Category: Jaime Jo Wright

Reading Challenge: 12 Books Recommended by 12 Readers - April

4/7/2022

April

It's time to reveal my fourth book for this reading challenge. It was recommended to me by Mary.
I am still looking for recommendations so comment below!

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E-Book Review - On The Cliffs Of Foxglove Manor by Jaime Jo Wright

9/8/2021

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Genre:
Suspense

On The Cliffs Of Foxglove Manor
by Jaime Jo Wright

-From Goodreads-

1885.
Adria Fontaine has been sent to recover goods her father pirated on the Great Lakes during the war. But when she arrives at Foxglove Manor--a stone house on a cliff overlooking Lake Superior--Adria senses wickedness hovering over the property. The mistress of Foxglove is an eccentric and seemingly cruel old woman who has filled her house with dangerous secrets, ones that may cost Adria her life.

Present day.
Kailey Gibson is a new nurse's aide at a senior home in a renovated old stone manor. Kidnapped as a child, she has nothing but locked-up memories of secrets and death, overshadowed by the chilling promise from her abductors that they would return. When the residents of Foxglove start sharing stories of whispers in the night, hidden treasure, and a love willing to kill, it becomes clear this home is far from a haven. She'll have to risk it all to banish the past's demons, including her own.

ISBN-13: 9780764233906

One of this summer's MUST reads!

Oh. My. Goodness. I think I'm going to have to sleep with my light on for at least a week! On The Cliffs Of Foxglove Manor was the eeriest, the creepiest, book that I've read in months! Jaime Jo Wright is a master of her craft and it shows in every one of her novels, but she is definitely at the top of her game with this one. The Gothic overtones are utter perfection!

This Book received a 5 Bark rating.

Jaime Jo Wright

Author Website

Up until now my favorite Jaime Jo Wright book was The Curse Of Misty Wayfair but I think On The Cliffs Of Foxglove Manor is in the running to be tie for favorite status. It's just THAT good! The blend of historical and contemporary was done to perfection. Each layer and chapter of the story building on the one prior, and each one necessary for the dual timeline to come together seamlessly.

If you are looking for a story with deeply flawed characters doing the best they can with what they have, this is the book for you. These characters are some of the most real that I've read in awhile, their fears and struggles may be difficult and even a little taboo in most Christian fiction but they are about as authentic as they come.

On The Cliffs Of Foxglove Manor was so deliciously dark and spooky that I stayed up nearly all night to finish it. Some friendly advice, don't turn off the lights after reading this one. Jaime Jo Wright had me jumping at every suspicious sound, and trust me, old houses like mine have a lot of suspicious noises at 3 am. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, it's one you won't want to miss!

Tell Tale Book Reviews gives On The Cliffs Of Foxglove Manor by Jaime Jo Wright a 5 Bark rating.

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First Line Friday - August 20th, 2021

8/20/2021

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E-Book

Includes affiliate links.

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2020 Favorite Books (Giveaway)

1/4/2021

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Please note: If you are using a mobile device this post will appear quite long and you will need to scroll down.

Favorite Books From 2020

Here is a list of Tell Tale Book Reviews' favorite books read and reviewed in 2020.
You can find all of these reviews and many more by visiting our Book Review List page

2020 Reviews

Top 20 Print Christian Fiction Books

Honorable Mention
The Raven by Mike Nappa
The Major's Daughter by Regina Jennings
One Final Breath by Lynn H. Blackburn

Secular Fiction

May contain elements of faith but are not strictly 'Christian' fiction

Top 10 Love Inspired Books

Honorable Mention
Her Cowboy Till Christmas by Jill Kemerer
Amish Country Kidnapping by Mary Alford
Wilderness Sabotage by Heather Woodhaven

Top 10 E-Books

Dangerous Deceptions

Honorable Mention
Reviving The Commander by Nadine C. Keels

Top 10 Fiction Audiobooks

Christian & Clean Reads

Top Dramatized Audiobooks

Honorable Mention
The Sacrifice by Karin Kaufman
A Glazed Finish by Eryn Scott
Love In Lead by Kari Trumbo

Top 10 YA Books

Christian & Clean Reads

Honorable Mention
Fated by Kaylin Lee
The Secret Of The Wooden Lady by Carolyn Keene
A Curse Of Gems by Brittany Fichter

Top 5 Non-Fiction Books

Christian and Secular

It's Time For A Giveaway!

Historical Duo

Contemporary Duo

I'm giving away winner's choice of the Historical Duo or the Contemporary Duo
Both sets contain Print copies.
USA ONLY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We are excited to start reading and reviewing in the
new year and hope you will be joining us for...

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2020 Reading Year In Review

1/2/2021

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Reading Year In Review

Goodreads Reading Challenge
Goal: 75 books
Started: January 1st
Completed: April 24th

« First Book Completed

Last Book Completed »

Fiction: 285* Non-Fiction: 8 Other: 0
Print Books: 109 E-Books: 74* Audiobooks: 110

25 pages

« Shortest Book

Longest Book »

494 pages

Total Number of Books Read: 293*
Total Pages Read: 63,039**
Percentage Of Challenge Completed: 391%

* Read a boxed set that contained 8 individual e-books.
** Number of pages read is according to Goodreads. Audiobooks etc. do not appear in the final page count.

Review Stats

Total Number of Reviews: 225

Fiction: 223 Non-Fiction: 2
Print Books: 85 E-Books: 52*+ Audiobooks: 88
CDs: 0 Movies: 0 Other: 0

* Indicates there may have been more than one book in a single review.
+Read a boxed set that contained 8 individual (e-)books.

« First Review

Last Review »

for sticking with us in 2020!

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Top Half Dozen Opening Lines

9/27/2020

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Top Half Dozen Opening Lines

A fun list of amusing and memorable opening lines from books that I've recently read.

Contains affiliate links.

1. Life was not unlike the wisp of fog that curled around the base of a grave marker, softly caressing the marble before dissolving into the violet shadows of the night.

-The Haunting At Bonaventure Circus by Jaime Jo Wright-

BUY

2. Someone had centered the body on a thick wool blanket and arranged it in an unrealistic pose.
"Julia, dead bodies aren't supposed to move," I said with a chuckle.
"My nose itches," she replied. "Either I scratch it or you do, Rachel."

-Death Of A Scavenger by Karin Kaufman-

BUY

3. As long as Hamilton Jones had breath in his body, nothing, not even tooth decay, would hurt his little girl.
"Seriously, Ham? It's cotton candy, not meth. Let the poor girl taste a cloud of pure sugar."

-The Price Of Valor by Susan May Warren-

BUY

4. People considered him homeless because he didn't have an address of his own, but Harvey James would've been homeless even if he owned the turreted mansion off State Route 460.

-The Edge Of Belonging by Amanda Cox-

BUY

5. "There are two kinds of people in this world."
Riley Thomas did his famous eyebrow cock at me from across the smooth wooden table at the coffeehouse. "And that would be?"
I swirled the remainder of my hazelnut latte before meeting his gaze with a cocked eyebrow of my own. "Those who drink their coffee black and those who don't."

-Suspicious Minds by Christy Barritt-

BUY

6. In the deceitful calm of the days preceding disaster, while Rhodes still glittered like a white jewel in the Aegean, Tessa of Delos planned to open her wrists.
The death of her body was long overdue. Her soul had died ten years ago.
Ten years this day.

-Shadow Of Colossus by Tracy Higley-

BUY

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First Line Friday - September 18th, 2020

9/18/2020

1 Comment

Buy

E-Book

Includes affiliate links.

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Book Review - The Haunting At Bonaventure Circus by Jaime Jo Wright

9/12/2020

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Genre:
Suspense

The Haunting At Bonaventure Circus
by Jaime Jo Wright

-From Amazon-

1928
The Bonaventure Circus is a refuge for many, but Pippa Ripley was rejected from its inner circle as a baby. When she receives mysterious messages from someone called the "Watchman," she is determined to find him and the connection to her birth. As Pippa's search leads her to a man seeking justice for his murdered sister and evidence that a serial killer has been haunting the circus train, she must decide if uncovering her roots is worth putting herself directly in the path of the killer.

Present Day
The old circus train depot will either be torn down or preserved for historical importance, and its future rests on real estate project manager Chandler Faulk's shoulders. As she dives deep into the depot's history, she's also balancing a newly diagnosed autoimmune disease and the pressures of single motherhood. When she discovers clues to the unsolved murders of the past, Chandler is pulled into a story far darker and more haunting than even an abandoned train depot could portend.

ISBN-13: 9780764233890

You won't breathe from page one to the very end...

Oh. My. Goodness. I'm still reeling from this book. I'm gobsmacked. When I started The Haunting At Bonaventure Circus I knew it would be good, it IS a Jaime Jo Wright book after all. I didn't know that once again, Jaime Jo Wright would top herself. While, The Curse Of Misty Wayfair may always be my favorite of her books, I can, with all candor, say that The Haunting At Bonaventure Circus is one of the most moving books that I've ever read.

This Book received a 5 Bark rating.

Jaime Jo Wright

Author Website

Jaime Jo Wright has one of the most amazing gifts for digging deep, into our darkest parts, down into the hidden hurts and fears that each and every one of us has, the pain that is universal. With her flawed and scarred characters she brings it all to the surface and into the light. Through fiction and suspense she helps us the need of taking those broken pieces we try so hard to hide to the only One who can make them into something beautiful. She reminds us that no matter how fragile and shattered we are, we have value and a purpose.

All of that, you ask, from an an almost 400 page book featuring a circus? Yes, I tell you, and much more. The Haunting At Bonaventure Circus is a fun read, it is riveting, it's engrossing, and yes, it's quite entertaining, but I dare you to read it and not be deeply moved, to not see the truth on the printed page. I dare you to not wish to be seen.

I loved this book and it is getting an unreserved five stars from me, I wish it could be more. I loved the depth of emotion and the multi-layered multi-faceted mystery that spans 100 years. I enjoyed trying to figure out a serial killer's identity and who would go to any lengths to cover up the past. It was a perfect read and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to anyone.

Oh, and I dare you to look at the circus in the same way again...

Tell Tale Book Reviews gives The Haunting At Bonaventure Circus by Jaime Jo Wright a 5 Bark rating.

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Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge

4/24/2020

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2020 Reading Challenge

Jasmine has completed her goal of reading 75 books in 2020!

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77 of 75 (100%)

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So, I completed my Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge today! Well, looking at the clock it was more like yesterday. Thanks to the COVID-19 shutdown, four weeks and counting in my state, I wound up finishing almost exactly 8 weeks earlier than last year. It also happens to be my record earliest completion date since I started doing these update posts in 2016.

I am by no means done with reading for this year, couldn't stop even if I wanted to, which I don't, and have even completed an audiobook and a novella since reading the book that finished the challenge. So, check back at the end of the year to see my total stats for 2020 and whether I can surpass last year's total of 152 or even beat my 2018 record of 163 books logged into my Goodreads Reading Challenge.

2020 Stats

Goal: 75 books.
Started: January 1st
Completed: April 23rd

Number of Books Ahead of Schedule: 52

Total Pages Read: 18,150

Fiction: 72 Non-Fiction: 3
Print Books: 39 E-Books: 17 Audiobooks: 19

First Book Completed (starting the challenge):
Echoes Among The Stones by Jaime Jo Wright

Midway Book In The Challenge:
Gold Frankincense And Murder by Barbara Early

Final Book Completed (finishing the challenge):
Before I Called You Mine by Nicole Deese

Longest Book (most pages):
A Curse Of Gems by Brittany Fichter
482 pages

Oldest Book:

Oldest Original Publish Date
Anne Of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
(1908)

Oldest Listed Publish Date
Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
(1970)

Newest Book:
Kingdom Above The Cloud by Maggie Platt
(April 17th, 2020)

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Book Review - Echoes Among The Stones by Jaime Jo Wright

1/14/2020

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Genre:
Romantic Suspense

Echoes Among The Stones
by Jaime Jo Wright

-From Goodreads-

After Aggie Dunkirk's career is unceremoniously ended by her own mistakes, she finds herself traveling to Wisconsin, where her grandmother, Mumsie, lives alone in her vintage, though very outdated, home. Aggie didn't plan for how eccentric Mumsie has become, obsessing over an old, unsolved crime scene--even going so far as to re-create it in a dollhouse.

Mystery seems to follow Aggie when she finds work as a secretary helping to restore the flooded historical part of the town's cemetery. Forced to work with a puzzling yet attractive archaeologist, she exhumes the past's secrets and unwittingly uncovers a crime that some will go to any length to keep hidden--even if that means silencing Aggie.

In 1946, Imogene Grayson works in a beauty salon but has her sights set on Hollywood. But coming home to discover her younger sister's body in the attic changes everything. Unfamiliar with the burgeoning world of forensic science and, as a woman, not particularly welcomed into the investigation, Imogene is nonetheless determined to stay involved. As her sister's case grows cold, Imogene vows to find justice . . . no matter the cost.

ISBN-13: 9780764233883

The past, the present, and future, all bound by grief...

This Book received a 5 Bark rating.

Jaime Jo Wright

Author Website

There are some reviews that are nearly impossible to write. Not because you dislike the book, but the exact opposite. Sometimes it's hard to rein in your thoughts and get them organized in a way that makes sense because some books are just so emotionally involving and thought provoking. Echoes Among The Stones is one of those books. You see, author Jaime Jo Wright takes on a topic that is all-consuming and not often delved into with such depth in Christian fiction. That subject is grief.

Why is grief so hard to talk about? It's something that has touched everyone in one way or another. But it's also so very very personal. As Mumsie says in the book “Death deals a wicked hand. We all respond differently, and not always the way we should.” But Jaime Jo Wright does indeed take it on, with a sensitivity and kindness wrapped in the pages of an entertaining suspense novel.

Echoes Among The Stones is heartwrenching in the pain it lays open for the world to see, but, it is also beautiful in its wisdom and gentle nudges towards faith even when it seems like God couldn't possibly be there.

The book itself is very well written, Jaime Jo Wright being one of the most talented Christian fiction authors that I've ever read, and it's a real page-turned that's impossible to put down. But Echoes Among The Stones is much more than its technical form and entertaining qualities. It's also its message, how it makes you feel, how it makes you think, that makes it the lovely, though bittersweet, book that it is...

Tell Tale Book Reviews gives Echoes Among The Stones by Jaime Jo Wright a 5 Bark rating.

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2019 Favorites (Print)

1/9/2020

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Favorite Print Books From 2019

Here is a list of Tell Tale Book Reviews' favorite books read and reviewed in 2019.
You can find all of these reviews and many more by visiting our Book Review List page

2019 Reviews

Fiction

Secular Fiction

We are excited to start reading and reviewing in the
new year and hope you will be joining us for...

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2019 Birthday Celebration - Chapter Excerpt from The Curse Of Misty Wayfair by Jaime Jo Wright + Giveaway

2/7/2019

12 Comments

Left at an orphanage as a child, Thea Reed vowed to find her mother someday. Now grown, her search takes her to Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin, in 1908. When clues lead her to a mental asylum, Thea uses her experience as a post-mortem photographer to gain access and assist groundskeeper Simeon Coyle in photographing the patients and uncovering the secrets within. However, she never expected her personal quest would reawaken the legend of Misty Wayfair, a murdered woman who allegedly haunts the area and whose appearance portends death.

A century later, Heidi Lane receives a troubling letter from her mother—who is battling dementia—compelling her to travel to Pleasant Valley for answers to her own questions of identity. When she catches sight of a ghostly woman who haunts the asylum ruins in the woods, the long-standing story of Misty Wayfair returns—and with it, Heidi's fear for her own life.

As two women across time seek answers about their identities and heritage, can they overcome the threat of the mysterious curse that has them inextricably intertwined?

ISBN-13: 978-0764230301

Chapter Excerpt from The Curse Of Misty Wayfair

Chapter 1

Thea Reed

Pleasant Valley
Northwoods of Wisconsin, 1908
Melancholy was a condition of the spirit and the soul, but also of the mind. Still, she’d never seen melancholy claim a life and be the cause of a body laid to rest in permanent sleep. At peace? One hoped. Prayed, if they were of that bent. Regardless, as she positioned herself beside the corpse, boxlike camera clutched to her chest, Thea Reed found melancholy fascinating. For its persistent grip and the power it held even unto death. That it could claim a life was a
horrifying mystery.
Memento mori was becoming less prominent in the photographer’s world, but the tradition still gripped those of sentimental pandering. Rose Coyle was one of those. A photograph to hold tight to as she posed beside her deceased sister, frozen in time as if they both still lived. Though tears welled in Rose’s eyes, her shoulders remained stalwart.
Thea tucked away the ever-present nudge of guilt. The idea she benefited monetarily from others’ grief. It was a morbid

The Curse of Misty Wayfair

career she’d fallen into as a girl. A traveling photographer and his wife needed a helper, the orphanage mistress had told Thea. A decade later, she was now the photographer while her benefactors were dead. But what choice did she have? Only a leftover letter with miniscule clues gave Thea any hint of her past. While the enticements of who Thea Reed might really be had brought her here, to this town, Thea knew dreams of a future were something women with roots and ancestry concocted. Orphans played the hand they were dealt, even if that hand was ghastly at its best.
Thea cast Rose a glance from the corner of her eye as she carefully collected her photographic equipment. Rose was not far in age from Thea, perhaps only a few years older. Well, if one surmised merely by the porcelain complexion, the unlined corners of the brilliant blue eyes, and the crow black hair that swooped into a lustrous silken crown on Rose’s head. Thea shifted her gaze toward the other model, giving Rose her distance and allowing her the privacy to dab her eyes with a handkerchief bordered by purple tatting.
Thea flipped open the lid of the velvet-lined case that housed her camera. She paused before lowering her precious camera into its box. The deceased woman—Mary Coyle—was nowhere near as striking as her older sister. Mary was simple by comparison, and even in death, one could see that in life she’d been pasty next to Rose. Ash blond hair, dull due to the lack of life. Her lips a muted pink, her nose dotted with freckles that now had no hope of ever disappearing. Her body lay limp, propped into an upright position by the aid of Thea’s metal hanger that cuffed to the corpse’s arms and neck and helped her to stand like a mannequin one might see in Miss Flannahan’s Boutique four towns over.
A sniffle jerked Thea’s attention back to the living and squelched the thoughts that made her mind spin like five children’s metal tops whirling across a wooden floor.
“I’m so sorry.” Rose blinked quickly, yet the moisture on

JAIME JO WRIGHT

her lashes only made her blue eyes larger and more iridescent. Thea engaged in a twinge of inadequacy herself, but then she ignored it like the little devil it was. Her brown eyes and honey brown hair might be uninspiring next to Rose, but she had life, whereas—Thea finally rested her camera in the box—whereas Rose had grief.
“There’s nothing to apologize for.” Thea had no struggle infusing empathy into her voice. The entire afternoon had been dreadful for Rose Coyle.
“But the photograph . . .” Rose’s voice dwindled in a muted whimper.
Thea buckled the camera case. “The photograph will be fine, I promise.”
She hoped. Rose had been so fidgety that keeping her expression stoic for the time it took for the lens to expose to light and capture the image made it almost definite the photograph would turn out blurry. But, compared to a corpse, any live human being would seem fidgety.
Thea swallowed her observation. She was used to the morbid, the dead, but then the strange questions would come during heightened times of distress and mostly when she was disturbed. When ghosts lingered in the air, their skeletal-like fingers stroking the back of Thea’s neck. A taunt, mingling with a subtle dare to find them. Catch them. If only Thea could. Ghosts were never captured, or they would be entrapped in tombs with their bodies. No, their spirits roamed free, Thea had been taught. Some good, some desperate, and some—the worst sort—wicked and evil.
“Tea?”
“Pardon?” Thea’s head snapped up from her frozen state over her camera case. But her eyes didn’t meet with Rose’s. Instead, her gaze settled again on Mary Coyle, knowing she would need to detach her from the frame.
“I wondered if you would stay for tea?” Rose had summoned strength from deep within herself, it appeared. Tears

The Curse of Misty Wayfair

had dissipated, though every ounce of composure could not hide the shadows that lingered under her eyes.
Thea nodded before she could consider, sympathy gaining the better hand over sound judgment.
“Yes. Please.” She bit her tongue. No. Thank you. Never mingle with a customer. It had been her benefactor, Mr. Mendelsohn’s instruction, and his wife’s sternly supported conviction. Thea usually heeded it.
Rose had already exited the parlor with a murmur. It was too late and too rude to decline now. Thea should have finished here, laid the burdensome body back on its temporary cot before the undertaker came to prepare Mary Coyle for her final rest and position her in a coffin. But now, tea it would be, Thea supposed, which only meant squelching the curiosity of Mary, her life, and subsequently her death, would be more difficult.
It took time, but eventually Thea had freed Mary from the trap of the photographic frame that held her prisoner. Laid and covered, Thea stepped back.
“I’m sorry life was such despair,” Thea whispered.
Mary did not answer.
Drawing in a deep breath and then expelling it slowly between her lips, Thea gathered her equipment. She moved to the parlor door, but that niggling sense—that feeling—gave her pause. She looked over her shoulder. Mary hadn’t moved. Of course she hadn’t. Nor had she spoken.
But oddly the black crepe shroud that covered a photograph of Mary when she was very much alive had slipped down the piano, onto its bench, and gathered in a filmy pile on the floor. Thea stared at the photograph. Not one sibling but two flanked Mary Coyle. All three of them smiling. All three children in adolescence.
Thea nodded. She understood now.
Mary had been happy once.
Before death had come to play.

JAIME JO WRIGHT

Rose was kind—and chatty. Likely to avoid the suffocating weight of grief. Thea tried to be vague in her answers.
Yes, she was new to town. Yes, traveling photographers sometimes knocked on doors to inquire if a service was needed. No, she wasn’t here to visit any family. No, she’d never been this far north in Wisconsin before.
Thea cringed inwardly. It wasn’t particularly true. She may have been. As a youngster, before memories became firm images in a person’s mind. Just vague shadows. It was why she’d come north, wasn’t it? To clear the fog away from those blurred recollections?
Of course, she’d not tell Rose that. Thea preferred anonymity. For no other reason than that she was used to it, it was comfortable, and if asked to define who she was, she really had nothing substantial to offer.
Thea dabbed the cloth napkin against her lips. Rose met her curious gaze over the rim of her teacup. Sadness still lingered there, but Rose’s dark brow winged upward in question. Inviting and warm.
Thea accepted the unspoken invite. It was time to divert Rose’s polite curiosity with some of her own.
“I couldn’t help but wonder, I noticed you had a brother.” She didn’t reference the photograph she had re-shrouded before leaving the parlor.
Rose lowered her teacup. “We still have a brother.”
We. Poor Rose. Like Mary were still alive. There was no past tense.
“Simeon.” The name caressed from Rose’s lips gently, with a deep fondness that Thea couldn’t relate to.
Rose smiled one of those bittersweet smiles as she ran her fingertip around the edge of her teacup. “Simeon is my younger brother, between Mary and I. He is . . . special.”

The Curse of Misty Wayfair

Her interest more than piqued; Thea was also equally as anticipatory of escaping the gloomy atmosphere and driving
away on her horse-led box wagon. She shifted on the hard wooden chair. The lace tablecloth caught under her leg and
drew taut, making the china rattle. Thea made it her excuse for escape.
“Thank you so much for the tea.” Thea summoned every manner Mrs. Mendelsohn had taught her in their short years together.
Rose drew a breath, shuddering only a tad. “And the photograph?”
Oh yes. Business. Thea gave Rose an approximate date. She would need to find a satisfactory place to develop the plates. Her wagon was equipped, but barely. Finding an established portrait studio she could partner with was a better option. She wasn’t certain if that was normal, but it had been Mr. Mendelsohn’s way of doing business, and Thea was well versed in it.
Rose led Thea to the front door, the wool carpet runner beneath her feet silencing the footsteps that would have otherwise echoed on the scuffed walnut floors. Always observant, Thea noted the wallpaper was more faded by the entryway than in the hall, which made sense considering the windows that flanked the front door. Sunlight was sure to drain color from the paper roses. Thea drew her attention back to her client.
Life had drained color from Rose Coyle. Only the sapphire of her eyes and the coal black of her hair and lashes saved her
from being ghostly.
“My brother will give you your partial payment.” Rose hesitated, and her voice dropped into a wispy tone. “He’s good
with numbers.”
“And I shall find him where?” Thea ventured.
Rose’s fingers flew to her neckline, fidgeting with the lace at her throat. The only bit of adornment on her otherwise black silk mourning dress. She seemed taken aback by the question.
“Your brother—Simeon?” Thea pressed.

JAIME JO WRIGHT

“Yes.” Rose gave her head a little shake, but her eyes grew dull and vacant. She dropped her hand from her throat. “Simeon will be in his workshop.”
An uneasy sensation coursed through Thea. Not unlike the one in the parlor. As if they were being watched—as if Mary watched them. A common superstition but one Thea found immensely hard to shake.
She nodded, grappling for the doorknob. She wished to leave now. She had no more courage left to cast a final glance into the parlor, where Mary Coyle lay, and no bravery to investigate Rose’s sorrowing face again.
Thea’s fingers brushed Rose’s as they’d already turned the knob and opened the door. She snatched her hand away and edged past Rose, catching a whiff of perfume. Thea turned to bid Rose farewell, but Rose was already closing the front door, her face slowly disappearing as the crack between the door and frame shut.
Tiny bumps raised on Thea’s arms. She observed her horse and wagon. She could just leave. Avoid the special Simeon Coyle—whatever that inferred—and be rid of this creepy house and its inhabitants. There had been a tiny glimpse of fear in Rose’s eyes just as the door closed. Fear of her brother perhaps? Or something greater and more threatening than the melancholy that had wasted away Mary Coyle?
She needed the money. With that determination, Thea made her way over a stone path through flower gardens of summer growth. Chives with bristly purple blossoms, lavender bushes lending a distinct scent in the air, both calming and pungent, and a mishmash of wildflowers waving in the slight breeze. The path passed through a gate and then it was gone. Only dirt and patchy grass led Thea to the door of the shed, Simeon Coyle’s workshop.
Thea knocked firmly on the door. A sparrow fluttered above her and landed on the peak of the roof. It cocked its head to the right and danced a fidgety little waltz across the ridgepole.

The Curse of Misty Wayfair

Thea met the beady eyes and didn’t miss the sparrow’s quick nod before it fluttered away.
Mr. Mendelsohn had believed spirits sometimes took the form of other creatures. Perhaps it was Mary Coyle giving her
approval to stand before her brother’s place of work. Or, Thea blinked as the door began to open, superstitions shouldn’t be taken so far. Thea knew little of God, but Mrs. Mendelsohn had argued with her husband many times that a human simply did not return as an animal. It was ungodly and sacrilegious.
Much as Rose had closed the door, Simeon Coyle opened his. With a nervous suspicion in squinting gray eyes. Brown hair the color of tree bark straggled over his forehead in straight strands parted down the middle. He eyed Thea. Perhaps he’d not seen a stranger in his entire life? His eyes looked her up and down, until finally he opened the door enough for her to see his whole body.
Simeon Coyle did not step from his shed. Nor did he speak. His jaw was square, his shoulders lean with suspenders spanning over them, and he was only slightly taller than she. There was nothing remarkable about him. Nothing at all.
They stared at each other.
Simeon, waiting.
Thea, tongue-tied.
There was something about Simeon Coyle. His sharp, observant gaze conflicted with the hollow expression on his face.
She cleared her throat, trying to find her voice.
He blinked.
Thea stumbled back a step. She was losing her senses, surely! Yet she would vow there was an instant tugging of souls between her and Simeon Coyle, with inexplicable reason other than an innate comprehension that they shared something unspoken. Something yet to be defined—if they gave it opportunity.
“I’ve come only for money.” Thea’s words bridged the space between them. Words that eliminated the invisible thread between them that made no logical sense.

JAIME JO WRIGHT

Simeon blinked, his face pulled into a scowl, making his one eye close like he was winking. But Thea was certain he wasn’t. Just as quickly, his muscles relaxed, and his expression returned to a quiet study of her. A movement caught her attention, and Simeon’s hand stretched forward. In his grip, a coin in half payment for the photograph. Thea reached for it, and he released the money.
Without another word, Simeon Coyle closed the door. The latch clicked quietly as he reentered his shed. But, Thea could not chase away the feeling that a door had also opened into the secret places inside of her, and Simeon Coyle had unassumingly walked right in.

Jaime Jo Wright, The Curse of Misty Wayfair
Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2019. Used by permission

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Jaime Jo Wright

Professional coffee drinker & Daphne du Maurier and Christy Award Winning author, Jaime Jo Wright resides in the hills of Wisconsin writing spirited romantic suspense stained with the shadows of history. Coffee fuels her snarky personality. She lives in Neverland with her Cap’n Hook who stole her heart and will not give it back, their little fairy Tinkerbell, and a very mischievous Peter Pan. The foursome embark on scores of adventure that only make her fall more wildly in love with romance and intrigue. Jaime lives in dreamland, exists in reality, and invites you to join her adventures at jaimejowright.com

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Book Review - The Curse Of Misty Wayfair by Jaime Jo Wright

1/28/2019

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Genre:
Romantic Suspense

The Curse Of Misty Wayfair
by Jaime Jo Wright

-From Amazon-

Left at an orphanage as a child, Thea Reed vowed to find her mother someday. Now grown, her search takes her to Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin, in 1908. When clues lead her to a mental asylum, Thea uses her experience as a post-mortem photographer to gain access and assist groundskeeper Simeon Coyle in photographing the patients and uncovering the secrets within. However, she never expected her personal quest would reawaken the legend of Misty Wayfair, a murdered woman who allegedly haunts the area and whose appearance portends death.

A century later, Heidi Lane receives a troubling letter from her mother--who is battling dementia--compelling her to travel to Pleasant Valley for answers to her own questions of identity. When she catches sight of a ghostly woman who haunts the asylum ruins in the woods, the long-standing story of Misty Wayfair returns--and with it, Heidi's fear for her own life.

As two women across time seek answers about their identities and heritage, can they overcome the threat of the mysterious curse that has them inextricably intertwined?

ISBN-13: 978-0764230301

Prepare to be held captive by a novel...

This Book received a 5 Bark rating.

Jaime Jo Wright

Author Website

To be honest, I just don't know where to begin. My mind is so full after reading this book that I just don't know how to get my thoughts written down. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED this book. The Curse Of Misty Wayfair was not only author Jaime Jo Wright's best, but, it is probably one of my favorite reads. EVER.

After reading Jaime Jo Wright's previous two books I've come to expect a lot from her. But even I couldn't have anticipated how amazing The Curse Of Misty Wayfair would be. It is one of the most emotionally moving, powerful, and flat out eeriest books that I've read. To say that this book was a page-turner would be a gross understatement. I couldn't help it, I just couldn't put the book down. Everything else went to the wayside as I was held captive by the pages of a book.

What did I love about the book? Well, pretty much everything. It was dark, it was creepy, it was enough to keep you awake at night looking out the window into the shadows for a figure in white, but it was also so much more than that.

As with Jaime Jo Wright's previous books, The Curse Of Misty Wayfair is a dual timeline story with both a contemporary and a historical thread that are closely intertwined. With this book I connected with the heroines of both timelines right off the bat. There was just something about both women, and their love interests, that grabs the reader. All of them have been deeply hurt by circumstances, by the people around them, by choices. And all of them must fight their way through the darkness to a faith, no matter how fragile at first, beyond.

A truly wonderful book, The Curse Of Misty Wayfair is a must read for any Christian fiction fan, though, you may want to leave the light on when you go to bed tonight....

Tell Tale Book Reviews gives The Curse Of Misty Wayfair by Jaime Jo Wright a 5 Bark rating.

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2018 Favorites (Print)

1/6/2019

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Favorite Print Books From 2018

Here is a list of Tell Tale Book Reviews' favorite books read and reviewed in 2018.
You can find all of these reviews and many more by visiting our Book Review List page

2018 Reviews

Fiction

Isaiah's Daughter

Lone Star
Christmas Witness

The Innkeeper's
Daughter

Mind Games

Lady Of A Thousand Treasures

A Rumored Fortune

Beneath The
Surface

The Reckoning At
Gossamer Pond

Caught By
Surprise

A Sparkle
Of Silver

The Great Lakes
Lighthouse Brides
Collection

A Light On
The Hill

Top Secret Target

Dead Drift

Kappy King And
The Pie Kaper

My Heart Belongs
In Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Fugitive Spy

The Backcountry
Brides Collection

The Amish Quilter

Flaw Abiding
Citizen

Amish Christmas
Emergency

Who I Am With You

A Refuge Assured

A Secret
To Die For

The Sea Before Us

Secular Fiction

The Key-Lock Man

The Secret Of
Mirror Bay

My Brother Michael

Non-Fiction

Staying Stylish

The Three Faces
Of Nellie

Joy To The World
Adult Coloring Book

We are excited to start reading and reviewing in the
new year and hope you will be joining us for...

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Book Review - The Reckoning At Gossamer Pond by Jaime Jo Wright

12/26/2018

0 Comments

Genre:
Suspense / Time-Slip

The Reckoning At Gossamer Pond
by Jaime Jo Wright

-From Amazon-

For over a century, the town of Gossamer Grove has thrived on its charm and midwestern values, but Annalise Forsythe knows painful secrets, including her own, hover just beneath the pleasant facade. When a man is found dead in his run-down trailer home, Annalise inherits the trailer, along with the pictures, vintage obituaries, and old revival posters covering its walls. As she sorts through the collection, she's wholly unprepared for the ramifications of the dark and deadly secrets she'll uncover.

A century earlier, Gossamer Grove has been stirred into chaos by the arrival of controversial and charismatic twin revivalists. The chaos takes a murderous turn when Libby Sheffield, working at her father's newspaper, receives an obituary for a reputable church deacon hours before his death. As she works with the deacon's son to unravel the mystery behind the crime, it becomes undeniably clear that a reckoning has come to town--but it isn't until another obituary arrives that they realize the true depths of the danger they've waded into.

Two women, separated by a hundred years, must uncover the secrets within the borders of their own town before it's too late and they lose their future--or their very souls.

ASIN: B079C1ND2S

Dark secrets from the past merge with the present...

This Book received a 4.5 Bark rating.

Jaime Jo Wright

Author Website

I just finished The Reckoning At Gossamer Pond a little while ago and I'm still digesting what I read. I have to confess that it isn't as often as it should be that I find a story's message to be of just as much importance as the entertainment value. Jaime Jo Wright has penned a truly moving story with a powerful message.

I have to admit that after the initial 'whoa!' moment it did take me a little bit to get into the historical thread. It was a little harder for me to connect with the historical characters than it was for the contemporary characters. But don't get me wrong, I LOVED this book! The parallels between the past and present were delightfully spooky.

Creepy. Eerie. Chilling. All of those words describe The Reckoning At Gossamer Pond to a 'T'. Not only are the dark secrets, past and present, enough to make you want to leave a light on but the overtones of Poe add an extra icy chill skittering up and down the spine.

If you love a good suspense story but can't decide between a contemporary or historical setting, why not try both? You really can't go wrong with one of Jaime Jo Wright's books! But beware of a tapping, rapping, on your chamber door...

Tell Tale Book Reviews gives The Reckoning At Gossamer Pond by Jaime Jo Wright a 4.5 Bark rating.

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