November Read: Inheritance: The Lost Bride Trilogy Book 1 by Nora Roberts

 November has been a hot mess for me reading-wise. I'm working on a bit of a project that is taking up a lot of my reading time and I blinked and tomorrow is December first. 

I have read a few of Nora Robert's trilogies over the years and I always enjoy them, and the fact that they are just a trilogy and not a series. I couldn't wait to read this, her newest trilogy that combines a bit of romance, a bit of history, and a bit of the unexpected in a family curse, an evil witch, and a whole lot of dead brides. 

Sonya MacTavish lives in Boston and has just gotten out of a terrible relationship mere weeks before she was set to be married. It turned her world upside down, but she's moving on and making plans. Her plans are disrupted by a visit from a lawyer from Poole's Bay, Maine. He tells Sonya that she's inherited a majestic home and investments from her unknown until now Uncle Collin Poole. Collin and Sonya's father Drew were twins who were separated at birth; neither knew the other existed until Collin found out as an adult, but too late to meet Drew, who died in an accident. Now Collin is dead, and he's left the family legacy to Sonya. She has to move to Maine and agree to live in the home for three years--all expenses paid. Overnight she's become a wealthy woman. 

With nothing to lose, Sonya moves to Maine and immediately falls head over heels for the home. She sets up her freelance business as a graphic artist and starts settling in, but quickly discovers some unsettling things about the home--it is haunted. Not by just one spirit, but by a whole group. And there is one nasty spirit who is determined to push Sonya out by any means possible. 

So who are the spirits? The family history paints a terrible picture of tragedy after tragedy for generations. Once each generation, a Poole woman dies either on her wedding day, or within the first year of marriage. All manner of deaths--but each is a murder, and those murders are done by a woman who was rejected by the first Poole man for his true love. She's still in the house, and at night Sonya wanders the house, looking into the events leading up to each of the seven brides and their tragic deaths. What do they want with her? And why does the evil witch take the wedding ring off each woman as they lay dying? 

This was just a fun read, and classic Nora Roberts. The house is fascinating; the premise of the family curse is interesting, and I have to say I do love the reaction of Cleo, Sonya's best friend, to the evil witch and her attempts to scare the women. A few "F*** You" quotes fly through the air, and honestly, if I was in Cleo's place, I'd probably say the same thing, too. This witch has had centuries to hang around, but she hasn't met any modern women--and she has met her match. 

Sonya gets involved with Trey Doyle, a lawyer in town who has a family history with the Poole family and grew up and around the house. He's well aware of the history and the hauntings. Sonya's best friend Cleo is also a treat--and I suspect her relationship with Owen Poole, Sonya's cousin, will be the second book in the trilogy. 

This one ends suddenly and boom! Done. Not even a teaser for the next book. I surely hope it comes soon, because it definitely left me hanging. So yes, suspend belief; enjoy the little dog named Yoda, the copious amounts of wine drinking between Sonya and crew, and the glorious home Nora Roberts created for us to enjoy. I can't wait to read more and watch Sonya destroy the family curse so she can live happily ever after and not become the next lost bride. Wrench those stolen wedding rings off that hag's hand, Sonya!

I don't see any dates or anything at all about the second book in the trilogy. Stay tuned. 

Rating: 5/6 for sheer entertainment, a clever story, and characters that are easy to get to know and enjoy. The romance is light and sex is tastefully done and exactly what a modern grown up couple would do and say.  I will be trying to wait patiently for the second book. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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November Read: Inheritance: The Lost Bride Trilogy Book 1 by Nora Roberts

October Read: The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin

 

What I expected going into this novel and what it was were very different. I'm still processing. 

It takes place in a small town in Australia. A town where houses are expensive and everything is gorgeous and perfect. Except for Black Wood House. It sits empty since a shocking murder forty years before, when the owner of the home murdered his wife while she lay in bed, and chased his daughter out the door. The daughter survived, but her father returned to the home and killed himself. Susan and Bill were beloved in the neighborhood; the horrible murder/suicide left a stain on the community. They all want Black Wood House to be torn down. 

Enter Sarah Spade and her husband Joey. Sarah has a popular website, a bestselling book about "being your best self", and is eager to turn the Black Wood House into a show-stopping flipper that will sell for millions. 

Except Sarah's not what you'd expect, and wow I did not expect her character or the novel to take the turns it did. For one, Sarah is not likable. Her marriage is on edge, and oh, the secrets she has to keep in order to maintain her perfect image. Only problem is, once she moves into the house, her life starts to fall apart. She can't sleep, she's finding notes around the house, there's someone walking around in the attic, and her husband won't stay at the house. 

As Sarah slowly unravels, as a reader you're kept wondering: is she losing her mind? The possibilities are all over the place: is someone trying to drive her out of the home? Are the neighbors spying on her? Is the house haunted? Or is there something else?

The turns it took were all over the place. The ending leaves you rethinking everything. It's at turns unsettling, suspenseful, and a bit bewildering. It's a whole lot of stuff going on, and I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on at all. If you want to read a novel that will keep you scratching your head and thinking you've got it figured out (you won't), pick this one up!

Rating: 4/6 for a wild ride where no one can be trusted--even the house. At times suspenseful, at times downright spooky, this is a blend of thriller/horror/suspense that will keep you guessing. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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October Read: The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Wow! This was such a good story. I'm a bit biased, because I have read every one of Simone St. James' novels. She just keeps getting better with each novel. 

This latest haunting thriller takes place in Fell, New York. A sleepy little town where the Sun Down Motel sits out on the edge, and a highway runs through to other towns along the way towards New York City. It's the kind of motel that is run down but still offers a place to stay when options are few. It's 1982, and young Vivian Delaney has left her mom's home to seek a new life in New York City. She ends up in Fell, and decides to stay for awhile. She answers an ad for a night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. It's a boring job, but easy work while she figures out what to do with her life. 

Except one night, Vivian discovers the motel is haunted. And not in a casual way--in a really big, scare the crap out of you way. Not only do the doors to the rooms open on their own, but lights go out (even the big motel sign out front), the smell of cigarette smoke is strong, footsteps are heard, and she sees not one, but two ghosts: that of a little boy who drowned in the now closed pool, and a pretty woman in a flowered dress who tells Vivian to RUN.

Vivian is freaked out, but keeps coming back. She's just got to get to the bottom of this mysterious woman's appearance, and her obvious anger. Vivian has started down the path of extreme danger, but her desire to uncover past wrongs can't be stopped. 

It's 2017. Carley Kirk arrives in Fell, New York. Her Aunt Vivian disappeared from Fell in November of 1982, and Carley has always been obsessed with this family tragedy. Carley's mother, Vivian's sister, has recently died, and she took any clues to Vivian's life with her to the grave. Carley decides to come to Fell and look for any trace of what happened to her Aunt. She even gets a job as the night office clerk at--you guessed it--the Sun Down Motel. 

Carley's not there long before she also discovers the horrific secrets of the Sun Down Motel. And as she starts to dig into the past, she realizes her Aunt was onto something terrible, something that put her in terrible danger. How does this have anything to do with the motel?

Wowza. This was soooo good. A truly creepy ghost tale, mystery, and thriller all wrapped into one amazing story. I don't want to give any more details, because it's definitely a story you have to read and uncover on your own. Vivian and Carley are certainly cut from the same cloth-young, smart, determined women who pursue the truth, even if it means they are put in danger. This wasn't a mystery that you are required to figure out-rather a mystery that you get to watch unfold as the pieces are put together by the characters, thirty-five years apart. All of the main players in this novel are compelling--yes, even the ghosts. 

I know I'll never look at a motel quite the same way again. 

This novel will be out in February, 2020 in the United States in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

Rating: 5/6 for an excellent ghost story wrapped up in a thriller. Themes include revenge, justice, family secrets, and the damage done to people when they never have closure. Highly recommend this one. 

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The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller

This novel was like a little mental break for me in the midst of a busy month. I feel like I've been slogging through some of my reading choices, and not making much progress. However, I picked this up off my TBR pile Sunday morning and quickly became engrossed in it-and settled down to power read. I just finished it this morning before work. I was a bit annoyed at myself for being too sleepy last night to finish the last 30 pages before bed. So annoyed! 

I have to say, I was expecting a bit more of a ghost story similar to  Simone St. James (a favorite author of mine). While I had a very mild disappointment, it was more than made up by the romance between Alva Webster and Sam Moore, the two central characters. I wasn't expecting so much of the plot to be about their unfolding relationship, but it was, and the sparks between the two were the best part of the whole book. The ghost story had an interesting twist, for sure. Something I hadn't ever read about in any other ghost story I've come across. 

The basic plot: Alva Webster, widow and infamously known as a woman of *ahem* salacious appetites and oodles of gossip, returns to New York after living for years in Europe. Her husband was murdered, and she's come back to start over where she grew up, the only daughter of privileged parents who now have nothing to do with her. She's purchased Liefdehuis, an abandoned Hyde Park mansion that is rumored to be haunted. Her goal is to renovate the home and write a book about home decorating in the process. It's 1875; she's a widow with some money but not a lot, and has to find a way to make a living. Malicious gossip has followed her home, and even though none of it is true, she can't seem to escape it. 

Professor Sam Moore is in town, eager to test his paranormal equipment on the rumored ghostly hauntings in Liefdehuis. He's quite the genius--and hot, too. He's famous for his many inventions and his family is widely known as the "royalty" of the science world. Alva, however, is not impressed by Sam, and refuses to let him test out his scientific theories on her home. 

Unfortunately, Alva's past returns to create chaos, and she reluctantly agrees to let Sam study Liefdehuis in order to get her project moving along. Local contractors refuse to work in a haunted house, and it's costing her money she can't afford to lose. 

This is where the plot really turns to the relationship between Sam and Alva. Sam is quite appealing and he's impossible to resist. Alva finds herself falling for him hard and fast, even while fighting her despair that she's just not good enough for him, and permanently damaged from her horrible marriage. But those qualities in both Sam and Alva are what make the haunting take an interesting turn, and help them solve the puzzle of what drives people from Liefdehuis in complete fear and terror. 

This really is more of a romance than anything else, but I loved it. Sam is quite possibly the most fun character I've read in quite a while. I can see why Alva falls for him. Alva's journey from frightened, abused woman to one that is trusting and finds love again is a big part of the novel, and very satisfying. All in all, a fun novel that helped lift me out of the November doldrums. It reminded me of Amanda Quick novels, so if you like her, you will enjoy this first novel by Diana Biller. I'll be reading more, without a doubt. 

Rating: 4/6 for a delightful romance with a dash of science, a dash of mystery, and a happy ending. I wish there had been more about the haunted mansion, but I was satisfied and give a kudos to the author for the unique haunting. 

Available in paperback and ebook. 

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The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller

The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie

Well, if I've done anything in 2019, it was to finally read some Agatha Christie. Another author I've admired from afar, but never felt compelled to read. This new short story collection caught my eye, and I'm so glad it did. 

First, I'll say this book isn't a casual, read it in a few hours collection of stories. It's actually quite lengthy--over 350 pages. Just goes to show how prolific Agatha Christie was in her writing career. Only one of the stories had never been published in the U.S.: The Wife of the Kenite. All the other stories had been published multiple times in short story compilations and magazines over the years in both the U.K. and the U.S. The publishing reach of Agatha Christie was astounding. 

There are twenty short stories in The Last Seance, and each was gripping and smartly written. I quickly fell victim to Agatha Christie's style of writing, and I couldn't even begin to pick one of the stories as my favorite. Some were straight out murder mysteries; others had a paranormal bent. People murdered for money or spite, others were frightened to death. Clever killers were outdone by simple deductive reasoning from some of Agatha's prime characters: Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Each story was fairly short, and that made it easy to read a few, take a break, then return for more. I don't read many short story collections, but when I do, I realize how much I enjoy the built in breaks between stories. 

This collection has it all: haunted houses, mysterious characters, marriages gone wrong, and sly con artists. It was a fantastic introduction to Agatha Christie's style of writing and her world of mysteries. She's got me hooked. 

Rating: 4/6 for a solid collection of short stories that keep you trying to figure out the whodunnit before the characters do. Short stories that dive right into the meat of the mystery, and keep you wanting more. I can't wait to read more Agatha Christie! 

Available in paperback and ebook. 

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The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie

Brimstone by Cherie Priest and My November Fails

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  I love Cherie Priest novels. She's a fantasy writer with a touch of paranormal creepiness that is just right for someone like me.  I don't care much for horror novels, and her writing comes right up to the edge but doesn't tip over.  I think she's hitting her stride, and more readers are discovering her novels in the science fiction/fantasy sections of their libraries and bookstores. 

In Brimstone, Cherie takes us to 1920 Cassadaga, Florida.  There are two main characters:  Alice Dartle, a young woman from Virginia who has come to Cassadaga to share her clairvoyant talents, and Tomas Cordero, a World War I vet who lives in Ybor City, Florida.  He is haunted by the task he was given as a solider:  to be part of a small force of men who used a flamethrower to kill enemy soldiers.  He returns home to find his wife has died of influenza while he was gone, and he's a broken man. He is desperate to communicate with her. But something strange is happening:  small fires are appearing out of nowhere, and the local police are suspicious that Tomas is setting them himself.  But he's not.  

Cassadaga is a small community built to welcome people who have a variety of talents: mediums, clairvoyants, tarot readers; anyone who has a legitimate talent to see to the other side.  Folks travel to Cassadaga from all over the United States and the world to stay at the hotel, attend lectures, and have readings.  It's one place people like Alice can come to live and feel welcome and develop their talents with like minded people.  At her first outing to conduct live readings, she zeros in on something dark, hulking, and evil.  It calls itself The Hammer.  Not understanding what it is, and overwhelmed by the ferocity of this malignant "thing", Alice is shaken and takes awhile to recover.  She's also dreaming about a solider wearing a strange mask, and surrounded by flames and a battlefield. 

Tomas, meanwhile, has increasingly frightening episodes of fires erupting at his home, but also tragically elsewhere in his neighborhood and business.  People are starting to die in these fires, which are horribly fierce and leave nothing standing.  He has written to Alice (after seeing her profiled in a newspaper) and decides after the worst fire to flee Ybor City and travel to Cassadaga for help. 

Alice and Tomas finally meet in Cassadaga, but Tomas has brought something terribly dark, evil, and bent on destruction with him.  Now the evil has set its sights on Cassadaga and all who live there.  Will Alice be able to figure out what The Hammer is, and stop it before it destroys Cassadaga?

It took me awhile to get through this novel; not because it wasn't interesting, but just because I was easily distracted this month.  When I finally dialed in and focused, I was sucked in and soon I could smell the smoke, feel the heat, and taste the soot.  I could feel myself becoming a little paranoid about smelling fire, too.  As the tension ramped up, I felt myself urging Alice and Tomas to figure it out, quickly!  When the identity of The Hammer is revealed; well, I thought heck, that was a pretty cool plot twist.  Cherie Priest also explores grief, and how sometimes we so desperately want to hear from our loved ones that we'll accept anything as a sign they are near, even if it is so clearly not a good sign-and perhaps even a deadly sign.  Maybe it's not your loved one, but something dark from the other side...

If you haven't tried a Cherie Priest novel, give her a try.  She's written a few stand alone, but also a few series and they are all very different.  There is sure to be something there to interest you! Here's a link to her list of books on her blog: http://www.cheriepriest.com .  

Rating:  4/6 for an unusual plot and a fascinating look at Cassadaga (which does exist!), grief, and what haunts us.  Available in paperback and ebook. 


My November fails.  There were a few, I'm sad to say.  Time got away from me, and I didn't get to read nearly enough of what I'd planned.  Tomorrow is December 1st, and I've already started on my pile of Christmas reads.  I'm ready for the comfort and entertainment they will bring me.  Here's what I started, but didn't finish in November:

I thought I would be able to read this YA novel based on the amazing life of Dita Kraus, and her time spent at Auschwitz as a teenager.  I was wrong.  I made it to about 100 pages, and then just couldn't read anymore.  It was a fascinating story, but the horrible, palpable evil of Auschwitz and the suffering that occurred there is still too much for me to read.  Maybe someday I'll try again.  The evil people are capable of inflicting on other people is something I will never be able to understand. 

Dang it, I was so excited about this novel!  I'll be frank:  it is a big, hefty tome.  It is full of all sorts of bits of journals, history lessons, and other interesting tidbits.  It deserves a lot of time and energy, and those were lacking this month.  It's not a straightforward tale.  I'll have to return it to the library, but I will try again.  I think there's something very interesting here. 

 I have heard so much buzz about this, that I finally decided to try it and checked it out of the library.  I started it late, but within the first few pages, I was hooked.  Unfortunately, I ran out of time, and it's due back to the library for the next person on the holds list--darn it!  I may end up buying this one, because I really, really want to read it.  

One reason I was less than my usual reading self this month was because I decided to attempt NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writing Month.  It runs from midnight of November 1 through midnight of November 30th.  Your goal: write a 50,000 word novel in that time.  If you stick to a plan and write every day, you'll easily achieve your goal before the deadline.  No editing, no rewriting: just get your idea down on paper.  The rewriting and editing comes in January, or in my case, never.  For me it's all about getting the creative juices flowing, and trying something just to see if I can do it.  So, I started out doing well, and keeping up with the pace.  But then life happened, and there were a few days where I wrote nothing at all.  Yikes.  I fell behind, and thought I'd catch up over Thanksgiving weekend.  Well, plans changed, and I ended up not being home for most of the four days of the holiday weekend.  No writing done. I did some fancy early morning and late evening work, drinking lots of coffee and listening to classical music to help my brain work.  And I'm happy to say, I did finish two days before the deadline.  I got my 50,000 words (and 89 pages) in and verified on Tuesday night.  Now I won't be looking at what I wrote for a very long time, if ever.  I'm just happy I set a goal and achieved it.  

So now, onto December.  Yay!  Baking cookies and breads, decorating the house, and spending my evenings reading holiday books.  I can't wait.  Egg nog is on the grocery list for this weekend. 

What are you reading in December to combat holiday stress? Share it in the comments!

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Brimstone by Cherie Priest and My November Fails

A Creepy Ghost Story: The Family Plot by Cherie Priest

It's been quite awhile since I've read a novel that creeped me out.  It was creepy  enough that I decided to only read it during the day, on my lunch hour in a busy hospital cafeteria. Either I'm getting soft, or it was a pretty darn good ghost story.

It was a pretty darn good ghost story.

I love Cherie Priest's writing.  Her Eden More series is about restless souls; usually from the Civil War Era.  She followed that up with her steampunk Clockwork Century novels; Boneshaker really put her on the radar of a lot of science fiction/fantasy fans.  I did read Boneshaker years ago, and did enjoy it quite a bit, but her gift, to me, lies in her ability to make you uneasy in the comfort of your own home.  And that is what The Family Plot did to me. 

Music City Salvage is on the cusp of financial ruin, and one big job will save the company.  Enter Augusta Withrow, the last member of the Withrow family.  For $40,000, Music City Salvage gets all the rights to her family's estate before it's torn down.  They have a week to claim everything they can from the house, the barn, and carriage house. 

Dahlia, Bobby, Gabe, and Brad travel to Chattanooga to the Withrow estate, up a badly maintained road on the side of a mountain.  What should be a routine salvage job is not so routine as eerie things start right from the get-go.  Is the house angry at its demise, or is there something else in the house that is really, really angry?  And why is Dahlia the center of all the attention?

One thing that annoys me about paranormal fiction is a super slow buildup in tension.  Don't get that here--it starts right away, and thankfully, Dahlia, Bobby, Gabe and Brad start comparing notes on what they've experienced pretty quickly.  Showering in any bathroom at the house is a very bad idea.  Going up to the attic by yourself?  Bad idea.  Trying to reason with the paranormal?  Bad idea.  It's a race to finish the job and get the hell out of dodge for this crew.  Things start escalating as they near the end of their time at the house and start putting the pieces together to discover what, exactly, happened in the Withrow home all those years ago that has made the place a nightmare for anyone who tries to make it a home.  

The end...well... it's one of those endings where you get to decide how it should end.  

Loved the mystery of the house; it truly was enough to make me uneasy, and I don't scare easily (Unless you're a bat. Then I freak out.  Ghosts?  No.).  Sometimes the evil that is done to people sets off emotions that don't die when our physical bodies stop.  Yikes.

Rating:  8/10 for a truly chilling story.  My appreciation for Cherie Priest's writing grows with every book she writes.  

Available in hardcover and e-book.    
 

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A Creepy Ghost Story: The Family Plot by Cherie Priest

Lost Among the Living by Simone St. James

I have been eagerly waiting to read the latest by Simone St. James.  She's the author of four previous novels, all set in England, all revolving around World War I and the supernatural.  I've reviewed The Haunting of Maddy Clare , An Inquiry into Love and Death,  Silence for the Dead, and The Other Side of Midnight. Just click on each title to find my reviews.  As you can see, I'm a big fan of Simone St. James.  She has the mix that I can't resist:  history, a bit of mystery, and enough paranormal creepiness to keep me glued to the pages but not afraid to turn out the light at night. 

In her latest novel, Simone's heroine, Jo Manders is living in 1921 England.  She's the paid companion to Dottie Forsyth.  This job is all that stands between Jo and poverty.  Her husband Alex was listed as missing in action during World War I after his plane was shot down over Germany and his body was never found.  Jo is alone in the world, except for her mother.  But, her mother is institutionalized and doesn't really know who Jo is, and lives completely in her imagination.  Dottie is Alex's Aunt, and in a roundabout way, the closest thing to family Jo has besides her mother. But that doesn't stop Dottie from taking advantage of Jo's situation.  

Jo travels with Dottie to the family estate in the countryside outside of London.  Wych Elm House is a bit neglected and was the site of the suicide of Dottie's fifteen year old daughter Frances.  Three years previously, Frances had jumped to her death from the top of the Wych Elm House.  Village stories of Frances and her demon dog haunting the woods around the estate cast a eerie miasma around the home and all who lived there.  

It doesn't help that Jo sees Frances sitting in the parlor on her first day at Wych Elm.  Yes, Frances is dead.  And Jo just saw a ghost.  Why is Jo seeing Frances around Wych Elm?  Why is Frances trying to get Jo's attention?  

Jo's intuition tells her that Frances didn't commit suicide, but was murdered.  But by whom and for what reason would someone kill a fifteen year old girl?  Was it her own mother, Dottie?  Or perhaps Martin, Frances' older brother, who is recovering from terrible wounds suffered in battle, and addicted to morphine. Or was it the stranger found dead in the woods the same day Frances died?

To top it all off, Jo is haunted by not knowing what happened to Alex, the love of her life.  She's convinced she doesn't know the whole story, and Alex's role in the military was more than she realized.  This becomes even more complicated in Jo's mind when she finds out Alex was at Wych Elm House the day Frances died, when he never told Jo he was even in England.  Why the secrets?  

I've got to say Frances' presence in this one is a bit creepy only because her appearances seem random and she never says anything.  Frances makes things move around, appear and disappear. The atmosphere at Wych Elm House is cold and unwelcoming, even though it is a beautiful country home.  You read the book and can feel that damp fall weather and bone chilling cold that keeps Jo struggling to stay warm.  Even reading  this in very hot temperatures and uncomfortable mugginess (summer in Iowa!) made me want to grab a blanket for warmth and comfort.  

I've really loved all of Simone St. James' books, but I have to say this was my least favorite.  I can't put my finger on it, but I felt her previous novels had a more solid storyline and were definitely up a notch in the paranormal element.  I will certainly keep reading anything Ms. St. James has to offer in the coming years; I just hope she keeps giving me chills in the middle of  the summer.  

Rating:  6/10 for an interesting story line, but one that could have had more paranormal creepiness.  Historical background was very interesting, and you can tell the author does her homework.  

Available in paperback and e-book.

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Lost Among the Living by Simone St. James