Sinister mansion, tortured hero, victimized heroine, cold secondary characters, unsolved old mystery that the heroine wants to solve. It is a classic Gothic. I liked the writing but the momentum petered out and the ending did not redeem anyone. ( )

It was okay until the ending. WTH was that? So disappointing. ( )

This first line reeks of Rebecca: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..." Surely she used this opening on purpose given the famous nature of this line? Not terribly original. ( )

I'm not usually one for historical fiction, but this one looked interesting enough to pick up for Kindle First for January. But, I do like myself a good family drama (maybe because I can actually relate on some level, to some of it), and this one looked interesting enough to pick up. No regrets at all! One of the few books recently that I've looked forward to picking up where I left off, whenever I could steal even a few minutes to get some reading in.

The book is written in first person, and we get the story through the FMC's POV.

Ms. Blackwell has painted a dark, intriguing story filled with wealthy families, family secrets, violence, and a little touch of incest (never in detail, though). Set the tone from page one all the way through until the end. I liked both the protagonists and enjoyed watching them support each other as they tried to work through their own demons. The MMC's family...well, I think a lot of us can relate to the overly close sister or domineering mother in one way or another. The writing was superb, as well as the descriptions of the scenery, and I found myself easily imagining what Lakecrest and the surrounding areas looked like, and could almost see myself right there with them. But, there wasn't so much description that it bogged the story down. It truly felt like you were in the 1920s, and could clearly see the world through her eyes.

Nobody was perfect in this story, and it was one of the things I loved about it. A nice peek into how the wealthy live and the secrets they hide, and it was nice to see it from an outsider's POV.

Just two quibbles, though. The entire mystery is pretty much unraveled in one huge infodump toward the end of the book, which is about 5-10 pages long. I find that it usually works better to weave in information. Because of this, I personally felt like the book dragged in some places, in the middle. Also, this is up for debate, the ending. While I felt like it was fitting, I do wish it was a little happier.

All in all, I'm glad I picked this one up! I absolutely fell in love with Ms. Blackwell's writing and characters, and have downloaded one of her other books, While Beauty Sleeps, onto my Kindle, and look forward to reading more of her works in the future. ( )

In the world of Lakecrest, where secrets prevail and pasts are alive and unwell, there are "women who'd done terrible things for the sake of their children." Kate's life would never be the same once she met Matthew. All the good, bad and most definitely the ugly, that she ever would have imagined for herself and her married life come to call. Life at Lakecrest is full of secrets, struggles for independence and madness, and Kate's goal to survive it all runs this story.
Blackwell sets up the novel with attention to detail and the back stories throughout give explanations that all culminate and make sense. The characters are unique, their secret lives scandalous, and their true nature wins in the end.
A truly interesting and twisted tale of love, family duty and sense of self. 'In the Shadow of Lakecrest' will keep you up long into the night. ( )