Ghost of a Beginning, the first in the Wickwood Chronicles by J.E McDonald. This book follows two main characters, Grace and Sam. The story begins with, Grace just finished college, unhappily working in a bank and able to see people’s aura’s. Fast forward to her jetting off to England and staying with new flatmates Sam and Tracey. Sam is a PI but also sees ghosts.
I quite liked this book, there's a depth to both character that makes reading this a read joy. I haven't read J.E McDonald’s books before, and her writing style was a lovely surprise. I will be reading her other books because of this. An easy read, funny and engaging. ( )

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this eARC of Ghost of A Beginning

I absolutely love this series! J. E. McDonald just knows how to captivate her audience and pull them in for the ride.

Ghost Of A Beginning is a prequel to the Wickwood series and to be honest I have only read the first - Ghost of A Gamble before reading this one.
I absolutely loved it and because it features Grace and Sam the two main characters out of the four in Ghost of a Gamble it was a perfect read.

This story as I say is a prequel and is set years before the first book of the series. It sets up the background for Grace and Sam nicely.

Grace has ran away from Wickwood and arrived in London, where she meets Sam.
Sam has basically up sticks from Oxford and lives in London as an investigator.
Their lives intertwine when Grace rents a room becoming his and Tracy's flatmate. With any good run away/travel/avoiding problems story Sam and Grace fall in love - Hurray!

In Ghost of A Beginning we learn things that we don't in the first novel and learn how the paranormal investigations come about.
I loved learning it all, I loved how their characters grew and how their characters relationship became what it was.
I really feel like I'd come full circle, especially after reading the first book the other day.

J. E. McDonald and her story telling is becoming a firm favourite of mine, her world building, her characters are just perfect. I haven't read a story from her that I haven't liked. She's a fantastic story teller and I'm really looking forward to reading more ( )

I won this e-book from Library Thing. I like looking through giveaways here on Goodreads and Library Thing and this one intrigued me so I put my name in the hat to do a review if I was chosen. And I was. I read it quickly, basically one sitting, it's only 184 pages after all. And it's a very good story with an intriguing premise, characters, and setting.
It can be a crappe-shoot sometimes when I request and win a book, but this one hit the spot. I am not always fab with romance or steamy scenes, but the ones in this book are written really well so I didn't skim like I am often wont to do. Steamy scenes indeed. Excellent visuals.
It could be thought that everything happened rather quickly, the relationship moving pretty fast, but I know that it can happen that way. Grace is on an adventure and she doesn't know how long she's staying in England. She meets Sam, who is pretty much in the same boots since he's left his posh home and the life and career path he's supposed to follow and here comes Grace and the chemistry hits.
Overall a pretty good read and I look forward to the rest of the series. I am curious what the future brings to Grace and Sam.
I can recommend this book and author. And likely this series. ( )

A great cozy love story with some steam!! Strong characters and a good beginning to a series. I’m looking forward to getting to them and the brother better. ( )

This is a Wickwood Chronicles prequel and so comes before Ghost of a Gamble, Ghost of an Enchantment and Ghost of a Summoning. As a prequel, it is a somewhat shortened story and is also considered a novella. Grace has been told some family news that motivates her to leave Wickwood in the U.S and flee to London. There, she hopes to somehow come to grips with the news her mother finally shared with her about her deceased father and decide if she wants to acknowledge it as something she can believe in or not. Sam has parents that have groomed him to follow in their footsteps as solicitors or lawyers as they’re called in the U.S. He takes a time-out and also escapes to London to do some soul searching about his career path. Grace and Sam become flat mates along with a third person and the story takes off from there. Both Grace and Sam have become close and have to come to their own realities and decisions. They want to make independent decisions, not just ones trying to please the other. They acknowledge themselves to have unique gifts or abilities. Next each needs to decide whether or not they choose to follow their own callings or bow to family pressure. There is humor, romance and, of course, the spooky element inherent to all Wickwood stories. ( )