Hey ForeverBookers,
I’ve just finished “Good Spirits” by B.K. Borrison and I really enjoyed it. I read it at the perfect time of year too, so I think that helped my overall enjoyment but I loved the story too. “Good Sprits” is a standalone novel, but there’s a book 2, “Grim Tidings” set to be released next year. I’m guessing it will have different main characters.
It was my birthday a couple of days ago too, so it was nice to be reading a good book around it.
“Good Spirits” tells the story of Harriet, a down on her luck girl who meets her ghost of Christmas past, Nolan. They don’t like each other at first but they learn to get along and work together to unlock secrets and the mystery of what’s keeping Nolan stuck in the past when he should have moved on a long time ago. They, of course slowly fall in love and I ate up these moments. It was a very cute story. I much preferred it to “Lovelight Farms,” the first B.K. Borrison book I read at the beginning of December this year. I just found that one rather boring. There were stakes in this one.
I read Good Spirits for one readathon, which was:
Reading Rivalry - A book published in 2025 - Good Spirits was published in October 2025!
Spoilers Below…
“Stupid ghosts,” I mutter, flopping back on the couch and staring at my ceiling. “Coming and going as they please. Not explaining a single thing. Being infuriatingly vague and mysterious.”
“I’m hardly mysterious.”
I shriek and roll to the side, landing in a heap on my living room floor. My dryer-warm blanket tightens like a noose around my legs. Nolan watches calmly as I struggle to free myself, two mugs of steaming tea in his hands.
He lifts them in silent explanation.
“You left tea on the counter,” he says, watching me battle my quilt. “I made us a cuppa. Hope you don’t mind.”
If I were feeling calmer, I’d be delighted by the way he says cuppa. As it is, I’m trying to convince myself I’m not about to be murdered.
Again.
“I do mind,” I wheeze. “I mind very much.”
He frowns at me. “You don’t want tea?”
“No, I want the tea. I just don’t want an intruder to make it for me.”
“Intruder,” he says, heaving a weary sigh. “This again.”
“Yes, Nolan. This again.”
This is the second time Harriet meets Nolan. They don’t like each other here, evidently, I don’t think. Harriet, especially doesn’t like Nolan. Nolan is annoyed by Harriet more than anything else. I found his early interactions with her quite funny. It was like he fancied her, but couldn’t stand her, yet, there was always something that kept drawing him back to her. This something is revealed at the end of the novel.
Nolan helps Harriet see that her wrongs aren’t as wrong as she thought and that the world and those around her are sometimes at fault, rather than her. Her mother, for example is an example of this. Her mother expects her to be a certain way all the time and doesn’t or won’t accept her any other way. Harriet hates this about her mother.
“Harriet,” she says, her smile polite and distant. Her gaze flicks down and then up. “You’re wearing purple.”
Not hello. Not happy holidays. A criticism, handed over like one of the paper Christmas crowns my mother used to make out of old fishing ledgers.
A surge of fierce protectiveness rushes through me, twisting with my magic. But Harriet doesn’t wilt or fold. She smiles, “I am.” Her eyes find mine. “It’s lovely, isn’t it?”
I’m so damned proud of her. I give her a quick wink.
“I believe I specified navy,” her mother says.
“You did.” Harriet replies, turning back, her voice calm. The only concession to her nerves is the slight tremble in her hand. “You look beautiful, Mom. Everything looks beautiful. You’ve done a wonderful job with the venue.”
Her mother ignores the compliment. “And your hair.”
Harriet’s smile falters. “Yes?”
“It’s . . . different.”
“This is how I usually wear it,” Harriet says. She touches the bunch of mistletoe nestled behind her ear. “Well. A little fancier than usual.”
Her mother’s mouth twists. “A little fancier,” she repeats, her voice dry.
I step closer and press my palm to the small of Harriet’s back. “I think she looks beautiful.”
I say it like a threat…”
Harriet’s relationship with her mother is very strained. Does it get better? I’ll let you read for yourself but let’s just say that Nolan doesn’t like Harriet’s mother. He thinks she’s very unfair on Harriet and always putting her down. When they went back to Harriet’s past, they saw Harriet having an argument with her mom. Of course, Harriet being our heroine wasn’t at fault. It was all her mother’s fault. Like above, her mom doesn’t agree with her making her own decisions. She thinks she should always be in control!
Overall, I LOVED Good Spirits! It was a good, wholesome romance. I loved how there weren’t many characters. The only characters we really focused on were Harriet and Nolan, with just a few side characters like Harriet’s mother and Sasha, the co-owner of the shop where Harriet works. In Nolan’s chapters we see his supervisor, Isabella who is the manager of the “Department of Hauntings and Spirits.” These characters are very much side characters. They hardly come into the plot. It’s very centred on the lives of Harriet and Nolan and if they can find a way to be together…
I’m going to reread “The Princess Diaries” next for my last book of the year to fulfil my last 2025 Reading Challenge planner challenge.
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