Tara Hudson’s Arise is the second in the Hereafter series about a human and ghost who have fallen in love. Hudson’s second novel is deftly written with undertones of mystery and an intriguing plot that will keep you flipping the pages.

Arise continues to follow Amelia, the ghost who has been stuck in the in-between for a decade, and Joshua, a boy who is very much alive. Joshua belongs to a family of seers, people who can see and speak to the dead. Joshua and Amelia continue their relationship that was started in Hereafter; but now that the dangers have subsided, the underlying issues of their relationship come to surface, making Amelia feel that maybe she should leave. Amelia is also experiencing nightmares which she can’t make heads or tails of.

The setting of the story shifts to New Orleans where the Mayhews, Joshua’s family, are gathering for Christmas. Amelia travels with them even though there will be multiple seers there, seers that could send her out of this world forever. The Mayhew family is an interesting cast of characters that introduce voodoo and more of the seer lore into the story. There are also several twists that come from Joshua’s family.

The story of a ghost and live boy romantically involved is tricky to tell, and in less capable hands probably wouldn’t work, but Tara Hudson manages to make the story interesting. There are several questions left unanswered that will hopefully be resolved in the third installment. It will be interesting to see where the story goes, and we look forward to the conclusion.

GIVEAWAY: There will be a giveaway for a signed set of Tara’s series at the end of the tour. In order for fans to be entered to win they’ll need to take part in the word scavenger hunt. Each blog will be posting a word and at the end of the tour fans will have their chance to unscramble the words to figure out the clue.

Be sure you check out the Mundie Moms site for all the stops on this blog tour.