Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gothic romance that delivers, June 15, 2008
What a great gothic tale. This novel has all the ingredients, a spooky manor, whispering apparitions, a haunted hero and a courageous heroine plus an intense romance.
Nora, a tradesman's daughter has received the worst public humiliation. Her art mentor and teacher has painted a scandalous portrait of the two of them engaged in a naked embrace. She never posed for the painting and is as stunned as the rest of London society. No matter that she is an innocent; her parents insist she must marry.
Grayson Lowell has his own reputation in London. He is accused of murdering his brother the Earl. His brother's son is totally silent and the ton takes his silence as proof that the young Earl saw his uncle commit the crime. Gray's brother left a ton of debt and now he must marry Nora to fill his family coffers.
These two have quite a wedding night filled with lots of laughter due to Nora's parents and steamy lovemaking too. Quickly though, Gray hears a voice sending him back to the ancestral seat of Blackheath, where his nephew lives and where his brother died.
This journey is hard for Gray. His last words to his brother were full of rage. His brother admitted to losing the family money. He fell to his death immediately after Gray and he argued.
At the Manor ghosts appear to both Nora and Gray. He believes he is losing his mind and asks Nora to leave with his nephew. Nora is made of sterner stuff than that and insists she is staying. An apparition has begged her to find the truth of what happened at the manor.
Nora is wonderful with Johnny, the nephew. She is an artist and uses art as a way to communicate. She is protective and fiercely loyal.
This book is rich in detail. The characters are well developed and the spooky house feels dark and mysterious. The romance is tension filled with wonderful moments of tenderness and passion. I look forward to reading Miss Chase's next novel.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
engaging late Regency gothic paranormal romance, May 6, 2008
In 1830 London, a nervous but ecstatic Nora Thorngoode looks forward to the showing of her Portrait of a Southward Madam at the Marshall Street Art Gallery. However, she and her outraged parents see a scandalous painting instead. Nora's mentor artist Signore Alessio di Paolo tells her this is proof of his love for her and informs her parents they must marry. He father says she will be a wife and widow in seconds.
Grayson Lowell needs money for his dilapidated estate on Blackheath Grange. Though he loathes wedding the Paramour Painting model, he accepts her father's terms. Nora has no say in the matter while wondering if her fiancé killed his brother as rumored. They wed in a marriage of convenience, but Nora is attracted to her kindhearted spouse. That is until he takes her to his foreboding home on the Moors. There he becomes distant making her wonder if he did murder his sibling. However, she hears the whispers and sees the ghosts that only tickled his senses. She believes her beloved Gray is innocent and that the ghosts are begging her to prove he is and to uncover the real culprit.
This engaging late Regency gothic paranormal romance with a touch of amateur sleuth suspense will hook sub-genre fans once the newlyweds leave London; as Gray becomes a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Nora is fabulous as the innocent heroine who comes to live in the foreboding home with her dark beloved. DARK OBSESSION is an enjoyable historical.
Harriet Klausner
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written and hauntingly romantic, July 17, 2008
Want to read a fabulous twist on Gothic Romance? Well, you couldn't do better than Dark Obsession. Allison Chaise strikes all the right chords when creating mood, raising the tension of the storyline, and writing heroes who are lovable and flawed (sober, self-sacrificing, guilt-ridden and possibly dangerous). Her descriptions of 19th century London society and the ruggedly beautiful countryside and seacoast of Cornwall, especially when seen through the eyes of the artist/heroine, are engrossing and fill the story with you-are-there details. The romance that blooms tentatively in the face of possible madness, sorrow and mystery is marvelously written.
The main characters marry in desparation and then learn to love, and, almost as importantly, trust one another through a series of set backs. But the heroine's gumption and her unflagging loyalty prove well-founded.
There's an aura of Wuthering Heights afoot, with all the gloom and bad weather you'd expect but with more humor (which ultimately heightens the dramatic tension, shows the characters growing closer and elevates the reader's interest in the relationship).
Even the minor characters (Nora's parents, Grayson's friend, nephew and servants) are well developed and potential suspects for mischief.
I'm thrilled that Ms. Chase has another Dark novel being released soon. Here she's woven a tale of shadows and sensuality and I look forward to losing myself in her next breathtaking, romantic adventure.
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