BLOG TOUR: Miramont's Ghost by Elizabeth Hall + GIVEAWAY!

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're welcoming the weekend with a jolly "hello" and introducing you to your next read.  Trust me, you're gonna want to indulge.  The featured selection comes to us via TLC Book Tours, a fab bookish group if you haven't had the pleasure of working with them before, I highly suggest you do, and stars a Fiction title that is much more than it seems.  Before I divulge too much, allow me to introduce today's book of choice...

Miramont's Ghost

by

Elizabeth Hall

9781477820469

Lake Union Publishing

About the book...

Miramont Castle, built in 1897 and mysteriously abandoned three years later, is home to many secrets. Only one person knows the truth: Adrienne Beauvier, granddaughter of the Comte de Challembelles and cousin to the man who built the castle.

Clairvoyant from the time she could talk, Adrienne’s visions show her the secrets of those around her. When her visions begin to reveal dark mysteries of her own aristocratic French family, Adrienne is confronted by her formidable Aunt Marie, who is determined to keep the young woman silent at any cost. Marie wrenches Adrienne from her home in France and takes her to America, to Miramont Castle, where she keeps the girl isolated and imprisoned. Surrounded by eerie premonitions, Adrienne is locked in a life-or-death struggle to learn the truth and escape her torment.

Reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, this hauntingly atmospheric tale is inspired by historical research into the real-life Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs, Colorado.

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Admittedly, when I began this book, I was just coming off of a less than compatible read, making me somewhat leery.  I meant no offense to this book of course, for when it crossed my path it sounded good.  I suppose I was just gun shy; ever get like that?  Anyway, I doubled checked my reading schedule and yep, it was the next in line so I bit the bullet and dove right in.  What I was met with was not a good read in the least....but a GREAT one.

As you can probably tell from my previous book selections, I'm not a huge Historical Fiction reader.  It's not to say that I don't appreciate History or Fiction, but together...sometimes they spell disaster for me.  I have to be EXTRA choosy when I encounter them.  Now, thanks to some of the fab blog tours I've had the pleasure of being invited into, I've discovered quite a few gems...just like today.  What gives all impressions of merely being a ghost infused story (the title, the cover, and some bits of the synopsis) is in all actuality something much MUCH more with many surprises to be uncovered.  There's one in fact that I truly never in a million years saw coming and while it lent an even darker shadow to fairly dark intentions already in play, it worked.

I loved Adrienne's character as well as that of her Grand-pere.  The connection they shared was heartwarming.  The wisdom he exuded was much to take in, especially for such a young child, and yet he imparted it well.  He shared all his love with her when her own mother would give none.  He protected her as best his could very the town, from her family, and even from herself.  The loss of this great man was shell shocking to say the least and yet forces things to move forward for better or worse...emphasis on the worse.  As for our Adrienne, she blossoms into a wonderful young lady but she is no longer filled with dreams and wishes to be fulfilled.  She is a shell of her former self as she wrestles with the glimpses of past, present, and future she sees, knowing that to share them is to doom herself to a fate even darker than she could foresee.  I wish I could say that days get better for her and at times they do, but not everyone is written in for a happy ending.  On that note...

I was amazed by how dark Marie's character was and yet in time, came to see some of that blackness as shades of gray.  While I was never sympathetic to her perceived plight, she did hold much weight on her shoulders that is unknown til late in the story...something that is added to with yet another revelation.  So many things play out with her hands well within the workings, one finds it hard to comprehend just how many steps ahead she truly is!  She's an intricate part of the story but I warn you....NEVER underestimate her.  As for the other players, I was fond of Lucie, couldn't truly give a fig about Genevieve (why should we when SHE certainly didn't), and felt somewhat okay about Antoine (a feeling that grew stronger over the course of the tale), but alas, I must draw the line or I'll talk your ears off all day!

I love how the author's choice in title plays out in multiple ways in the story.  From ghostly images to haunting choices and eventually actual paranormal guests, you won't be left trying to figure out how it figures in.  There's also much to love in the descriptive power of the writing.  Without getting overly indulgent, the author lays out the castle brick by brick, the fields and flora with their bursts of color, and even the dreary reality of "Henrietta's" world.  The bright and the bleak, the devilish and desperate are all brought forth from the page without getting in the way.  

In conclusion, this is one of those books that yes, you do in fact read, but it reads you as well.  It draws you in with your first impressions.  It captures you within its pages as lives unfold and plans are revealed.  It marks you as its own as the story twists into something much bigger than you first perceived.  By book's end, your time was no longer your own but you were glad to have given it for the journey experienced.  Remember, everyone has secrets...it's just the type the differs and how far people will go to protect them. Recommended read for adult readers do to some topics covered; they are much better equipped to deal with the darkness.  

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About the author...

Elizabeth Hall spent most of her life in the mountains of Colorado, working as a teacher, writer, and radio show host. She now lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she writes and plays with fiber.

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Special thanks to Lisa at TLC Book Tours for the review copy and the chance to bring this tour to you.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, tour, future promotions, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is available now via Lake Union Publishing, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.

For a chance to WIN A COPY of this book to call your own thanks to the fab TLC Book Tours team, just enter using the Rafflecopter form below.  Open to US/Canada residents only; no P.O. Boxes please.  Entries accepted through midnight March 13, 2015.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Until next time...happy reading!