"We blow up squirrels, not mortals. We have standards."
- Kaidyn, book 1
A book series about the adventures of two teenage girls, Kaidyn Kurtis and Leila Logan, who discover they can see ghosts, along with their pet rottweiler, Boo and Cool Horse, Bones, and of course, their ghost friends, Gilligan and his wife, Holly, Aidan Cricket Kaidyn's future husband, and Antonio, who has no last name given in any of the books, Leila's future husband. And of course, Abe.
The series provides examples for the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Leila and Kaidyn, obviously. Leilani, too, especially in book 3. Alina from book 3 might also qualify, and Kaidyn's older sister Kennedy was originally designed to be this way. In the sister series, Abe: The Next Generation, Jay, Daffy, Cody, and Leilani-Kate all show signs of this.
- Allergic to Love: Cody, even though she's 6.
- Alliterative Name: Kaidyn Kurtis, Keegan Kurtis, Kennedy Kurtis, Kate Kurtis ( formally desceased), Leila Logan, Lars Logan, Landon Logan, Leilani Logan, Lincoln Logan, Lucas Logan, Lottie Logan, Lillie Logan, and Leah Logan.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Hayden is crushing on Leilani-Kate. She is peacefully oblivious. Same with Aidan in the first book. Though something about him makes a reader think that he knows Kaidyn is still in love with him.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Boo's puppies, Snake, Marrow, and Rainbow. Justified, as Rainbow is the only girl in her litter.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Aidan and Kaidyn get one of these per book. Jay and Will do too in the sister series.
- Babies Make Everything Better: Averted. The births of Jay, Hayden, and Daffy pretty much ruin their parents lives.
- Bad Santa: Cody hates Santa, due to what her brother Will told her as a child.
- Badass Family: Jay, Hayden, and Daffy are just as much of this as their parents, Kaidyn and Aidan, were in their younger years. Same with Will, Leilani-Kate, and Cody, Leila and Antonio's children.
- Boy Meets Ghoul: Kaidyn and Aidan, Leila and Antonio, Jay and Sterling, and Daffy and Turner. It's kind of inevitable in an action-romance story with ghosts.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Aidan, about Frederick the evil prince of Ghost England, who ends up trying to marry Kaidyn because of the debt she was in from buying highly expensive smoothies. But it might have been because Kaidyn wouldn't let him.
- A better example might be Jay and Will telling each other their feelings about each other. And Hayden telling Leilani-Kate.
- So basically, it runs in the family.
- Chekhov's Gun: Daffy's purple eyes. In the first book she's mentioned in, book three, it's just a distinguishing trait. But in the next two books, which follow her as a child and pre-teen, it becomes a way for ghosts to recognize her. Leilani's love of history too. She mentions it while playing hide and seek with her brothers, Jay, and Hayden, and then uses it at the end to save Antonio and Aidan.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Russ and Terra. They appeared briefly at a bar in the first book, when Leila and Kaidyn get shot, and appear again in the second book, with Terra's tongue cut out to prevent her from speaking, showing Kaidyn just how evil the prince she's falling for is.
- Daffy and Leilani also count. In the first book Daffy's in, she's just a baby that got kidnapped. But in the next two books, she becomes an Action Girl. In the first book Leilani is in, she's a Child Prodigy, and has to come along to save Kaidyn. In the second book she's in, she's a fifteen year old Teen Genius who ends up using her smarts to save Aidan and Antonio.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Alina was originally designed to be a a clingy sociopath girlfriend for Frederick. The idea was scrapped when Kaidyn finds out that Frederick wouldn't care if Alina was thrown out a window to her demise. Of course they don't throw her.
- Dead Guy Junior: Will, named after William Gilligan, the first ghost besides Abe that Leila and Kaidyn meet.
- Delinquents: Kaidyn and Leila are 13 in book 1, and they have previously spent the equivalent of 2 months in prison. Leila even previously had a boyfriend who was put in for life, before ending up with Antonio at the end of book 1.
- Disappeared Dad: Leila, Kaidyn, Antonio, Aidan, and pretty much every character in the original three books has no dad referered to, or appearing. Daffy makes it her mission to find as many of her grandparents as possible.
- Fake-Out Make-Out: Jay and Will have one in the fourth book, and Daffy and Riley have 2 in the sixth.
- First Guy Wins: While Jay had other crushes and boyfriends, by the end of the series, she and Will are a couple. Bonus points, as he was not only the first one she was attracted to, but also her best friend since infancy.
- Flat "What": Cody's response to why She and Daffy phased through a wall in a ghost hotel.
- Full-Name Basis: Leilani-Kate. But she is named after her aunt Leilani, so they need a way to tell them apart.
- Gender-Blender Name: Jay, Cody, and Daffy are girls. Hayden is a boy.
- Heroic BSoD: Will goes into this when he finds out Jay has left home to live with Holly and Gilligan. Her note to him doubles as a
Tear Jerker. - Ironic Echo: "When you told me you loved me, we became one. If it concerns you, it concerns me." Or some veriation. Used by Kaidyn to Aidan in the first two books. But when Aidan uses it on Kaidyn, it might be the sweetest yet.Aidan: "Kaidyn, you're fine. Where do you need to go?"Kaidyn: "The hospital. Now."Aidan: "Did your water break?"Kaidyn: "No! I still have five months. I just need to make sure 3 (Daffy) is okay. It's fine. It doesn't concern you."Aidan: "You said 'I do.' If it concerns you, it concerns me, Mrs. Cricket.
- Ivy League for Everyone: Leila goes to Yale.
- Just Friends: Will and Jay. Just friends my butt!
- Karmic Death: Frederick's. Alina poisons him in a kiss, which is how he killed her.
- Kissing Under the Influence: Jay kisses Will while possessed by a demonic spirit. Sure, neither of them remembered it later, and it almost killed Jay, but they locked lips. Passionately.
- Love Triangle: The second variation. A is Will, B is Sterling, and C is Jay. She goes with Sterling, but then he becomes overly perfect, even by Jay's standards, so she leaves him. To be alone.
- Mama Bear: Kaidyn. If you even think about hurting Daffy, Jay, or Hayden, you won't live to regret it.
- Meaningful Name: Daffy's. Daffy is short for Daffodil, which represents her bright demeanor. But her nickname, Daffy, when coupled with her middle name, Spiridon, literally means Silly Little Spirit.
- Cody's first name is Calamity. Man, that fits her perfectly.
- Missing Mom: While both Leila and Kaidyn's mothers make appearances in book 1, they're brief, neither one appears again, aside from being refrenced, and Kaidyn's even dies.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Daffy, releasing Frederick back into the world in book 4. Even Lampshaded by Jay in the next book.Daffy: You remember that box I opened?Jay: The one that specifically said 'Do Not Open?'Daffy: (annoyed) YES, the one that said 'Do Not Open!'
- No Name Given: Antonio. It's not until the sister series that they reveal his surname to be Vega.
- Odd Name Out: Aidan and Kaidyn are married, with three kids. Two are Jaydin and Hayden. What is the third? Daffy.
- Papa Wolf: Aidan. Don't touch his kids. Don't touch his wife. Ever.
- Properly Paranoid: Aidan in book 3. He doesn't want anything happening to Kaidyn, or any of their kids.
- Promotion to Parent: Kennedy, and, when in the Ghost World, Jay takes this role as well.
- Running Gag: Nobody ever listening to Daffy, Cody and Daffy playing The Matchmaker for Will and Jay, and Hayden trying and failing to tell Leilani-Kate he loves her.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Will and Hayden, but only in the first book. After that, Will goes into a fit of depression, and Hayden Takes a Level in Badass.
- Shout-Out: Cody has not trusted love since Edward left Bella in the second book.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: Will and Jay go from being best friends, to being flirty, to beating the crap out of each other verbally. And then, of course, they make out. Then scream at each other. And the cycle repeats.
- Subverted hilariously in book 5.
Will: You know, I wish I HADN'T saved you.Jay: Oh, really?Will: YES REALLY!Jay: I wish you hadn't saved me, too!Will: Wanna make out?Jay: NO! - Shirtless Scene: Aidan, washing feathers out of Kaidyn's hair. No, that's not the reason why their there. Kaidyn bit a pillow during a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment dream.
- Snark Knight: Jay and Kaidyn. Jay personally believes that if you can twist the mean girl's words in a sarcastic manner, then you're set for the rest of your junior high expirience!
- Technicolor Eyes: Daffy and Kate have purple eyes. The former fits the mysterious half of the trope, while the latter merely has them for family resemblence.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Jay and Leilani-Kate, or Cody and Leilani-Kate.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Daffy is 7 and already has a vocabulary larger than most 13 year olds. She understands personal space (though she rarely respects it), and is a trusted budding mad scientist.
- You Are Number 6: Throughout Kaidyn's third pregnancy they refer to Daffy as 3 or Number 3.
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Riley and Daffy only call each other by their last names. When he actually calls her by her first name, it stuns her into silence. When she yells at him later, she says his first name, James, instead of calling him Riley.
