The Shadows of Stormclyffe Hall
By Lauren Smith
Published September 29, 2014 by Entangled Select
5 Haunted Stars!
"Gothic Romance at its' supernatural best."
Synopsis -
A thrilling gothic romance from Entangled’s Otherworld imprint…
To defeat a dark evil, they must face his family’s past…
Bastian Carlisle, the Earl of Weymouth, doesn’t believe in ghosts. Even though tragedy and mysterious hauntings have driven his family away from his ancestral home, Stormclyffe Hall, he is determined to restore the castle to its former glory. His plans are disrupted when a stubborn American shows up on his doorstep hoping to pry into his family’s tragic history.
Jane Seyton, an American graduate student, is convinced there’s more to the tragedy of Stormclyffe Hall than history claims. Ever the scholar, she is determined to discover the truth, even if it means putting up with the arrogant, yet sexy, Bastian.
Although Bastian wants nothing to do with the pushy American, it soon becomes clear that something evil is in the house—and that something is targeting both Jane and Bastian. The two must join forces to purge the ghosts of Stormclyffe Hall once and for all—even as they try to fight a physical attraction between them that grows more and more impossible to deny. (
Goodreads)
Review -
Haunting's, tragic love affair, obsession, doomed love, all the makings of a great Gothic Romance that is sure to leave chills up and down the readers spines. Lauren Smith proves to be an amazing author with a talent to pull readers inside of her world, caring for her characters as deeply as they care for one another.
Doomed from the very beginning, due to a jealous rage of a witch gone mad, Bastien and Jane are being haunted with the memories of their ancestors. Though neither have ever met and are thousands of miles apart, their blood is calling them both to the shadowed estate of Stormeclyffe Hall.
Lucy has chosen to do her dissertation on the line of tragic deaths that seemingly every woman whom has dared to love a Earl of Weymouth has succumbed to. To do so, she must have something more solid than a few ghost stories. Which leads her across the seas to the infamous Stormclyffe, a place that sings to her blood and been the backdrop of her nightmares. As she comes closer to the truth of the manor, and her dreams, she also comes closer to her own demise.
Bastien Carlisle is bound and determined to see his Father's final wishes fulfilled, to reconstruct their families' home. Something that seems to be easier said than done. With workers who are too afraid to stay after dark, things breaking right after they have been fixed, it begins to look like an impossible task. Add on a stubborn American Scholar bound and determined to discover all of his family secrets, things seem even more desolate than impossible. But that little American is also awakening something that he had sworn to forever keep closed off, his heart. She is also awakening more than a few restless spirits. The more he is around her, the more he finds himself caring for her and the more he tries to stay away, gravity seems to pull them right back to each other. Which leaves him with but one choice; break a curse that he doesn't even believe in.
Its a race against time as Jane and Bastien try to "fix that which is broken", before its too late for them both. They must break a centuries old curse placed upon two ill fated lovers, who did nothing wrong other love the other.
Gothic Romance lovers will love this modern tale, as it also has more than a few scenes that flashback to days of old. Not a dull moment, nor a wasted page, The Shadows of Stormclyffe Hall is a true must read.