Renée Evans, at twenty-seven, is not without her own demons. When she was seven, her mother disappeared, leaving a gaping whole in her husband and daughter’s lives. It’s now been twenty years, and still they don’t know what happened, where she is. Renée never received the birthday cards, Christmas cards, presents or even a phone call that she had always lived in hope of receiving as a child. Now a Barrister, she never foresaw the hand she would be dealt. A crueler man than her maternal grandfather surely has never lived, but now he is dead and his will has trapped her into living in the mansion she always hated as a child, which still bears a chilling atmosphere. On a budget of $50,000, she must fix up the derelict mansion. Every cent spent needs to be accounted for to the oily lawyer in whose hands the purse strings rest. If she doesn’t meet the terms of the will, she gets nada, nothing, zip. Going it alone is a daunting task, but she is nothing if not determined and self-sufficient.

When Warren turns up on her doorstep offering his services as a carpenter, he is a God send. After nearly losing him as an employee thanks to his bullying, mean spirited father, she moves him into the house and supplies him with all the tools he’ll need to get the job done right. What Renée hadn’t foreseen was her inability to control her attraction towards the twenty three year old man. Neither did she have an inkling that they were not the only ones living in the house. In fact, there are two others: one a ghost who wishes to protect her, the other an evil presence that would see her and Warren dead. Just what is going to happen to and between Renée and Warren? Will they survive? Do they find in one another their other half? What is the secret the house is keeping?

Cherry Hill by R. Casteel is much more than a paranormal romantica tale. Within its pages there exists also mystery and intrigue, though this is subtle and largely concealed through most of the story. When it finally comes to the foreground it is so unexpected that you never even see it coming. Congrats to the author on the success of this element of surprise, for it surely is a masterful feat. There are some highly unusual characters in this tale, everything from the evil ghost to the oily, calculating lawyer to a bully to a nymphomaniac. At times the character’s antics will leave you slightly bemused and will occasionally catch you off guard. But always, you will be immersed in the story and loving every second of it. At first, there are doubts as to whether Warren and Renée are suited to one another, since he appears a fairly immature twenty-three to Renée’s educated twenty-seven. Before long, it becomes apparent that Warren is a very likeable and charming man, who has had a life full of hard knocks with a parental desertion very similar to Renée. Action is aplenty, as is the character’s support of one another. Sex is described in detailed and inoffensive terms, with nothing outside the bounds of ‘traditional’ lovemaking with the exception being the vast variety of places Renée and Warren engage in their sexual activities. This is a very enjoyable read that you are sure to like. Don’t start reading it late at night, for you are sure not to be able to put it down for any length of time or reason– including to sleep.


Reviewed by: Elizabeth