GHOSTED by J M DARHOWER

‘But love is only as strong as the people who fuel it.’

What a story! We can’t stop gushing about this second chance romance! We loved everything about it..….e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g! But then, of course the phenomenally talented J M Darhower wouldn’t just write a Hollywood, second chance love story with a fabulous couple and the most adorable little girl you could meet, we should have known she would own it! A wonderfully executed, well-paced emotional love story, with the perfect mix of passion, angst, heartbreak, sweetness and swoon, together with fabulous characters we can’t stop thinking about it. We found ourselves constantly torn between never wanting this story to end, yet desperate to finish to see how it would all play out.

“You’re the queen. I’m just the commoner.’

We’d be here for days if we listed all the things we loved about Ghosted! This story exemplified the second chance theme. To experience the angst, the longing, the hurt and the pain of the characters having their hearts broken and trying to find their way back to one another, we need to feel…really feel the second chance element in order for it to grip our hearts and stir up those aching emotions and JM Darhower did that and more! Jonathan and Kennedy’s heartbreaking, heart-warming, painful and beautiful love story gripped us from the very start!

“I need you to know…that even when I completely fucked up, I never once stopped loving you.”

Jonathan Elliot Cunningham and Kennedy Reagan Garfield met at 17 when Jonathan walked into Kennedy’s American Politics class and straight into her heart. From that moment, the two became inseparable sharing their dreams and hopes.  All Kennedy wanted was Jonathan, all Jonathan wanted was to be a successful actor, and take care of his ‘queen’. Kennedy owned his soul…that is, until his demons took hold and their world fell apart. But how? Why? How did they come to that moment in the present? What made Jonathan self-destruct the way he did? All will be revealed! Trust us!

‘I don’t know how I’m feeling. I’m a twisted up mess, a broken once-hopeful romantic, holding my heart in a clenched fist and begging him to take it, yet I’m afraid to let go and give him that kind of control.
Because the last time I gave my heart to him, he crushed it.’

How JM Darhower intrinsically wove the past with the present, and the clever and unique way in which she took us back to the sweet, swoony yet tumultuous four years in Jonathan and Kennedy’s young lives, simultaneously toying with our emotions was brilliant! Nothing felt contrived, with past and present flowing naturally ensuring we were so connected to Kennedy, Jonathan and Maddie in the present, left no doubt we would experience, first hand the utter torment and despair, as we’re taken back to witness the disintegration of the hopes, dreams and love of Kennedy and Jonathan. It tore us apart!

‘Your dream has become my nightmare, and I’m begging you to let me wake up.’

Ghosted radiated emotion, transfixing us through every heart-rending moment.  Be it from the past love and starry eyes of two young dreamers, or the present with two people trying to deal with the past, attempting to repair their hearts for the sake of their little girl who was an absolute bundle of cuteness. And ohhh…those interactions with little Maddie and Jonathan will leave you in a puddle! Oh gosh, one scene, in particular, broke us as we shared the innocence of this cute little child and the utter hopelessness felt by a father trying to repair his past mistakes – that scene as well as others, had us in tears.

‘A day without you is going to be like a day without the sun. Don’t let her days go dark.’

Every moment in this story was heartfelt, beautiful, happy, maddening and saddening. JM Darhower breathed life into this theme, never flinching or sugar coating Jonathan’s demons, telling us exactly what was in his and Kennedy’s hearts, pulling us into her story, delivering realistic characterisation in Kennedy, Jonathan, Maddie and the supporting characters. Throughout Ghosted, she summoned our emotions in a story about the complexities of love – hopeless and hopeful love.

JM Darhower is an author who can convey a thousand words and a million feelings with one sentence, and once again, she has astonished us with her incredibly beautiful and raw storytelling. And oh that epilogue….! Prepare to have Jonathan, Kennedy and the adorable little Maddie steal your hearts!

‘You can’t get caught up and forget she’s sitting at home waiting for you. Because you live in a big, big world now, but hers is very small.’