Laura Benedict (1)Besprekingen

I love the Bliss House Novels, however, this short story (that I found when I browsed the kindle app and that I had forgotten I owned) was not especially interesting and the ending was very abrupt. You know, like that's it? I recommend reading the novels instead.

It started off well and I became easily absorbed by the characters and plot line, but after a third of the way in it all began to become somewhat ridiculous; it almost felt like a daytime soap opera to me...

I read Charlotte's Story a little while ago and was so enthralled by that book that I immediately bought this book; the first book in the trilogy. Charlotte's Story took place in the 50s and this book story takes place in present time and that means that some, not many, characters from Charlotte's Story are in this book. I also know that the Bliss House, and that the men from the Bliss house aren't really to trust.

In this book, we get to follow Rainey Bliss Adams and her daughter Ariel that have moved to the house after Rainey bought it back to the Bliss family after it's been sold by Charlotte Bliss after her son Michael disappeared around 30 years before. Rainey hopes that this will be good for her and Ariel. They need a new start after losing Ariel's father to a fire that also disfigured Ariel. But they hardly settle in the house before the first person dies and then it's just a matter of time before the next one dies...

I really like the haunted house genre, and the Bliss House is really creepy. I'm mean the house isn't creepy to look at, it's lovely, it's just got an atmosphere that is creepy and it has its fair share of mysterious deaths. Like the previous owner who killed his wife with an ax in the woods outside the house. But, a house can not be evil, can it?

Laura Benedict has written a book that is hard to put down when you really get into the story and is both engaging and disturbing to read and I thought I had most of it all figured out when she turned the table on me with a very good twist. I was not really surprised about some of the things that happened, and that's thanks to reading Charlotte's Story before I read this one. That gave me an advantage since I had my suspicions on some people in this book.

One thing, I was a bit annoyed towards the end when Ariel did something really stupid, I mean I understand her to a certain limit, but at the same time, I was really irritated because I didn't think that she would, after all, she had been through before would do that. But then again it leads to a very fitting ending for the Bliss House.

All and all a truly good book. What I really like is that it doesn't rush anything, everything takes it times, that can be a bit frustrating sometimes, but the reward is a well-written book.

4.5 stars

To say that I've been eagerly awaiting to read this book is an understatement. I have read and loved the previous two books in this series and I have been waiting for what it feels like a long time for this book to be released.

You don't have to have read the previous two books in this series since the stories in these books take place after this book. To be honest, now I feel like re-reading those two books since I have the back-story to everything that is wrong with the Bliss house. The Abandoned Heart retells the building of Bliss house and how even before the house was built it was a place cursed. And, now Randolph Bliss moves his family there and it doesn't take a long time until tragedy strike.

I liked this book however, I do feel that the previous books stories were a bit more interesting and thrilling to read. This one felt like more an explanation to everything with less thrilling parts. Still, it's an awfully good book. I came to like Kiku very much and was really moved by her tragic story. There was a moment towards the end of the book when I was really taken back when something I had not expected was revealed in a letter. This is the kind of book that I don't want to reveal too much of what's going on instead I want to say that it's like the previous two books well-written and engrossing to read.

The Bliss House series is a marvelous trilogy and I recommend it warmly if you like books about haunted houses.

I want to thank Pegasus Books for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

I think what makes this book so splendid is the fact that it all seem so normal, the house the family. And, then people start to die and suddenly nothing is normal anymore. This is not a ghost story with an old creepy house with creepy people. This is a happy family, and then something happens that starts everything and suddenly the normal life doesn't seem that normal longer. And, slowly the house doesn't seem that idyllic anymore.

I found the book is especially good because of the slow introduction of the ghostly aspects of the story. It all starts so normally, Charlotte and her husband are recovering from Olivia, Press mother's death. But that is only the start of a serial of death and suddenly Charlotte feel that something is wrong, and she starts to look for answers, but the truth can sometimes be really terrible.

I don't want to spoil the book, this is a book that you should know as little as possible when you start to read it. I was completely taken with the story, it could feel sometimes a bit slow and I felt the need to rush things, but that can also be because I really wanted to know the truth. And the ending, it's just a truly great horrifying ending that I didn't expect. All I know is that I want to read the first book in the trilogy Bliss House and The Abandoned Heart, the last book in the trilogy that has yet to be released.

4.5 stars

I received a copy of this book from TLC Book Tours.

OMG! Sick, twisted, dark, and perverse. And you don't realize the extent of all of it until the end.

The one thing I loved about this book is that it was set in St. Louis. I grew up in St. Louis county so I knew about a lot of things in this book. That being said, I HATED the main character. She was a selfish, self-absorbed, cheating, liar.

Kimber goes away to the Lake of the Ozarks for a weekend and comes home to find the locks changed and a man living in her house. Great storyline, but I can't feel for sorry for someone (Kimber) I just don't like. Her ex-husband and his new man, her best friend, her co-workers, her ex-boyfriend. She uses them all.

However, who the man really is that moves into her house and how big the scheme is behind this deception is what kept me reading it. I give it 2 1/2 stars.½

2.5 Stars

This sounded extremely intriguing and unique when I first picked it up and read the synopsis. However, I was expecting it to be more suspenseful and thrilling. Don't get me wrong, there was definitely tension and mystery, but I wasn't a huge fan of Kimber and I felt the story waned in the middle and end. Still, it was a decent mystery that I can see many enjoying.½

There's no surer way to get me to throw your book away like it's covered in cockroaches than to open with a rape scene.

DNF at chapter 8, page 63. Just not clicking with this one.

4.5

The more I read of this book the more I felt that the main character, Kimber, deserved what was happening to her. I didn't like Kimber as a child, she was an annoying and selfish brat. As an adult I also found her to be a selfish brat. I do have to say that Kimber finally grew on me when everything started to be revealed towards the end. I can't say that I didn't see some of the twists coming but I was still overall surprised with what happened towards the end and what Kimber ended up finding out. I am going to leave this as a bare bones review because I don't want to spoil anything but I would recommend reading this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley.

Kimber has a great job, her own home, which is her sanctuary, and complete control over her life. Or does she? When comes home after a long weekend away, eager to get into her home, she finds that her key does not work. Totally confused, she discovers a man living there, saying that he has a lease agreement to be there. Little by little, Kimber finds that her perfectly-controlled life, is not in her hands, anymore!

This is a very suspenseful story with many surprises along the way. The twists and turns make it impossible to figure out until the very end. The realistic characters make this story come to life. What a ride!

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Charlotte's Story by Laura Benedict
Bliss House Series Book #2
3 Stars

From The Book:
The fall of 1957 in southern Virginia was a seemingly idyllic, even prosperous time. A young housewife, Charlotte Bliss, lives with her husband, Hasbrouck Preston “Press” Bliss, and their two young children, Eva Grace and Michael, in the gorgeous Bliss family home. On the surface, theirs seems a calm, picturesque life, but soon tragedy befalls them: four tragic deaths, with apparently simple explanations. But nothing is simple if Bliss House is involved. How far will Charlotte go to discover the truth? And how far will she get without knowing who her real enemy is? Though Bliss House may promise to give its inhabitants what they want, it never gives them exactly what they expect.

My Views:
As the story begins we learn that a tragedy has occurred at Bliss house. Not only has tragedy struck but strange and unnatural happenings soon follow. The house is beautiful but it has a dark secret within it's walls. The house offers it's residents whatever their hearts desire but it demands payment in return.

I began to loose interest in the story line about half way through the book when the outcome became predictable and the characters began to go off character. I didn't care for the character of Charlotte to begin with and the further into the book I got the less patience I had with her and the sorrier I felt for her husband and son. I did want to see how the author would end this tale and I'll have to say the ending was worth putting up with Charlotte for the 317 pages.

From Fantastic Fiction:

Sometimes the past comes looking for you. . . . Two years ago, in idyllic Carystown, Kentucky, nine-year-old Isabella Moon disappeared on her way home from school. Is it just coincidence that Kate Russell, a young woman with no discernible past, arrived in town just months before Isabella's disappearance? When Kate walks into Sheriff Bill Delaney's office to tell him that Isabella's ghost has led her to the child's hidden grave, he immediately views her as a suspect. Mystery follows mystery as a local athlete drops dead, inexplicably, on the basketball court, and someone close to Kate is viciously murdered.



My Thoughts:

Laura Benedict's debut novel is a blend of romance, the paranormal, and crime. Unfortunately, for Kate and the sheriff Isabella is only the first to call on Kate for help and the discovery of the girl's body leads to even darker secrets long kept hidden in the hearts and psyches of Carystown's citizenry. As is often true things aren't as they seem nor are people. is a story for those who like their mysteries laced with romance and the supernatural. While for this reader the tale seemed to be rather loosely conceived so that it meandered to a conclusion rather than building to it, Isabella Moon is still a first novel worth noting.

From Amazon:

Roxanne, Alice, and Del were schoolgirls and best friends together at Our Lady of the Hills School. They shared the silly secrets of girlhood, but also shared something less innocent: the destruction of the life and reputation of a handsome priest, Father Romero. They all but forget Romero until they grow to adulthood, leading their own complicated, often troubled, lives. Then a seductive stranger, Varick, enters their midst. Varick is a little too good to be true, and knows each of them a little too well. When he begins to manipulate their minds as well as their actions, the women’s lives spin out of control. They have no idea that the vengeful architect of their destruction has made a pact with the devil himself.

My Thoughts:

Calling Mr. Lonely Heartsis a reminder that evil rarely needs to rudely intrude into our lives because in most instances, it is invited...even welcomed and embraced, though not always recognized for what it is. This book is not for the faint of heart....and it is not a happy book. The supernatural/witchcraft plot line isn't strong enough or developed anywhere nearly enough. In spite of that I will have to say that it was a satisfactory read...I just expected a bit more.

I was eagerly awaiting this prequel to Bliss House. I love a good "house" story. When I discovered that this delved deeper into the earlier residents of Bliss House, I loved the idea and having just finished it I discovered that there is another prequel coming next year as well. What a fascinating idea to tell the story of a particular house, its biography, backwards while never losing sight of what happened most recently. Again I had strong emotional reactions to almost all of the characters. Those feeling might change as the story unfolded, but they were strong emotions nonetheless. Although it would never do the house justice, I would love to see photographs of Bliss House one day or even the inspiration for Bliss House. The last time I was this attached (for better or worse) to a fictional house was in Anne Rice's The Witching Hour. Bravo, Laura! You did it again!

What a fabulous book! I loved everything about it. The setting, characters...the House! Last time I fell in love with a house like this was Anne Rice's The Witching Hour. Highly recommended!

Shivering

Although this was a short story, almost a novella, it was as powerful as a novel could be. I swear the snow fell on my shoulders as I sat outside reading the story...in August. The cat may have been one of my favorite...distractions. None of the three characters were perfect by any means, but they were much more interesting because of it. If you have never read Ms. Benedict's works before what a wonderful first peek. If you have? She didn't disappoint. Not one bit.

Average small town/haunted house mystery that falls short of going to the next level. Serviceable fluff read, but could have been so much more with additional character development within the family.

I read Charlotte's Story a little while ago and was so enthralled by that book that I immediately bought this book; the first book in the trilogy. Charlotte's Story took place in the 50s and this book story takes place in present time and that means that some, not many, characters from Charlotte's Story are in this book. I also know that the Bliss House, and that the men from the Bliss house aren't really to trust.

In this book, we get to follow Rainey Bliss Adams and her daughter Ariel that have moved to the house after Rainey bought it back to the Bliss family after it's been sold by Charlotte Bliss after her son Michael disappeared around 30 years before. Rainey hopes that this will be good for her and Ariel. They need a new start after losing Ariels father to a fire that also disfigured Ariel. But they hardly settle in the house before the first person dies and then it's just a matter of time before the next one dies...

I really like the haunted house genre, and the Bliss House is really creepy. I'm mean the house isn't creepy to look at, it's lovely, it's just got an atmosphere that is creepy and it has its fair share of mysterious deaths. Like the previous owner who killed his wife with an ax in the woods outside the house. But, a house can not be evil, can it?

Laura Benedict has written a book that is hard to put down when you really get into the story and is both engaging and disturbing to read and I thought I had most of it all figured out when she turned the table on me with a very good twist. I was not really surprised about some of the things that happened, and that's thanks to reading Charlotte's Story before I read this one. That gave me an advantage since I had my suspicions on some people in this book.

One thing, I was a bit annoyed towards the end when Ariel did something really stupid, I mean I understand her to a certain limit, but at the same time I was really irritated because I didn't think that she would after all she had been through before would do that. But then again it leads to a very fitting ending for the Bliss House.

All and all a truly good book. What I really like is that it doesn't rush anything, everything takes it times, that can be a bit frustrating sometimes, but the reward is a well-written book.

4.5 stars

This was a difficult book for me to review because of possibly revealing too much. I don’t want to spoil it for future readers.

Randolph Bliss had built Bliss house in 1870. It was unlike the other grand houses in the area, having both a ballroom and a full theater on the third floor. It was a house that seemed to show more preference for stateliness than comfort. The house was tall and ungainly, but had a touch of romance to it, with its formal and lush gardens. Bliss house had a reputation for unnatural death and the presence of lingering death – a house that seemed to be haunted. And the family had certainly seen more than its share of tragedy over the years. There were some who said that Randolph Bliss had committed some crime that caused the house to be cursed.

1957 – Charlotte, married to Preston (Press) Bliss was now mistress of Bliss house, and the couple had two young children, Eva and Michael. Charlotte actually believed in ghosts long before she married Press and became a part of Bliss House. Charlotte’s mother had died when she was four years old, and when she was six, Charlotte had a haunting experience involving her mother’s ghost when she appeared to Charlotte.

And the story unfolds as tragedy occurs at Bliss house along with strange and unnatural happenings. Nothing is as it seems, and dark secrets are slowly revealed. Charlotte becomes very restless and tortured with grief and guilt as she searches for answers.

The author certainly has a vivid imagination with all the strange occurrences. Charlotte’s Story has a very dark story-line with a varied cast of eccentric characters. I thought the ending was just outstanding, with a resolution I did not see coming. It was a compelling tale of suspense that was haunting and rich with description. All of the characters do intertwine and are important to the story-line.

Unfortunately I never became absorbed in the story-line until about 200 pages into the book – it seemed to drag on and on. Finally the author picked up the tempo and intensity and I became fully engaged. This is certainly a worthwhile read! I waffled between a 3 and 4 and decided on 3.5 stars.

Creepy story about a house that takes over the family's life. Murders occur and ghosts come to help sort it out. Can't tell if this is going to be a good or stupid series! Reviewed for Booklist.

A little girl disappears without a trace. A newcomer to town begins to have visions (visitations?) which lead to the discovery of her body. Unlike LULLABY this book had characters that I wanted to know more about. Not necessarily because they were likable, but because they were interesting. Each new chapter brought on another aspect to the characters keeping my interest peaked. The ending was a surprise too. It did not really take me to where I expected ... in this case ... a good thing!

Rainey and her daughter move to Bliss house after an accident that takes the life of Ariel's father and seriously scars her. Not long after they move in strange things occur that seem to be related to the former occupants of the house. I read through the first two hundred pages like lightning. I was engrossed by both the present day story and the one that was taking place in the past. Somewhere in the middle the plot started dragging and I just lost interest in it. A haunted house book is usually my favorite kind but I lost my reading momentum and it was like slogging through mud to get through the last two hundred pages. The characters actions started straining credulity and I lost interest in the plot.