Falling in love with a ghost who was also a serial killer? The Last Kiss Goodbye by Karen Robards

I was intrigued right away when I came across this book. It was my first time reading the author. This book was actually the second book in the series, which I didn't know when I bought it and started to read. However, it read fine and I didn't feel like I needed book one. I will probably go back and read the first however to see how she got involved with the ghost, Micheal, in the first place.

This book follows Charlie as she is helping catch a serial killer titled The Gingerbread Man. He strikes just twice a year, capturing 3 people at a time, and allowing one to live...the one who chooses to kill the other to so that person can be free. He sets them in weird situations, such as in a well with water filling, etc. He also provides the murder weapon.

As I read this, I was of course trying to figure out who the killer was, but there is another story plot going along as well. Charlie starts with a ghost named Micheal and he was a convicted serial killer who was on death row and now follows her. Only she is beginning to think he was innocent and wants to prove it. She's falling for him and he is for her. His portal is closed and he has to stay within 50 feet of her all the time. The two have a lot of flirty banter and somehow Micheal figures out how to be an object so they get one heated night together.

Micheal and Charlie's connection made the story. That is the reason I will go back and read book 1, because I want to know how she came to be with this ghost. Then I can move onto the last book in the series.

I found the writing to be good. There were some parts that seemed to drag and little scenes I wasn't sure added much to the story, but over all, a good book and I will be reading more of this author.

Lacey's Rating

About The Book:

Dr. Charlotte “Charlie” Stone has dedicated her career as a psychiatrist to exploring the darkest territory of all: the hearts and minds of serial killers. It’s a job she’s uniquely suited for, thanks to the secret talent that gives her an uncanny edge—Charlie can see dead people, whose tormented spirits cry out to her for the justice only she can provide. This blessing—or curse—gives Charlie the power to hunt down and catch madmen and murderers. It’s also turned her love life upside down by drawing her into a hopelessly passionate relationship with the lingering ghost of charismatic bad boy Michael Garland.

But there’s little time for romance with her supernatural suitor when murder comes pounding at Charlie’s door in the form of a terrified young woman fleeing a homicidal maniac. Saving her life places Charlie squarely in the cross-hairs of a sadistic predator nicknamed “the Gingerbread Man,” notorious for manipulating his victims like pawns in a deadly chess game. And now the queen this psychopath’s bent on capturing is Charlie. Refusal to play will only put more innocent lives in danger. Matching wits with this cunningly twisted opponent will require all of Charlie’s training and expert skills. But even with her devilish “guardian angel”—not to mention her favorite flesh-and-blood Fed, Tony Bartoli—watching her beautiful back, the Gingerbread Man’s horrifying grin might be the last thing Charlie ever sees.