The beginning of Somebody Like You, with its pages and pages of mental lusting and the quirkiness of a ghost who loves Tom Jones, almost derailed this book for me. However, once the heroine begins searching for something to give her life meaning, and the book became more about the relationships rather than lusting after a hard body, the author had me hooked, making this an enjoyable if uneven read.

Kelly Silverthorne definitely feels she was a victim of the middle child syndrome. She spent her childhood and adolescence feeling ignored and becoming resentful about the lack of attention she received. Hiding this acrimony negatively impacted her relationship with her mother which she now regrets since her mother is no longer living.

There was one advantage of being overlooked. Learning the importance of persistence and diligence turned her quite serious but she didn’t care since she became one of Chicago’s best prosecuting attorneys with an astounding conviction rate. When Kelly loses an important case, a first for her, it throws her into a tailspin. Eaten up by guilt and her sense of failure, she returns home for some much needed R and R. However, peace is nowhere to be found with unnerving visitations from her deceased mother and reminders from Deputy James Harley of their X-rated night together.

James Harley has one goal and that is to get Kelly back in his bed because one night with her wasn’t enough. He is not a good candidate for marriage, because he’s raising his younger brother and taking care of his invalid mother, but he is the perfect person to show Kelly how to have fun.

This book is third in a series – and it can be read as a stand-alone. From this book it is clear that Letty Silverthorne has been able to come back to aid her three children in getting their lives back on track. While the ghostly visits are written to be funny, I didn’t find them especially so, and really felt more sadness that Letty and her children weren’t able to have this type of communication while she was alive.

All three of Letty’s children have undergone substantial career path changes. While I am all for getting back to the basics, it seemed pretty unbelievable that Kelly would be satisfied long term with her new direction. And of course we have the theme that small town living is best for what ails you – a theme that is definitely overused.

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Kelly in learning to have fun, embarks on a challenging new hobby. I found this portion of the book to be magical because it is the time honored way of forgetting about our own problems, and helping others. And the path that Kelly chose is perfect for her- allowing her to put on new facade instead of sister serious.

The author knows how to illustrate the building blocks of strong, loving relationships and that is one of the strengths of the book. I love the scenes where the heroine and hero share feelings and secrets. I thought that James was a little slow on the uptake in dealing with his brother, especially for an individual in law enforcement – a career strongly dependent on excellent communication skills – but I did buy into the logic that he couldn’t see the forest for the trees, and needed an outsider’s viewpoint. The weakest relationships showcased seem to be between Kelly and her siblings.

All in all, I found this book only slightly above average. Still, I know some readers find that talk about physical attributes adds to the sexiness of the story and still consider divine intervention in the form of ghostly visitations heartwarming. If you are one of those readers, then you may like this book more than I did.