FF J.C. Russo - Dancing with Ghosts

Dancing with Ghosts is a full-length novel spanning decades in the life of a girl discovering who she is and struggling to understand and accept this self-discovery. It is the story of her empowering, emotional battle to earn the right to be who she was born to be; the story of a desperate longing to experience love and the sense of belonging that comes with being loved. While growing up in the 1980's, Jayme has always felt something missing from her life. At a young age, she experiences the death of someone close to her, and she is catapulted into a lonely and confusing world where she doesn't feel welcome. With nowhere to turn for guidance, she makes a series of bad decisions, landing in a place and time where life feels hopeless. She desperately wants to be different, to be someone else, to be normal.

Then she meets Catherine, and life as Jayme knows it dramatically improves. Catherine is smart and beautiful, and she immediately catches Jayme's eye and heart. Because Catherine is older, Jayme feels safe and protected within the parameters of their relationship. She learns what it means to love and be happy. She revels in this world where she belongs, and she realizes the grave importance of holding on tight, or risk losing it all. But the world Catherine and Jayme build may prove to be too confining for Jayme.

Will she finally accept who she is, only to find she has to keep the deepest parts of herself a secret? Will she be left to navigate the lonely world on her own? Or will she be able to accept the ghosts of her past and embrace who she was born to be, unconditionally and without limits? Emotional and raw, Dancing with Ghosts reminds us of the inherent joy of loving another person. It brings hope to those who are lost and alone and wondering how it can possibly turn out okay in the end. It is loss and hope, acquiescence and triumph. It is a story of survival.

'Dancing with Ghosts' on Goodreads