Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Book Round-Up. There are quite a few genres that I enjoy reading. One of my favorites is gothic romance. It feeds my dark side while still giving me all the feels of a romance. Most of the heroines tend to get into trouble and have to face certain fears to get to the truth. The hero is mysterious, often brooding, but has a soft side he shows to the heroine. So here are my top five must-read gothic romances. Have a favorite? Be sure to comment so I can check them out.
Dark Desires (Dark Gothic Book 1) by Eve Silver
Betrayed by those she trusted, penniless and alone, Darcie Finch is forced to accept a position that no one else dares, as assistant to dangerously attractive Dr. Damien Cole. Ignoring the whispered warnings and rumours that he's a man to fear, she takes her position at his eerie estate where she quickly discovers that nothing is at it seems, least of all her handsome and brooding employer. As Darcie struggles with her fierce attraction to Damien, she must also deal with the blood, the disappearances … and the murders. With her options dwindling and time running out, Darcie must rely on her instincts as she confronts the man she is falling in love with. Is he an innocent and misunderstood man … or a remorseless killer who prowls the East End streets? Read all Eve's Historical Romantic Suspense with a Gothic Twist! Each book is a stand-alone and the series can be read in any order. DARK DESIRES HIS DARK KISS DARK PRINCE HIS WICKED SINS SEDUCED BY A STRANGER
Midnight Secrets (Killdaren Series Book 1) by Jennifer St. Giles
Is he her darkest dream…or most terrifying nightmare? Cassiopeia’s dreams have never been her own. They are harbingers of death. Yet when she learns her gentle cousin, Mary, has disappeared from a remote castle on the Cornish Coast, the official story doesn’t fit with Cassie’s prophetic dream. The mystery compels her to leave the safety and middle-class comfort of Oxford to take a job as a maid in the house of Killdaren. There she discovers more than the daily indignities the working class must endure. There’s a darkness surrounding Sean Killdaren, a man born with his hands at his twin’s throat. Whispers of the murderous Dragon Curse…and an aversion to daylight that adds vampire to spine-chilling rumors. When Cassie encounters him in the shadowy corridors, his touch should make her tremble in fear. But that’s not what makes her knees shockingly weak. It’s the spell of desire he casts with his wicked green eyes…and the small acts of kindness that soften her heart. The closer she comes to the truth, the greater the danger. Mary isn’t the only woman lost to the Killdaren brothers’ curse. And as a killer lurks ever closer, Cassie wonders whom she can trust…and if she will be the next victim.
Ravenhurst Vol. 1 (A Time Travel Romance) (Ravenhurst Trilogy, Book One) Reader's Choice Edition 2018 by Lorraine Beaumont
#1 Bestselling Time Travel Romance Series & Publishers Weekly Magazine Recommended Read A Once Forgotten Legend ...
Katherine Nicole Jamison never imagined when she "borrowed" and antique amulet from her work at a prestigious auction house that she would inadvertently set in motion a chain of events that would ultimately end up changing not only her fate but the fate of two other girls as well. Sebastian de Winter - A handsome egotistical Earl, always prided himself as being a ladies man...until he is left standing at the altar. His betrothed seemingly vanishes into thin air and returns months later...but is she his betrothed? Ravenhurst- somewhere in the confines of this ancient edifice is the key to unlock the door of time itself. As Katherine and Sebastian become unwitting participants in a legend as old as King Arthur's realm, they find in each other what no other can give them... an everlasting love that time cannot forget. This is a condensed version of the series. Instead of five books it is now three. Also it has Reader's Choice which means you can either read the book in a first or third person narrative.
Mistress of Mellyn: The Classic Novel of Romantic Suspense by Victoria Holt
Mount Mellyn stood as proud and magnificent as she had envisioned...But what bout its master--Connan TreMellyn? Was Martha Leigh's new employer as romantic as his name sounded? As she approached the sprawling mansion towering above the cliffs of Cornwall, an odd chill of apprehension overcame her.
TreMellyn's young daughter, Alvean, proved as spoiled and difficult as the three governesses before Martha had discovered. But it was the girl's father whose cool, arrogant demeanor unleashed unfamiliar sensations and turmoil--even as whispers of past tragedy and present danger begin to insinuate themselves into Martha's life.
Powerless against her growing desire for the enigmatic Connan, she is drawn deeper into family secrets--as passion overpowers reason, sending her head and heart spinning. But though evil lurks in the shadows, so does love--and the freedom to find a golden promise forever...
The Shadows of Stormclyffe Hall: A Modern Gothic Romance (The Dark Seductions Series Book 1) by Lauren Smith
Haunted, schmaunted.
Bastian, infamous playboy and the current Earl of Weymouth doesn't believe his English castle is haunted. So what if a few windows and lightbulbs shatter? That happens. OK, bleeding portraits are hard to explain… But he is not going to be deterred. Not even by Jane, a seductive-as-sin grad student who has assigned herself the task of ghost hunting at Stormclyffe Hall. All Bastian wants is to restore his ancestral home, not be distracted by her curvy hips, bedroom eyes and gorgeous smile- Fine, maybe he does want to get naked with Ms. GhostBuster, but that's only because she practically follows him around, nosing into his daily life. And yes, because she looks so damnably sexy, however, he refuses to give into lust. No matter how much she tempts him.
But when the ghosts up the ante and try to kill them, Bastian realizes he will have to keep Jane close. Very, very close. Purely to protect her, of course. At least that's what he tells himself. All bets-and some clothes-are off, as he shows her what a real earl is made of. *This book was previously published in 2014 by Entangled Publishing and has been re-released.
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MRS N, Book Addict