Book Review: Must Love Ghosts (Banchee Creek #1) by Ani Gonzalez

Must Love Ghosts is the first book in the Banchee Creek contemporary romance series by Ani Gonzalez. Abby Reed believes in folk songs and ghosts, but she doesn’t believe in love. She lost her soulmate when her fiancé died while deployed in Afghanistan, but she still has her music, her crazy spectre-filled town, and her pen-pal-slash-best-friend, Mike Stone. It's a good life and she's happy, but when Mike arrives in Banshee Creek after his last tour of duty in Afghanistan, Abby starts to have doubts, about music, ghosts and, most importantly love. Like a good soldier, Mike Stone follows the rules, and Rule #1 is: Don't Fall For Your Buddy's Fiancée. His relationship with Abby has been strictly platonic despite his long term infatuation. But when he arrives in Banshee Creek, a town where the impossible is an everyday occurrence, he'll find out that sometimes rules are meant to be broken.

Must Love Ghosts is a contemporary romance between two people that have been pen pals for years. Abby was engaged to Mike’s best friend, and that bond keeps them close, and apart at the same time. Mike has been longing for Abby since he first saw her, while she was engaged to his best friend. This makes for a challenge that is hard to overcome- but the lack of try to talk things out causes more issues than anything else. I did not really connect with either character, rather I though the secondary characters and a couple outside influences were much more entertaining than Abby and Mike. There were some hot moments, and more than one funny moment, and the story came together nicely. However, I just never really felt invested in the main players. I am tempted to read follow up books because I found the characters of Banshee Creek to be wacky and interesting, but worry that getting inside their heads will make them less entertaining.

Must Love Ghosts is good weekend read, but nothing that has me eagerly awaiting the next book. I liked the characters, and had a few good laughs, but did not love them or care about them much once I finished the story.