5 Wine Glass #Review of The Holiday Spirit by Dani Harper

Title: The Holiday Spirit
Series: Haunted Holiday Book #1
Author: Dani Harper
Format: Kindle, 284 pages
Published: Publisher:  September 29, 2015
ISBN: ASIN: B013Z0F31M
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Reviewer: Linda
Source: Amazon purchase
Rating: 5 out of 5 Wine Glasses

A woman who talks to ghosts.
A man mistaken for dead.
An ancient evil that stalks them both.

Writer Kerri Tollbrook spends her free time counseling the newly departed, but the tall, dark and handsome spirit she meets at the shopping mall claims he’s not dead. Is he just in denial? Or is something more sinister at work?

Firefighter Galen McAllister has felt like The Invisible Man ever since a malicious spell separated him from his still-living body. Kerri is the first person he’s met who can actually see him. Now if only he can get her to listen … because the nightmare creature that trapped him between two worlds is far from finished!

Linda's Thoughts:
All she wants for Christmas is a ghost…

The Holiday Spirit is a festive paranormal urban fantasy romance to be savored. The cover drew me in first. I’ve seen two covers for this book and they’re both stunning. I purchased it last year but didn’t get around to reading it until now - obviously my loss as I already want to read it again. It’s well-written with realistic characters you will want as your friends. I adored everything about his book!

The two main characters are Kerri Tollbrook, an urban fantasy author who is able to see spirits, and firefighter Galen McAllister aka The Holiday Spirit. While fighting a fire almost a year previous, Galen had followed a suspicious character into a building which had just been on fire. He had an altercation with that creature which Galen loses as the ancient entity cast an evil spell that removes Galen from his body. To his fellow fire crew and to medical personnel, Galen appeared to be in a coma  - which is how his body came to reside in the hospital hooked up to machines keeping him “alive.” Meanwhile, Galen has been left to exist in ghostly form ever since unable to interact with anyone or to re-enter his body.

Kerri meets Galen as she’s returning home from a shopping trip. Kerri can see spirits and cast spells. In her spare time, she counsels ghosts. Anyway, Galen is shocked that Kerri can see him! Happy Days! At first, Kerri thinks Galen is a ghost in denial that he’s dead. But, Galen convinces her to visit his comatose body in the hospital. When she does, she realizes that evil has preyed upon him leaving Kerri as Galen’s only hope to regaining his body before it’s too late.

Kerri lives in a two-story ornate Victorian home fortified with protection spells. She’s backed up by a team of colorful, lovable characters including her Aunt Libby, her baseball-bat wielding resident ghost Everett, her pug Waldo and hospital nurse Fred Granville. Together they add up to a formidable force – but will they be enough to free Galen of his dark curse before Christmas when Galen’s time runs out… forever?

Galen was a fun character even though he’d been so horribly wronged. I was in awe of how he made the best of the lot he’d been given. He was truly a hero extraordinaire. Kerri was smart and caring and I couldn’t get enough of her witchiness.

Following please find a few of my favorite quotes from The Holiday Spirit:

“Magic is magic. It isn’t good or bad in and of itself. It’s the intent that matters. Ideally, you treat magic as a gift and you use it to influence natural forces to help and to heal. It’s a positive act.” 
--- 

 “Well-grounded in magic.' That almost sounds like an oxymoron.” 
---

“She finally took her first good look at the guy beside her. Kerri's eyes widened...because she could see right through him, all the way to the nineteen-foot Christmas tree on the other end of the brightly-lit mall.
"You're a ghost!” 

If you are looking for a purely sweet romance, look elsewhere. The Holiday Spirit is a heartwarming sweet romance - but it’s also exceedingly steamy (I can’t stop thinking about a particularly HOT mightily memorable shower scene.) - and the danger element ensures there’s a plethora of nail-biting moments. All the above elements kept me diligently turning the pages into the wee hours this morning. The bottom line is that the Holiday Spirit ranks as one of my top ten holiday romances ever. If you love Christmas with all its trappings, sexy heroes, feisty heroines, surprising twists and imaginatively quirky paranormal romantic thrillers, don’t hesitate to add The Holiday Spirit to your bookshelf soon!