Giveaway Information: One randomly drawn commenter will win a $25 Amazon gift card. Make sure you leave your comment and email addy. Good Luck!
GOLD MANOR GHOST HOUSE
By
Merry Brown
BLURB:
Anna thought life was going to be awesome. She was right…and wrong.
Won her dream job acting in a hit TV series. Check. Working with her best friend. Check. The set’s haunted and she’s in the middle of a supernatural war. Uh, check?
Anna Rose Ellington is sixteen and living in Hollywood, hoping to be a star. Anna just landed a major role on Ghost House, TeenTV’s new fall drama. A show promising to be so hot, Meg Sweet (the reigning teenage diva), signed on for the lead, and Adam Lewis (international rock sensation) is a principal player.
Her dreams are falling into place until she gets on set and begins questioning her sanity. It’s true she has an unusual dream life, where once in a while her dreams literally come true. But it’s been a while.
On top of her dreams not staying put in her brain, including the guy she’d been dreaming of for years, the house they’re filming in, Gold Manor, might actually be haunted.
But that’s the least of her worries.
Excerpt #1 from Gold Manor Ghost House, by Merry Brown
Prologue
As a special treat on this, my 11th birthday, Aunt Melinda invited me for a sleepover. The promise of pizza, painting toe nails, and having the attention of my favorite person in the world, all to myself, was the perfect way to celebrate. I remember sitting on the dusty rose laminate countertop of her kitchen as she kneaded the dough. She listened as I told her about school and the drama of the playground. I remember her strange reaction as I recounted a vivid dream I had about a boy with an English accent, dark curly hair, and jade eyes. Her hands dripping with tomato sauce and chest covered in flour, she hugged me, holding on tightly. I was trying to figure out why she was acting so strangely when a heavy knock on the front door broke the moment. I remember the look in her eyes as she made me promise to stay out of sight in the kitchen, no matter what I heard or what happened. She made me promise, yet again, to never tell the secret she made me keep. She knew I didn’t understand what the big deal was, but I promised. “Swear, on my life,” her voice too urgent. “Swear.” That was the last word she ever heard me say. I heard the door open from my hiding place under the sink. I heard her gasp in surprise. I heard a shot and her fall to the ground screaming, and a rough, low voice say, “Check.” I heard her cries turn to gurgling. Fear ruling my brain, I had to see what was going on. Creeping out, yet remaining hidden, I looked. I saw her on the floor, bleeding. I saw a tall, broad man standing over her, smiling. I saw this man bend down, rip out, and eat her heart. I saw Aunt Melinda standing in the doorway as pale as a ghost… and on the floor, dead.
I’m not sure about my ability to pick books anymore to read. Every YA paranormal that I have reviewed lately has been the bomb but for some reason, this one left a few unanswered questions for me. Overall, I really liked the book and the premise of the television show is great, too. I love stories that have ghosts in them but this story has much more than ghosts in it. You must read it to find out what I’m talking about. 🙂
The beginning of the book (read above) sets the tone for Anna’s future and OMG, Adam. *faints* I’m a sucker for an English accent. But I digress. Some parts of the book were confusing at first, but overall the world building is believable. Just took awhile to get there. I really liked Anna and she was relatable as a strong female heroine. I did feel bad for Corey though. I’m not on anyone’s team yet but my heart did go out to Corey with his unrequited love for Anna. Adam is mystery and I can’t wait to see what his TRUE story is all about. 😉
I also liked that house itself was a character. Not many authors can make an object a character but Ms. Brown did. Also, what really is Anna? Again, a question left somewhat unanswered but I will definitely read the next book in the series to find out. I kept turning the pages to see what was going to happen and felt somewhat bereft when the book was over. It was definitely a good vs evil story but exactly who is evil and who is bad? Again, questions that I needed answered but didn’t get. I’m weird sometimes in my paranormal stories. I like to know straight away who is who, what, where, why but I got confused.
I would definitely recommend this story to anyone over 14 years old. It’s an easy read with great pacing with the unanswered questions. While some people would never the finish the series because of that one aspect, I can’t wait to return and find out more.
Born and raised in Bakersfield, California, Merry Brown now lives in the northwest corner of Tennessee with her husband, three boys, and Daisy the cat. She teaches philosophy at the University of Tennessee, Martin, where she counts it a great privilege and joy to introduce students to perennial questions about the nature of the universe, meaning, morality, and the human condition. Merry Brown’s love of philosophy and young adult paranormal and dystopian literature inspired her to write THE KNOWERS, the first book in the Exiled Trilogy. GOLD MANOR GOLD HOUSE is her latest YA paranormal romance book.
My contact info: http://www.merrybrown.com
twitter: @merryebrown
Facebook: Merry Brown
Link to book: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=gold+manor+ghost+house