Despite the very nice and unassuming cover art THIS IS A STORY FOR ADULTS! (just had to get that out of the way.)

Keiko has lived most of her life running and hiding from ghosts, because for her they are not incorporeal entities but physical monsters that are capable biting and clawing. She has the scars to prove it. When her college history class visits a historic home Keiko is very excited, until she learns the home is haunted. However, Ryudo, the home's guardian spirit, isn't inclined to scare and hurt her, instead he is intent on doing much more pleasant things. But, a ghost is a ghost and when it becomes apparent that Ryodu has no plans to let her go Keiko's only hope turns to Kentoku, heir to the home.

First off, I have to say this was something of an impulse buy. I had a gift certificate for B&N and had actually decided to pick up another book. The deciding factor here was the cover. Where the other cover made me uncomfortable because of the blatant picture, this cover appealed to the manga lover in me and had the bonus of being inoffensive and something I could read around my family. Morgan Hawke is the only author where I've picked up books on the weight of the cover alone (see "Tempestuous").

I'm fairly picky when it comes to erotica, I know it sounds strange. I'm usually pretty open minded but there are certain things like character personality, whether it has an actual plot and language used that will tip the scales in either direction. This particular story skated right along the edge of what I'll read. Yes, there were lots (and lots) of very (very) graphic and imaginative sex scenes with lots of the type of interaction some people would be highly offended by. However, the author, for the most part, managed to work it in to the story in a believable way so it didn't overrun the plot and without a plethora of nasty language which would have had me tossing the book away. There were a few times where the scenes had the "cut and paste" feel and the redundancy did get a little boring. The plot itself was interesting with regard to a rouge avatar and demon possession along with the unusual romance between the three main characters. There was even a descent amount of character development as Keiko learns to fight her own battles and learns to love both Ryudo and Toku. I'm not thrilled with non-con and was a bit squeamish about the allusions, particularly when it came to the matter of Ryudo's possession of Toku. Toku was by far my favorite character being protective without being overbearing like Ryudo and so obviously smitten with Keiko (and not so obviously smitten with Ryudo which was kind of cute).

Overall I think this was well written for the erotica genre with some boundary pushing themes and an interesting plot and story. ( )