"That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been."
Book One: Slow Dance in Purgatory
The year is 1958 and Johnny Kinross is 19 years old. He arrives at the newly built high school for a rumble. Johnny is there to defend his younger brother against snide comments made by the mayor's son, Roger. The night ends tragically and Johnny finds himself trapped in limbo, invisible to others and unable to leave the school.
Flash forward to 2010...Margaret "Maggie" O'Bannon has had her share of tragedy. After the death of her parents, she was bounced around the foster care system until finally coming to live with her great-aunt. Maggie is special - she has the ability to see ghosts. Normally the ghosts don't interact with her - she just sees them carrying out a moment from their lives before disappearing - but when Maggie sees Johnny, he is able to see, hear, and touch her. As Johnny and Maggie spend more time together, they find themselves falling for each other. But their relationship seems doomed from the start...how can they be together when Johnny is a ghost?
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Book Two: Prom Night in Purgatory
Defying explanation, Johnny somehow escapes Purgatory and finds himself in the year 2010. The problem is he doesn't remember anything after the night he was shot - not his time in Purgatory and not Maggie. As Johnny struggles to find his place in his new time, Maggie looks for a way to help Johnny remember who he is. In the process, she discovers a new aspect of her gift - she is able to step through time. Johnny and Maggie find themselves looped in time, where their actions have consequences and are able to change the future. It appears that fate has more in store for these lovers and as time continues to loop, it offers Johnny and Maggie the opportunity to right a few wrongs of the past. But not everything can be changed, and Johnny will face the same decision he faced back in 1958 - does he chose Paradise? Or Purgatory? And will either choice allow him to be with Maggie?
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I really liked this series. Johnny is just the right mix of a James Dean bad boy and a knight in shining armor. Maggie is an average girl with a tough backstory. I liked that she wasn't drop dead gorgeous and that she hadn't been broken by her past. It made her a relatable character and made me want to root for her. I was hooked into this story from page one and loved the fact that it kept flashing back to the 1950s. It is such a romanticized era in American history. It certainly had its faults, but it was a much simpler time with some fantastic music, which is why I think so many people love it. The story was well written and I enjoyed Amy's writing style. She was able to weave this story together, especially in Prom Night, without it getting too complicated, far-fetched or confusing. It is definitely a sweet, sigh inducing story that is well worth the read.
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