Title: The Ghosts Between Us
Author: Brigham Vaughn
Series: The West Hills #1
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: March 1, 2019
Dr. Christopher Allen knows how to deal with death. He’s a psychiatrist who works with hospice patients and their families, helping them cope with grief and letting go. But Chris’s job doesn’t prepare him for the sudden death of his devil-may-care brother Cal.
At Cal’s funeral, Chris is completely thrown when he meets Elliot Rawlings, an artist Cal has been dating. Chris is hurt to discover that the brother he knew as straight was actually bisexual. Elliot is angry and resentful of having been kept hidden from Cal’s family.
After the funeral, a night of drinking at the bar with Cal’s friends leads to Chris and Elliot falling into bed together. The next morning, they’re overwhelmed by guilt and grief and agree to never speak of it again.
But Cal’s apartment needs to be packed up and Elliot reluctantly agrees to help Chris, as well as answer some questions about Cal’s life and their relationship. Despite their guilt and initial dislike for one another, they sort through the pieces of Cal’s life and begin to fall for each other.
Despite his best efforts to fix things, Chris’s family seems to be crumbling around him and he begins to question who he is and what his role with them is. As his feelings for Elliot grow, Chris must decide if they’re worth further damaging his fragile relationships with his friends and family.
Elliot’s rough upbringing has left him distrustful of getting close to anyone, much less another man who isn’t willing to acknowledge him in public. The odds seem stacked against Chris and Elliot, but if they can overcome them, they may be able to lay Cal’s ghost to rest, along with their own demons.
I have to be honest, when I picked up The Ghosts Between Us, I was not in the mood for a full length drama at all, nothing against dramas because I love them I just didn't feel like one at the time. However, I went ahead and opened my kindle and got stuck in. Now it did take a couple of chapters to really pull me in but that was more me not ready to let go of the couple from the book I read previous. All of sudden I was right there, like someone flipped a switch and before I knew it I was halfway through the book and desperate to learn the rest of Chris and Elliot's journey.
There is heartache and loss, distrust and pain, but there is also growth and discovery, friendship and heart. Some people don't like backstory, I however love when an author can "fill us in" on the past in a fluid manner without making the story "choppy" or pieced together and that's what Brigham Vaughn has done, a perfect balanced journey. Let's be honest, what better setting to use backstory than when you are packing up a loved one's possessions after they've been taken from us? Good or bad memories help us remember and move forward when grieving.
As for Chris and Elliot, well I won't lie, there are more than a few times I found myself wanting to give the doc a good shaking and more than a few whacks to the backside to make him see what he's taking for granted. But then if everything was hunky-dory from the get go than you'd be reading a 10-paragraph pamphlet instead of a full length novel and walkaway not nearly as entertained.
Chris, Elliot, and all the secondary characters all have a place in this story of grief, healing, and discovery and I wouldn't label a single one "extra" or "filler", each one has a purpose no matter how big or small. One thing I really loved about Ghosts is even when I wanted to throttle Chris I realized that what made him so real is as a doctor he deals with death and families on a daily basis and yet when it comes to his own grief he's completely lost making him that much more real and possible. It was elements such as Chris' expertise not really helping him that made me realize I could run into any one of these characters around the corner, at the gas station, or getting stamps. The Ghosts Between Us may be a fictional creation of Brigham Vaughn but they are very real and "everyday" kind of people.
So I may not have been in the mood for a drama when I started Ghosts but by the last page I wasn't ready to say goodbye and that feeling when I put my kindle down afterwards says more than anything I mentioned in this review as to how amazing this story is. Being able to get so sucked in when I was in the mood for something completely different takes talent and that is exactly why Brigham Vaughn is a member of what I like to call the Automatic-1-clickers Club.
Her books range from short stories to novellas. They explore gay, lesbian, and polyamorous romance in contemporary settings.
To stay up to date on her latest releases, sign up for the Coles & Vaughn Newsletter.
EMAIL: brighamvaughn@gmail.com
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