Richmond House is the first installment of the Astoria Trilogy from Leigh Maynard. This is a contemporary gothic romance set in the Pacific Northwest that is a fast, creepy read with spice thrown in!

Greer was a sad child who was forever in the shadow of her mother who suffered from anorexia due to childhood trauma. The beginning of the book is rather heartbreaking as we’re quick to be introduced to the way her mother’s trauma has impacted Greer’s life.

I have to say I almost wish we could’ve seen more of this relationship as it really set the tone for the book!

Greer is a surprisingly well adjusted woman in her early twenties despite never knowing her father and parenting her mother. When her mother passes, she attempts to get to know her mother’s estranged family and THAT is where the drama starts.

The Richmond family is… creepy to say the least and fucking crazy to be entirely honest.

Greer’s grandfather Sterling is a PIECE. OF. WORK.

As Greer digs into her family’s past, she becomes close with an employee of her grandfather named Jace. They quickly form a relationship despite her grandfather’s warnings and Jace’s feelings of inadequacy- he’s from a low income family and the son of addicts.

I think this book does a great job of sucking you in and making your feel empathy for our FMC and MMC as we get to read this book through their dual POVs. Sometimes I dislike dual POVs in romance because the author just ruins the male love interest this way, but I didn’t find that to be the case here.

I gave this book a 3.5 (rounded down) for two reasons- I wanted more from this book and think it could’ve benefitted from another 50 pages so the ending and beginning were more fleshed out. I didn’t mind the cliffhanger, but dang it so much drama happened and I wish we’d spent a bit more time on it. 

Additionally, I’m not sure that the big family secret (or really one of them) was necessary to the plot line ((view spoiler)). I’m sure we’ll figure more of that out in the next book so I’ll happily adjust my rating if that ends up being the case! 

Thank you to Leigh for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!