The Ghostly Diva by Sandra L. Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Vintage fashion, antiques, family drama, Hollywood, a bit of romance and a visiting ghost are all included in this wonderful book, The Ghostly Diva (Divine Vintage). This is one book of a three part series by Sandra L. Young. Just like the Divine Vintage book in this series, The Ghostly Diva proves that the author has a true passion for vintage fashion.

In this book, you meet Justine, the lead character who works in a small town museum as an Assistance Museum Director. Due to county budget concerns, Justine starts to feel anxious about the possibility of being let go from her job. While she loves her job, she feels as if she could look for something better. She is contemplating on moving to the big city of Chicago if her curator interviews go well with one of their local museums. Since she is unattached with no significant other or children to tend to, she thinks shaking up her life and venturing outside of her comfort zone may be just what she needs. She stayed in her home town to appease her parents but feels that she should begin to live for herself and her own wants, needs and/or desires.

Her office receives an interesting phone call from a local late celebrity’s son who is in town to wrap up his mother’s personal belongings before selling the house. His mother, who had a brief life on the screen while living in California, left behind many antiques and vintage fashion that the museum may be interested in preserving. This immediately peaks Justine’s interest so she reluctantly agrees to visit the home to help the son and hopefully collect a number of items that may assist the museum with their need for more traffic and interest in their museum.

As the reader, you get to enjoy the meeting and growing interest between Justine and the son, Jackson Maddox, as they try to tackle the complexity of a strained relationship between son and his late mother, an unknown biological father, an overwhelming amount of tasks to wrap up Liza Maddox’ estate, the struggle to let things go and perhaps a budding attraction. The impact of the drama and trauma of not knowing your biological father is witnessed from the beginning for Jackson’s character so his story arc is interesting. Plus the decisions that both Justine and Jackson make out of frustration, emotional immaturity, indecisiveness and sometimes what seems to be romantic stupidity makes for laughable situations that are relatable if you have ever made the wrong decision, especially at times when you know what the right decision should be.

Overall I really enjoyed this story, the growth of the main characters and the author’s fondness for all things vintage. The book has a great pace and doesn’t rush into things or focus too much on anything that slows things down. I definitely recommend this title.

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