Book picks similar to
Crystal Web by Veronica Smith


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Lost Among the Living


Simone St. James - 2016
    Three years after her husband, Alex, disappeared, shot down over Germany, Jo Manders still mourns his loss. Working as a paid companion to Alex's wealthy, condescending aunt, Dottie Forsyth, Jo travels to the family’s estate in the Sussex countryside. But there is much she never knew about her husband’s origins…and the revelation of a mysterious death in the Forsyths’ past is just the beginning… All is not well at Wych Elm House. Dottie's husband is distant, and her son was grievously injured in the war. Footsteps follow Jo down empty halls, and items in her bedroom are eerily rearranged. The locals say the family is cursed, and that a ghost in the woods has never rested. And when Jo discovers her husband’s darkest secrets, she wonders if she ever really knew him. Isolated in a place of deception and grief, she must find the truth or lose herself forever. And then a familiar stranger arrives at Wych Elm House…

Michael's Wife


Marlys Millhiser - 1972
    Only a slip of paper with the words "Captain Michael Devereaux, Luke Air Force Base" found in her clothing connects her with reality -- a reality that becomes terrifying when she meets the captain, who angrily tells her that she is his wife, Laurel, who deserted him and their newborn son two years before. Taken to the isolated Devereaux estate outside Phoenix, she gradually becomes convinced both that she may indeed be Michael's wife and that whatever horror she fled in the desert continues to threaten her life. The hostility of her newfound relatives, their refusal to believe her story of amnesia, and growing evidence of a very real and present jeopardy drive her in a desperate search for her past -- a past she fears will prove even more unbearable than the menace of the present.

A Purrfect Romance


J.M. Bronston - 2014
    Free penthouse accommodations. Sexy neighbor not included. Bridey Berrigan desperately needs a break. Her day job as a chef has taken its toll, and she’s all but given up on the male species. Then Bridey sees the ad for a cat sitter, and its good-bye shoebox apartment, hello Park Avenue palace! With only the pedigreed kitties, Silk and Satin, to keep her company, Bridey can finally get to work writing her dream cookbook. And she can’t afford any distractions—least of all her intriguing new neighbor…Businessman Mack Brewster likes his women glamorous, aloof, and very sophisticated. With her easy smile and fresh-faced beauty, Bridey isn’t exactly his type. Also, Mack is a dog person. Still, the mouth-watering aromas wafting from Bridey’s kitchen are impossible to ignore. And as the impish felines somehow keep bringing the two of them together, Mack’s appetite is piqued—in more ways than one. But would Bridey even consider giving a guy like him a chance? Mack’s not sure, but he can’t wait to find out…63,500 Words

Haggard


Christopher Nicole - 1980
     John Haggard is the richest sugar planter in the West Indies, boasting a plantation big enough to be a town in its own right and two thousands slaves to work the fields. Young, strong, handsome, and successful, he seems to live a charmed life. But beneath the success lies a bitterness he cannot assuage. For a few brief, happy moments, his life was perfect — and then his beloved wife was taken away, leaving him with an infant son and an aching emptiness that he cannot fill. Spurred into killing a man because of a woman’s foolishness, Haggard is overwhelmed by a cruel desire to hurt women — any woman will do. Destined for the gallows, Emma Dearborn is exactly what he wants: beautiful, white, and wholly at his mercy. At first terrified by her new master, over the years Emma grows to love Haggard. When she suggests they journey to England — her place of birth, though an entirely foreign land to him — Haggard seizes upon the idea, packing up Emma, his three children, and a bevy of black slaves and setting sail for Britain. But London is vastly different than the world Haggard has always known. Polite society is scandalised by the idea of a man’s mistress, and their issue, living openly with her master — that Emma is so far below Haggard socially makes the whole scenario that much more shocking. For the first time in Haggard’s life, his vast wealth cannot buy him everything he desires. Though interested in taking up his seat in Commons, Haggard swiftly moves his household to the country, where he hopes that a kinder eye will be cast upon the unusual family. But trouble swiftly begins to brew beneath the surface — slavery is outlawed in England, and Haggard’s ownership of slaves rapidly becomes a serious point of contention. Nor is that the only trial awaiting Haggard in his new life, as he struggles to balance the life he was born to with the life he is living. Haggard is a vivid, violent tale of power and intrigue, the story of a tragic man and the women he loved…and abused. Again and again he asks himself: Are you a bad man, John Haggard? ‘If Haggard is the taste of what is to follow…let’s hope No. 2 and No. 3 won’t be too long before they make an appearance!’ — Book Buyer Born in 1930, Christopher Nicole spent his early years in British Guiana and the West Indies — years that would later strongly influence much of his writing. Many of his fifty novels are historical with a West Indian background. While his well-known Caribee saga tells the history of the British West Indian plantocracy, Haggard tells instead the tale of those West Indian nabobs who returned to England — and the difficulties they encountered there.

Named of the Dragon


Susanna Kearsley - 1998
    Tormented by horrific nightmares since the death of her baby five years before, literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw agrees to accompany an author to Wales, where she encounters an eccentric young widow desperately afraid for her own infant's safety and a reclusive playwright who could be her only salvation.

The Vanishing


Wendy Webb - 2014
    So when a stranger appears on her doorstep with a job offer, she finds herself accepting the mysterious yet unique position: caretaker to his mother, Amaris Sinclair, the famous and rather eccentric horror novelist whom Julia has always admired…and who the world believes is dead.When she arrives at the Sinclairs' enormous estate on Lake Superior, Julia begins to suspect that there may be sinister undercurrents to her "too-good-to-be-true" position. As Julia delves into the reasons of why Amaris chose to abandon her successful writing career and withdraw from the public eye, her search leads to unsettling connections to her own family tree, making her wonder why she really was invited to Havenwood in the first place, and what monstrous secrets are still held prisoner within its walls.

The House on Blackstone Moor


Carole Gill - 2010
    I came home to find them all dead; their throats savagely cut. My sisters only five and eight were gone as well as my brother who was twelve. My mother too lay butchered in her marriage bed. The bed her children were born in...- After young Rose Baines discovers the savage murders of her family by her mad, incestuous father, she is plunged into a nightmare of hell and incarcerated in two madhouses. In time, she is helped to obtain a position as governess at Blackstone House. Nothing is as it seems for Blackstone House, and its inhabitants have numerous secrets. Amid the unimaginable horror there is love - which comes at a terrible price. The House on Blackstone Moor is the first novel in Carole Gill's Blackstone Vampires Series. It is both a tale of the eternal struggle between good and evil, and a story of love that strives to prevail, despite all odds. "Think Jane Eyre with demonic vampires and with sexual scenes." "I want to put the bite into gothic romance!" Carole Gill, Author Show less

Girlfriends


Patrick Sanchez - 2001
    But after witnessing yet another acquaintance's triumphant nuptials, she's hit an all-time low. So what's a gal to do? Forget about finding Mr. Right and keep an eye out for Mr. Maybe. Cheryl is over her commitment-phobic boyfriend. What this chic, African-American gal wants is a husband-even if she has to break every rule of the personals ads page to get him. Linda doesn't need a man. She likes her office super-organized and her dates to be female. Now, she's found the lesbian Latin lover of her dreams--or so she thinks. Before you can say "loser", Gina, Cheryl, and Linda are up to their earrings in a series of romantic and professional mishaps that prove when the going gets tough, the tough turn to blond highlights, margaritas...and girlfriends! Wickedly witty debut novelist Patrick Sanchez introduces a memorable trio of urban twentysomething females who are searching for the perfect job, the perfect apartment, the perfect man--or woman--all the while asking themselves and each other ... What's A Nice Girl Like You Doing With A Life Like This?

No Turning Back


Nancy Bush - 1997
    It was originally published in the 90s as If You Believe, under the pseudonym Nancy Kelly. I’m thrilled that it’s now available again in this repackaged edition.   They find the body deep in the woods, lying beneath a carpet of wet leaves, eyes still open in a sightless stare. Three dark stains across his chest, and another bullet hole in his forehead.   Child psychologist Liz Havers made a mistake sixteen years ago, and she’s ready to face it. That means confronting Detective Hawthorne “Hawk” Hart, who’s come back to Woodside, Washington, after a case in LA went tragically wrong. His teenage son, Jesse, is finding it difficult to adjust, and stumbling across a dead man doesn’t help.   Bad things never used to happen in the small town of Woodside. Now no one is safe. And the more Hawk tries to untangle a terrifying web of greed and murder, the more desperate his adversary becomes to hide the truth, even if that means killing again and again . . .   With its new title and new cover, No Turning Back feels like a whole new book to me—one I hope you will enjoy as much as I do.   Nancy Bush

Dark Prelude


Andrea Parnell - 2011
    The Eastwind sails for the American colonies in two weeks. If Silvia chooses to accept the offer of a mysterious benefactor, she must be ready to risk her life for a chance at freedom.Silvia's dark fate starts here, in a novella-length prequel to the sexy Gothic romance novel Dark Splendor.Dark Prelude is approximately 14,500 words long.

The Widow of Pale Harbor


Hester Fox - 2019
    Gabriel Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife's death, so he moves to Pale Harbor, Maine, where there is a vacancy for a new minister. Gideon and his late wife had always dreamed of building their own church, and Pale Harbor is the perfect opportunity.But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town of Pale Harbor. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople know that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a widow who lives with a spinster maid in the decaying Castle Carver on the edge of town. Sophronia is a recluse, rumored to be a witch who killed her husband.When Gabriel meets her, he knows the charming, beautiful woman cannot be guilty of anything. Together, Gabriel and Sophronia realize that the mysterious events have one thing in common: they all contain an element from the wildly popular stories of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. And when the events escalate to murder, Gabriel and Sophronia must find the real killer, before it's too late for them both.

Colorado Bride


Leigh Greenwood - 1990
    With her smooth skin and creamy complexion, she didn’t belong out in the wilderness. And where was this elusive husband she claimed to have? If Carrie were his wife, he’d never let her out of his sight. And even though Luca knew it could never be, he Couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to make her his beautiful … Colorado Bride.

The Lost History of Dreams


Kris Waldherr - 2019
    This chapel, a stained glass folly set on the moors of Shropshire, was built by de Bonne sixteen years earlier to house the remains of his beloved wife and muse, Ada. Since then, the chapel has been locked and abandoned, a pilgrimage site for the rabid fans of de Bonne’s last book, The Lost History of Dreams.However, Ada’s grief-stricken niece refuses to open the glass chapel for Robert unless he agrees to her bargain: before he can lay Hugh to rest, Robert must record Isabelle’s story of Ada and Hugh’s ill-fated marriage over the course of five nights.As the mystery of Ada and Hugh’s relationship unfolds, so does the secret behind Robert’s own marriage—including that of his fragile wife, Sida, who has not been the same since the tragic accident three years ago, and the origins of his own morbid profession that has him seeing things he shouldn’t—things from beyond the grave.Kris Waldherr effortlessly spins a sweeping and atmospheric gothic mystery about love and loss that blurs the line between the past and the present, truth and fiction, and ultimately, life and death.

Dragonwyck


Anya Seton - 1944
    A classic gothic romance, the story features an 18-year-old Miranda Wells who falls under the spell of a mysterious old mansion and its equally fascinating master. Tired of churning butter, weeding the garden patch, and receiving the dull young farmers who seek her hand in marriage, Miranda is excited by an invitation from the upstate New York estate of her distant relative, the intriguing Nicholas Van Ryn. Her passion is kindled by the icy fire of Nicholas, the last of the Van Ryns, and the luxury of Dragonwyck, and a way of life of which she has only dreamed. Dressed in satin and lace, she becomes part of Dragonwyck, with its Gothic towers, flowering gardens, acres of tenant farms, and dark, terrible secrets. This compelling novel paints a marvelous portrait of a country torn between freedom and feudal traditions; a country divided between the very wealthy and the very poor. Poor tenant farmers at Dragonwyck, the European royalty who visit, and American icons such as Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and the Astors are vividly brought to life. This is a heart-stopping story of a remarkable woman, her breathtaking passions, and the mystery and terror that await her in the magnificent hallways of Dragonwyck.

Crimson Peak


Nancy Holder - 2015
    From acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro.