Customer Reviews

A Date with the Other Side (Berkley Sensation)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book started out with a strong opening scene and snappy repartee. The image of a naked Boston Macnamara in the haunted bedroom of the bed and breakfast with his manhood caught in the antique white eyelet bedspread as Shelby Tucker was conducting the haunted house tour was an image to behold. With this kind of introduction, I felt like the book was going to have a lot of zippy dialogue and sexual tension.

But by mid-book, the story was losing steam fast. The relationship between Shelby and Boston would have been stronger if Shelby would have continued to be the quick witted, charming country bumpkin who was comfortable in her own skin. But she started to wallow in self-pity, acting like she was not the right match for Boston and insisting that she could never leave Cuttersville Ohio. I started to feel like Shelby was right and she would have been better off in a re-marriage to her ex-husband, farmer Danny Tucker. Heck, he was even starting to look too good for her! The ghosts that may or may not have been haunting or cohabitating in the houses of Jessie Stritmeyer, Shelby's grandmother, never had a resolution within the story. This would not have been 100% necessary, but it would have added some depth since they were part of the background to the story. I felt overall the book started out promising but had some missed opportunities as it came to an uneven conclusion.

Ms. McCarthy has taken a turn and added a new aspect to her contemporary romance reads by adding a touch of the supernatural. Her ghostly characters although not headlining in the romance department do play a rather significant role in bring together two so opposite people that you can't help but to keep reading until the final page.

Boston Mcnamara has been sent to small town USA in what he views as a punishement. What has he done to deserve this? Answer is he has no clue. Add to this, he finds himself renting a haunted house, has a rather quirky land lady and oh, yeah, locked doors mean nothing to sexy Shelby. Resident ghost tour guide. Could life get any more complicated? Well of course it could!

Shelby is making ends meet by taking people around her small town on a personal guided tour of hunted houses. Cuttersville is loaded with them and her grammy just so happens to own many of them. She is in for the shock of her life when she brings her tour to "the white house" only to find it not haunted by spooks but instead occupied by one sexy man. Of course Boston is not thrille to be caught without a stich on by Shelby and her faithful followers. What follows is a wonderfully funny and moving read about thinking you know what you want only to find out you could not be more wrong. But in a good way that is. Now if the ghost have their way there will be a happy ending for them both.

Ms. McCarthy truly knows how to tell a story and how to create characters that a reader will feel attached to. This effort is no different and her creation of small town america made this expat homesick! Again in a good way. This read is one that I highly recommend that you add to TBR pile. You won't be sorry.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com

I love Shelby and Boston.
This was a reread for me. I laughed just as much this time around as I did the first time.
Shelby Tucker runs a haunted house ghost tour for people in her home town of Cuttersville Ohio.
She has been divorced from her High School sweetheart for 3 years. Shelby and Danny are still such good friends... Everybody in town doesn't understand why Shelby divorced him.
Shelby thinks she lacks passion. She never felt all the "sparks" with Danny. She thinks she is defective.
Until she leads a tour into a bedroom and finds a naked and sleeping Boston MacNamara.
Suddenly Shelby isn't feeling so "dead" inside.
This book starts out with one of the funniest scenes... I won't spoil it, but you have to wonder where Erin comes up with this stuff!
Boston is a rich city boy, sent to Cuttersville by his boss to check on a factory.
Shelby and Boston are sooo different. Yet you know they are perect for eachother. They have some obstacles to overcome. Erin writes in some funny, sexy, tender and sad moments to help them on their way.
A very enjoyable read.
This book is filled with great side chracters too. You'll want to read the next book in the series, Heiress for Hire. Enjoy!

Plastics executive Boston McNamara has been banished to Cuttersville, Ohio because his boss wants to keep him from his nubile man-eating daughter Amanda. A die hard career man, Boston wants no ties since he never knows where his career might send him.

Boston is rudely awakened in the house he's rented by a tour group headed by spunky local gal Shelby Tucker. The problem is that Boston is naked, and Shelby does not seem be in any hurry to leave. When he reads the fine print on his rental contract, he finds that the house he has rented for the summer is one of the more populated haunted houses on the local tour, and he can't help but run into Shelby.

Soon they give into their base feelings for each other, though neither realizes how deeply the other feels - communication outside the bedroom (or barn) does not occur with these two!

Shelby started out as a really strong, independent, and dynamic character, but as you got deeper into the storyline, she suddenly lacks self confidence, which was a disservice to her character. This was one of McCarthy's better novels - at least she waited a couple chapters before tossing them into the sack together for a change! The sequel "Heiress for Hire" chronicles Amanda's fall from her daddy's grace.

Erin McCarthy has written another sexy, funny tale in A Date With The Other Side.

Shelby Tucker was shocked to find a hot, naked man in one of the rooms on her tour of haunted houses in Cutterville, Ohio. Shelby for the most part likes her quite, simple life in her small town. But something is missing. Could Boston Macnamara be the change she needs?

Boston Macnamara is stuck in this two-bit town until his boss at Samson Plastics lets him return to Chicago. He is renting a house on the ghost tour that has him in daily contact with local girl Shelby. She is affecting him like no other woman before in his life.

Shelby and Boston's road to romance isn't a smooth one but it's a hot, sexy and laugh out loud funny. Throw in a ghost or two you have one sensation read. I thank my lucky stars the day I found this authors work.

Erin McCarthy is an amazing story teller and she just keeps getting better and better!! Her books are always fun reads filled with witty dialogue, and you can't miss the powerful chemistry she creates between her characters.

A Date with the Other Side is a sexy tale with a lot of laugh out loud moments. This book has great characters and some very steamy sex. When you combine those with the fun paranormal theme, you have a highly entertaining read that will capture the reader to the very end.

In Cuttersville, Ohio, Shelby Tucker leads a Haunted House tour when they wake up Boston Macnamara in the White House. Shelby's grandmother Jessie failed to tell her that she rented the haunted house to the naked hunk. Jessie informs Boston that the lease he signed allows the owner to enter at anytime. Already turning purple in exasperation, he turns green when he sees a big man with Shelby.

During the next tour, Shelby and Boston become locked inside the parlor unable to open the door or any windows. Jessie figures the ghosts are on her side in matchmaking Shelby and Boston. Her ex husband Danny Tucker breaks an outside window to rescue Shelby.

On a subsequent tour, the ghosts lock Shelby and Boston inside his bedroom. They kiss and begin to make love until the door suddenly opens. Shelby stops the kissing and caressing, and leaves.

Word travels that ghosts are on the tour. Crowds arrive expecting to see them. Shelby asks Boston to be around for her tours because he is the catalyst. He agrees as he and Shelby are in love; Danny tells her that when "Big City" leaves her, he will be there for her, but nice Danny is no longer enough.

The interesting support cast especially the ghosts enhance the relationship between the strong lead couple so that the audience receive a wonderful paranormal romance. The story line is fun to follow as the ghosts and Jessie play matchmaker however, no explanation is provided for why the ghosts frequent Cuttersville. Still fans will appreciate this otherworldly romance and want a sequel starring Danny who is too nice not to have a woman love him.

there was this girl--maybe a freshman in high school--who seemed to possess all that indispensible boy-girl scoop? You know, like where the noses went when you kissed and stuff like that. But once you got a little older, that same know-it-all girl was just an embarassment because she knew very little--but her confidence in what she did know fooled us all. The point is this author is similar. She has a big fan base, is able to sell her books as trade paperbacks--which at [...] is a big investment for most readers--and once you've read around a little bit you realize this is the most lightweight stuff and really not worth it. Her female lead is supposed to be zany but in reality is mostly flaky. The male lead is a little more complex but not by much. There are the standard charming, slightly wacky oldsters to add a little wit to the mix and her hook for this book--oooh! Ghosts with a desire to unite couples through really lame stunts! There are many MUCH better written series romance books available and at this price you could buy TWO solid reads that were written by authors who had committment and pride in their work.

I didn't care for this book as much as the others. The whole ghost thing didn't work for me. It seemed to make the story quite outlandish.

Was a quick, ok read. Not her best.

I beg the one reviewer's pardon! I loved this story!!! It did not fizzle. It, Popped, Popped, Popped! The plot is GREAT and the characters quite simply ROCKED! Buy this book and see for yourself!