Body & Soul

“A fascinating tale of reincarnation and redemption” from the New York Times–bestselling author of the Midgard and Fane series (Library Journal).   Though mountain search-and-rescue worker Jesse Copeland is used to risking herself to save others, she must tap into all her reserves of bravery to solve the most haunting mystery of her life: her mother’s puzzling death. Little does Jesse know her investigation will make her the target of two men: a present-day threat and a centuries-old hero . . .   Two hundred years ago, David Ventris, or Lord Ashthorpe, knew Jesse as a woman he had passionately desired—and then betrayed. Now he has a chance to right the wrongs of his past by protecting Jesse from the evil that stalks her. If only he can convince her of his corporeal existence and that he is a man she can love and trust, body and soul.Praise for Susan Krinard   “Susan Krinard was born to write romance.” —Amanda Quick, New York Times–bestselling author   “The reading world would be a happier place if more paranormal romance writers wrote as well as Krinard.” —Contra Costa Sunday Times   “A vivid, talented author with a sparkling imagination.” —Anne Stuart, New York Times–bestselling author

Amazon.com Review

Known for her supernatural romances, Susan Krinard combines an intriguing ghost as hero with two sets of characters, one the reincarnation of the other, to create a refreshing story of redemption through love in Body & Soul. Jesse Copeland, struggling to understand a childhood trauma that left her an orphan, and threatened by the return of a man she reviles, unconsciously summons up David Ventris, who died 200 years ago in the Battle of Waterloo. David, who can take full physical form, betrayed Jesse in an earlier life and seeks her forgiveness. Krinard deftly shows these characters becoming more fully realized people as they deal with heavy emotional baggage (some of it a couple centuries old!) while also confronting a very real villain and discovering a love that's powerful enough to forgive any transgression. An original, well-written love story with many satisfying surprises. --Ellen Edwards

From Library Journal

Haunted by memories of her mother's tragic drowning and her resulting childhood emotional breakdown, Jesse Copeland, ex-Peace Corps volunteer and current mountain-rescue worker, has her fragile existence threatened by both the unexpected return of the man she considers responsible for her mother's death and the startling appearance of a mesmerizing Regency-era ghost with an agenda of his own. Once again, Krinard (Twice a Hero, LJ 5/15/97) uses her lyrical prose to weave a fascinating tale of reincarnation and redemption, as she links a trio of characters from the 18th century to those in the present, with romantic, dangerous, and terrifying results. A master of atmosphere and description, Krinard lives in Concord, CA.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

"Susan Krinard was born to write romance."--Amanda Quick"The reading world would be a happier place if more paranormal romance writers wrote as well as Krinard."--Contra Costa Sunday Times

From the Inside Flap

The bestselling author of Prince of Shadows and Twice a Hero again displays her incredible talent and imagination in an enchanting new romance about a love so deep it will bring a man and a woman together...in another century, another life.Jesse Copeland, an expert in mountain rescues, has returned to Manzanita after years in the Peace Corps. Despite an indomitable courage that sent her rappelling down cliffs, she is haunted by the nightmares and shadowy half-memories surrounding her mother's mysterious death. Now she is determined to find out if her mother's "accident" was murder. What she finds instead is a man as transparent as air--sensual, muscular, his blue eyes burning into hers as she cries out one word from a place deep within her: David.David Ventris, Lord Ashthorpe, late of His Majesty's Light Dragoons, is, simply put, a ghost. He's waited two centuries to be called back to earth by the woman he wronged. He knew her as "Sophie," a wondrous lady who sparked a passion so blazing that time could not dim the flames. Now he is being given the chance to guard her from danger and get back his soul--if only she will believe him real and not madness. If only she will love him enough to create a miracle...and give him life again.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

"David!"The cry echoed in his mind as he crossed through the portals between life and death and found himself in the World again. Even before he became aware of the faint shape of his own body, of the unfamiliar room around him, he knew he was Back.Back from the limbo where he'd heard that desperate appeal. The limbo that had been his home for uncounted years, where he knew the passage of time only from those souls who journeyed through his private perdition on their way to the next existence.He knew it wasn't 1815, nor even the century into which he'd been born. He'd known it before his own name had summoned him to the earthly plane. But not one of his temporary visitors had made him feel how long he'd been gone, or how much he'd lost.She did.She no longer cried out but tossed on her narrow bed, throwing the sheets from her body. Her back was turned to him, sweetly curved, the bedclothes just brushing the swell of her hips. In the morning light he could see that her hair was nearly straight, falling a few inches below her shoulders, cut simply and left uncovered to tangle about her head as she slept. It was golden in color; guinea-gold, begging a man to touch the thick strands.Her body, petite and compact, was clothed in something like a man's nightshirt. Fine-boned hands clutched at her pillow as if it were a lifeline.Recklessly he sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling it give under his weight. "Well, my lady?" he whispered, his voice hoarse with long disuse. "We gamble for high stakes, you and I, and I don't know all the rules of the game." She'd called him; he knew she'd be able to see him, that he could speak to her and be heard. But how would she react to the presence of a ghost?He skimmed his hand a hairsbreadth above her hip. "Who are you?" he asked. "Will you remember?"But he willed her not to. Not until he found the way to make her believe in him, accept him, trust him as a benevolent visitor. A spirit, perhaps, come to help her in her earthly tribulations. He would learn what she most wanted to believe and use it to his advantage.And then, when the time was right, he would tell her the truth--just enough to fulfill the conditions of his unearthly bargain. Enough to get what he wanted.He smiled bitterly. "I give you fair warning, my lady," he said. "I haven't changed. I never change."He hadn't meant her to hear him, but she did. And this time when she opened her eyes they centered directly on him.He acted on instinct, willing himself to insubstantiality. He snapped to his feet and retreated across the room.The woman blinked and sat up, body rigid with shock. Her gaze swept back and forth across the place where he stood, searching for what she could no longer see."Oh my God," she said. She put shaking hands to her mouth, then to her cheeks. She squeezed her eyes shut and massaged her temples fiercely."Dreams," she muttered. "That's all it is."But her skin was very pale, and her fingers trembled as she fumbled for a smooth, narrow object on the table beside her bed.David knew she'd seen him. She'd seen him and was afraid, as anyone would be afraid to find a ghost at her bedside.

About the Author

Susan Krinard is a bestselling author of futuristic and paranormal romance novels. She has won a RITA Award for Best Contemporary Fantasy; Affaire de Coeur’s award for Best Up-and-Coming Author of Futuristic, Fantasy, and Paranormal Romance; and the PRISM Award for Best Dark Paranormal and Best Short Fiction for her novella “Kinsman” in the bestselling anthology Out of This World. Her romance Lord of the Beasts hit #33 on the New York Times bestseller list. Most recently, Krinard has published the Nightsiders paranormal romance series with Harlequin Nocturne and the Midgard urban fantasy series with Tor Books.

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