Customer Reviews

Body and Soul

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Body and Soul" by Susan Krinard is a fantastic paranormal romance that will captivate and enchant readers. Krinard has created a winning tale of love, retribution, redemption and destiny that will leave readers craving more of this immensely talented author.

Jesse Copeland has recently returned to her hometown of Manzanita to face her past. As Jesse struggles to deal with her memories of her mother's death, she begins to have disturbing dreams that leave her believing her mother's death was no accident. And when Gary Emerson, her mother's boyfriend at the time of her death, arrives back in Manzanita, Jesse becomes more convinced than ever that he is hiding a terrible secret.

Through her dreams, Jesse unconsciously summons up the ghost of David Ventris, who died 200 years ago at the battle of Waterloo. David has spent the last two centuries in a place filled with endless nothingness that he calls "limbo". Only around Jesse can he take full physical form, but only for a few hours at a time. David knew Jesse in her previous incarnation, as a woman named Sophie, and betrayed her in that previous life. David needs Jesse to forgive him for his betrayal in order to set his soul free.

Initially, Jesse thinks she is losing her mind when she first encounters David. But as time passes she accepts that he is real, and finds herself falling for this handsome ghost. David, too, is overwhelmed by his feelings for Jesse and is determined to protect her from the threat that Gary Emerson poses. Working together, Jesse and David go about discovering the truth about Jesse's mother's death, and exposing Gary as the criminal he is.

But Gary is a very real danger to Jesse. He won't let anyone stand in the way of his political aspirations and he'll use any method necessary to ensure that Jesse won't reveal his sordid past. Luckily, David is staying close to Jesse, and he'll do anything to keep her safe from harm. And it's not long before David realizes that Jesse's life and happiness have become more important to him than saving his own soul.

But is there any chance of a future for Jesse and David? And will Jesse be able to forgive David once she learns the truth about their past together?
Read this book and find out for yourself, I guarantee you won't regret it.

"Body and Soul" is a truly affecting tale that you don't want to miss. With vivid characters you can't help but love and an expertly rendered storyline, this book is one of the best paranormal romances I've read. So buy this book today and get ready for a great read!

This is the first Susan Krinard book I've read. As soon as I finished it, I came on line to order every other book Ms. Krinard has written. Body & Soul is that good. It's easily the best paranormal romance I've ever read and one of the best romances of any type.

Jesse Copeland and David Ventris are two of the most complex, well-developed, truly heroic characters I've encountered in any fiction. Their lives, their very souls, are intertwined as both follow paths of hate, revenge, self-discovery, forgiveness, and love. I cared about them, and I wanted them to have their happiness even when it seemed impossible that they could do so.

This book was not at all what I expected - it was much, much more. Romantic, haunting, and with a depth you won't believe.

Buy it. Read it. You won't be sorry.

Jesse Copeland has been running away from her past and the town of Manzanita for years. Finally she decides to face her ghosts of yesteryear and returns to the town where she was brought up. There she bumps into Gary, her dead mother's ex-lover, whom she blames for the death of her mother 17 years ago.

Gary is not the only ghost of her past she encounters. A mysterious stranger starts to haunt her dreams, a ghost from her past life. Not only does he haunt her in her dreams but he makes himself seen during her waking hours. This ghost is David Ventris, Lord Ashthorpe who lived and died about 200 years ago. David has been living in a sort of pergatory for the last two centuries and has now come forward to the present to seek redemption for a mistake he made in the past. As Jesse tries to find out the clues as to the death of her mother, she finds herself attracted to David and can't help but fall in love with him.

I am a big fan of Susan Krinard's work but I really had difficulty ploughing through this book. Even with a little imagination, I could not believe in the ghostly tale. There was no chemistry between the two main characters and I could not see how they could fall in love or even care for each other. The tale was a little disjointed, jumping from the past and then into the present. Mixing the past lives with the present lives.

Skip this one and read the Forest Lord or one of the werewolf stories such as Prince of Wolves or Touch of the Wolf also by Susan Krinard.

Lea Ling Tsang

Having read the Forest Lord by Susan Krinard, I knew I wanted to read more by this fascinating and original author. Body and Soul
is my third book and so far, the best! The book combines an
original love story, with a ghost story, reincarnation, reward
and punishment, salvation, and eternal love. As amazing as the
plot is, the reader will suspend disbelief and vicariously
experience a most unusual love story...with a happy ending!
I highly recommend Susan Krinard's writing, and especially
this beautiful, heart-wrenching love story!

This was my second Susan Krinard book that I have read. It in no way measured up to Prince of Shadows, but it kept you going if just to find out how they resolved the problem of David being a ghost. There were a few discrepancies in regard to Al, one comment being his "pinned up sleeve" which led you to believe he had lost his arm, but then in another part of the book it mentioned him putting his "hands" around his glass. He supposedly had to walk with a cane, but managed to speed off through the woods... but that is just minor flaws. The book was good, but if you had a decision to make between reading Body and Soul first or Prince of Shadows - please pick Prince of Shadows.

Body and Soul is story of hero who died at Waterloo, in limbo as a ghost. He is trying to redeem self so can be taken out of limbo and find peace. Arrives in modern USA,in middle of rescue scene and finds long-dead wife's soul in a modern woman. Very emotional and entrancing tale, definitely a keeper. Hero has flashbacks to Regency time period with his family. Susan said this is the only book she wrote that had any regency theme to it. Marilyn, The Regency Lover's Cafe

Jesse Copeland has returned to her hometown to lay to rest the ghosts of her past... only to be confronted by an actual ghost, David Ventris, who's there to right the wrongs of his own past so he can escape from the limbo where he's been existing since he died at Waterloo.

It seems Jesse is the reincarnation of his wife, and his guilt over how he failed her has been punishing him all this time.

Jesse, meanwhile, is struggling with her own memories. Gary Emerson is also back in town, as a campaigning politician. She's sure that Gary, her mother's lover, was responsible for her death, but she doesn't remember any details.

I'm not sure why this book didn't grab me. I'm very fond of paranormal romance, and should have enjoyed it. But David's goals seemed too unclear to me--beyond the expected guilt keeping him from embracing love. He seemed to waver between cold-blooded self-interest and guilty misery, with occasional forays into protectiveness, and only the last was well-explained.

Jesse, too, seems oblivious to her own motivations, and oblivious to the feelings of those around her.

And there's a sub-plot about an orphaned girl and her uncle that felt as though it came from a previous book in the series, but this book isn't part of a series.

Or maybe I'm just too shallow to accept a melancholy hero. I don't like to think that, but it's possible. In a romance, I admit, I do want the hero to be, well, heroic. I don't mind if they have problems, but... No, it's not just heroes--it's the heroines, too. I don't like melancholy characters in romances. Sad, tormented, dark characters are wonderful. I love them. Just don't make them melancholy.

I agree with the reviewers-not one of her best.Plodding and boring to get through-downright depressing in some places. If your book budget is limited I'd suggust you skip this book.

I have always loved reading Susan Krinard's books, and await her next stories with baited breath. Her latest release is a wonderful story with an intricate plot and a touch of magic. Her strong writing and colorful characters are always a pleasure to read. She makes the impossible seem possible and maybe, just maybe even plausable! Though not my favorite of her books, Body and Soul is well worth reading!

A good story done with a little Sci-Fi twist. An entertaining read.