Portrait Of A Kiss by T. D. McKinney & Terry Wylis
Portrait of a Kiss is a classical ghost comedy story.
Always when a young man kills himself for being framed, you has to expect that his ghost haunts the home. Even more when the stunning painting of that young man hangs in the master bedroom, and that wonderful blue eyes seem so alive. David inherits his aunt's mansion with ghost attached; a lot of people in town has heard stories about the ghost, but only who lived in the house had a chance to see him. Actually they didn't see him, but only the result of his action: Brian, the ghost, doesn't like to much to have strangers in his home, above all when those strangers try to change the furnishing or the interior design. But maybe David is different, maybe this time he has found a soul mate.
In 1956 Brian killed himself after the dead bodies of two young teenagers were found on his property. And since the boy was raped and Brian was the only man who had the courage to declare that he preferred a man companionship, it was obvious that Brian was the killer. The fact that Brian killed himself only added a proof for the town to believe that he was guilty. Forty years later, David, a former police inspector now retired, inherits the house and is planning to convert it in a B&B. The tale of the gay ghost only adds charm to it, since David is also gay, and the painting of Brian reveals a very handsome man: being haunted by such a male version of a Southern beauty, can't be so bad.
When Brian realizes that for the first time someone who can comprehend him inhabits the house, he can't believe to his good fortune. David is a very handsome man, someone Brian could fall for. The problem of the immateriality of Brian is soon overcome, and David and Brian share an almost blissful honeymoon restoring the house and deepening their acquaintance. But David is a cop, even if retired, and he can't shrug from his mind that if Brian is innocent, and Brian IS innocent, then there is the chance that the real killer is still around. Proving Brian's innocence could re-establish the good name of the man, but could also give peace to his soul, allowing him eternal rest... far from David.
Despite the mystery plot, and the obvious angst ending (I don't trust this type of stories since I went to the theatre and saw Ghost...), the story is for the most part funny. David is not at all impressed with the fact that his new home is haunted, and when he first sees the ghost, he spends little time worrying about the craziness of the thing, and soon gets hold of the chance to finally have found Mr Right; and since Mr Right, alias Brian, is very much real and embodied, at least with him, why worrying of the fact that he is a ghost? In these days, when you find Mr Right, you can't be too skittish...
From the first time David sees Brian, the story takes a straight road toward comedy: the ghost appears here and there without him being willing, some people could see him, some other only hear him, but more and more people are changing their opinion on him being the murderer. In the small town where they live, accept that there is a ghost is almost strange like welcoming an openly former gay cop... once they have made a step, why don't jump? While the mystery folds out like always happens in a small town mystery story, using school journals and old men memories as clues, the romance between David and Brian is shared by all the town, like always happens in a small town romance story. At the end, the story slips out of Brian and David's hands to become a common interest, and the two main characters can't do nothing to prevent it.
I can't deny that in some point the story made my eyes blurry, but if you balance the times I smiled rather than dabbing my eyes, the result is a big smile on my face.
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/PortraitKiss.html
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Paperback: 180 pages
Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC (November 14, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602729085
ISBN-13: 978-1602729087
Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle