The Ghost and the Graveyard

Knight Games, Book 1

By: Genevieve Jack

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's Summary

Grateful Knight isn’t looking for love when she moves into a rent-free house on the edge of a graveyard. At 22, all she wants is to recover financially so she can move back to the city where she belongs. But sparks fly when the gorgeous cemetery caretaker, Rick, introduces himself and mentions his suspicion that her new house might be haunted. Her attraction to him seems supernatural, and, despite her resolve not to get involved, she literally can’t keep her hands off him.

When things in Grateful’s house start moving on their own, another man enters her life - Logan, a sexy ghost with a dark secret. He says Rick isn’t what he seems, and indulging her passion for him could cost her soul. One thing’s for sure: Magical forces are at work in the tiny town of Red Grove, and they’re converging on Grateful. Life will never be the same once she's forced to choose between the ghost and the graveyard.

©2012 Carpe Luna Publishing (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Can't stand Grateful

This wasn't for me. Not because of the all-too-frequent sex-scenes (be they daydreams, detailed explicit thoughts or actual sex), I could have ignored them the way I usually do (I'm the kind of reader that thinks one sex scene a book is more than enough. I like chemistry and attraction and all that, but for me, things are usually a lot more erotic when they do not stimulate their privates in graphic detail every two chapters. I guess I'm a fan of anticipation) - not even because of the 'I just met him but he's like a total hunk, so I'll instantly fall for him' cliché (at least here, there's an actual, believable reason for this); no, what got me groaning and actually swearing while listening was our dear protagonist, Grateful.
I'm just gonna go out and say it: She is so stupid it hurts. Seriously, she keeps talking about the blonde paradox (supposedly, blond and blue-eyed Barbie lookalikes attract more men but said men also turn dumber in their presence) but she should be way more worried about the blonde stereotype, 'cause that's what she is.

A few examples (trying not to give too much away here):
1. She gave her ex control over her finances (who DOES that?! They were dating, not married, not even engaged). But okay, I could forgive that, because the author probably needed a reason to have her working a good job yet be broke - and not of her own making, so she can be the victim. Poor Grateful, who's only fault is having too much trust in others. Fine. But
2. she was *just* betrayed like that and had to move into one of her father's unsold houses, yet she jumps into this new guy's arms just because of his looks and her lust? She almost crashes her car the first time she sees him, makes out with him on the first day, and does *not* slow down after that - and yet, she isn't even questioning this in the slightest?
3. Also, this other, nice person who knows a lot more than her but can't tell (because of reasons...) repeatedly warns her of the adonis-caretaker, and she reacts like a 13 year old, basically thinking "You can't tell me what to do!" Again, not a second thought about why he might be warning her and that she might want to slow down and get to know the caretaker first. No no, not Grateful.
4. The caretaker tells her about a witch that lived in the 1690's - and her first reaction is: "A witch? You mean, someone who practices Wicca, right?" Yeah, sure honey, because this was a psychic witch that foresaw the creation of Wicca almost 260 years in the future. Seriously. Nothing against Wicca, but don't pretend it's an old religion. She supposedly knows several Wiccans, so she should know.
5. She's been talking and playing with ghosts like it's the most normal thing in the world (she really took her haunted house in stride), but the existence of a witch is unbelievable? Because ghosts that can clean your house and make you coffee in the morning are so much more believable, right? Not to mention convenient. Okay, this is probably less her being stupid than her being inconsistent, character-wise. But that's another problem I have with her. She jumps from yay to nay and back again without rhyme or reason. And she's selfish. She tells us how she's always thinking of others first, but her actions are so selfish it's infuriating.

I could go on, but it's really hard without spoiling to much. Seriously though, this girl doesn't have a clue and she seems perfectly fine with that. Strange things happen, but she never stops to think. Instead, she demands clear, precise explanations of others - understandably so, because she is incapable of putting two and two together. A strong, smart, kick-ass protagonist she is not.

Also, the author screws up her own time line. Grateful moves into the house, spends a few days learning of the existence of ghost, getting closer to Rick, etc. Then, at one point somewhere in the middle of the book, several weeks pass; later, she thinks back to "last week" when nobody expected her to know about vampires and witches and the like and when she hadn't yet moved into the house. A few chapters later, she's again been living in that house for several weeks. This is minor, but it would still have taken me right out of the story and planted me firmly back in my own mind, analysing the mistake - if, and only if, I could have immersed myself into this story and its world to begin with. Which I couldn't, because of Grateful's being way too dumb. And flimsy. Flaky. Infuriating.

I also had a hard time believing the other love interest falling for her so fast(!) and deep. I get that a lot of authors love love triangles (because of artificial tension, I guess), and I could understand him being in lust with her, but the tortured kinda unrequited love that he claims to feel after just a few days? Why?! Other than her being the protagonist, of course.

Oh, and the plot twists were really obvious. At least for avid readers.

What I did like was the creativity of the setting. That was new and a pleasure to learn about, even if it didn't make perfect sense (for example: if there really is only one witch to sort the souls, then there should have been way more souls at her house waiting to be sorted than just one (Prudence doesn't count, she was there for a reason). The witch has been dead for 22 years and we have 7 Billion people on this planet, with one dying every few seconds, after all.). But it could be that this gets straightened out in the other books in the series. That's often the case with series, they start out small and contained, then the world opens up in later books.

Such a shame, I had high hopes for this one. Oh well.

I did like the narrator, though. She did a good job with the pacing, voices and emotions. No complaints there.

What a Great Ride

Had my doubts at first when the hot sex fantasies started right away, but am glad I stuck with it. It reminded me of the Cat and Bones series and The Hollows.
Loved the character development and thought I'd pee my pants when a certain friend sees a certain thing and runs out screaming.
Narration was exceptional, and I've recently had some horrible ones.
I've already downloaded the remaining three (3) books and will probably lose lots of sleep staying up to listen!!

Reminds me of J Frost series.

I love the night huntress series and this has a similar feel. I want to see more development of the male characters but I really love who Grateful is. Another comparison is that it is H. O. T. Yep sinfully hot. This is my first read with the narrator too but she did a great job. It was fluid with out getting monotone and she got the male voices right with out sounding strained. Can't wait to start the next book.

Just not good

The story and the voice just don't match. I really just couldn't hear this book to the end.

Mehhh.....

This book wasn't as interesting as I had hoped for. The narration was confusing in a few spots because the narrator wasn't able to clearly separate characters during a conversation.
I don't think I will be getting any more books in the series.

Love the author's voice, the character & the story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would recommend this audiobook to a friend. I love Genevieve Jack's writing style. I was hooked from page one and couldn't put this book down. I had to know what was going to happen to the ghost living in her house and what was up with Rick, the mysterious, sexy caretaker who lived next door.

What other book might you compare The Ghost and the Graveyard to and why?

This book was kind of like Buffy meets Charmed with an awesome twist.

What a hilarious ride!

This is the first time I've read or listened to any of this authors stories and will not be the last. This book had me rolling in laughter. Grateful is a young woman with bad taste and luck with men. The last boyfriend somehow drove her into deep debt so she moves into an old house of her dad's, something he inherited. The rent is free but with that is a catch.The back yard is a graveyard!

Almost immediately she meets Rick the caretaker who is hunky and lives next door.She also meets a couple of ghosts living in her house. Logan, one of the ghosts is hot and a great cook who makes her morning coffee. There's also a locked room in the house. Grateful grows more curious about the room and the tidbits she'd getting from Rick and the ghosts who coincidentally don't necessarily like each other so she pursues the mystery which leads to secrets about herself.

I absolutely loved the author's voice. She adds little antidotes that made the story memorable. I'm not a fan at all of romance but the humor, coupled with the mystery and paranormal had me glued. I started it in the car on my way to work and was so involved I continued listening while I worked. I couldn't put it down. The narrator was perfect for the character. Her voice was also clear and she used excellent pacing and inflection.

Through and through a wonderful, hilarious story!

high hopes

meh, very whiny heroine. narrator got irritating. all the back and forth. no I more for me

great new series!

always looking for another intriguing story. this one had a few twists and turns . It leads us to a nice ending that leads to another book. different view on the whole vampire thing. actually found it very intriguing. What will she do? who will she pick? tune in for Grateful's adventures!

Couldn't even finish it....

I was looking forward to enjoying a YA paranormal story. What I got was erotica that I was embarrassed to listen to. Could have been a good book if it was more focused on the story.

A gripping first in series

I really enjoy the storyline in this book, there are so many things that Grateful has to juggle to keep her life on track while adjusting to being a witch with so many responsibilities and challenges. It is quiet a sexy read along with suspense, paranormal adventure.
Genevieve Jack presents the story and the information in a very enjoyable way. Conversations that take place within the book explain the nature of her role and the challenges she faces as the Monks Hill witch. The story is told through Grateful’s point of view and it means that we discover things as she does and also that we get her thought process as well. The story-line is well thought out and well presented, making it a pleasure to listen to.
Brittany Pressley does a wonderful job with narrating this book. There are male and female voices along with different accents and she manages to give each character a very distinct, believable voice throughout the whole story. Brittany manages to express the emotions and situations within the book while maintaining a steady reading style.

There are 4 books in this series and they all meet the high quality of writing and narration that is present in the first book.