Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ★★★★★
Military historian Luke Alcott leaps at the chance to live in the seventeenth-century country mansion of Eelmoor Hall, home of the Royal Military School of Medicine, after being offered a job cataloging the school’s archives. Luke believes he chose the perfect place to start a new life and put his broken past behind him. But soon after settling into the old house, he hears strange noises—like footsteps—and he begins to suffer from terrible nightmares.The only person Luke can turn to for help is the taciturn caretaker, Jay, a veteran of the Afghanistan war who carries an old battle wound. Together they try to understand Eelmoor Hall’s history and decipher what could be causing the haunting. As the weather grows colder and snow dusts the countryside, a child goes missing. Luke needs to deal with his own demons and learn to trust in love again if he hopes to face down the angry spirit and find the missing girl.
I loved this. This was a surprising hit out of the ballpark for me. I had never read this author before. In fact I had never heard of her before. The blurb sounded interesting so off I went. This book surpassed all my expectations. I love a good gothic romance but I don’t come across them all that often in the m/m genre. This one though was perfect. The haunted manor, the ghost stories, the footsteps in the hallway, the cold spots, the breath on the back of your neck, the bad dreams, the paralyzing fear. It was all here and was creepy as can be. It was turn the lights on and look over your shoulder creepy. In addition to this there was a beautiful love story. It’s a story about forgiveness and letting go of the past and going on with the future.
The story is told in first person pov as Luke tells us, the readers, a story about how he and Jay met. He’s immediately personable and you felt drawn in right away. It was like sitting down with a good friend while they tell you a story. He tells you Jay’s comments and one liners and he’s goes along so you get a feel for Jay quickly also. A part of the story is how Luke came to let go of Danny, a love from his past. This is an important part of the story and was both touching and heartbreaking. Jay and Luke are great characters and I liked them both a lot. They had good chemistry and you can feel what makes them good together right away.
I think first person pov narration is hard to do well but again, I thought this was excellent. In the course of this story this author had me laughing, had me scared to death and had my eyes filling with tears of emotion. I felt so much for Luke and every event, every emotion, he went through. This is a must read in my opinion.
Cover art by Garrett Leigh. I liked the cover. I think it conveys the haunted, almost gloomy period Luke is going through in the story.
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 153 pages
Published January 27th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ASINB01AFW3XJM
Edition LanguageEnglish
Published January 27th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ASINB01AFW3XJM
Edition LanguageEnglish
Buy It Here
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 