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Crystal Web by Veronica Smith


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The Other: A traditional clean Victorian Gothic (Gothika Series)


L.C. Kincaide - 2017
    She was wrong. New widow, Haley Colbrooke travels to Ashdown to meet her husband’s family and to visit his grave. The shocking news of their recent marriage is awkward enough. That her brother in-law is Lance’s identical twin is worse. Given her circumstances, she accepts the invitation to stay, which sets in motion a chain of events that will risk Haley losing all she has left. Rather than finding solace, she is drawn into past tragedies and deadly secrets. Perhaps coming to the family estate was a terrible mistake.

Vanished


Cheryl Gorman - 2015
     Devlin Morgan, the reclusive owner of Morgan’s Keep, coolly turns away her inquiries, and the villagers, who respect Devlin, refuse to cooperate, as well. Worse still is her own unwanted attraction to him. Especially once she begins to suspect he’s involved with her sister’s disappearance and the mysterious “Chiming Ghost.” In order to solve the mystery of her missing sister, she’ll also have to probe Devlin’s dark past, discover the truth about the “ghost.” and decide whether to trust the passion in her heart or play it safe and return to England. Whatever happens, she’ll never be the same when she leaves the island.

Mistress of Raghery


Raine English - 2013
     On a storm-shrouded island, ghosts of the past threaten to kill again. Sheeva Desmond always believed she’d marry for love. But when she’s left penniless after her parents’ deaths and her fiancé cancels their wedding, she’s convinced love is a fairy tale. Desperate to find a way to support herself, she takes a position as governess to a troubled mute boy. She never expects to lose her heart to the boy’s handsome father. Or to become entangled in a deadly mystery.Ronan Quinn, Master of Rathlin Island, spent years in an unhappy marriage. When his faithless wife threatens to leave him and is later found dead, he blames himself for not keeping her safe. He’s left with a hardened heart and a devastated young son. The beautiful governess he hires may have the courage to help his son and to heal Ronan’s soul. But a murderer from his past haunts the shadows and threatens them all. ˃˃˃ Warning: Mistress of Raghery contains restless ghosts, misty cliffs, mysterious smugglers and a woman who will challenge them all to win the heart of the man she loves. Novel length, approximately 77,000 words. Scroll up and grab a copy today.

The Shadow Wife


Dorothy Eden - 1967
    But he was so attentive, so charming, that she silenced the small warning voice within her and yielded to his passionate persuasions.The wedding ceremony was hasty, almost furtive, but Luise was too wildly infatuated to care. Even his insistence that their marriage be kept a secret did not seem unreasonable. Otto Winther was, after all, a Count... a man whose ancestors were royalty in Denmark.

Mistress of Mellyn & Kirkland Revels


Victoria Holt - 1962
    "As the train carried Martha Leigh -- heroine of Mistress of Mellyn - through the wooded hills of Devon, she could not help feeling a deep sense of foreboding." "The magnificent manor house on the Yorkshire moors, the ancestral home of the Rockwell family, was called Kirkland Revels."

The Secret of Greystone Hall


Elizabeth Wilde - 2014
    Then suddenly the man vanished. All too soon she finds that the corridors of the gloomy mansion are filled with sinister secrets. To her sheer horror she begins to question whether the old man could be behind terrifying events that shrouded the ancient walls and stalked her into the very shadows of death and madness.

Vampire Kisses 1: The Beginning


Ellen Schreiber - 2011
    Dangerous first love. This is where it all begins...The mansion on top of Benson Hill has stood empty for years. But one day it seems to be occupied, and its mysterious, handsome inhabitant Alexander Sterling becomes the source of much talk around town. Raven, a vampire-obsessed Goth-girl who has always considered herself an outsider in 'Dullsville', is determined to uncover the truth surrounding the secretive Alexander. As she gets to know him, and their spark intensifies, Raven finds herself in some unanticipated situations. Vampire Kisses: The Beginning captures the thrill of a most unusual romance.Also available by Ellen Schreiber:Vampire Kisses 2: Kissing CoffinsVampire Kisses 3: VampirevilleVampire Kisses 4: Dance with a VampireVampire Kisses 5: The Coffin ClubVampire Kisses 6: Royal BloodVampire Kisses 7: Love BitesOnce in a Full Moon

The Eye Stones


Harriet Esmond - 1975
     She soon discovers that both her sister and her new husband have tragically perished in a fire which destroyed their home. Alone in the bleak Norfolk brecklands, Deborah is at first forced to accept hospitality from the handsome yet forbidding widower, Sir Randall Gaunt. Yet even when Deborah later stumbles upon the warm companionship of Lord Stannard, the charming young aristocrat wooing her with such passionate urgency, the strange events that follow cause her feelings of uneasiness to grow. And then, before long Deborah becomes inextricably involved in a nightmare of unimaginable evil…

An Old Love's Shadow


Abby Gray - 1999
    She’s on a charitable mission, by damn, and that rowdy cantina next door is drowning out her gospel singing. The clash with the sexy-as-hell man who runs the cantina hits with enough force to burn down the small Mexican town. What happens in Mexico… Is supposed to stay in Mexico but Hunter can’t get that blonde with the ice blue eyes out of his mind when he goes home to Texas. Finding her isn’t the problem. Convincing her that he’s interested—well, that’s another story. Mercy tried to get over Hunter, especially when she found out about his past. She had two choices: move on or give him one more chance because no other man should have to live in an old love’s shadow. If you liked Carolyn Brown’s books, Love Is, Trouble in Paradise, The Wager or The Yard Rose, you will love An Old Love’s Shadow.

Velvet Shadows


Andre Norton - 1977
    She would be a "friend" who would try to protect her from another scandalous involvement--like the one back in France.Alain was a generous and thoughtful employer. Victorine a bright and amusing companion. But Tamaris could not help wondering about the significance of the gold and enamel snake Victorine wore around her neck. Nor could she stop thinking about the fact that someone had been going through her belongings and leaving strange objects among them.Then one day Alain was forced to reveal the true story of Victorine's past. A past, Tamaris suspected, that would soon gain on the future and place everyone at Rancho del Sol under a shadow of constant fear..

A Woman Named Smith


Marie Conway Oemler - 1919
    Amusing mystery story, its melodramatic plot unwinding against the charming background of a South Carolina townlet stirred to its depths by the passing of an historic mansion, through a spite will, to the possession of "a Yankee woman named Smith".

Summons to the Chateau D'Arc


Kay Cornelius - 2005
    She finds herself falling for the attractive estate manager, who carries secrets of his own. As the tension grows more unbearable, Ellen will have to risk everything she holds dear to discover the secrets that lurk in the shadows of the Chateau D'Arc.

Gods and Monsters Box Set 1


Quinn Blackbird - 2020
    “I could kill you a thousand different ways where you sit.”The nail cut deeper. Blood beaded, then spilled down my front, over my breasts. I choked on a whimper.“Now tell me everything.”1. Prince PoisonFew knew Valissa's secret but it already carried a death toll. One.If the Gods ever discovered what she was, they would capture and flay her alive.But in the land of Gods and Monsters, no secret stays hidden for long.Lissa—drunk on the high of a midnight party that's rife with mysterious pirates—gets too close to one of the pirates, who turns out to have secrets of his own.Jasper is no pirate. He is a servant of the Gods. And the moment she touches him, she steals his power.He kidnaps Lissa, and he's taking her to one of the most brutal Gods in all the lands ... He's taking her to Prince Poison.Prince Poison's mere touch kills and his cruelty is said to stretch beyond even the darkest pits of Lissa's soul. But when she's standing in front of this fearsome God, ready to face her gruesome fate, the Prince might see more in her than she ever thought possible.2. CaptiveValissa is an abomination among Gods and Monsters.She's cursed with the unexplained ability to steal power from the children of the Gods. It's a curse worthy of death, but her fate is much worse than that.Prince Poison, the cruelest of them all, keeps her captive in the stardust palace, where she's forced to train her abilities into something that terrifies her, while evading the malicious interest of those around her.What's worse than holding the interest of a God whose touch kills and whose lips enchant?Becoming his captive...3. PhantomValissa’s death toll is on the rise:One—before she was stolen away to the cruel Prince Poison. Seven—under the Prince’s malicious watch.The worst part? Valissa just doesn’t care anymore, not about the lives of those she doesn’t know when her own life is falling apart all around her.Ava’s not speaking to her. Jasper pushes her in training to the point of exhaustion. And though Valissa does everything he wants, the Prince grows distant.Valissa finds the closest thing to a friend in the mysteriously dark stranger who haunts her in the stardust palace. Damianos; a God or aniel she most definitely knows better than to trust.In the Land of Gods, is it really ‘better the devil you know’? And what about when the devil you don’t know is just so damn intoxicating?What’s worse than being the prisoner of a God?Abandoning all hopes of freedom.This is Box Set 1 of 2. It includes the first three books in the Gods and Monsters 6-book series.Box Set 2 is available for preorder, release date: January 2020.Disclaimer: Please read content warnings.

My Sisters


Ann Roth - 2008
    — When sisters Margaret, Rose, and Quincy Lansing receive the tragic news that a car accident has claimed the life of their mother, they must return to their childhood home-and to one another's company. Although they are shocked and heartbroken, none of the Lansing sisters is eager to be back. For the painful memories they thought they'd left behind have suddenly resurfaced...But there is also an unbreakable bond of love.The Lansings were never a close or loving family. And each sibling had long ago found her own means of escape-Margaret into her lab work, Rose into her "perfect" marriage, Quincy into her acts of rebellion. So when crisis forces them together again, they discover that they know as little about one another as they did about their mother. And in unraveling her secrets, they find not only revelation, but also strength, hope, sisterhood, and a chance for love...

The Secret of Mirror House


Jennifer Blake - 1969
     After Amelia Harveston loses her mother to tragic circumstances, she fears she will be forced into poverty and the position of a desperate woman. When distant relatives invite her to live with them at Mirror House, the plantation home built by her grandfather, she readily accepts. Her expectations of a warm family embrace where she'll be loved and protected, though, are soon shattered. Mirror House is a home haunted by the past, by dark secrets and by the cruel games its inhabitants play. Alone and with no one to confide in, Amelia struggles to unearth the house's secrets. Then the accidents begin, and Amelia knows she's become the target for the hate that infests it. Out of the despair, two seeming allies appear. Two offers of marriage promise sanctuary. Both men claim to love her. One of them is lying. Amelia must choose the one man whose embrace promises the love and safety her very life depends on. But the house, it seems, has other ideas...