Keti Whitechapel has never had an easy path to travel. She has had to struggle and fight and work hard for everything she has now. Is it so wrong that she enjoys her success? Martin Collins, the one man who to ever touch her heart does think it is wrong. He doesn't like the way Keti made her money and it caused them to grow so far apart that became strangers to each other. Now they are in their fifties and they seem to have made peace with their lost love, but have they? Really?

Then, on Christmas Eve a stray dog stuck all over with porcupine quills appears on Keti's back porch. She can't help herself and she takes the dog into her home despite her many misgivings. Naming the dog Marley in memory of her recently deceased Aunt Marlene seals the deal, the dog will be staying and truthfully Keti is glad to have him. She is especially glad when the ghost of her Aunt Marlene comes to visit and Marley's reaction proves there is something in the room with them. Marlene is there to warn Keti not to continue as she is or she too will be forced to wander the world as an unhappy ghost. Marlene foretells the coming ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future, all with the hope that Keti will escape her fate. The spirits do visit and Keti has the chance to take another look at her life. Keti does want to change but in order to make the biggest change, Martin must also be willing to see things differently. Can they find their way back to loving each other? Can they find enough forgivness in their hearts to try again?

It is wonderful to find a story about more mature adults, who have a history together and apart, getting a happy ending. The complex story of how Keti and Martin become a couple and then are no longer a couple, how world events have shaped their lives and how their individual families effected their choices is compelling. Add the entertaining Christmas Carol ghosts twist and you have a truly enjoyable holiday story that would be great reading all year.