Book Review Genre: Gothic Horror Romance

Disclaimer: Reading is all about exploring new worlds, but this Book Review does not shy away from spoiling specific scenes as this is more of my free-flowing thoughts about a book.

The Analysis:

I first read this author last year(maybe this year). I’m definitely a fan of her writing. Frankly, the romances do fall a little short of what you normally would expect. But…well, let’s book review it. First, follow me on Goodreads.

Here’s The Blurb:

England, 1921. Three years after her husband, Alex, disappeared, shot down over Germany, Jo Manders still mourns his loss. Working as a paid companion to Alex’s wealthy, condescending aunt, Dottie Forsyth, Jo travels to the family’s estate in the Sussex countryside. But there is much she never knew about her husband’s origins…and the revelation of a mysterious death in the Forsyths’ past is just the beginning…
 
All is not well at Wych Elm House. Dottie’s husband is distant, and her son was grievously injured in the war. Footsteps follow Jo down empty halls, and items in her bedroom are eerily rearranged. The locals say the family is cursed, and that a ghost in the woods has never rested. And when Jo discovers her husband’s darkest secrets, she wonders if she ever really knew him.  Isolated in a place of deception and grief, she must find the truth or lose herself forever.
 
And then a familiar stranger arrives at Wych Elm House…

Cover Critique:

I love the cover. On my computer screen, it looks more faded than it was on my kindle. Saturation? Who knows? The subgenre is historical, so I’m loving the woman in her beautiful garb and I’m not mad at the mysterious background.

Now The Story:

Book Info:
Pages: 336
Author: Simone St.James
Available: Google Play

The heroine is a companion/assistant to a rich old lady who loves to travel. She’s not the sweetest or the kindest, but she gets the heroine away from her troubles of missing her M-I-A soldier husband. One day, Mrs. Rich Lady says she’s headed home, and if she wants she’ll continue to pay her for her service. This new agreement comes with a plethora of warnings. She’s talking about her husband and her son. Got the heroine thinking, so this is why you out here living fancy-free. But the heroine agrees and this is where I story begins. It’s a gothic romance that takes place after the war.

The house is haunted. But what triggers the heroine’s doubt in things that go bump in the night is her mother’s mental illness. She’s reluctant to follow that same path although her experiences are real-er than fiction.

She does get a chance to venture outside the home to the surrounding town. It’s full of people making up stories about the girl that died inside the house as well as the death of the man outside it in the woods. The family’s level of guilt really can’t be ascertained. But they do have one friend and that’s their lawyer. I rolled my eyes when he decided to play interrogator on their behalf. Like, try to be this great a friend when they’re not paying you, and maybe I’ll take you seriously. In the meantime, leave the family to their devices good or bad.

I chuckled slightly when the project the manor owner was going to busy herself with was marrying off her son to the heroine. We both learn of this at the same time and it’s sneakily hilarious. But it segues into us getting to know her former love through flashbacks. It’s clear it was a genuine romance. But I’m more than anxious to learn about this marriage of convenience.

Instead, at the first moment, she gets she turns him down. Which is to be expected, but not terribly interesting. They do manage to become friends. He’s carrying a lot of demons and she allowed him a break from that, but I wish she was more honest with him. Like maybe it would have given him more to live for or just something else to focus on. But it turns out the girl, he was betrothed to, ends up being that for him. It was their relationship that I wanted more of. It was kinda sad when he went off the page with her to return to the hospital and get clean. Conveniently missing all the end drama.

What was surprising was the cousin’s eventual recounting of the man he remembered. It was so different from her memory. Enough context clues were dropped to ascertain that his personality had changed after the death of his cousin. And it made me wonder if his choice to love her wasn’t just a symptom of that. But that’s a subject for another day as she chooses grief as her bedfellow.

And a quarter way through the book, it feels like the story decides to be a mystery rather than stick with the supernatural element alone. I’m not opposed to it. I read it for that, but I got confused as I started to not expect it. It was just surprising in the way it was sprung on the reader so late.

I did suspect Alex of killing Francis (the female cousin that committed “suicide”). My guess was wrong.

Another lead, which I didn’t consider a lead, is the father. He shows unreasonable violent tendencies at the mere mention of his daughter. Yet, I thought that was just the product of him being a jerk and nothing more. They also throw a red herring in the story in the form of the brother, seen burning letters and hiding secrets about his sister. Also, never suspected him. So, I was surprised at the end.

One thing is for sure, all the characters in this book are well-rounded. I hated the heroine at some points (I dislike a drunk in any form) and I disliked the cousin (his coldness to his betrothed). But I also liked them severely too.

At about 60% there’s another twist, the husband returns from the dead. Shocked, is the only word. The next thought is, what the hell is this story about? One thing is for sure, the romance portion of this book needed Alex’s return. Otherwise, I was going to be forced to give it a low rating on that point. But I might as well low score it anyway as I don’t believe in their love. They finally talk things out (about him being missing) after a tumultuous reuniting, and he’s rambling about how gruesome war can be. She fires back that she knows war, but then does a poor job of explaining her experience and ends up apologizing to him.

No sir, sorrow can be a type of death for some and she thought he was gone forever. Being hungry and homeless matters. Feeling alone in a crowded world matters. Frankly, it’s the same feelings the soldier is experiencing, but there are no bullets. The author wanted poetry about the women left behind but did a poor job in doing this section justice herself.

To quickly sum up the ending, the killer is the person I least expected. His villainy was swift but quickly put to an end. The supernatural theme throughout the book did play a role in their death. Some of my favorites were hurt in the process by the killer. But everyone makes it out okay.

Comparing this book to the first one I read by the same author, she integrated the supernatural elements into the story better. She ends the murder mystery thread. Then she spends a little more time ending the supernatural thread. It was well done. And the ending was so cute. Everybody was boo’ed up and happy. Auntie wasn’t acting like a complete butt. It was perfect.

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Book Review At A Glance:

Recommendation:  4 out of 5

Book Cover Appeal:

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Story & Narration:

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Romance:

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Character/(s) Personality:

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