Deep Down, by Deborah Coates

Review copy provided by Tor.

Last year, I thought I had no desire whatsoever for a paranormal romance with ghosts in South Dakota, and I was so wrong, because the book in question was Deborah Coates's Wide Open. So this year when I saw the sequel was coming out, I was excited and squeeful. More paranormal romance with ghosts in South Dakota, oh yay! quoth I, which--trust me--is not a sentence I ever thought would cross my lips non-sarcastically, but the world is full of strange things, and here we are.

People. It was even better. There were ramifications all over the place, stuff coming from character and previous reactions, and I love ramifications. Also the observations of Upper Midwestern/prairie/high plains dialog were so very spot-on that I sometimes just howled. You won't need any special knowledge of the high plains to understand what's going on in these books, but if you have it, they'll be even better.

And while they were initially labeled "paranormal romance," this is one of those cases where genre informs but doesn't constrict or constrain.

More, please.