cover image The Boundless Deep

The Boundless Deep

Kate Brallier, . . Forge, $14.95 (432pp) ISBN 978-0-7653-1972-2

Reincarnation and past-life recall figure in the efforts of Liza Donovan, a young grad student, to solve a 163-year-old “murder” via her dreams in Brallier's intensely romantic second paranormal puzzler (after Seal Island ). Liza and her best friend, Jane Bryant, head for Nantucket for summer break to learn more about the long-dead people Liza has been dreaming about, in particular Obadiah Young, a 19th-century whaler. In a wild coincidence, Jane's Aunt Kitty owns Obadiah's old estate, where the ghost of his wife, Lucy, haunts the stairs she died on. On the resort island, the erotic heat rises in Liza's dreams and in reality as she starts to date Adam Gallagher, a hunky museum associate curator who helps her with her research. Jane's childhood friend and Kitty's godson, Lucian Theriault, offers additional romantic distraction as Liza tries to unlock powerful clues from her dreaming mind about what really happened on those stairs. Mystery buffs may find the action too ethereal, but romance fans should be satisfied. (Mar.)