Glad I didn't pay full price

This book just never really "gelled" for me. I finished it, but it was a near thing. It's a new take on the well-established "I see dead people" genre -- and not a particularly refreshing one. Long on character development, short on actual plot.

The narrator did a nice job, considering the material.

42 people found this helpful

OK read and horrible narration..

This book is labeled as romantic suspense. That is absolutely NOT true. Levi (Hate that name), the hero, and Aubrey, the heroine, have been together since almost the beginning of the book and there is absolutely no chemistry whatsoever, no thoughts or feeling, no nothing. Heck, they didn’t even kiss until 75% and there still weren’t any feelings involved. So, here we have another author whose publisher tells her “sex sells” so she drops a sex scene in here and there and calls it romantic. Like the sex between Missy and Dustin was just ridiculous, she’s 20 and he’s 46 and she’s been doing “it” with him since she was 16? Eww. And THEN she went to Frank’s apartment after she finished with Dustin and did “it” with Frank, too. Eww again. Nothing romantic about that. And there was nothing romantic about Levi and Aubrey’s sexual encounter either, at 88% of the book. If there’s NOTHING that leads up to the sex then the sex is not worth having in the book. LMAO, one reviewer on Amazon said this: “I think this book tried to incorporate just a bit of "50 Shades." You’re freaking kidding me, right? I don’t think this reviewer read this book at all. The sex between Missy and Dustin lasted about 2 sentences, in his truck. And between her and Frank it lasted about a page of two pages, without any real description, and the sex between Aubrey and Levi lasted a few pages and it was sooo vanilla it wasn’t worth reading. How is that anything like 50 Shades?

Now, I’ll tell you something I find amazing! One reviewer mentioned how many times Aubrey’s name was used in the first 2 or 3 chapters. In actuality, in this 386 page book Aubrey’s name was used 1,338 times, according to my iPad. That’s a little much, if you ask me. Levi was only used 926 times. Good grief!

Overall, I will admit this was a pretty good mystery. I had an idea, about half way through, who did it but the reader didn’t find out who did it until very late in the book. What was nice about this book was that it wasn’t based on just one spooky story. I thought the one that had to do with Levi and Brody was so good and so sad. And what happened to Frank was unbelievable. The author wrote Dustin as somewhat of an idiot, and that fit with his character. And, of course, poor, poor Missy!

As to the narration: Nicol Zanzarella was barely OK for me. Her men didn’t sound like men and that’s really a bad thing. She did read with some emotion but when your men sound feminine the emotions don’t make up for it. I could not recommend this audible book and I will not be listening to this narrator again. She was very disappointing.

72 people found this helpful

Totally enjoyable book

What made the experience of listening to Ghost Gifts the most enjoyable?
Very engrossing story, ghosts, mysteries with just a little bit of romance. This one I will listen to again for sure.
I tend to enjoy books about ghost encounters, but this one was different than others I've listen to, making this even more enjoyable.

Who was your favorite character and why?
Aubrey, Eli and Charlie

Have you listened to any of Nicol Zanzarella’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Never listened to Nicol Zanzarella before and thought she did an average job. Her cadence reminded me of Tonya Eby, she does a pretty good job with women's voices, but not a lot of differentiating between the women's voices and this was even more so with the male voices. However her voice was not distracting from the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I was not able to listen to this book in one sitting, I started it one day and finished at the next. Once I started listening it was very hard to stop

19 people found this helpful

"Ghost Gifts" YA romance

Sorry but I just couldn't see past the juvenile aspects of this audio book.
I really do not like narrators using children's voices.
The back and forth, going nowhere conversation and the harlequin romance is not my cup of tea.
3 stars because it had a few good parts. What could have been but was not.

28 people found this helpful

Good but not great

I really liked the first half of the book but the second half kind of droned on. I felt like the first half set the story up to have so much potential and then it turned into a basic, predictable ending. Oh well. Somewhat enjoyable still.

8 people found this helpful

Fantastic, well written, amazing narration!!

Fantastic, well written, amazing narration, kept you intrigued though out the entire story. The characters are likable and strong, and carry throughout hope, fear, and intrigue.

11 people found this helpful

A total pleasure!

STORY (mystery) - I usually steer away from books with supernatural characters or powers, finding them too far-fetched or silly. This book managed to catch my eye, and I'm so very glad it did. It has a little bit of everything, as the publisher's summary implies. I was gripped from the very beginning about the mystery of the dead girl, and I wasn't able to figure things out before they were revealed in the end. (Love it when that happens!) Aubrey's gift of communicating with the dead is handled tastefully so as to be fairly believable. The book moves at a nice pace, revealing things bit by delicious bit, and isn't complicated to follow. The small romantic thread running through the story is an added bonus. Perfection.

PERFORMANCE - The reader did a very good job, though I'm only giving her four stars because I've heard better.

OVERALL - This book has one fairly short, non-explicit sex scene. There is a bit of cursing, but not a lot. The story is about a dead girl's body who is found 20-some years later, but I didn't find anything gross or grisly about any descriptions in this book. Highly recommended, particularly for females.

6 people found this helpful

Reality is often stranger than fiction

What made the experience of listening to Ghost Gifts the most enjoyable?

The very Idea of having a gift such as "Ghost Gifts" gave me pause....as they say you never know...

What did you like best about this story?

Great story line and just spooky enough....

8 people found this helpful

Not what I expected

So I forced myself to finish listening to this. I'm not a suspense wrapped in romance person, so this was a struggle. Story was ok, a lot of hanging pieces. Couldn't tell if it's was present day or past at times; this could be totally the narrator voice. It was sensual but one tone for all characters, thus the confusion of who was talking. Don't think I'll stick with this author or series.

1 person found this helpful

Extremely Well Written

This is an extremely well written book with realistic a plot and characters. Laura Spinella does a very good job of weaving paranormal aspects into the story. The characters of Aubrey Ellis and Levi St. John are fleshed out and engaging. I look forward to the next book.

1 person found this helpful