Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement Moore

Genre: Ghosts

Hardcover: 416 Pages

Published: July 12, 2011

Series: Goodnight Family

            1. Texas Gothic

            2. Spirit and Dust

Rating:★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Amy Goodnight knows that the world isn't as simple as it seems—she grew up surrounded by household spells and benevolent ghosts. But she also understands that "normal" doesn't mix with magic, and she's worked hard to build a wall between the two worlds. Not only to protect any hope of ever having a normal life.

Ranch-sitting for her aunt in Texas should be exactly that. Good old ordinary, uneventful hard work. Only, Amy and her sister, Phin, aren't alone. There's someone in the house with them—and it's not the living, breathing, amazingly hot cowboy from the ranch next door.

It's a ghost, and it's more powerful than the Goodnights and all their protective spells combined. It wants something from Amy, and none of her carefully built defenses can hold it back.

This is the summer when the wall between Amy's worlds is going to come crashing down.

My Review:

            When a book starts off with, "The goat was in the tree again" you know for sure that it's going to be an interesting book. Seriously, my first thought was did I read that right? I literally looked around with a confused expression and then thought what the heck lets keep reading. I'm so glad I kept reading because this book turned out to be better than I expected. Yes, it was slow for the first half of the book, but by the middle it picked up pace. The writing style was interesting and I felt like I connected with the characters.

            The speaking style of the characters was simple, yet intriguing. I loved all the characters because of their spunk and attitude. Amy Goodnight and  her sister Phin were a hoot and not like the regular female leads. They didn't hopelessly fall in love with the first guy they saw, they made mature and smart decisions, and they definitely didn't bore me to death. Their characters were funny and entertaining. My favorite parts were when Amy and Ben got into arguments and bickered over the most stupidest things. At first they didn't like each other, but as their bantering continued they grew to tolerate each other.

            It's finally summer break. Amy and her sister Phin are spending the summer tending to their aunts ranch in Texas. All Amy wants is to have a non-eventful summer (with the exception of the goat in the tree) where she can just relax and be herself. But life has other things planned for her. What she thought was going to be a boring summer turned into a very eventful one. First, she had to run out of her shower in her underwear to save a stupid goat who got it self stuck in a tree. Then she meets her annoying neighbor Bed, who gets under her skin. Finally, she has a ghost on her tail asking for help. The Goodnights have supernatural powers in their family. While the rest of her family accepts their abilities to talk to ghosts, all Amy wants is to be normal. Little does she know, her supernatural abilities are very powerful and she's the only one who can help this ghost.

            This combination of magic, ghosts, and supernatural abilities with a mix of science was my favorite thing about this novel. It was an interesting topic to read and the adding of Texas history made this an even more entertaining. Overall,  a really good book to read. I definitely recommend it if you like a good ghost story with a hint of magic! Plus the romance was slow and sweet!