[Book Review] Give Up The Ghost By Kelly Moran & Phil and Sebastian Doppelgänger Espresso

Title: Give Up The Ghost
Series: Phantoms 2
Author: Kelly Moran
Publication date: February 14th 2022
Page Count: 274 pages
Age Rating: Adult (explicit sexual scenes, language, mentions of past sexual assualt)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a review copy
Publisher’s page: Give Up The Ghost

Paranormal investigator Kerry Baker has seen it all. But nothing in her work with the Phantoms TV program prepares her for the most terrifying spirit of all—seeing her doppelganger. Rumored to be a foreshadowing of one’s death, the specter shakes Kerry to the core, sending her into the arms of her best friend and fellow cast member for comfort. Except their contract with the show strictly forbids crossing that line, so not only is her life at risk, but so is her job.

Paul Leake has been in love with Kerry for ages, yet unwilling to compromise their friendship. As their investigation in an isolated Arizona ghost town grows more intense, however, so does the chemistry between them. The mysterious hauntings and chronic on-set accidents at their location are wreaking havoc with the crew. With her life in danger and their careers on the line, giving into their attraction couldn’t be a worse idea—and yet they can’t bring themselves to stop. Even if it kills her.

They’re beginning to realize that perhaps the only way to find love is to face death.

My Review

Give Up The Ghost is a friends to lovers ghost hunting romance set in a haunted ghost town while trying to outmaneuver an omen of death. It’s the second book in the Phantoms series but can easily be read alone.

Kerry and Paul have been attached at the hip since they first met as cast members six years ago for the paranormal investigation show Phantoms. For Paul, it was love at first sight. For Kerry, it was the beginning of a beautiful (platonic) friendship.

Moran does such a wonderful job with adding depth to her characters, but I was particular impressed with Kerry. Kerry is beautiful and she knows it, and she’s annoyed by how it causes people to treat her. She was the weird kid growing up, playing with invisible spirits that nobody else could see, but then she hit puberty and suddenly everybody wanted in her pants.

One of the reasons Kelly liked Paul so much was because he always saw past her pretty face and treated her like a real person with a brain. It’s also one of the reasons she’s so betrayed when she first finds out he’s been hiding an attraction to her. For all that she’s supposed to be an empath, Kerry has a Paul-shaped hole in her gift, having no idea of his feelings until he literally spells them out for her and it causes her to second guess his motives.

When Kerry starts being haunted by her doppelganger – a dead-eyed, blank faced ghostly lookalike bringing a silent premonition of danger and death – it jumpstarts both their hearts and libidos with the fear of how quickly they could lose each other.

As the ghostly warning follows Kerry and the rest of the Phantoms crew to an investigation of a ghost town in the middle of the Arizona desert that proves to be much more dangerous then expected, the heightened emotions act like a magnet. The two can’t stay away from each other, even though they know all the reasons why they should  – like ruining their friendship or getting fired due to the no romance clause in their contracts.

For two people trying to keep their secret relationship under wraps, Kerry and Paul have a lot of steamy moments in the hotel suite they share with the rest of their castmates, with only a wall and a door to separate them. But they’re in love and scared they’re going to be separated any moment by either death or network executives, so allowances can be made for reckless decision making.

In the previous book, Ghost of a Promise, I was equally as invested in the ghost investigation as the unfolding romance, but in Give Up The Ghost I was much more engrossed in what was happening with Kerry and Paul.

It’s not that the investigation wasn’t interesting, it’s just that as Kerry was going through the 5 stages of grief over her own perceived soon-to-be death, I was going through my own emotional rollercoaster as obstacles kept the leads going back and forth on their relationship – at one point I may have even have called their producer Elise a bitch out loud (sorry Elise).

Overall, I very much enjoyed every minute (even the frustrating ones) of watching Kerry and Paul navigate a premonition of death, a ghost hunt in an isolated ghost town where one thing after another goes wrong, and disapproving producers to get the happy ending they deserved. The next book in the Phantoms series stars Sammy, the headstrong spitfire of the crew, and Cain, the new investigator that rubs her the wrong way – can’t wait to see the sparks fly!

Let’s Talk Coffee

In Give Up The Ghost, the ghostly premonition of a doppelganger haunting casts a dark shadow over the heads of our main characters. Phil and Sebastian Doppelgänger Espresso also brings a darkness with it, but in a rich, dark chocolatey way, which is so much better.