04/06/12

Title: Farnsworth Hall
Author: Haven Raines
Author’s website: http://www.havenraines.com/
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Release Date: January 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61217-002-2
Length: Novel
Format: Electronic and Print
Genre: Romance
Sensuality Level: 2.75

Reviewed by: Bobby

On a trip to England to scout out castles for her mother, a developer of high-end resorts, Rachel Coulter’s bus breaks down, and she is forced to take shelter at Farnsworth Hall. There she discovers, to her dismay, that the owner is none other than Trace Cardiff, her former employer. Eight months previous, Rachel fell in love with Trace when she worked in New York as nanny to his young son. She left with a broken heart when she found out that any love between them would be strictly forbidden.

Trace loves Farnsworth Hall, his family home, but he simply can’t afford to keep it from falling apart around him. When Rachel shows up claiming to be a potential buyer, he doesn’t believe her for a moment. How can he trust the woman who left him and his son when they needed her most?

Ghosts, hidden treasure, and rediscovered feelings only complicate matters. Trace knows he must sell, but someone – or something – is dead set on keeping the building from changing hands.

When you’re in the mood for the dark and overtly emotional, there is nothing that satisfies quite like a gothic romance. These books give us tortured and perhaps forbidden love, buried secrets, hidden passages, gloomy castles, and ghostly – and sometimes even malevolent – presences. Haven Raines’ Farnsworth Hall blends the gothic style into a contemporary romance that gives readers the best of both worlds.

My favorite part of this story is the house itself, Farnsworth Hall. Ms. Raines has done an excellent job developing this fascinating, completely gothic place and making it feel realistic. It has wonderful hidden passages, secret rooms, and mysterious spaces, and as I read the story, I simply itched to explore it myself.