Premonition at Withers Farm

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WRIGHT, JAIME JO

THE PREMONITION AT WITHERS FARM

The voices of the past cannot stay silent forever.

In 1910 Michigan, Perliett Van Hilton is a self-proclaimed rural healer, leaving the local doctor convinced she practices quackery. It doesn't help that her mother is a spiritualist who regularly offers her services to connect the living with their dearly departed. But when Perliett is targeted by a superstitious killer, she must rely on both the local doctor and an intriguing newcomer for assistance.

In the present day, Molly Wasziak's life has not gone the way she dreamed. Facing depression after several miscarriages, Molly is adapting to her husband's purchase of a peculiar old farm. A search for a family tree pulls Molly deep into a century-old murder case and a web of desception, all made more mysterious by the disturbing shadows and sounds inside the farmhouse.

Perliett fights for her life, and Molly seeks renewed purpose for hers as she uncovers the records of the dead. Will their voices be heard, or will time forever silence their truths?

My Review:

Gobsmacked. That's me. Senses reeling. Goosebumps still chilling. Heart may return to a normal rhythm eventually. Wright has fine-tuned her atmospheric, eerie, and yes, even menacing, storytelling to create another mesmerizing read.

Phew! I have no idea what else to say because there are so many intertwining elements in both timelines, so many intricate nuances in each story and the way they build and wrap together by the end is truly magnificent...but really hard to talk about without including spoilers.

Let's just say the journey was hair-raising and exhilarating and well worth the read.

Book provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a gently read paperback copy. 

If you would like a chance to win a copy of  Premonition at Withers Farm, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday December 17 2022 . Offer open to International Readers.

The Souls of Lost Lake

GIVEAWAY

WRIGHT, JAIME JO

THE SOULS OF LOST LAKE

Wren Blythe has long enjoyed being among the Northwoods, helping her father with programming at a youth camp. But when a little girl in the area goes missing, an all-out search ensues, reviving the decades-old campfire story of Ava Coons, the murderess, who still roams the woods. Joining the search, Wren stumbles upon the Coons cabin ruins and a rotting porcelain doll. But even more terrifying is seeing her name etched on the doll's foot like a sinister omen.

In 1930, Ava Coons has spent the last ten years carrying the mantle of mystery since she emerged from the forest as an eight-year-old girl, spattered with blood, dragging a logger's axe. She has accepted she'll never remember what happened to her family. When a member of the town of Tempter's Creek is murdered, rumours spread that Ava's secret is more malicious than previously imagined.

My Review:

I'm truly at a loss for words. This book defies description. Compelling. Eerie. Mysterious. Heartbreaking. Inspiring. Hopeful. It carries a reader through a gamut of emotions before the spectacular ending. The kind of story that keeps you in suspense, slightly confused and a bit on edge until the final chapter. 

Love the dual timeline and the way the author wove the two heroine's stories together -- though, for the longest time I couldn't quite grasp how that was going to work. But when I did and started putting the pieces together, realizing the uncanny parallels between Wren and Ava...well, just wow!

I'll confess to being quite the scaredy-cat so I was worried this book might push me past my comfort level but thanks to the encouragement of my bookish pal, Diana, I was able to put those fears aside and am I ever glad I did! It's definitely atmospheric and there's a shivery spine tingling quality to some of the scenes, but Wright never goes over the top into full thriller mode so I was content to be deliciously anxious and not downright terrified. :-)

I listened to the audible edition narrated by Kathryn Markey and was completely entranced by her performance. A perfect pairing of author and narrator. 

 GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a paperback or ebook copy -- winner's choice.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Souls of Lost Lake, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday July 23 2022 . Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

On the Cliffs of Foxglove Manor

    GIVEAWAY

WRIGHT, JAIME JO

ON THE CLIFFS OF FOXGLOVE MANOR

1885

Adria Fontaine has been sent to recover goods her father pirated on the Great Lakes during the war. But when she arrives at Foxglove Manor -- a stone house on a cliff overlooking Lake Superior -- Adria senses wickedness hovering over the property. The mistress of Foxglove is an eccentric and seemingly cruel old woman who has filled her house with dangerous secrets, ones that make cost Adria her life.

Present day

Kailey Gibson is a new nurse's aide at a senior home in a renovated old stone manor. Kidnapped as a child, she has nothing but locked-up memories of secrets and death, overshadowed by the chilling promise from her abductors that they would return. When the residents of Foxglove start sharing stories of whispers in the night, hidden treasure, and a love willing to kill. it becomes clear this home is far from a haven. She'll have to risk it all to banish the past's demons, including her own.

My Review:

Whoa -- this might just be Jaime Jo Wright's best novel yet! Full of classic Gothic elements in both timelines that put both heroines in peril, On the Cliffs of Foxglove Manor is a a shivery atmospheric delight.

First off -- the manor! Cue the creepy background music and be prepared to be chilled by its ominous presence. A fortress of secrets. Harbinger of death. And then there are the two heroines, a century apart, but both determined to solve it's mystery...or die trying. And did I mention the ghost? And Hidden treasure. Even some talk of pirates! Along with the sobering specter of a local history that just won't die.

Honestly, Wright is a master at weaving the threads of a dual timeline story. This one was more mysterious than any of her others -- chock full of surprises and so much heartbreak. And the way the author builds the suspense elements without ever giving too much away is sheer agonizing perfection. So many 'aha' moments for me. It got to the point where I stopped trying to figure it all out and just allowed the story to carry me away. And I listened to every word with bated breath! It was over way too fast.

By the by -- the audible edition is really well done. Narrator Leah Horowitz does crotchety old men exceptionally well. :-)

 GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for paperback or ebook copy -- winner's choice

If you would like a chance to win a copy of On the Cliffs of Foxglove Manor, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winners announced on Saturday June 5  2021. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus

GIVEAWAY

WRIGHT, JAIME GO
THE HAUNTING AT BONAVENTURE CIRCUS

1928
The Bonaventure Circus is a refuge for many, but Pippa Ripley was rejected from its inner circle as a baby. When she receives mysterious messages from someone called the "Watchman", she is determined to find him and the connection to her birth. As Pippa's search leads her to a man seeking justice for his murdered sister and evidence that a serial killer has been haunting the circus train, she must decide if uncovering her roots is worth putting herself directly in the path of the killer.

Present Day
The old circus train depot will either be torn down or preserved for historical importance, and its future rests on real estate project manager Chandler Faulk's shoulders. As she dives deep into the depot's history, she's also balancing a newly diagnosed autoimmune disease and the pressures of single motherhood. When she discovers clues to the unsolved murders of the past, Chandler is pulled into a story far darker and more haunting than even an abandoned train depot could portend.

My Review:

Honestly, I wasn't sure I was brave enough to read this book. I mean, a serial killer and a haunted circus? Yikes! I thought I'd be cowering under the covers in desperate need of a night light but I'm happy to report it was more creepily fascinating than eerily terrifying. :-) And completely mesmerizing.

I listened to the audible version and I could not stop 'reading'. It got to the point where I had an hour and a half left by midnight -- which was already way past by bedtime. (Did I mention I could not stop????) So I reluctantly turned out the lights and then tossed and turned for an hour with my brain about to short circuit over trying to figure out not one but two timeline mysteries! I finally gave up and listened to the rest of book...in the dark. Cue the spooky music!

And I was absolutely gobsmacked! I mean, I really didn't see some (most) of it coming! So then I was up another hour mulling over the sheer brilliance of Jaime Jo Wright's cagey mind. I think I finally got to sleep around four in the morning! All this to say, clear your calendar before you start reading this book because it's not an easy one to put down!

This author has to be the queen of Dual Timeline storytelling. The way she balances the plots and the way they intrinsically start to mesh together until the end becomes a breathless flurry of "ooohs"and "aaahs"-- well it's stupefyingly mindboggling, I tell ya! And brilliant. And not to be missed!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a read copy of  The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday September 12 2020 . Offer open to International Readers. Good luck

Echoes Among the Stones

GIVEAWAY

WRIGHT, JAMIE JO
ECHOES AMONG THE STONES

After Aggie Dunkirk's career is unceremoniously ended by her own mistakes, she finds herself traveling to Wisconsin, where her grandmother, Mumsie, lives alone in her vintage, though very outdated, home. Aggie didn't plan for how eccentric Mumsie has become, obsessing over an old, unsolved crime scene -- even going so far as to re-create it in a dollhouse.

Mystery seems to follow Aggie when she finds work as a secretary helping to restore the flooded historical part of the town's cemetery. Forced to work with a puzzling yet attractive archaeologist, she exhumes the past's secrets and unwittingly uncovers a crime that come will go to any length to keep hidden -- even if that means silencing Aggie.

In 1946, Imogene Grayson works in a beautify salon but has her sights set on Hollywood. But comeing home to discover her younger sister's body in the attic changes everything. Unfamiliar with the burgeoning world of forensic science and, as a woman, not particularly welcomed into the investigation, Imogene is nonetheless determined to stay involved. As her sister's case grows cold, Imogene vows to find justice...no matter the cost.

My Review:

I'm in a post-read I-can't-believe-that-happened / I-didn't-see-that-coming daze. Accompanied by a serious case of the 'boohoo-it's-all-over blues. In short -- I am stupefied so if this review doesn't make sense blame Jaime Jo Wright not me! :-)

First -- the dual timeline -- honestly, this author knows how to make it work! The pacing between the present and the past -- the way she builds both storylines until they explode in a frenzy of 'aha' moments that rocked my reading socks right off. Phew! And the way she jumps from 1946 to 2019, always leaving me hanging. I'd be like "Nooooo, you can't leave it there!" as I recalibrated my head and heart into another time frame only to be sucked in and then -- wham -- we're time traveling again. Blissfully discombobulated, that was me the whole read.

The mystery is so well done. Complex and confusing and a tad creepy. I had more theories than there were chapters in the book! LOL In the end, this armchair sleuth got it partially right. But I was also flabbergasted by certain revelations.

I didn't take to either heroine immediately. They both had some prickly characteristics that kept me at arms' length. It wasn't long before I realized they were deliberately holding back -- barricading their hearts behind protective walls to stave off further hurt. And protect themselves from grief.

And here's what really surprised me about this novel -- it is a study of grief. How it inspires action...or inaction. How it takes hostages. Suppresses joy. Binds hope. And most importantly, how grace can burst open grief's prison. So many stunning passages. Profound. Words I really took to heart. I listened to the audible edition so I don't have any quotes to share here but you can be sure I'll be buying a paperback copy so I have the words in print to cherish.

An indescribably awesome novel that belongs on keeper shelves everywhere!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of  Echoes Among the Stones, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday December 14 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

The Curse of Misty Wayfair

GIVEAWAY

WRIGHT, JAIME JO
THE CURSE OF MISTY WAYFAIR

 Left at an orphanage as a child, Thea Reed vowed to find her mother someday. Now grown, her search takes her to turn-of-the-century Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin. When the clues she finds lead her to a mental asylum, Thea uses her experience as a postmortem photographer to gain access and assist groundskeeper Simeon Coyle in photographing the patients and uncovering the secrets within. However, she never expected her personal quest would reawaken the legend of Misty Wayfair, a murdered woman who allegedly haunts the area and whose appearance portends death.

A century later, Heidi Lane receives a troubling letter from her mother -- who is battling dementia -- compelling her to travel to Pleasant Valley for answers to her own questions of identity. When she catches sight of a ghostly woman haunting the asylum ruins in the woods, the long-standing story of Misty Wayfair returns -- and with it, Heidi's fears for her own life.

As two women across time seek answers about their identities and heritage, they must overcome the threat of the mysterious curse that has them inextricably intertwined.

My Review:

Haunting and mysterious and nail-biting and riveting...I'm still staggering around, gobsmacked! Absolutely loved the eerie ambiance! The faint of heart might want to reserve their reading to daylight hours but if you love a good shivery thrill, read on into the darkest night.

I read The Curse of Misty Wayfair with a howling wind rattling my windows which created the perfect shivery mood. And at one point -- for no apparent reason (Misty Wayfair?!) -- the curtain rod in my study dropped off the brackets and crashed to the floor. Cue the creepy music and throw the covers over your head (but  grab a flashlight so you can read from the safety of your cocoon.) Warning: this book may induce the urge to comfort-eat chocolate. :-)

Both timelines are equally compelling. Both heroines are fascinating and I love the way Wright built up the mystery around them and the way she tantalizes readers with a slow reveal of their backstories. It makes for a deeply emotional read.

And the heroes are just as captivating...though I might have developed a slightly deeper crush for present-day Rhett, the "cranky super hero knock off" (p 83) who goes everywhere with a one-eyed dog and a mangy cat. That right there is my idea of the best kind of book boyfriend!

A rich inspirational thread binds these two timelines together in so many amazing ways! As different as Thea and Heidi are, they both struggle with the same sense of loss and abandonment. So many profound concepts that I had to just sit with a bit before I could continue reading. Like this:

"That while the past -- the consequences of the past -- might have a dire effect on me, it still doesn't change who I am. We were created to discover our Creator. In doing so, our identity is defined." (p 306)

A truly stunning not-to-be-missed novel!

Book provided courtesy of Baker Publication and Graf-Martin Communications Inc.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of  The Curse of Misty Wayfair, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday March 23 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond

GIVEAWAY

WRIGHT, JAIME JO
THE RECKONING AT GOSSAMER POND

For over a century, the town of Gossamer Grove has thrived on its charm and Midwestern values, but Annalise Forsythe knows painful secrets, including her own, hover just beneath the pleasant facade. Yet her strange and sudden inheritance of a run-down trailer home -- full of pictures, vintage obituaries, and old revival posters -- leaves her wholly unprepared for how truly dark and deadly those secrets may be.

A century earlier, Gossamer Grove is stirred into chaos by the arrival of controversial and charismatic twin revivalists. The chaos takes a murderous turn when Libby Sheffield, while working on her father's newspaper, receives an obituary for a reputable church deacon hours before his death. As she works with the deacon's son to solve the crime, it becomes clear that a reckoning has come to town -- but it isn't until another obituary arrives at the paper that they realize the true depths of the danger they've waded into.

Two women, separated by a hundred years, must unravel the mysteries of their own town before it's too late and they lose their future -- or their very souls.

My Review:

"Life is hard and it takes guts, faith, and a massive amount of out-of-this-world grace." (p 307)

Wow...this is another how-do-I-find-the-words-to-explain-how-I-feel kind of books. Definitely masterfully written. The way Wright weaves together past and present...the pacing of information revealed, the mystery build up -- it's incredibly well done. Kept me hanging every time we flipped from 1907 to present day. And the author is infuriatingly (and delightfully) slow at revealing all the pieces of the puzzle. I went from lost, to grasping at hints of clues to formulating a hypothesis only to have it dashed and scrambling to start all over again.

At first, the stories seem so separate and unconnected in any deep way but that gradually changes with every new revelation until they converge on each other in a frantic rush of action and danger in the nail-biting conclusion. Phew! I was riveted. And a little swoony over the Gothic elements that created all that moody ambiance!

Jaime Jo Wright is a gifted wordsmith and I kept pen and paper on hand to copy down bits of exquisite perfection that I didn't want to forget. Lots had to do with the exceptional inspirational threads on forgiveness and grace woven into both time periods....mind boggling doesn't begin to cover it. Maybe the most compelling and moving I've ever read in a novel. She doesn't shy away from awkward questions and hard realities. And she writes in a way that urges the reader to dig deep and come to their own reckoning.

"Denying God's ability to forgive...is denying oneself the ability to live." (p206)

and

"One may carry guilt and shame with them for years, only to discover that while they attempted to dodge God's judgement, they instead cheated themselves of His forgiveness." (p 163)

What more can I say? Two incredible heroines, a complicated mystery that spans a century and the kind of  delicious writing that begs to be read out loud...with frequent pauses so you can sit in the moment and absorb it all. Sublime!

Book provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add your email to a comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday September 9 2018. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

The House on Foster Hill

GIVEAWAY

WRIGHT, JAIME JO
THE HOUSE ON FOSTER HILL

Kaine Prescottis no stranger to death. When her husband died two years ago, her pleas for further investigation into his suspicious demise fell on deaf ears. In desperate need of a fresh start, Kaine purchases an old house sigh unseen in her grandfather's  Wisconsin hometown. But one look at the eerie, abandoned house immediately leaves her questioning her rash decision. And when the house's dark history comes back with a vengeance. Kaine is forced to face the terrifying realization she has nowhere left to hide.

A century earlier; the house on Foster Hill holds nothing but painful memories for Ivy Thorpe. When an unidentified woman is found dead on the property. Ivy is compelled to discover her identity. Ivy's search leads her into dangerous waters, resurrecting painful memories and forcing a reunion with the man who broke her heart. Can Ivy unravel the mystery and find a renewed hope before any other lives -- including her own -- are lost?

My Review:

Mesmerizing. I'm just nigh on speechless at a how truly captivating this debut novel is. There is this powerful thread of hope that is intricately woven into the very fiber of both Kaine's and Ivy's stories that ministered to me in an incredible way. I am so grateful to the author for creating that kind of inspirational thread -- it transcends time and easily leaps from fiction to real life. Truly uplifting.

And now on to the whole Gothic vibe that thrilled me to my toes. Both in 1906 and 2017. I think this is the first time I've read a dual timeline Gothic romantic mystery. Spine-tingling good! This book is full of gems like this - Kaine's first glimpse of Foster Hill House: "Cavernous windows opened in a silent scream on the face of the Gothic house tilted on the crest of Foster Hill." (p 22) If that doesn't set the mood, I don't know what will. This house is steeped in mystery both past and present and Wright expertly weaves both stories to a crescendo of a climax. Simply stunning. And she ends every scene on a gasp-out-loud-you-can't-leave-it-there high.

The kind of novel that begs you to read faster and slower at the same time! Because you want to have all the answers right now but you also want to savor the exquisite journey along the way. Such a lovely reader conundrum!

Book provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications Inc.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The House on Foster Hill, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add your email to a comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday December 17 2017. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!