The House on the Cliff by Jade Astor

Title: The House on the Cliff
Series: N/A
Author: Jade Astor
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Length: Novel (200 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (20 April 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Blurb: A small-engine repair degree can only get you so far in a seaside tourist town—just ask Noah Camden. But his luck takes a turn when he stops to help a man change a tire. Obviously wealthy, the man offers Noah a job at the imposing manor, Cliff House. Noah is to care for the man’s vehicles and chauffeur the man’s son, Tristan Peterson, for the summer. Tristan is afraid to drive because of a mysterious accident–and no one will tell Noah the details.

Though the young men come from vastly different social backgrounds, Tristan and Noah slowly bond. One day Tristan confesses the truth: his first love, Martin Praxley, an estate handyman, was killed in the accident. Tristan believes Martin’s ghost is haunting him, bent on revenge.

Noah vows to figure out what really happened, how its possible Martin is back from the dead to torment Tristan, and how they can find peace and happiness together with the secrets of Cliff House looming over them.

ISBN: 9781632168467

Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6293

Reviewer: Prime

Review: This is an interesting book. I’ve read and enjoyed Jade Astor’s book in past and this one, The House on the Cliff, is no exception.

I’m going to keep this short so as not to give too much away, but I will start with the most obvious point to make: this story may be set in Maine but it reminds me strongly of the traditional English Gothic horror (though this is not a horror) or mystery books. It has all the important hall marks of the genre and may remind readers of a number of historical classics.

We start with an ordinary unemployed man (the poor/impoverished person), a creepy house (the Cliff House), a cold and windswept setting, a mysterious boss, a few shady characters, an apparently crazy person, a past murder and a mystery to solve.

The story follows Noah, who is unemployed and desperate for a job. Pure luck in deciding to pull over to be a Good Samaritan sealed his luck and got him a job and lodging, allowing him to move out of home. However, things aren’t as straight forward when he is hired by Lloyd Petersen, not only to work as a mechanic but also be driver and minder for his psychologically damaged son, Tristan.

With strange psychiatrists with shady morals and almost every other character being shady, Noah realises that there is more to Tristan and life at the Cliff House than meets the eye.

I’m going to give the book two criticisms, though. One, occasionally I felt like the story dragged a bit. Secondly, a number of the characters were rather underdeveloped. For example, Tristan’s friends Ryder and Sophia, they both seemed to just be there it seemed that they had no real purpose for a majority of the story. In addition, for the most part, other than Noah, none of the characters really grabbed me.

Mind you, I was watching Jane Eyre (BBC, 2006) at the same time I was reading and the parallel between Noah and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre was oddly striking minus the poor orphan angle.

* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *