Kiss and Dwell by Kelley St John

The source provides excerpts from a narrative following Monique Vicknair, a medium who reluctantly embraces her family duty to help spirits cross over, often hindered by her deceased, meddling grandmother, Adeline. Initially, Monique is preoccupied with a potential romantic and sexual encounter with Pierre Comeaux, which is interrupted by an urgent spiritual summons she cannot ignore. The text introduces the Vicknair cousins—Nanette, Dax, Gage, Tristan, and Jenee—who are struggling to maintain their ancestral plantation home against threats of demolition by the formidable Charles Roussel, while simultaneously managing their inherited roles as mediums. The central conflict intensifies when Monique is assigned Ryan Chappelle, a captivating ghost who refuses to cross over because he enjoys his existence in the "middle" realm, despite the spiritual community's requirement that he first learn to love. This assignment leads to a complex, emotionally and sexually charged non-physical relationship between Monique and Ryan, ultimately revealing that Ryan’s fear of death prevented his initial crossing, and culminating in his decision to love Monique before finally crossing over, which is heartbreakingly reversed when he miraculously returns to the living world for her.