But the further you get into the book, the more complicated the characters get. Our narrator, Lex, is attached to her town not just out of sentiment, but because she’s built a life that can accommodate her anxiety. This is great mental illness representation, by the way: Lex has learned to manage her anxiety with the help of therapy, but the condition will never go away, and true love doesn’t cure it. Over the course of the book, it becomes clear that Lex’s home and her job are both tools she uses to manage her condition. This is something I don’t think I’ve seen before in romance, at least not to this degree.

Be warned that toxic family relationships take center stage in the second half of the book. Both Lex and James have painful histories with their families of origin. Both leads experience on-page controlling, criticizing, and emotionally abusive behavior, which may be triggering for some readers. (Personally, I’d like to kick James’ dad.)

For a romance about ghost hunters, the vibes are surprisingly not as spooky as I expected. Instead, this is a holiday romance with some ghost hunting on the side. In other words, more a Christmas book than a Halloween read. But I enjoyed it, and I think lots of other readers will, too.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the digital ARC! (Cross-posted review.)