Review: Here and Again by Nicole R. Dickson

Title: Here and Again
Author: Nicole R. Dickson
Format: Paperback
Publisher: NAL Trade
Publish Date: June 3, 2014
Source: I received a copy from the PR; however, this did not affect my review.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "For nurse Ginger Martin, her late husband’s farm is both a treasured legacy and the harbinger of an uncertain future. Since he was recently killed in Iraq, every day is fraught with grief that won’t abate. Keeping the farm going and nourishing her children’s hopes without him seems as impossible as having dreams for the future—or going back into the past....

By a curious coincidence, a stranger appears in Ginger’s life, always showing up to help in unexpected and much-needed ways. He says he’s a soldier, lost and trying to make his way home, but Ginger understands that Samuel is a kindred spirit, longing to repair a life interrupted. The challenges of their hopes and longings will test who they really are in the most heartbreaking of ways. And only by coming to terms with their losses and the necessity of change will Ginger and Samuel be able to each make a future of their own—and discover at last where their true home lies...."

My Two Cents:

In "Here and Again," Ginger really wants to keep her husband's family farm in the Virginia countryside after he is killed in action in Iraq. She wants her three children to be able to grow up on the farm as was her husband's dream. The reality is that Ginger doesn't have enough money to keep the farm afloat nor does she know how to effectively run a farm. She's losing hope of being able to keep the farm when a ghost (of all things) appears to her. Samuel is a ghost from the Civil War (although he prefers she would call him a spirit instead of a ghost). He says that he will be able to help Ginger and her children run the farm. Ginger is pretty sure she's seeing things by as she has no other choice she decides to go along with the plan. This is a great story about family with the paranormal twist.

I really enjoyed this engaging story. It is definitely a different kind of story and I love reading something new and different. The part about Samuel being from the past was not expected at all from reading the synopsis of the book but it was a nice surprise for me. In a lot of ways, this book reminded me of Audrey Niffenegger's "The Time Traveler's Wife," which is one of my favorite stories.

The story is definitely a unique way and if you're looking for something off the beaten path, this might be a great pic for you. I really enjoyed the way that the author was able to make the spirit in the story feel authentic. I like that the author chose to include letters from Samuel to his lover during Civil War times. It allows you to get a little bit of a taste of of the time that Samuel actually lived in.I also liked how Ginger and the children dealt with the appearance of the Spirit. I thought that the author definitely did a good job of making everything feel very real, which is important to me in a book like this. Overall, I really enjoyed this story!