The Shadows of Stormclyffe Hall

Dark Seductions Series, Book 1

By: Lauren Smith

Narrated by: Victoria Aston

To defeat a dark evil, they must face his family's past....

Bastian Carlisle, the Earl of Weymouth, doesn't believe in ghosts. Even though tragedy and mysterious hauntings have driven his family away from his ancestral home, Stormclyffe Hall, he is determined to restore the castle to its former glory. His plans are disrupted when a stubborn American shows up on his doorstep hoping to pry into his family's tragic history.

Jane Seyton, an American graduate student, is convinced there's more to the tragedy of Stormclyffe Hall than history claims. Ever the scholar, she is determined to discover the truth, even if it means putting up with the arrogant, yet sexy, Bastian.

Although Bastian wants nothing to do with the pushy American, it soon becomes clear that something evil is in the house - and that something is targeting both Jane and Bastian. The two must join forces to purge the ghosts of Stormclyffe Hall once and for all - even as they try to fight a physical attraction between them that grows more and more impossible to deny.

Contains mature themes.

©2014 Lauren Smith (P)2018 Tantor

Some Good Gothic Vibes

⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️.5

I was surprised this was actually a contemporary/paranormal book because I was expecting her usual historical romance. It was the perfect gothic read and gave off all those vibes.

It opened up the story in 1811 and showed how the haunting at the Stormclyffe Hall started. Richard Carlisle fell in love with the daughter of an innkeeper and they had a whirlwind romance till she fell off of a cliff. Richard ended up dying a few months later.

Now the current Earl of Weymouth, Bastian Carlisle has returned to the castle to do renovations. Jane Seyton is an American and she travels there to do research on his family and home. Jane looks a lot like the innkeeper's daughter.

Bastian and Jane are drawn together, but forces are fighting to keep them apart. Jane is being attacked by evil forces. They start to fall in love throughout the book, but have to face the evil spirit that is haunting them.

A Modern Day Gothic Romance

This was a surprise gothic romance that I did not see coming. I really enjoyed the possession, curses, mystery, and sexual tension between the characters.

Great story, Bad Narration

It was a great story, with lots of ghostly turns. Good connection between the main characters. They really need to have a male and female doing the narration. Without it, the narration was just not enjoyable!

Love the Mystery

Great story! Not once did I loose interest the characters had me in love with them.

Story good,narration poor

This story is good but the narration is the problem. To begin with the narrator sounds like she is having troubles with the American and English accents. As a result she exaggerates both and at other times their accents sound more relaxed. I preferred it when she relaxed the difference of the accents as the story flowed better. When the narrator seemed to struggle with the accents she detracted from the story. It was this that I found was pulling me out of the story and giving more attention to the narrators unease instead of the story.
Such a shame as the story is quite good.
Some reviews mentioned the push me pull me attitude of the hero. Well given the situation one can understand why he behaved this way. He was very attracted to her but wanted no harm to come to her. He was being protective....this is understandable. However I prefer stories where hero knows what he wants and would never let her go even if he thinks he is protecting her.
I really recommend this story. Before hearing the narration I had read this 3 times.