the pain, fear, and baggage weighing them down and holding them back?
What worked: The setting is vibrant, and the minor characters are memorable. Clementine is a haunted doll, and I know that sounds creepy, but rather than torment, she more often gives treasure. She frequently gifts the humans she likes little trinkets: a flower for Rory, a rare coin for Ezra. Luna is a spirit who lives in Rory’s apartment, often rearranging the pillows or the crystals Rory has left out. There’s plenty of swoon and a pinch of spice.
What didn’t: It felt challenging to get into the flow of the story. I can’t quite explain it, but there was a barrier to connecting with Ezra and Rory. They always felt like characters in a book instead of people whose story I was part of. In most cases, a story told in alternating perspectives doesn’t bother me. Here, though, the switches became an interruption just when I was syncing with the character.
Maybe it’s because both characters’ fears and flaws are written so strongly into the plot. They both struggle with feeling like they are not, and will never be, enough. Not worth the effort in relationships. Destined to fail and fated to be alone. That description was repeated often. Too often.
The feeling of not being enough, or not being seen as worth the effort, is a familiar one, so I could easily relate to both characters. It’s also something I have worked hard, and continue to work hard, to deal with and overcome. For Rory and Ezra, though, it felt like an immovable obstacle, something irrevocable that’s just a part of who they are. I bristled at that, at the assumption that we are victims of circumstance in our lives without agency to grow, change, and overcome.
Who it’s for: Readers who want a spooky-season romance with a vivid setting and a supernatural twist, especially fans of Mallory Marlowe’s Love and Other Conspiracies and Ashley Poston’s The Seven Year Slip and The Dead Romantics.
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