Titanic stories always catch my eye but I'm also a little wary about reading them as I find reading about people on a ship you know is doomed just breaks my heart. I couldn't resist though and the story was so addictive. I admit I even caved and let my daughter watch an episode on TV so I could finish the last few chapters. I enjoyed all of the characters from Tess who is so naive in many ways and yet you have to admire her for strength and bravery to Alex who is handsome, kind and a tortured secret.

I will say though that it was more of the secondary characters that really made the story. I loved Alec's father and enjoyed how he was really integrated into the story and unlike in many other stories in which the parents are clueless about what has happened to their children he knows about Alec and fully supports him. The seventh officer, George, and Tess's bunkmate, Myriam, were also made a touching complimentary side romance that was endearing and has the reader hoping they will find their happy ending. I would have liked to see a little bit more of the friendship development between Tess and Myriam but still Myriam was a nice added touch. The story did feel a lot like the movie Titanic with some paranormal aspects thrown in but I thought Ms. Gray carried it off well.

I especially liked that for the most part the characters were pure fiction and Ms. Gray explains in the afterword that she wanted to be respectful of the real people who died on the Titanic and not try to attribute actions or traits that may or may not have been true. It's always a delicate balance to take a tragedy like the sinking of the Titanic and spin a fictional story into it while remaining sensitive to those involved but I thought this story was well done.