Every once in a while I find myself in the mood to read a romance novel and when I saw a post from my lovely friend Jessica about a book called Bitter Spirits I was intrigued. It is part of a series called Roaring Twenties by Jenn Bennett and I loved it. It has a great story that revolves around two great main characters, the paranormal, and an interesting time period.

Aida Palmer is a spirit medium and works at a Gris-Gris in Chinatown. She finds herself pulled into a situation by her boss, Velma when a notorious bootlegger by the name of Winter Magnusson comes knocking on her door to help him get rid of the ghosts that are following him around. As Aida helps Winter not only with the immediate problem but also with the rest of the paranormal issues he is having, she finds herself drawn to Winter and he is also drawn to her.

I really did like both of these characters. Aida has been on her own for a long time and never expects things to be handed to her. She has lived a very different life than Winter and is fairly nomadic. Winter’s family has always been in bootlegging, lived in San Francisco, and had money. He works hard and lives well but tragedy has touched both of their lives. Aida lost her parents early on and then eventually her brother. Winter lost his parents and his wife in a car accident. Neither of them expect to find love or happiness again and both are surprised when they do.

As they start to unravel the mystery around who has put a hex on Winter and why, they realize their attraction for each other and begin what they think will be a short-term arrangement. As things progress though, they come to realize they mean more to each other than they expected but Aida has made arrangements already for her next appearance. Because of her independence, things come to a head and they have to decide what is really important.

I really liked the secondary characters in the story and felt they helped move the story along. Bo, Velma, Astrid…all added to the story. If you like great stories with some solid characters definitely check this one out. I am interested to see where book two of the series goes as it appears it is with Winter’s brother and if it is anything like this one, I may be on board for the whole Roaring Twenties series.