Eugenia Riley, The Phantom of the Bathtub

The Phantom of the Bathtub

Eugenia Riley

Love Spell, Aug 2006, $6.99

ISBN: 0505526522

In 1896 Savannah, Viveca Stanhope moves into her new home, Hangman's House, an old mansion with a reputation of being haunted by its first owner Alex Fremont. Viveca meets the ghost, but wonders if he might be a pervert as he seems to only appear when she is taking a bath and insisting on joining her in the tub. More troublesome to the new owner then her ghost is the staff that came with the mansion; their performance leaves Viveca to wonder if she should fire all of them.

However, the perverted ghost and her incompetent staff are nothing compared to her arrogant neighbor Maxwell Bleecher. He drives her into a temper on the one hand and worse compels her into wanting his kisses. She is not sure if she hates him or loves him or both. However, she must concentrate on one thing at a time starting with helping Alex and his beloved Loreli make it to the next stage, then improving the performance of her servants, and finally confronting her heart about Maxwell.

Readers obtain two romances for the price of one book as Eugenia Riley primarily focuses on the relationship between the new battling neighbors Viveca and Maxwell, but ably supplemented by the ghostly pairing of Alex and Loreli. These four and an eccentric support cast predominantly the inept servants make for a humorous story line. However, the key to this fun historical is that Ms. Riley insures her audience not believes in ghosts, but also trusts that love is eternal.

Harriet Klausner