While the previous book in the "trilogy" stood alone just fine, this one really requires you to read it after Ammie, Come Home and Shattered Silk to not spoil the story lines of both of those novels. Thus:

 

 

This was a decent read. It was more to form for Barbara Michaels in that it included all sorts of paranormal activity and weird magic, and it did bring back Ruth and Pat, whom I missed quite a bit in the previous book. 

 

This takes up a few years after Shattered Silk ends, with the couples from the end of that book now married and, in Cheryl's case, with children. Karen is almost unrecognizable in her current state, however, and has changed what she goes by as well, so I almost didn't recognize her. I know I whined a bit about her being too much of a pushover, but wow, did she go a little too far in the other direction here. Her discomfort in her marriage appears immediately and is horrible to read about. I like my couples to be at least mostly happily-ever-after if I have to see them again, thank you. The solution to their marital problems is sort of steam-rolling and awkward as well, and I really don't like it. It doesn't seem to be a real solution and it doesn't bode well for the future of their relationship, personally.

 

At any rate, for all that Karen and Cheryl are definitely important characters, this is Rachel's story in the end. Her weird crush on a married man gets stranger and stranger due to the paranormal activity in the house, and it is the sort of thing that is very uncomfortable to read about. 

 

I enjoyed tracking the whole story about the quilt, and the idea behind what caused the problem was fascinating and creepy. 

 

The romance didn't really work for me. I certainly liked

himself quite a bit, but he and Rachel just had no chemistry at all and I can't even imagine how things were going to work out between them. 

 

Probably the most interesting character is the one we never truly see on-screen:

The denouement was a little underwhelming as well. I was expecting more than I got, there.

 

Overall, this was a decent book, but not one of my favorites. It is a quick read and certainly worth it if you read the previous two, if only to see how things end up for some of our favorite characters (and to see more Pat! There can never be enough Pat!). It's a little bit "fluffy," but there is nothing wrong with that. It was a sick read for me, and I require fluffy in my sick reads, so I enjoyed re-visiting these characters quite a bit. 

 

I enjoyed this, but I'm really not sure how I feel about the ending.

 

This feels very much like a pretty standard Barbara Michaels book. We have the hints of romance, we have a haunted house, we have weird and unexplained things going on, we have a potential family secret (or possibly several), and we have a character who gets to play the general non-believer who helps to crack the whole thing open.

 

The characters were interesting, though I never felt completely invested in any of them. Some of them were decidedly odd, and the romance fell completely flat for me. 

 

I was intrigued by what was going on in the house, and it was legitimately creepy in several places. I'm a sucker for unexplained paranormal events, and I adore haunted houses (in fiction only, admittedly), so I was hoping to be really awed. 

 

The ending was...odd. I admittedly didn't see it coming, and it was (as far as I have read) unique among Barbara Michaels books, and I like the idea 

but in the end I didn't really feel satisfied. I enjoyed the build-up a lot more than the culmination of the story, which always leaves me a bit annoyed. 

 

It is a solid entry into Barbara Michaels' gothic fiction, though, so if you are a fan it is worth a read.