Reviewed by kimbacaffeinate on
The tale begins in New York City where we meet our protagonist Skylar Blackwell. She is a successful fashion photographer whose Uncle has recently died leaving her the Summerwind Mansion on the California coast. When she is laid-off from her job, she packs up and heads out West, to settle the estate and discover how her Uncle died. The tale that unfolds is filled with malevolent entities, an unusual staff and a series of unexplained murders. While not perfect, this tale entertained me as we unearthed the secrets of Summerwind.
Skylar Blackwell is a self proclaimed fashionista and romance book lover. She has grown up around a family that believes in the supernatural but claims she does not. I found her to be a contradiction. On one hand she believes runes protected her and then despite what she witnesses she declares there is no such thing as ghosts as she clutches a protective amulet. She believes she has a sixth sense, and thinks the amulet warns her, all while she tries to dismiss or explain what occurred. She was kind, thoughtful, snarky, confident and unsure. Sadly, I never completely connected with her. Dorian is the properties caretaker. He is mysterious and gorgeous. His interaction with Skylar goes from hot to cold. One minute he is warning her away and the next he is asking her to go riding. There was definitely a physical attraction and interests but for most of the novel they behaved liked strangers. While everything is explained, I never quite bought into the romance. Other characters added to the mystery and kept me in suspense.
Summerwind Mansion was almost like a character itself and I loved the creep factor it provided. Everything about it from the paintings to the weird noises made me shiver. Soule spun a clever paranormal mystery. For me, this was the best aspect of the novel. I loved everything from the wind to the paranormal warnings. The sense of foreboding the author provided with subtle clues and changes thrilled me. Skylar has bizarre dreams and in them, we learn about events in the past and I enjoyed the way it was told. The ghost was dark, violent and believable. The occult, historical events and current danger all felt genuine. This would make a cool haunting movie.
Copy received in exchange for unbiased review and originally published Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 28 May, 2013: Finished reading
- 28 May, 2013: Reviewed