Here’s a question for you. What’s on the bucket list of a guy who’s been dead for 150 years? Nathaniel Pierce is a casualty of the Battle of Gettysburg, but he wasn’t killed by enemy fire. Nope, he was murdered, and his spirit has wandered in a desperate quest to discover who wanted him dead badly enough to shoot him in the back rather than let him fall in battle.
Now, after all those years of haunting Carmody House that served as a hospital during the 1863 Gettysburg Battle, Nathaniel senses that Lorelei is the one he’s waited for, the one who will solve the murder and put his spirit to rest. It’s just that he doesn’t expect to fall in love with this warm-blooded, rebellious girl.
Shortly after Lori moves into the old Carmody house, she’s Skyping her brother, and her heart stops for a few terrifying seconds when Nathaniel’s image appears on her screen. She whips around; there’s no one there. Until later, when he consumes her every waking moment. Of course, she never dreamed she’d fall madly in love with a ghost. Talk about star-crossed lovers! Is there a future for these two whose hearts beat in unison despite the gulf of time and space, living and dead, between them?
When they part at Nathaniel’s grave, Lori asks, “Will we ever meet again?” and Nathaniel replies, “Again and again, but not here, and not as Nathaniel and Lorelei.”
So, what’s on Lori’s bucket list? That’s easy. She wants all these futures to start, because she can’t bear to have Nathaniel gone from her life. She wants happily ever after right now.
But is his bucket list the same as hers? I think not. After a century and a half of aimless meandering in search of the truth, he just wants a little peace. How delicious it would be to crawl into some actual flesh to enjoy the pleasures of life. He wants to curl up on a bearskin rug in front of a fire, warm his lingering soul, and read a swashbuckling adventure story. Then he’ll feast on rare roast beef piled high on sour dough bread. His mouth waters at the thought of polishing off the meal with a hot fudge sundae.
In Lori’s world, everything is immediate, like McDonalds and texting and Google. For Nathaniel, time stretches out on an endless, twisting road of switchbacks. So, there’s no rush to start along the eternal trail toward other Nathaniels and other Loreleis.
First, why not go fishing in Minnesota, or parasailing in the Bahamas for a century or two?
About the Book
Haunted by history. Bound by mystery.
Lori Chase doesn’t know what to think about ghosts. She may have seen a few in the past, but those were just childish imaginings . . . right? Only now that she is living in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, spirits seem to be on everyone’s mind. The town is obsessed with its bloody Civil War history, and the old inn that Lori’s parent run is supposedly haunted by the souls of dead soldiers.
Then Lori meets one such soldier — the devastatingly handsome Nathaniel Pierce. Nathaniel’s soul cannot rest, and he desperately needs Lori’s help. Because Nathaniel was not killed in the famous battle. He was murdered. Lori begins to investigate the age-old mystery, stumbling upon shocking clues and secrets.
At the same time, she can’t help falling for Nathaniel, just as he is falling for her . . . .
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About the Author
Lois Ruby is the author of fifteen books for middle-graders and teens, including STEAL AWAY HOME, SKIN DEEP, and THE SECRET OF LAUREL OAKS. She and her husband live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the foothills of the awesome Sandia Mountains. Lois explores lots of haunted places, including ghostly locations in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and even a few spooky spots in Australia and Thailand. No spirits have tapped her on the shoulder yet, but she hasn’t given up hope.
