Mary Rose by Geoffrey Girard @Geoffrey_Girard ‏@AdaptiveStudios

MARY ROSE BY GEOFFREY GIRARD

Mary Rose Moreland and Simon Blake are the perfect couple: successful young professionals in Philadelphia, attractive, madly in love, and ready to start a life together.  When they travel to England for Simon to ask her parents’ permission to marry Mary Rose, he learns an unsettling secret: Mary Rose disappeared when she was a little girl while the family was vacationing on a remote Scottish island.  She reappeared mysteriously thirty-three days later in the exact same spot without a scratch on her and no memory of what had happened.

After Simon hears about this disturbing episode in Mary Rose’s childhood, he becomes obsessed with finding out what happened.  He proceeds to launch his own investigation and arranges during their honeymoon for them to visit the island where she disappeared.  But as Mary Rose’s behavior gets stranger after the engagement, the need for Simon to unlock the truth about her past grows even more urgent.  What he uncovers is beyond his most terrifying fears.

Mary Rose is author Geoffrey Girard’s chilling and modern take on a classic ghost story originally written by J.M. Barrie.  And for years, master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock attempted to adapt Mary Rose into a film but was never successful.  With this novel, Girard taps in the nightmarish fears that inspired both Barrie and Hitchcock, while also bringing the story to the present day with his own unique voice.

Release Date:  October 17, Barnes & Noble exclusive

Buy link:

Barnes and Noble

Review:

5 Stars

If you love old style horror movies or novels you have to read this book.

When a six year old Mary Rose goes missing during an island jaunt with her father, all hell breaks loose. Was she abducted or was there something more sinister and otherworldly at work? The answers aren't any more clear when she reappears more than a month later seemingly in perfect health, remembering nothing of her ordeal.

Fast forward to the present. She and Simon, her betrothed, travel to England to meet the parents. But what they find only leads him deeper down the rabbit hole that comprises the past of the woman he wants to marry.

This book is a page turner. From the first spooky encounter on an island that seems to be a character all its own, to the race against time to solve the mystery of what happened to Mary Rose, Simon is a man on a mission to save his bride from the past and a future that looks increasingly fraught with danger.

I loved this book and can't wait to read more from this talented author. Fans of Rosemary's Baby, The Legend of Hell House, The Haunting of Hill House and other old style horror films and stories will fall in love with this tale, that was nearly made into a movie by none other than Hitchcock himself. Kudos to Mr. Girard for bringing this story to life.

***If you loved Barbara Michael's The Dancing Floor you must have this book in your collection.

To Have and To Haunt

Melanie Fyre is a passionate teacher determined to raise funds for the town's school. What better way to do it than by expanding the local businesses? All she needs is land. Untouched for years thanks to a local superstition, the Crowe property is perfect. If Melanie can debunk the myth, she can get the use of those 600 beautiful acres. She just has to prove to the town that Leah's ghost is not haunting the mansion, even on Samhain night.


Burned to death and proclaimed a witch, Leah Crowe's soul has been cursed to an eternity of loneliness, all because she dared to love a woman. When the saucy Melanie arrives at her home to throw a costume party that mocks Leah's very existence, the bitter ghost resolves to renew the town's fear of her name. Will Leah's ghost ruin all of Melanie's plans?

Goodreads

Breathless Press

Review:

Releasing on October 31, 2014 this short Halloween flirt was a fun read about a Halloween party at a haunted  house and the long lost lovers that become reunited.

Melanie wants to raise funds for the town school so she picks a haunted house-prove suspicion wrong and she can use the land. Sounds perfect until Leah Crowe, resident ghost sounds in on the interloper. Angry at the people invading her home, she can't help but be curious over the sexy girl in a cat suit. Looking deeper, Leah sees something inside of Mel that reminds her of her lover who died, spurring her own death at the hands of an angry mob.

Can Leah let go of the past so she can finally be at rest? Is Mel her reincarnated lover? You'll have to read this spooky little tidbit to find out! I wonder if they have an extra invitation...this sounds like a party I wouldn't want to miss!

4/5