The married woman of the manor. The stranger outside. An intoxicating novel of dark temptation and dangerous desire by the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Cat and Mouse Duet.
November 12, 1944. This house holds on to souls for a lifetime. I thought I had given it to my husband when I vowed to love him until the end of time. I lied. Nothing could have prepared me for the day my phantom appeared outside my window. He was terrifying, yet hypnotizing, and I couldn’t deny my intrigue. I never intended to fall into a whirlwind romance with my stalker. Especially because he’s so much more than that. A criminal. A mobster. The man who offers me solace from the monster in Parsons Manor. There are many that haunt these halls, yet it’s only my husband I fear.
My Review
Whatever this author writes, I will read, before the blurb or cover had dropped I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this, then when I learnt it was about Gigi and Roberto, my anticipation levels skyrocketed. We’d only had diary entry snippets within the Cat & Mouse duet and I wanted more of their backstory.
So once this went live, I dived in..
Though I didn’t love this as much as the duet, it still made for an enjoyable historical romance read.
We're thrust back into the 1940s, a dangerous time where everyone seemed to be looking over their shoulders with a powerful mafia family creating unrest on the streets.
We're thrown back into Parsons Manor, the dark gothic mansion where ghosts reside, the lady of the manor Genevieve is married to John, the father of her child, and the one man who holds all her firsts. In recent times John's been coming home drunk more times than not, as he gambles every penny they have, spending their life savings, and oftentimes they can't afford their mortgage or utilities let alone food and she agonises over how she'll feed her teenage daughter Sera, whom she loves dearly.
She spends her days writing in her diary, gazing out into space agonising over the fact that they could lose everything. And wonders if her husband is wrapped up with the wrong people due to his gambling and drinking and when that danger will come knocking on their door.
On such a day as she's lost in thought staring out the window she spots a man in a trenchcoat wearing a black fedora, shielding his face from view standing in the shadows who appears to be watching her. She's convinced he's here for John.
This phantom man has been visiting her for weeks, though she's unaware as he's only allowed her to catch glimpses of him a few times. Admittedly he was here for John. But now that he's caught sight of the beautiful woman behind the window he's become undeniably obsessed with her.
That obsession from afar steps into her home, like a ghost he won't speak for weeks on end, never uttering his name, and then turns around and walks back out leaving his soul behind with her..
'𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛.
𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗.....
𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜' 💋
Losing count of the times he wantanly visits, she openly shares her past and it's not long before they embark on a forbidden passionate love affair.
'𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎.
'𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕,
𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞.
𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚖, 𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛.' 🎩
The love these two share is undeniable, it's heartbreaking, it's beautiful.
