Weekend Reads: The Uninvited Guests

Another cover grabbed me at the bookstore. Plus, I was tempted by the setting, a grand old Edwardian house. It turned out to be a good beach read, exactly what I wanted. But let’s just observe what a difference a cover makes. I was drawn to this one:

But the bottom one was the one I found on Goodreads. That book, I would not have picked up. You?

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones, from Goodreads:

All their preparations had been in vain. Emerald’s birthday celebrations had begun in confusion and disarray. She cast about for something sensible to say, something that would reassure her mother and friends that an hospitable timetable would be re-established, and was about to suggest the library, and tea, when she halted, arrested in movement like a musical statue.

 

She was obeying a prompt, an instinct left over, perhaps, from an earlier time; the instinct that stops a mouse in its short-sighted tracks when a cat is watching it from a chair; that makes a dog lying by the fire tremble, and whimper, when there is no one near to see.

 

And as she stopped, there came, of a sudden, a hard gust of wind behind her, striking her through her dress, forcefully, blowing all thoughts of convention from her mind. The heavy front door was closed, but the chill struck Emerald’s back, finding its way through the jamb and hinges – through the solid wood itself, it seemed, as a cold wave will sometimes catch one as one leaves the sea and knock the breath from the body.

 

– from The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones

The Uninvited Guests had romance, intrigue, and it was readable without being all-out consuming. There were some nice little twists, even if I saw them coming, and… yes, Jacquie, it had a happy ending. If you’re looking for something a little different, this could be it.

Which cover would you choose? What are you reading?

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