The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Have you ever visited a castle?  Do you have any historic homes or buildings near you with haunted legends?

I have sadly never visited a castle yet.  I live in a historic home, which luckily does not have any stories of being haunted.  In Kewaunee, we do have a haunted hotel and a haunted jailhouse museum.  I have not seen the ghosts myself, but the curious visit to find the ghosts and they have been featured in books and TV.

Castle Moreau is the story of a haunted castle in Wisconsin.  Built around 1800 on the Mississippi River, a legend has grown up around it that women disappear in the castle never to be seen again.  In 1870, an orphan girl named Daisy takes up a position at the castle.  She is not sure of her role, but finds the castle mostly abandoned.  Madame Ora Moreau is a famous Gothic authoress who lives in the castle.  Her Grandson Lincoln believes that Daisy should be there to look after her and do some light cleaning.  As Daisy settles in, she starts to notice many mysterious happenings at the castle.  As she starts to investigate, will she be able to discover the secrets the castle holds?

The other timeline is present day.  Cleo has been hired by the mysterious rich son, of a famous American family, Deacon, to help his Grandmother, Virgie, sort through her hoarded junk that has filled up the Castle Moreau.  When she arrives, Cleo quickly gets wrapped up in the mystery of the castle as the townspeople fill her in on the disappearances that have happened over the centuries.  Will Cleo finally be able to solve the mystery of the disappearances?

I really loved the dual timelines in this novel.  I thought the two stories really parallel and also built on each other.  I also really liked the light romance in both stories.  In the modern story, Deacon is a reformed rake who has turned his life around.  I enjoyed the characters and learning more about them.  I loved how the stories were very Gothic and mysterious.  Wright really built a creepy atmosphere that pulled me into the book. I really wanted to know how it ended!  I did really enjoy the ending.  I did not guess it at all and it was a very satisfying ending.

I also loved that it was a castle in Wisconsin.  It made me wish it were real and I could visit it!  I loved the suspense of this story and think it would be a great book to read for Halloween.

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright as a riveting Christian Gothic romance novel and I highly recommend it!

Review Copy from author Bethany House Publishing.   Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: The Vanishing at Castle Moreau

·       Author: Jaime Jo Wright

·       Genre: Historical Suspense, Historical Romance, Inspirational Fiction

·       Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (April 4, 2023)

·       Length: (384) pages

·       Format: Hardcover, trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook 

·       ISBN: 978-0764238345

·       Tour Dates: March 27 – April 10, 2023

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

A haunting legend. An ominous curse. A search for a secret buried deep within the castle walls.

In 1870, orphaned Daisy François takes a position as housemaid at a Wisconsin castle to escape the horrors of her past life. There she finds a reclusive and eccentric Gothic authoress who hides tales more harrowing than the ones in her novels. As women disappear from the area and the eerie circumstances seem to parallel a local legend, Daisy is thrust into a web that could ultimately steal her sanity, if not her life.

In the present day, Cleo Clemmons is hired by the grandson of an American aristocratic family to help his grandmother face her hoarding in the dilapidated Castle Moreau. But when Cleo uncovers more than just the woman's stash of collectibles, a century-old mystery and the dust of the old castle's curse threaten to rise again . . . this time to leave no one alive to tell the sordid tale.

Award-winning author Jaime Jo Wright seamlessly weaves a dual-time tale of two women who must do all they can to seek the light amid the darkness shrouding Castle Moreau.

PRAISE FOR THE VANISHING AT CASTLE MOREAU

·       “Wright (The Souls of Lost Lake) captivates with a thrilling tale of two women who get caught up in the secrets of a Wisconsin castle…The twisting, fast-moving plot is loaded with secrets, and the characters remain morally ambiguous until the end. Readers won’t want to put this down.”— Publisher’s Weekly

·       "Wright (The Premonition at Withers Farm) pens another delightfully creepy tale where nothing is quite as it seems and characters seek freedom from nightmares both real and imagined.”— Library Journal

·       "Jaime Jo Wright never disappoints, and The Vanishing at Castle Moreau is no exception. With real, flawed characters who grapple with real-life struggles, this gripping suspense novel will draw readers in from the very first page. Good luck putting it down. I couldn't."— Lynette Eason, bestselling author of the Extreme Measures series

 

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

 

AUTHOR BIO

Jaime Jo Wright is the author of eight novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award-winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She's also the Publishers Weekly and ECPA bestselling author of two novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her cat named Foo; her husband, Cap'n Hook; and their two mini-adults, Peter Pan and CoCo.

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