Good Spirits Review: A Cozy Reimagining of A Christmas Carol

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I didn’t expect Good Spirits by B.K. Borison to undo me the way it did.

I picked it up expecting a cozy holiday romance. Something festive 🎄, a little magical ✨, and easy to sink into during December. What I found instead was a story that moves gently, builds deliberately, and handles emotion with surprising care.

I found a book that knows how to pull you in. One that knows how to be soft, when to be funny, and when to let you sit quietly in the feelings it is trying to invoke, without ever forcing it.

✦ TL;DR (the spirit of love)

🎄 A cozy paranormal holiday romance
👻 A Ghost of Christmas Past who only cares about her
🍬 A sugar-loving heroine with quiet depth and complicated family ties
🧭 Mirrored pasts, gentle mystery, and emotional payoff
❄️ Winter-white vibes, festive without overdoing it
💔💖 Predictable in structure, devastating in feeling

Title: Good Spirits (Ghosted, 1)

Author: B.K. Borison

Publisher: Avon

Format: eARC

Genre: Contemporary, Holiday Romance, Romance

Release Date: October 21, 2025

Pages: 384

Star Rating: 5 stars (♾️ stars)

Spice Rating: 1 chili pepper

A Ghost, a Girl, and a Premise That Lies (Just a Little)

Nolan Callahan is the Ghost of Christmas Past.

He’s supposed to haunt. Do his job. Leave. Return to his otherwise aimless existence while he waits for whatever comes after.

Harriet York is…not a Scrooge.

She loves the holidays. Needs her December rituals. Carries candy canes in her pockets (emotional support candy). Tries very hard to be good, to be helpful, to keep everyone around her comfortable, even when it costs her something. She’s a people pleaser to her core, a little quirky, a little too cheerful, and quietly carrying fractures in her relationship with her sister and mother.

So when Nolan appears, insisting it’s not too late to mend her ways, the setup immediately feels off. And that’s where the magic starts.

Because Harriet’s memories aren’t about grand transgressions. They’re innocuous. Tender. Too small to justify a haunting.

Which begs the real question:

Who is this haunting actually for? Harriet? Orrrr Nolan?

The Quiet Mystery Under the Tinsel

From the very first chapter, I suspected Harriet was a much bigger part of Nolan’s life than either of them realized. The clues are there early: flashes of sea glass, pale, pale pink, a compass motif that keeps resurfacing. The plot is predictable in the sense that the shape of it is visible early on. Especially if you know A Christmas Carol. But the emotional truth underneath still unfolds with care.

Good Spirits isn’t a book about shocking twists.

It’s a book about recognition.

Watching Nolan and Harriet slowly understand how their pasts mirror each other, even before they have the language for it, is quietly devastating in the best way.

Characters That Make You Feel Everything

Nolan is broody, soft-spoken, and utterly devoted to Harriet. He’s the kind of grump whose entire world narrows to one person, and it’s deeply endearing. Watching him shift from a ghost with a once-a-year assignment to someone who wants to experience life was tender and surprisingly emotional.

Harriet, meanwhile, is a mess. Not in a chaotic way, but in that “cheerful armor” way. She doesn’t quite fit anywhere, and by the end of the book, she stops trying to force herself into spaces that don’t want her. Her arc made me incredibly proud of her.

Together? They’re utterly adorable. Soft. Supportive. Genuinely kind to one another. There are so many moments that made me giggle, scoff out loud, and then suddenly blink back tears. Nolan, carrying candy canes just for Harriet, lives rent-free in my mind and heart.

Pacing, Prose, and That Cozy, Cry-Worthy Feeling

The pacing is beautifully balanced. The story moves without ever feeling overwhelming, and yet I still wanted more. That bittersweet ache you get when you know a book is exactly as long as it needs to be, even though you’re not ready to let go.

And the writing? Smooth. Effortless. Warm.

Good Spirits was my first B.K. Borison book, and it absolutely won’t be my last.

By the end, I had tears tracking down my cheeks, and my heart was bursting. The kind that you don’t rush to wipe away or let dissipate. Even after closing the book, I had the overwhelming urge to reopen it and start again, just to sit in that feeling a little longer.

Harriet is Nolan’s true north 🧭.

And their story is quietly, achingly magical.

It. Was. Perfect.

Read This If You Like…

• Reimaginings of A Christmas Carol with a romantic twist
• Cozy holiday romances with emotional depth
• Paranormal elements woven into contemporary romance
• Grumpy/sunshine dynamics done softly
• Stories that make you cry in a quiet, satisfying way

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for providing me with an eCopy of Good Spirits to read and review. Don’t forget to support your local indie bookstore and pick up Good Spirits.

At the time of this posting, Libro.fm has the audiobook for only $3.99! The sale ends December 31st! So jump on it.

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