When Addison Lockhart inherits Grayson Manor after her mother's untimely death, she unlocks a secret that’s been kept hidden for over fifty years. For Addison, it seems like she’s finally found the house of her dreams…until the spirit of Roxanne “Roxy” Rafferty comes to call. Who is Roxanne, why is she haunting Grayson Manor, and how will Addison’s connection reveal a key to her own past that she thought no longer existed?
Cheryl Bradshaw is a New York Times and 11-time USA Today bestselling author writing in multiple genres, including mystery, thriller, romantic suspense, supernatural suspense, and poetry. She is a Shamus Award finalist for best private eye novel of the year, an eFestival of Words winner for best thriller, and has published over fifty books since 2011.
Raised in Southern California, she now lives in North Texas. When she's not writing, she loves jet-setting to new countries, exploring the outdoors, and playing with her grandbabies.
1. Little Girl Lost - USA Today Bestseller 2. Little Lost Secrets 3. Little Broken Things 4. Little White Lies 5. Little Tangled Webs 6. Little Shattered Dreams 7. Little Last Words 8. Little Buried Secrets 9. Little Stolen Memories 10. Little Empty Promises 11. Little Hidden Fears
Sloane Monroe Mystery/Thriller Series
0. Silent As the Grave (prequel to series) 1. Black Diamond Death 2. Murder in Mind 3. I Have a Secret 4. Stranger in Town - Shamus Award Finalist 5. Bed of Bones - USA Today Bestseller 6. Hush Now Baby - USA Today Bestseller 7. Gone Daddy Gone - USA Today Bestseller 8. Smoke and Mirrors - USA Today Bestseller
Sloane Monroe Stories - Mystery Novella Series (with characters from the main series)
Addison Lockhart's mother passes away and leaves her a place called Grayson Manor. Addison decides to check out the manor and possibly stay there. Addison wants to fix the manor as it has fallen into a state of disrepair so she hires a contactor (Luke) to help her get the manor back into shape.
In the meantime, things begin to happen in the manor that makes her feel that "something" is there. Cold rooms, drafts, whispers on the breeze, and visions that Addison starts seeing. When Addison discovers an old trunk in the attic containing a dress that looks to be spotted with brown stains, she starts to have visions of the past.
When a ghostly spirit makes itself known to Addison, then with the help of Luke, Addison decides to track down the history of manor's past anyway she can to discover its secrets.
What is haunting the manor? Who is the ghost that Addison sees? Why is Addison having visions? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!
Thoughts:
This was the first time I have read anything by author, Cheryl Bradshaw and I was surprised by how quickly I was drawn into the story. The writing style of this author is smooth and just flows along as it drew me completely into the story. As the haunting unfolded and the mystery deepened within the story, I was just taken quickly along with Addison and Luke as they discovered what had happened in the manor.
There was a twist about halfway through the book that sent this story into a deeper mystery and kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. This book is part of a series so will be continuing on with the other books. Giving this book four "mysterious" stars!
A matter of thinking that I was going to get something other than I thought? Maybe. I really thought that I would reading about an old (mysterious) house. Old houses fascinate me and I love reading the discriptions of the houses and really being able to see them, feel the atmosphere. And add a haunting gives the story a certain thrill, a certain chill. Unfortunately the haunting was more in the background, and the house sort of just there. The heroine was busy running around asking questions about the missing/dead woman that she thought was the ghost. The book had a feeling of a cozy mystery with a somewhat scary ghost and unfortunately I felt that the answers at the end didn't quite explain enough--it didn't quite add up.
I got this book for free off of "BookBub," so to be honest, I didn't really have that high of expectations for it. It took me by surprise when I was taken in by just the first couple of pages. The setting, the descriptions, and the wording were all so captivating. I must admit, I'm automatically going to be sucked in by a "haunting" story... I'm a huge "horror / mystery" fan. This book, however, kept me turning pages. I read it in a total of about 10 hours, which is pretty fast for me. I just couldn't stop reading. I was so interested in what was going to happen next. I liked that there weren't too many characters introduced. There were two MAIN characters, and not too much excess side stuff going on. It was easy to understand what was going on. Overall good story... good read! I would recommend this book to anyone interested in ghost stories or mysteries.
Enjoyed this supernatural thriller, will read more of this series, interesting characters and a captivating story which I read quicker than a lot of my kindle books x
So Addison Lockhart's mom passes away and Addison inherits a very grand house in the country that she didn't even know existed but is where her mother grew up. When she arrives at the house she find that it comes with locked rooms, a hunky contractor willing to work on it, a ghost haunting it unable to move on because of unfinished business and...Wait a minute. Do these elements feel familiar? Is there any cliché for haunted house stories that this book has missed? I don't think so. The longer I read, the more it felt like every plotline I've ever seen used in a haunted house story was here in this book. The grandmother that she didn't know she had reappears. The blood stained dress found in the house. I found it so cliché that I had a hard time enjoying it.
There are many types of horror stories that I have no interest in but haunted house stories are one type I really enjoy. This looked like a slam dunk for me. Unfortunately, it felt like a retread of many other haunted house stories and a shallow one at that. I didn't feel like there was much depth to the story or to the characters. The one thing that I always need in my stories is atmosphere and that was sadly lacking here. It wasn't creepy and it didn't make me feel haunted. When we had “an eerie stillness” and “a deadly quiet” in the same paragraph, I felt like the author was just trying too hard. I would be willing to give this author another try because I know she has written other things that have been well received, but this one did left me very flat.
Cheryl Bradshaw boasts being a NYT bestseller and an award winner, which I would... like to see a citation on, please. Her most reviewed book is 3 years old with ~800 Goodreads ratings and her books are all published via Createspace or the tiny Pixie Publishing company.
Which is fine. But I bought this book thinking it was professional quality but it definitely wasn't that. Lots of pacing issues, weird story choies, and a bad case of "thesaurus writer" where sometimes a word that overtly does not apply is used. It's a pretty decent self-published book that I enjoyed reading. It wasn't as spooky as I'd hoped, more a murder mystery with some ghost stuff, but it was a well written and effective mystery that had a lot of fun twists and turns.
As a short, fun self-published paranormal detective book, it's perfectly fine. But as a NYT bestselling author spooky suspense novel, it disappoints bigtime.
Addison Lockhart has inherited Grayson Manor after her mother untimely death. Addison decides that she wants to make Grayson Manor her home. Addison has a gift and see thing that most people can't. One night after having a nightmare, Addison see the spirit of a woman in her room. The spirit is asking Addison for her help. What deep dark secret is buried in Grayson Manor? Addison is the only one who can solve this mystery. What connection does the spirit of the woman have with Addison past? I enjoyed this book very much. I would recommend this book to readers who like ghosts stories. This is the first time I have read this author and I plan on checking out some of her other works.
This was good enough to keep my interest to see what happened at the end; I just wish she would have gone more in depth with the characters. I feel like I barely knew anything about them, I do plan on reading the next book in line though.
I like to read about haunted houses. This book was well written and a fast read. Not bad at all for a free book. I like my haunting books to be a bit more suspenseful and frightening. I didn't feel either fright or high levels of suspense while reading this.
Otra de mis lecturas de octubre para el #miedotón2021
Cuando comencé a leerlo, se me hizo muy similar en un comienzo a Home Before Dark los dos tienen por protagonista una mujer joven cuyo madre/padre ha fallecido y le ha heredado una casa bastante peculiar, antigua y con un secreto escondido, en ambos casos aparece un guapo contratista en escena, que al parecer la relación va a ser más allá de lo laboral. Y por estas similitudes comenzaba a dejar de llamarme la atención Grayson Manor Haunting pero me dije "vamos a darle una oportunidad" y me alegro de haberlo hecho. ¿La razón? porque después de este comienzo tan similar, la trama toma caminos muy diferentes. En Grayson Manor Haunting la protagonista también tiene algo especial que iremos descubriendo poco a poco, hay fantasmas, hay misterios, hay sorpresas y disfruté mucho esta lectura por lo cual seguramente en algún momento continuaré con los otros libros de esta saga.
I have to make this disclaimer first..I am not a fan of paranormal/ghost stories. But there are always exceptions to every rule and that is the case with this book.
When Addison Lockhart ended up inheriting a house that was originally willed to her mother, she immediately starts discovering some unsettling events that took place in the house many years ago. With the assistance of a handsome contractor hired to help make repairs to thee place, Addison puts together the solution to the murder of an up and coming actress. Addison also makes several discoveries about her family and her own special gifts.
The solution to the murder is a very good story with an unexpected solution and a few twists and turns along the way. It is a fairly easy and quick read that fans of either murder mysteries or paranormal stories will enjoy.
Addison Lockhart inherits Grayson Manor after he mother's death. When she sees the house, she decides to renovate the old manor, but she is not alone there.
I just happened to see this on Kindle Unlimited and decided to give it a go. It was a nicely written ghost story, nothing too scary, the focus more on solving the mystery than giving the reader the chills. An enjoyable read, I will be reading the sequel.
Addison Lockhart is grieving over her mother’s sudden death when she decides to move away to her mother’s childhood home she has inherited so that she isn’t constantly reminded about her mother. There, strange things start happening to her, reminding her of the unusual events that happened to her as a child, things nobody else believed even happened. Favorite characters are Luke and her father. Quite surprising conclusion.
I really liked this book. Its nice to see things sort out . Tell you what whatE w you keep on writing them and ill keep reading them sincerely Christine Dunne Harlingen Texas
Disappointing. It was pretty amateurish and I could never figure out any character's motivations for anything they did, as it was all so non-intuitive.
🇬🇧 English review below ⬇ ........................................................................................
Ich mag Geistergeschichten und Bücher zum Gruseln. Daher kam ich an diese Juli Neuerscheinung nicht herum. Ich versprach mir eine schöne Gänsehaut verursachende Geisterstory.
Doch leider traf mich schon auf den ersten Seiten der Schlag: Der Schreibstil ist fürchterlich. Ich weiß nicht ob es an der Übersetzung oder am Original Stil liegt, da ich die englische Version nicht gelesen habe kann ich das nicht beurteilen. Ich denke es liegt aber an beiden, denn auf mich wirkte der Stil so unglaublich plump und lieblos, dass er nicht gänzlich die Schuld einer Übersetzung sein kann, wobei aber auch diese grottenschlecht ist, insbesondere durch komische Metaphern, die wortwörtlich übersetzt wurden. Auf mich wirkte es insgesamt einfach platt und simpel. Er sagte dies. Sie tat das. Dann tat sie das. Und so weiter und sofort.
Das ist alles ziemlich schade, denn die Geschichte hatte das Potenzial eine solide Mysterystory zu werden. Kein Horror, denn dafür waren die Geistererscheinungen nicht gruselig genug, aber eben Mystery. Die Frage was in dem Haus passiert war fand ich persönlich ebenso interessant wie Addison und auch ihre Spurensuche in das Hollywood der 50er hat mir ganz gut gefallen. Streckenweise fühlte sich das Buch zwar an wie ein Krimi, aber das empfand ich nicht als schlecht, denn immerhin war ich ja auch neugierig was denn nun vorgefallen ist.Das Ende war dann zwar nichts besonderes, aber stimmig.
Was ich als noch ausbaufähig empfand, war die Liebesbeziehung. Da fehlte mir definitiv das Feuer und das Funken. Es war eher wie “Hey du bist mir sympathisch, lass und ein Paar werden.“ -“Ja ok, warum nicht. Ich finde dich auch ganz nett“
Selbst wenn in einem Geisterroman die Liebesbeziehung nicht der Fokus sein sollte, fehlte hier einfach der Pepp.
Fazit: Die Geschichte hatte Potenzial, aber ein fürchterlicher Schreibstil lies die Sache eher zu eine zähen Geduldsprobe werden, schade.
◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾◾ ❗Important note: English is not my first language. So that English-speaking community members can still read my review, my review has been translated with the help of a translation program (since I don't have the time to translate it myself every time). I therefore apologize for any mistakes and strange phrasing.
I like ghost stories and books that give me the creeps. That's why I couldn't avoid this new July release. I promised myself a nice goosebump-inducing ghost story.
But unfortunately I was struck on the first pages: the writing style is terrible. I don't know if it's the translation or the original style, as I haven't read the English version I can't judge. I think it's both, though, because to me the style seemed so incredibly clumsy and uncharitable that it can't be entirely the fault of a translation, though this one is also grotty, especially with weird metaphors translated word-for-word. To me, overall, it just seemed flat and simplistic. He said this. She did this. Then she did this. And so on and on.
It's all rather a pity, because the story had the potential to be a solid mystery story. Not horror, because the ghostly apparitions weren't scary enough for that, but mystery. Personally, I found the question of what had happened in the house as interesting as Addison and I also quite liked her search for clues into Hollywood in the 50s. At times, the book felt like a thriller, but I didn't think that was a bad thing, because I was curious to know what had happened. The ending was nothing special, but it was coherent.
What I felt could still be developed was the love relationship. I definitely missed the fire and the spark. It was more like "Hey I like you, let's become a couple." - "Yeah ok, why not."
Even if romance shouldn't be the focus in a ghost novel, there was just no pep here.
Conclusion: The story had potential, but a terrible writing style made it rather a tough test of patience, which is a pity.
Book Publication Date:March 18, 2013 "When Addison Lockhart inherits Grayson Manor after her mother's untimely death, she unlocks a secret that’s been kept hidden for over fifty years. For Addison, it seems like she’s finally found the house of her dreams…until the spirit of Roxanne “Roxy” Rafferty comes to call. Who is Roxanne, why is she haunting Grayson Manor, and how will Addison’s connection reveal a key to her own past that she thought no longer existed?"
My review: This was a good and fast read that kept the pages turning. Even if you do not care for books about ghosts or spirits, this should catch your attention because there is also some mystery.
Addison Lockhart has inherited Grayson Manor from her mother which was inherited from her mother. The first sentence of the book is : "Addison Lockhart watched the cab dart back down the dead-end country road, leaving nothing but a billowy dust cloud in its wake."
Then she is all alone.
As she is walking around the house, which is in bad shape, she says to herself, "Where is eveyerything?" because the place is almost bare of furniture. A voice answers her and she turns around to meet Luke Flynn, the historical restoration architect. Luke becomes the other main character in this story as he helps restore the house and to solve the mystery of the death of Roxy. He also is trying to make sure Addison is safe.
Much of the mystery is based on a dress Addison finds in the attic that looks like there are blood stains on the dress. She has bad feelings about the dress and does not want to touch it. When Addison was a child, she saw things all the other "normal" kids didn't." (page 46).
Addison's father is also part of the story as well as the next door neighbor who knew Addison's grandparents when they lived in the house and had large parties.
I downloaded this book from amazon.com. The words, manor and haunting, caught my eye.
I give it a 5 star. I really liked this book and it kept my attention. The author wrote a good book without having to use sex or bad language. I look forward to reading her other books and have downloaded The Sloane Monroe Series from amazon.com.
Dedicated: To good friends who have stuck with me, navigating the way between calm and turbulent seas. I dare say, I have the greatest friends of all.
This book is written decently, I can see the author pulling off something better maybe later in the series. But if the writing is serviceable and the story mildly interesting, the actual plot and characters are not compelling at all. First, I found it hard to believe how chill everyone was about seeing dead people. Second, what exactly Addison's powers are it's not clear at all - prediction, talking to dead people, entering the bodies of animals, what is it? Third cliches - the nosy old neighbor that knows more, the old creepy house, the super nice guy that is hot but otherwise has the personality of a brick. And being hot, it's ok for him to just enter the house whenever and invade your privacy. Also to want to creepily meet all your family even though you barely know one another and he is actually paid to do a thing. I could go on. I feel this book could have been quite good if: 1. Addison was a developed character, with flaws, interests and back story. And also normal human reactions to seeing dead people. 2. The story went in detail into the times of the golden era of cinema. It's a great time to set your mystery in - add some colorful characters, make me care about what happened while also enjoying the world of the time and the magic of old cinema. 3. Make the protagonist actually work to reveal what happened. Practically all the information is given to her at the end and all her interactions with Roxanne, as well as the investigation are useless. 4. Better dialogue than "you are a powerful beautiful woman, I believe in you!"
The initial idea of inheriting an old manor only to find that it's haunted is an interesting one, albeit done to death. I enjoyed the story and being less than 200 pages, it was a quick read. The writing wasn't really captivating and the characters often fell flat as they seemed to exist within a vacuum. The main character, Addison, is okay, but the writer drops in things about her past, like a job and going to college, without telling us what she was doing there. That's just a little lazy for the protagonist. I can understand why Cheryl Bradshaw can churn out so many books when she brushes over such important details. Having said this, I am planning to read the next in the series as the story of ghostly twins has me interested. If it takes as little time as the first, I might read rgem both in the one day.
The cover art for this book promises plenty of scares and a side-order of love. It was, however, completely lacking in thrills, chills, and romance. The relationship between Addison and Luke remains undeveloped and lukewarm at best. The hope for a wedding "someday" does not make up for the lack of development in the feelings between them. There is no heat at all. As for the scary moments, they were basically non-existent. If this book was a movie, it would be a G-rated family film. To add insult to injury, the errors in grammar definitely distracted me and took me out of the moment. Next time, try harder or soften the cover art and submit it to Disney.
I'm embarrassed to say that I actually started reading this book almost 2 years ago but had to put it down due to other obligations. It then got buried in my kindle.
In saying that, when I did finally pick it back up, I did not have to reread a single paragraph. That just goes to show that not only does Cheryl Bradshaw write well, but she writes the type of characters and story line that truly stick with you!
The pacing of this book was fantastic. The twist was brilliant! There was not a moment I was disappointed. Even the editing was superb!
I highly recommend this book. It's not my usual genre but I am looking forward to reading more from Ms. Bradshaw!
This was a great read! I love a good ghost story... add some mystery to the storyline and you have a winner. This story kept me guessing who done it right up until the end. I found it hard to put this book down. The story flowed so well and the characters were well developed. Im not sure if this is a series or not but if it is I will be following it!
I found this one for free somewhere on line, so I shouldn't be too picky about it. While the story was interesting and Bradshaw's writing is good, I found it to be formulaic and cliché of just about every ghost story / movie ever. I needed something to read, it went quick. It just wasn't great.
Die Heimsuchung von Grayson Manor – Cheryl Bradshaw Verlag: Mantikore Taschenbuch: 13,95 € Ebook: 9,99 € ISBN: 978-3-945493-75-5 Erscheinungsdatum: 12. Juli 2017 Genre: Mystery Seiten: 264 Inhalt: Addison Lockhart hat paranormale Fähigkeiten. Seit ihrer Kindheit quälen sie Visionen und dunkle Vorahnungen. Über die Jahre lernte sie ihre Gabe so gut wie möglich zu ignorieren. Als sie nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter das verwunschene Landgut „Grayson Manor“ erbt, tun sich Fragen auf. Ihre Mutter soll dort geboren und aufgewachsen sein, doch wieso hat die das Haus nie erwähnt? Welche Geheimnisse verbirgt es? Addison begibt sich auf Spurensuche und zieht in das leerstehende Anwesen. Schon bald geschehen Dinge, die sie nicht mehr ignorieren kann, denn ganz offenbar ist sie nicht allein. In den Mauern von Grayson Manor lauern dunkle Geheimnisse…und Seelen, die keinen Frieden finden… Mein Fazit: Zum Cover: Das Cover macht hier einfach Lust auf mehr. Ich finde es sehr passend zur Geschichte und auch die Farben sind hier sehr gut gewählt. Die Farben machen das hier noch ein wenig düster und genau das ist es was mich dazu bewegte, dieses Buch lesen zu wollen. Zum Buch: Addison erbt nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter ein altes Herrenhaus, sie will es wieder aufbauen und dort wohnen. Luke ein junger Mann aus der Nachbarschaft hilft ihr dabei. Mit dem Einzug in das Haus, beginnt Addison Visionen zu haben. Sie hatte als Kind schon welche, doch niemand wollte ihr glauben und ihre Eltern schickten sie zu einem Psychologen. Mit ihrem Einzug sind sie wieder da und sie will den Visionen zuerst nicht zu viel Aufmerksamkeit schenken, doch als sie vermehrt auftreten will sie das Geheimnis von Grayson Manor aufdecken. Was passierte damals wirklich und warum sind ihr Großvater sowie Roxanne verschwunden? Der Schreibstil ist hier ganz wunderbar, ich hatte das Buch im Hand umdrehen durch, weil es so flüssig und auch sehr spannend geschrieben wurde. Gerade auch wenn Addison ihre Visionen hat, hat die Autorin es so schön geschrieben, ich wurde sofort in ihrem Bann gezogen. Die Protagonisten sind sehr gut erzählt und herausgearbeitet und ganz besonders gut wurde Addison herausgearbeitet. Wie sie als Kind mit ihren Visionen umgegangen ist und auch wie es jetzt nach Jahren wieder ist Visionen zu haben. Aber auch die anderen Charaktere sind alle sehr schön dargestellt. Die bildliche Darstellung ist gut gelungen, ich konnte mir dieses alte Haus richtig gut vorstellen und auch die Geschehnisse sind klasse dargestellt. Ich fieberte richtig mit Addison mit und wollte natürlich auch wissen, was das alles mi dem Haus auf sich hat und was in der Vergangenheit passiert ist. Ich kann euch sagen, dieses Buch ist genau das richtige für Mystery Fans. Auch die Länge der Kapitel ist perfekt, hier kann man auch schnell mal eins zwischendurch lesen, allerdings glaube ich wenn man erst einmal im Buch drin ist, ist es schwierig es beiseite zu legen. Zu mindestens ging es mir so. Ich kann hier nur 5 von 5 Sternen geben, einfach weil dieses Buch pure Unterhaltung ist. Ich bedanke mich beim Mantikore Verlag für das Rezensionsexemplar und hoffe weiterhin auf gute Zusammenarbeit.