Cordelia Bone's meticulously crafted life and career in Dallas are crashing down around her thanks to a philandering husband with criminal debts.
When her older, carefree sister, Eustace—a cannabis grower in Boulder, calls to inform her the great aunt they never met has died and they must travel to a small town in Connecticut to deal with the estate, she sees an opportunity to unload the house and save herself.
But once there, the sisters learn they are getting much more than they bargained for. The Victorian mansion they stand to inherit is bound in a dynasty trust controlled by their late aunt's aging attorney who insists they inhabit the house and retain it but keeps them in the dark about the peculiar rituals of their ancestors. Not to mention a sexy, tattooed groundskeeper with a shrouded past who refuses to leave the carriage house and a crypt full of dead relatives looming at the property line.
As both women grapple with their current predicament, they come face to face with a haunting family secret, the truth of what happened to their mother, and the enemy that's been stalking them from the shadows for generations. In a twisting torrent of terror and blood, the sisters must uncover the power within them to heal their fractured relationship, reverse their mysteriously declining health, and claim the lineage they wanted to escape but now must embrace if they are to survive at Bone Hill.
Ava Morgyn grew up falling in love with all the wrong characters in all the wrong stories, then studied English Writing & Rhetoric at St. Edward’s University. She is a lover of witchcraft, tarot, and powerful women with bad reputations, and she currently resides in Houston with her family, surrounded by antiques and dog hair. When not at her laptop spinning darkly hypnotic tales, she writes for her blog on child loss (forloveofevelyn.com), hunts for vintage treasures, and reads the darkest books she can find.
She is the author of YA novels Resurrection Girls and The Salt in Our Blood, and paranormal women's fiction, The Witches of Bone Hill, releasing September 26, 2023 from St. Martin's Griffin.https://www.avamorgyn.com/
My Thoughts
Newly released (September 26th, 2023) St. Martins Griffen. Witches of Bone Hill by Ava Morgyn is in the category of fantasy, witches, paranormal, etc. Cordelia Bone and her sister Eustace, whom she has not seen much of in the past 5 years, get notified that they were left an inheritance by a great-aunt.
Cordelia lives in Dallas, her life is falling down around her, her marriage is over, he left and left her in debt with unsavory characters. Eustace grows cannabis and lives a pretty carefree life in Boulder, calls Cordelia to let her know that the great aunt has died and left them an inheritance. This turns out to be a godsend to Cordelia, she can sell her house and with whatever money she gets can go to pay off her louse of husband's debts.
Things are a little bit more difficult than they had planned. The house( mansion) is in a dynasty trust which requires both women to live in the house. Never leaving the property, because if they do, weird things happen. They really don't understand the rules, if you will, as they had never met this great aunt. The trust is run by an elderly attorney, he is very vague when telling the two women what is expected of them. Not being able to leave the property is a bit weird and scary in turn.
There is a tattooed groundskeeper that Cordelia is getting increasingly attracted to. He appears to have his own secrets and the reason he does not leave the property is that his own mother died in mysterious circumstances and he needs to find out what happened. So with Cordelia and Eustace's assistance, they all try to get to the bottom of the secrets of the house and the Bone family, purported to be witches.
On the property is the crypt with lots of dead relatives of the women. They are both wanting to find out what happened to their mother, who would not tell them much about her family as she left the family years ago. It is kind of sad that when they could never understand their mother and wish she was still alive, they come to understand why she left the family and what became of her.
This is definitely a story about witches, lots of folklore, and of course, creepy happenings that keep occurring to Cordelia and Eustace. This is also a time when the sisters are able to finally bond again and get past their early lives. Of course with a sexy groundskeeper, there is bound to be romance, and there is lots of that!
I was drawn to the book by its gorgeous cover and the fact that it was witchy! I did not get bogged down at all in the story, loved every minute of it, especially the creepy parts. The author did a great job weaving the past and present in the lives of the previous owners of the mansion and their secrets!
I really liked the book and read it in two sittings. I give the book 5 stars!
I received a copy of the book for review purposes only.
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