I don’t really know what I was expecting from this book. I went in unprepared- I honestly was just so captivated by the cover, that I wanted to read it.

What I found was a book unlike anything I’ve ever read. This book was a frustration and a joy, heartache and elation.

There was so much emotion, so many layers, and such a creatively funny, genuine and heartfelt depth. A series of oddities, woven together to create an incredible story I wish I could read again for the first time.

I loved this one, and I love the love of knowing yourself twice. Of re-claiming your life then losing the lease on it. Of love, for family, for past, for new love and alternate timelines. For Star Trek.

5/5. I’d give it more if I could.

(Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook. My review was honest and I appreciate you giving me extra time to love this one in advance.)

When you pick up a romance book with the premise that one of the leads is a ghost you prepare yourself to suspend disbelief for a while. However, to enjoy this book you would need to not only suspend disbelief, but suspend the concept that the author did any basic research at all before writing this book.

Non spoiler examples:
• The FMC (Jillian) is able to afford an apartment in NYC within walking blocks of Time Square by herself while not coming from an affluent family.
• Online newspapers that focus on events in NYC that only opened for business less than 10 years ago can afford office space in NYC, only needs to employee 5 full time staff members, and needs a massive wall of TVs that features every news channel in the world playing all at once.
• Locations around NYC. A quick map search online would have fixed this issue.

I have a hard time believing this wasn’t a debut novel from a high school student living in a small town in the middle of nowhere. The writing and the remarks about locations around NYC came off as more of an idealized and romanticized version of NYC. Which is fine to a point, but describing sushi and curry as wildly exotic food while name dropping famous landmarks is hard to take when the character is described as someone who is “from the city”.

The writing was juvenile throughout and the over use of “says” as a dialogue tag was alarming. Several of the chapter transitions were rough and jarring. One chapter would end during X scene then the next chapter would open in the middle of a completely different scene and barely reference where the previous chapter left off.

The author tried so hard to make the Jillian quirky and different that in the end she comes off as manic and unstable. There were several times when I thought for sure the people around her would stop enabling her and have her mentally evaluated. This had nothing to do with her seeing a ghost either. It 100% has to do with how she interacts with others/the world around her and meets Daniel later.

On that note, I did not buy into the love story between the Jillian and Daniel. The first half was all over the place and the second half was entirely too manic. I have a hard time believing a man like Daniel would fall in love with a person acting the way Jillian did in the second half.

Overall, this book was entirely too long. The story did not need to be almost 500 pages (or over 14 hours for the audiobook). The writing is wordy and several times felt like the author was going for word/page count instead of telling the story. The book needed an editor to trim the unneeded wording, diversify the word usage, and strengthen the plot. I am happy to suspend disbelief to understand the why/how of a story like this, but sadly the author never explains why things happened.

Note for the audiobook: there are two narrators listed on the cover and the description. I naively thought this meant the book was dual POV. No. I was wrong. I spent so much time expecting and anticipating the other POV without any reward. The male narrator is only used in the last 1% of the book in the second epilogue. Not to spoil anything, but the second epilogue was obviously added after the fact to try and explain the how of the story. It fails and only manages to add more to my confusion and questions.

Ghosted by Sarah Ready
Narrated by Sarah Naughton and Rob Brinkman

Jillian Nejat is so shy she can't even speak to a man unless she really knows him so she doesn't get to know most men. Yes, she can talk to the guys she works with but they each have their own quirks that make them less scary. Her godmother has sent her on over one hundred blind dates, all of them never getting past that first date. Jillian is happy to go on the dates for her godmother since she feels like she needs to do things to keep her godmother happy.

Just having moved into a mirrored bordello like tiny apartment, Jillian is shocked to see a blue jeaned, shirtless, six-packed hunk in her living room. He says they are friends, he doesn't remember his past, and he's not going to leave Jillian alone. The guy, Daniel, is a ghost, a real ghost, and with the help of Jillian's scientist best friend and Daniel, they decide he must be there to help Julian with something in her life. Thank goodness for scientific mumbo jumbo so none of us has to go farther with trying to figure the ghost thing out since it really is unexplainable.

Luck would have it, the one guy Jillian knows she could love turns out to be dead. That doesn't keep some open door romps from happening (I would have preferred closed door since things get pretty weird). Then something happens and Daniel is gone, poof, no more Daniel. Jillian knew it couldn't last but then life gives her another huge twist and she thinks she has a chance for true love. This is a very long story, almost like two stories in one, so a lot happens and it's best to not think too hard about it all. All but the last chapter is narrated by Sarah Naughton, who does a really good job with Jillian's POV. Then we get a last chapter from Daniel's POV, narrated by Rob Brinkman. I liked that last chapter, a chance to go to the beginning of it all.

Thank you to W. W. Crown, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks, and NetGalley for this ARC.

3.5 stars rounded up!

To say I devoured this book would be an understatement. I had the privilege of receiving the audiobook version of this book as an ARC from NetGalley. The audio was fabulous, the narrators were perfect. It was such a fun read. It hits all the good stuff. We’ve got a little spice, a little comedy, a bit of emotion, and paranormal romance.

I found all the characters to be really likable and funny. I loved them all, except for Buck. Buck sucks.

This was my first Sarah ready read and it certainly will not be my last. If you want a book that’s a bit different than the norm, I’d recommend this one!

The only reason I did not rate this book higher than a 3.5 star is because there were some parts where I was just like….what is actually happening right now cause I don’t know 😂😂

Thank you so much NetGalley, Sarah Ready and the publishers at W. W. Crown, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks

3.75 ⭐️

This was a fun book and almost felt like 2 books in 1 where we follow the FMC in the beginning and the MMC in the second half (though still all through the FMC eyes). While this felt very reminiscent of The Dead Romantics to start, it twisted and evolved and became a completely unique story unlike anything else I have read.

The premise and plot were unique and interesting, the spice (2/5 🌶️) was well written, and I enjoyed the character development.

My only qualm was how long this book was. I feel like it could have been trimmed down to about 75% of the total contents and we wouldn’t have missed anything. The writing and descriptions were well formed and beautiful, and the pacing was consistent, though a little slow due to how wordy it was.

I never wanted to quit the book, but I did feel like I needed to set it down to take a break a few times. The sheer volume of it left me feeling like I had to work at getting through it instead of being able to fully jump in and devour it.

Thanks to NetGalley, W.W. Crown, and Sarah Ready for the ALC.

This one was hard for me because it started out so great! I loved Daniel, the banter was amazing 👏 everything seemed to be going well.

Then there was an almost abrupt ending, no shift into a second part or anything, yet the story was very clearly going in a different direction now.

The same thing happened again, another time.

I loved the beginning and the ending, but there is a whole middle part I honestly could have done without 🤷‍♀️

I did still enjoy the book. The audio is great! I just think this one missed the mark for me.

The story was fresh and interesting. A love story, yes but it’s also wonderful to have the friendship of two girls alongside the main story. I have a mega smart bestie, so it reminds me of us.
The Trekkie fan-girl in me, loved all the nods to that fandom.

The dialogue between J & D is cute, funny and full of tension.

The setting of New York is perfect, it’s the best place in the world.

Ghosted, by Sarah Ready, is a most unique story of love, lost and found. Jillian Nejat is a relationship advice columnist for an online newspaper. The problem is that Jillian has no real relationship experience and is hard pressed to be able to speak to men. With her career on the line due to the negative feedback received by her boss, Bernardo Martin, her lack of relationships, and the thought that she may have to move back home and work for her cousin, Jillian is becoming desperate.

Soon after moving into her new apartment, a fourth floor walk up formerly occupied by a fellow who used it for boisterous liaisons with its red carpet, chandelier, and mirrored surfaces, Jillian encounters a shirtless man in her apartment, but when Jillian uses the bat her dad left her for protection he disappears. When he later pops back in sight, Jillian discovers she has the ghost of a man named Daniel that has sought out her energy. Upon deciding they have been brought together to help each other, beginning with Daniel helping her with the issues she is having with her job, but how will Jillian help Daniel in return? But this is just the beginning.

This is such a well thought out story with a plot that will keep surprising the reader. Ms. Ready has used the unique correlation between the Planck energy constant and the afterlife once discussed by Einstein to explain Daniel’s appearance. In the case of this story it is Jillian’s best friend, particle physicist Serena who works at the CERN, making this connection. This is truly a distinctive work of fiction unlike any I have previously read. I very much enjoyed this book and fought a battle with myself between wanting to read faster and wanting to make the story last. I certainly do recommend this brilliant tale!

Ghosted is “Just Like Heaven” in book form. I found Jennifer’s condition (and speedy recovery from it) a little unbelievable, which slightly detracted from my enjoyment. However, this remains a cute and fun story that reminds us the importance of love and the hope to find someone who will love us for ourself.

Wow, this one has a huge variance in ratings! I'm going to have to go with the 5Star people. I'm not usually a paranormal gal, so I was worried about that, but the point that love transcends everything won me over.

Jillian is pretty much an awkward person. She's gone on 150 dates that her mom's neighbor set up, but didn't talk to any of them. A traumatic event from her past has somehow frozen her socially. When she moves into a new apartment and discovered that a shirtless male ghost inhabits it, she just wants him to go away. Instead he decides that in order to move on, he's supposed to help her with her awful social life and her dreadful stories she writes for her job. The more he hangs around, the more she really likes him and wants him to stick around. But apparently, death can throw you as many curves as life can.

This was a pretty lengthy book that I really sank my teeth into. The story made me ache for Jillian and made my heart swell at times. It was beautifully written and quite frankly I had the urge to sleep with it hugged to my chest when I was finished.

I had an ARC and ALC narrated by Sarah Naughton and Rob Brinkman. Brilliant narrations! It really carried me away.

Thanks to W.W. Crown and NetGalley for the gifted copies. All thoughts are my own.

The audio was great! I had already read the ebook and love to hear audios of books I've loved. The narrator did a great job bringing Jillian and Daniel to live. Definitely recommend!

I loved hearing this story it was a paranormal ghost romance. Loved this the characters I couldn’t stop hearing I had to keep listening. Thank you netgalley for the book! Perfect listen.

OK… so this one at the beginning, I was like, what is going on? Why is a girl obsessed with and practically dating a ghost? As the story progressed, I began to understand the purpose behind Daniel, the shirtless ghost who occupied Jillian’s tiny mirror covered NYC apartment. Jillian, a relationship columnist, who is awkward at talking to men at best, suddenly falls head over heels for this ghost. Seems odd to me. When her friend sets her up on multiple dates to bring her back to the real world of dating, Jillian brings along Daniel who coaches her through them, but all Jillian can think about is Daniel. There was too much sci-fi in this contemporary romance for my liking. I enjoyed the second half of the book better than the first. Besides Jillian and Daniel, other characters seemed to fall by the side. This felt like a mash up between Sliding Doors and Ghost. I could see this one becoming a lifetime movie. Even thought this was a love story, I am starting up spooky reads… kind of.

I really enjoyed listening to the book. I’ve read a couple other “ghost” books but I really enjoyed the twists and turns in this one.
Both main characters were enjoyable to read and everyone had their own unique personalities (side characters).
The added in science and theoretical theories were a nice touch and how it’s explained makes since as you read it.
Everything was tied nicely together and I loved how raw the emotional parts were.
Definitely would recommend.
I’ll be posting a video review on my YouTube channel soon.

4.5 stars round up

TW: suicide

I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook version of Sarah Ready's upcoming book, Ghosted. The narrators did a great job reading the book. A special thanks to NetGalley and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for the free advance copy of this book. The opinions expressed in my review are solely my own.

I went into Ghosted knowing it was a paranormal romance, but it ended up being so much more than I was expecting. It made me feel such a range of emotions, from laughter to tears. At times it did feel a little long, but then the story took a big turn in a direction I wasn't necessarily expecting.

The author has a very descriptive style of writing, thoroughly painting the scenes throughout the book. Characters were complex and interesting, with side characters that had big personalities and their own character developments. All of this really brought the story to life.

I will note that Jillian, the main character, is a huge Star Trek fan, so many references to the show are made. I'm familiar enough with the various series to be able to appreciate the references, but readers not familiar with Star Trek might find themselves a little lost at times.

I don't want to give away any of the plot here, so I'll just say that I ended up enjoying this book so much more than I expected. It was hard to tear myself away from the story, and I finished the whole thing in just over a day. I would love to read more books by Sarah Ready!

Many thanks to NetGalley and W. W. Crown, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks for gifting me an audio ARC of the latest book by Sarah Ready, perfectly narrated by some favorites, Sarah Naughton and Rob Brinkman - 4 stars!

Jillian is a dating and relationship expert for her job, but in real life is incapable of speaking to men. If they’re living, if they’re breathing, it’s game over. She moves into a tiny NYC apartment and quickly finds it's already occupied - by Daniel, a gorgeous shirtless man is is apparently dead. Only Jillian can see him and she can talk to him like she can't talk to any other man. Daniel decides it's his mission to get Jillian a real man so that he can move on. Only they both seem to realize they have feelings only for each other.

While you definitely have to put aside reality (there are ghosts involved!), this is such a fun, sweet, book. And it includes many, many Star Trek conversations, so that alone gets a good rating from me! I've only read the last two books from Sarah Ready, but she is definitely a must read author if you are in the market for a great rom com with lots of heart.

This is a fun, entertaining, intriguing, good story. I enjoyed both the romance and the various subplots in this book. Daniel and Jillian are captivating, interesting, relatable characters. I enjoyed both of the main characters and what they brought to the story. Their development was well done. I also enjoyed the various secondary characters as they added depths to the characters and the story. This story has twists and turns that will keep you turning the page until the end. The epilogue was perfect for this couple and their romance.

I listened to this on audio and enjoyed the story and narrators.

Triger warning: discussion of the affects of suicide on family/friends and grief.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

**** 4.5 stars ****

Jillian is the only dating and relationship expert on the planet who is incapable of speaking to men. If they’re living, if they’re breathing, it’s game over. Jillian moves to a new apartment and soon discovers the apartment is already occupied by Daniel, who is also dead. He’s a ghost but is the only man Jillian can talk about and is soon falling for him but may be the only man she can never have.

I had a great time reading this book ! I loved it 7 was a very unique story, not like anything I have ever read before. This book was such a rollercoaster of emotions. This is my first Sarah Ready, and I will definitely be looking up her backlist ! If you can suspend disbelief, then I would highly recommend this book !

I listened to this on audio book. I found the audio easy to listen to and welll read and bought the characters to life.

Thank you to Netgalley, W.W. Crown Independent Book Publishing and Sarah Ready for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5
Thank you NetGalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Phew where to start! I really struggled to just rate this book let alone word a review. I wanted to love this book so much, it’s a first ghost romance for me.
So let’s start with what I enjoyed:
- Confusion I felt thought out trying to figure out what was happening.
- Her best friend and the co workers (well some)
- Nerdiness of sci-fi, conspiracy, star trek, science
What I was not a fan of:
- too much detail on every tiny detail
- Delayed climax
- Why is Daniel constantly being compared as a sexual deviant?
- Drawn out but yet we don’t see how he figures it out until the very end and yet not much detail about that.

I wasn't expecting to like this book so much, but that's exactly what happened.
It's an easy read, funny and sweet.
The audiobook was really good, I loved the narrator's voice.