In Maybe This Time
, Andromeda "Andie" Miller is finally getting on with her life. Ten years after her divorce from North Archer she has met the nice, steady man of her dreams. She plans to marry him just as soon as she has "closure" with North. To get this closure, she goes to North's office to return ten years' worth of alimony checks. He accepts them and all is well, except on her way out the door, North asks her to go to south Ohio and stay for a month with two children who have become his wards. When North offers ten thousand dollars a month, there is no way Andie can say no. When Andie arrives at the falling-in monstrosity of a house which was moved to Ohio from England at least 100 years ago, she realizes there is a lot more going on than even North is aware of. The house is filthy, the housekeeper is crazy, and the children are terribly neglected. When it becomes clear to Andie that there are ghosts in the house, she becomes determined to remove the children. The children, however, are equally determined to stay.
In addition to the crazy housekeeper, Crusie has added many other interesting and colorful minor players. Andie's free-wheeling mother, North's straight-laced, up-tight mother, his way too laid back brother, the brother's conniving TV reporter girl-friend, and an unconvinced parapsychologist are just a few of the supporting cast. Crusie keeps all these characters in their places with humor and some ghostly help. The final scenes, complete with seances, are well worth the few pages at the beginning where the action is a little slow.
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