Title: The
Ghosts of Rue Dumaine
Author:
Alexandrea Weis
Genre:
Paranormal Romance
Tour Host: Lady Amber's Tours
Ready to get
her life back on track after ending a painful marriage, Danica Giles returns to
the Creole cottage where she grew up in the New Orleans French Quarter. Danica
is anxious to rekindle her friendship with a former resident from her old
neighborhood, the seductive Gaston Deslonde. But Gaston isn’t exactly a normal
guy. The charming man has been dead for over a hundred and fifty years, and the
childish crush Danica once had on her ghostly playmate
quickly turns into something much deeper. When a handsome new man enters
Danica’s life, Gaston vows to do whatever he can to hold on to her. Danica soon
discovers that the most forbidden of all desires cannot be satisfied without
paying a grave price. Love can blur the lines between life and death when you
are living among The Ghosts of Rue Dumaine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Danica leaned against the
doorframe and reflected on the various stages of childhood and adolescence she
had gone through while occupying this room. The rainbow-painted walls her
mother had painstakingly decorated for her had been replaced with posters of
boy bands and television heartthrobs until her mother had died. After the
funeral, Danica had come home and removed all the posters in a fit of rage,
wanting to be surrounded once more by her mother’s rainbows. The last year she
had spent in this room, she had felt comforted by those rainbows, as if her
mother’s love had been forever sealed beneath the paintbrush strokes on her
walls.
"I missed this old place," she whispered.
A sudden rush of cold air moving down the hallway caused Danica to turn away
from the bedroom door and peer into the darkness behind her. She took a few
steps further down the hall until the aroma of cigar smoke mixed with a hint of
brandy wafted in the air around her. Danica remembered that smell. It had
always filled her bedroom whenever the dark man would appear.
"Is it you?" she softly called into the hallway. "It’s me,
Danica. I’ve come back. Just like I said I would."
Danica walked briskly past the entrance to the master bath to the final door at
the end of the hall. Without hesitation, she pushed the cypress door open and
walked inside the master bedroom. The light from the large picture window
overlooking the courtyard shone into the room, accentuating the deep burgundy
color of the carpet beneath her feet. She stepped into the center of the room
and observed the ceiling fan above. Danica waited, straining with every breath
to hear the slightest stirring.
"Welcome home," a man’s wispy voice resonated around her.
A hopeful smile curled the edges of Danica’s heart-shaped mouth. "Thank
you, Gaston. It’s good to be home."
A few minutes later, Danica returned to the living room, where she found Pat
scrolling through messages on her cell phone.
"Let’s sign the papers," Danica happily announced. "I want to
get moved in as soon as possible."
Pat gave her a wary going-over with her brown eyes. "You positive about
this, Danica? I need to make sure you’re aware that other tenants have had
problems—"
"It’s fine, Pat. I know you said the place is haunted and people have had
some bad experiences, but this…." Danica waved to the room around her.
"Just feels right."
Pat gave a skeptical shrug. "I have the papers ready back at the office.
The rent is eight hundred and fifty a month. Mr. Caruso wanted me to charge you
the same rate he charged your father. He insisted I make this as appealing to
you as possible. You must have made quite an impression on the old man when you
were a kid. He never cuts anyone a deal."
"Please tell Mr. Caruso I appreciate it."
Pat replaced her cell phone in her front jacket pocket. "Let’s turn off
all of these lights and head back to the office."
Suddenly, from the shuttered window beside them, three loud knocks reverberated
across the room.
Pat grabbed at her chest. "Jesus! What in the hell was that?"
Danica smirked as she watched the color drain from Pat’s perfectly made-up
face. "Just someone outside on the street banging on the wall…happened a
lot when I was a kid. Drunk tourists would often bang on the shutters at all
hours."
Pat regained her composure. "Of course, you’re right. I didn’t think of
that."
Danica motioned to the pocket doors leading to the kitchen. "Let’s get you
out of here, Pat, before you have a heart attack."
"Gladly," Pat offered and rushed to the doors. "I never liked
this place. I just hope you know what you’re doing, Danica."
"I know," Danica asserted with a grin. "I’ve always known."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Rachel:
'The Ghosts of Rue Dumaine, ' by Alexandra Weis is about a haunted house in New Orleans and what happens when the living for bonds with the dead. To grow after her divorce with her husband, Danica decides she needs to get back to her past. Moving into the house of her childhood, Danica soon finds that the ghost that she thought was part of her imagination still haunts the building. Gaston is part of the raw, physical past and it is interesting to find out about his life before being a ghost and situations he was involved in that were normal at the time but are slightly shocking to modern sensibilities and to Danica herself. Getting to know Gaston as an adult is different to her relationship with him as a child and it begins to become a love affair. Will she be willing to pay the cost for them to be together or will she find a living, breathing man to be with?
Gaston is a great character and comes to life gradually as you find out more about him. Their doomed love affair is really tragic and I was moved and shocked at the same time at what he did to spend just one night with her. I was actually less interested in her mortal love interest because I loved Gaston as a character so much. This story is carried by the amazing dialogue, which sounded like people really talking in my head as I read it. I give this story 4 out of 5 sexy hauntings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Rachel:
'The Ghosts of Rue Dumaine, ' by Alexandra Weis is about a haunted house in New Orleans and what happens when the living for bonds with the dead. To grow after her divorce with her husband, Danica decides she needs to get back to her past. Moving into the house of her childhood, Danica soon finds that the ghost that she thought was part of her imagination still haunts the building. Gaston is part of the raw, physical past and it is interesting to find out about his life before being a ghost and situations he was involved in that were normal at the time but are slightly shocking to modern sensibilities and to Danica herself. Getting to know Gaston as an adult is different to her relationship with him as a child and it begins to become a love affair. Will she be willing to pay the cost for them to be together or will she find a living, breathing man to be with?
Gaston is a great character and comes to life gradually as you find out more about him. Their doomed love affair is really tragic and I was moved and shocked at the same time at what he did to spend just one night with her. I was actually less interested in her mortal love interest because I loved Gaston as a character so much. This story is carried by the amazing dialogue, which sounded like people really talking in my head as I read it. I give this story 4 out of 5 sexy hauntings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alexandrea Weis is an advanced
practice registered nurse who was born and raised in New Orleans New
Orleans
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