Maiden Voyage is a hauntingly sweet tale, with touches of humor, depth, and romance. These touches, however, were fleeting and surprisingly soft. The author’s subtle touch was a bit too subtle for me – I wanted stronger touches, more humor, more depth, and, yes, more romance. Judith O’Brien has written a ghost/reincarnation story set in current- day Ireland. After her father’s death, lovely American-born-and-raised Maura Finnegan inherited the family business, Finnegan’s Freeze-Dried Cabbage. But the company is going under and a last-minute reprieve in the way of an inheritance from a long-lost relative in Ireland could help her save the company.

Her inheritance includes a ramshackle mansion and a furniture company that is in no better shape than Finnegan’s Freeze-Dried Cabbage. Donal Byrne, an Irish son, wants to buy Maura’s Irish business out for his German bosses. To put it mildly, they are at odds, but they also are attracted to one another.

Things take a decidedly unusual turn when Maura is visited in her Irish house by a ghost who is very reminiscent of Donal. The ghost is Fitzwilliam Connolly, who was murdered at the house a couple of hundred years earlier. Maura and Fitz forge a relationship of friendship.

Meanwhile, Donal and Maura continue their one-step forward, two-step backward relationship. He feels things with Maura, and he hasn’t felt much of anything since his mother’s death years before. This makes him a bit testy. He alternately lashes out at Maura or protects her, but it sort of hits the fan when Maura discovers his plans to buy her out. Can she trust him, or not?

As for Donal, he doesn’t know whether Maura is lying or loopy. But slowly, both are drawn into the mystery of Fitz’s death. Maura is sometimes Maura and sometimes she is Kitty, the fiance of Fitz. Sometimes Donal is himself, and sometimes he is Fitz. Together they unlock the mystery and change the course of history.

Amidst all of this intrigue is some delightfully comedic writing. The author has captured quite a bit of Irish essence, along with some truly funny moments based on lingual misunderstandings. I appreciated those moments and wish the author had been able to capture more of the Irish soul to go along with the humor.

This is a quick read that could have been longer, could have delved more deeply into the emotions of Maura and Donal. Instead, the deeper emotions belonged to Kitty and Fitz, which, I suppose, was purposeful in that through Kitty and Fitz Maura and Donal came together.

But things became rather disjointed, which I suppose could also have been purposeful as the author attempted to make the reader feel as pulled into another world as Donal and Maura did. I think she would have been more successful in the long run, however, had Donal and Maura been more than repositories for Kitty and Fitz.

And, as a long-time Star Trek fan, I was perturbed by the altering of history, which is something I thought was to be avoided at all costs. So getting beyond this part of the story was difficult for me.

The author did manage to capture some soulful moments for Maura and Donal. Most were brought on by the kinship to Kitty and Fitz, but the moment when Donal realizes that “we do have souls. Not only do we have souls but they touch and mingle and adore,” is lovely.

No doubt part of my disappointment is that there is no sexual tension, no building of desire…and certainly no “pay-off” in this book. There are a couple of kisses that might well have been platonic – that’s all. Maura and Donal do sleep together, but it is only alluded to, and I missed that.

Judith O’Brien is a talented author with a delightful sense of humor and the knack for telling an interesting tale. Some of the recipes for creating concoctions out of freeze-dried cabbage were hysterical. What seems lacking here is a level of detail. But I plan to read her again; her Ashford’s Bride is sitting on my tbr shelves and I hope to get to it one day.