Susan's Reviews > House of Shadows

Re-read August 2022

After re-reading this I've come to the conclusion that Darcy Coates should stay away from romance in her books. ;)

------------------------

3.5 stars


I’m really liking Darcy Coates’ writing style. Although this wasn’t as creepy or scary as I’d hoped, it was still a good solid story.

Sophie is 20 years old when her father tells her they have been financially ruined. So when Joseph Argenton asks for her hand in marriage, promising to take care of her family, she accepts. Her father tells her she isn’t obligated to do so, but Sophie feels she must. And Joseph Argenton isn’t a terrible man. She thinks she could love him one day.

When Joseph brings Sophie home to Northwood, she is overwhelmed by the huge mansion. Joseph introduces her to his uncle Garrett, his aunt Rose and his cousin, 12 year old Elise.

It’s not long before Sophie starts to figure out something is going on in Northwood. She hears things, sees things. But her husband insists nothing is wrong.

But when Sophie gets locked up in a room and she encounters ghosts, she’s sure the house is haunted.

Joseph finally tells her that it’s true, the house is haunted, but not only by ghosts. There is an evil creature killing off the Argenton family and Sophie could be next…

I wasn’t too sure about Sophie at first. She was a bit too quiet for me to immediately like her. But it turned out she wasn’t the meek little lamb she started out to be. Despite all the horrifying things happening to her in Northwood, she still tried to save Joseph.

There is a romance in this, but I would say it’s a meager one. There is talk of love only after a few days and a few conversations. But I didn’t read this for the romance, so I didn’t quite care.

I do think this could have used more creepiness and a little less of Sophie’s inner thoughts, but overall I still really liked it.