I said in an earlier review that I’d definitely try Kleypas again. I did, and I’m glad. This time I picked up my preferred subgenre, contemporary.

Alex Nolan is an unhappy man. He’s a drunk, actually. He comes from drunk parents and although his two brothers seem to have done okay, he’s drowning his sorrows. It’s not entirely clear why he’s unhappy, though. He had a crappy first marriage, which is breaking up, so that’s part of it. But it seems like he’s just fundamentally unhappy. Maybe it’s who he is. He definitely thinks so.

Enter two people: a ghost and Zoë Hoffman.

The ghost somehow (it’s never quite clear how) gets attached to Alex and can’t travel too far from him, which drives them both crazy. The ghost has only vague recollections of his life, although it’s tied to the house that Alex’s brothers live in. But more importantly, Alex and the ghost need to figure out what’s tying them together, and how they can break that.

Zoë, on the other hand, is just a nice, sweet girl whose ex-husband shocked her by coming out as gay. She’s no match for Alex’s dark moods and when they first meet by chance at Alex’s brothers’ house, they’re both drawn to each other but Alex is total douchebag to her. Plus, she has problems of her own—her beloved grandmother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and is already showing signs of fast decline. Zoë is going to have to take care of her from now on, which she plans to do by renovating a house near where she works, but the house seriously needs fixing up. Alex is recommended to her by her cousin because he’s an expected carpenter/builder-type. So enter Alex into her life.

Something about Alex pulls Zoë to him. Probably that ridiculous thing a lot of women have about fixing broken men, but in this case Alex makes the choice to fix himself and acts on it. Zoë loves to cook and plies Alex with baked goods and breakfast and eventually he starts to come around as a more decent person. But he’s still convinced he’s nothing but bad news for Zoë and warns her to stay away, despite the simmering attraction between them.

Fortunately for us, Alex’s ghostly friend helps him to see things in a slightly new light, even if it’s a painful process for both of them. Alex gets quite involved in helping the ghost solve his mystery, which ends up being tied compellingly to Zoë and her grandmother. When he and Zoë finally give in, it’s such a relief, but it also involves wholly believable transformations for both of them.