Haunting Jasmine...Review

About the book:
Divorcée Jasmine Mistry is intent on restarting her life when she gets the chance to do just that. A call from the past brings her home to Shelter Island, a green dot in the middle of Puget Sound, to run her beloved aunt's bookstore. The familiarity is heartening – the rocky beaches, pewter skies, country boutiques, and above all, Auntie’s Bookstore, nestled in a quaint Queen Anne Victorian, and believed, not incidentally, to be haunted.

With that knowledge, Jasmine embarks on a mystical journey, urged along by her quirky family, guided by the highly emotional spirits of long-dead authors, and moved to heal her broken heart when she falls unexpectedly in love with an enigmatic young stranger. He knows about blurring the lines between truth and fantasy. In redefining the meaning of everlasting love, he urges Jasmine to reinvent herself in a place she calls home. All she has to do is close her eyes and say yes.

The cover is gorgeous and the premise sounded interesting and it was.  However, it took me awhile to get into it and it took me awhile to really like Jasmine.  At first she's a completely negative, angry, man-hating woman.  She's bitter after a messy divorce from her philandering husband.  I get that.  But, she was seriously unlikeable for the first half of the book.

Jasmine's also resentful of being forced to return to her hometown and run her aunt's eccentric bookstore where ghosts whisper and dead authors walk the halls.  Her sister is deliriously happy and planning a marriage that Jasmine can't be positive about and a mysterious stranger begins keeping her company.

The magical realism element actually worked here and added an interesting twist.  I love bookstores.  I think bookstores, especially quirky used bookstores, have their own personalities.  This really comes across in Haunting Jasmine and was the best part about the story.  I also found the East Indian/Hindu insights to be fascinating.  Some will want to know that there is non-graphic sex.  A light, but not fluffy read, I'm glad I got it from the library rather than purchasing it.

Thanks to my local library for having a copy I could borrow.  You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 3/11

* * *
3/5 Stars

Comments

  1. It sounds like this one had a lot of possibility. I'm going to jot the author's name down - she sounds like she has a lot of potential.

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  2. Hmm. Interesting. :) Love your reviews.

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  3. Might be one to pick up when I'm just interested in a light read. Books with magical realism usually appeal to me, so I'll have to think about this one! Thanks!

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