Rowena’s review of Seeing is Believing by Erin McCarthy.

Hero: Brady Stritmeyer
Heroine: Piper Tucker

Cuttersville, Ohio is full of ghosts, and they all want Piper Tucker’s help.
One guy in town just wants Piper.

Ever since Piper Tucker was young she wanted to be like everyone else, but her uncanny ability to see ghosts always put her on the other side of normal. And the apparitions are showing up now more than ever, desperately seeking help. But what can she possibly do for them? They’ve already been dead for years. Besides, she has a personal concern of her own right now. A real flesh and blood concern—named Brady.

He’s Piper’s childhood crush, and no sooner is he back in town than sparks start giving off heat. For Brady, it’s hard not to notice the sexy young woman Piper’s become, or forget the special gift she had as a girl. And right now it could come in handy, because a long-forgotten murder has been keeping a restless spirit from finding peace. All Piper and Brady have to do is solve the crime to put the specter to rest. But the passion brewing between them is just as restless, and could prove twice as dangerous.

It’s been quite a long time since I read Heiress for Hire by Erin McCarthy, which features the couple from that book’s daughter…all grown up.  My plan was to read Heiress for Hire again before opening up this book because I’m not quite the spring chicken that I used to be so I don’t remember a hot damn thing from that book.  I only remember that I liked it, a great deal.  Anyway, that re-read didn’t happen but I jumped into this book anyway.

So this book follows Danny’s daughter Piper Tucker as she finds happiness with the boy that she had such a crush on back in the day.  Brady Stritmeyer.  Brady used to have blue hair and he painted Piper’s room when she came to live with Danny and he was nice to her.  Not a lot of people were nice to her because, well, she sees ghosts.  Everyone thought she was a freak when she was younger but now that she’s older, she knows how to control her reactions to her ghost sightings.

When we first met Piper, she was a young girl who lost her mother and was left with a prick of a step-father.  Not wanting to deal with Piper anymore, her step father drops her on Danny Tucker’s front porch.  Back then, Piper was emotionally scarred and it took Danny a long time to get Piper to trust him and still, Piper has issues with trust and well, life.  Piper’s early life wasn’t easy and sometimes the memories keep her glued to what she knows and what she’s comfortable with.  It doesn’t leave much room for growing as a person.  She’s a kind person, someone who cares about those around her and she’s just genuinely, good.

Then there’s Brady Stritmeyer.  He left town the minute he turned 18 and hasn’t come back since.  He didn’t visit all that much but now he’s back.  He got laid off from his job in Chicago, he’s not painting anymore and he’s 31 years old without a plan.  He’s got three weeks of savings to hold him over until he finds something else so going home for the free rent is really all he’s thinking about.  He hopes to crash at his cousin Shelby’s house but when he shows up and Shelby’s not there, he’s not that mad.  He’s not that mad because in Shelby’s place is little Piper Tucker all grown up and looking good enough to eat.

I really liked getting to know both Brady and Piper.  They were interesting characters that had a lot of growing left to do.  I really liked that this was a contemporary romance about two characters that don’t have their shit together, are not super rich, dealing with real problems and were still able to get that happy ending that we’re all striving for in our real lives.  They were believable characters with lives that were interesting and kept me invested in the story.  I think McCarthy did a great job of making me want to read more.  She created characters that warmed me right up and kept me entertained.  I’m so glad that I picked this up to read because it was a solid story with characters that I remembered from Heiress for Hire.

I will say that my least favorite part of the book was the whole ghost love story of Rachel and the original Brady.  That part of the story dragged for me but I enjoyed the other parts so much that it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story too much.  I really liked seeing how far Brady came from the beginning to the end.  When we first see him in this book, he’s so insecure and down on himself, not comfortable in his own skin but at the end?  You saw the growth and I couldn’t help but admire the man he came to be…by coming back home.

And it was the same with Piper.  She came a long way as well, though her’s was much more of an emotional journey than Brady’s.  She was the perfect person before but I liked that Brady helped her become a more relaxed person, someone who went after what she wanted and didn’t worry too much about the people around her.  She started living for herself and that was nice to see.

Overall, this was a good read.  I’m glad that I read it.

Grade: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.