When two young men inherit an estate, they realize one of the few things they have in common is having a close relationship with the deceased. Though on the surface the men appear to be polar opposites, as they become used to their new lives, appearances are deceiving.By exploring the immense mansion, each man begins to discover themselves; room by room, uncovering their fears, their hopes, and … hopes, and then, the reason their friend had made a decision for them.
There was nothing ‘odd’ about wanting to find love.
But first, this pair of unlikely roommates must conquer their fears.
Taking a chance means taking a risk.
With the stakes high, the reward is even higher.
True love – these two just might, have a ghost of a chance at success.
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I enjoyed it a great deal. I liked how the 2 main characters helped each other grow.
Not my favorite
I enjoyed this book. It was engaging and seemed to zag when I expected a zig, but so worth the time to read. Do find out for yourself.
The Best Character? The DEAD Guy…
The deceased character responsible for bringing our two protagonist strangers together in this predictable “opposites attract” rehash truly is the the most interesting character for recently deceased wealthy patron Benjy actually had a life outside of his mansion. He met and interacted with many people at the various charities he gave his time to, he had many friends, a long string of lovers, and was a notorious bon-vivant and raconteur who entertained his guests with endless stories of his loves and adventures at the parties he was famous for throwing. After his death, he leaves his entire fortune to two of his friends, Kelsie, (an overgrown man child) and Marty, (an undergrown stuffed shirt) with the condition that they must move into his mansion and live together. Hauser would like us all to wonder “Can these two polar opposites find love so they can have it all?” but the REAL question here is “Why should we care?” While most authors are either too short sighted and/or too lazy to create a world of supporting characters that help to define their leads, Hauser INTENTIONALLY creates two protagonists who literally have NO friends, NO family, NO interests, NO passions, NO direction and absolutely NO life whatsoever. These two completely undeserving fools are literally plucked from their boring, isolated lives and handed a mansion and more money than either could spend in a lifetime and do they take the opportunity to turn their empty lives around? Does street performer Kelsie grab the chance to quit playing for change on street corners and pursue a music career now that he has the time and money afford it?
“Do you have any future aspirations?” Marty asked.
“No.”
“Really? Not even cutting a demo recording?”
“Hell, no.” Kelsie shifted his arm on Marty and resettled.
“That world is so filled with liars, cheats, and greed, I’d get used and abused.”
“So, then, nothing to aspire to?”
“No.”
It’s a complete insult to your audiences’ intelligence to expect them to believe that even the most unmotivated individuals would do little more after a financial windfall than sit around all day reading, playing video games, get served meals by the staff, (in the form of Helga and Sigmund, two more utterly wasted opportunities to create some truly rich and fascinating characters) never leave the house, (other than one brief trip to the beach) and spend no money aside from turning one room into a home gym.
All plays, films and books are written about what happens to be the most important moment in the life of the protagonist(s) at that time. Without question, being plucked from your boring, isolated life as a bank teller with no friends and handed a fortune you had to share with a stranger counts as such an event. Events however do not create interesting characters. Characters must ALREADY be interesting when the events of the story happen for without interesting characters the events are completely meaningless and I’m simply stunned that an author and film producer like Hauser doesn’t grasp this concept. Any attempt to create depth to Kelsie or Marty is not even half baked such as the barely explained story behind Kelsie’s fear of basements or claims that “Marty had been hurt too many times to admit.” HOW? By who? How could a guy who is completely socially detached and has never really dated anyone possibly be hurt like that? Hauser gives us plenty of outlines and cliches but never bothers to fill us in on just how or why they got to their socially reclusive state which renders any subsequent events completely irrelevant.
The reason I find Hauser’s decisions so maddening is that sprinkled throughout are plenty of truly lovely/funny/touching moments as Kelsie and Marty move through the stages of dislike, tolerance and eventually love/passion. It’s such a disappointment that these well written moments are wasted on two characters she has given us absolutely no reason to care about or be invested in.
The awkward. final quarter shift in tone from rom com to Scooby Doo supernatural mystery (complete with a medium in a turban, seance and even a ghostly appearance by Benjy) does nothing to salvage this hot mess.
Yuck.
good book until the author just stopped writing with no explanation of questions raised in the book.
Loved this witty and eduring love story of learning how to trust and lot go of your insecurities to allow love in.