Julia Dennis had been alone since she was a small child. Her parents had died in a car accident, and she had been shuttled between various foster homes for years. Her warmest memories, however, were of her time spent in Haven House. So when it came up for sale at the same time she had enough money to buy it, she just had to have it. And it came complete with its own ghost. Julia had seen him once when she was a child. What would he be like now?

Thomas Perry had been executed three hundred years ago for witchcraft. Unable to let go of his life, he was stuck haunting the area where he had been buried until he was ready to go on to his next life. When Julia moved into Haven House, he recognized her as the little girl he had inadvertently scared years earlier. But now that she was grown, he felt drawn to her in a way that he hadn't imagined he would ever be again. Each moment he spent with her made him long for his life back. And each moment made him feel more alive, if that were possible.

Julia hadn't realized how much her heart was missing until it found everything in Thomas. Just her luck to fall in love with a ghost! But each day she spent with Thomas seemed to make him more real--less like a spirit. What she longed for more than anything was to be able to hold him, and give her body the release it craved while giving her heart the mate it desired. And Thomas had discovered that with each passing day, he missed certain physical aspects of his life more than he had imagined. He desperately needed to be able to hold Julia the way he wanted to--skin to skin, and heart to heart. When he awakened--but wait, ghosts don't sleep!--one morning actually alive, Thomas and Julia didn't waste a minute wondering how long it would last. They just reveled in their second chance.

SECOND CHANCES is a touching story of two souls destined to be together, separated through time but somehow finding their way back to each other. That Thomas and Julia's souls recognized each other instantly was obvious. It was heartwarming to watch them come together again. Although the dialogue was a bit stilted at times, and the plot didn't flow so much as it jerked occasionally, Ms. Lee still created characters that I enjoyed getting to know in this story.

SECOND CHANCES really is a sweet story, with some steamy sex thrown in for good measure. It's a good way to spend a couple of hours when you're home alone. I think there is a place in all of our romantic hearts that wishes for a sexy ghost to curl up with!

Reviewed by Tracy Atencio
© August 2004