Book Review: The House at Watch Hill (Watch Hill Trilogy #1) by Karen Marie Moning

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Paranormal Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: October 1st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning is back with a gripping, imaginative, and seductive new series in which a young woman moves to Divinity, Louisiana, to inherit a large fortune and a Gothic mansion full of mysteries and ominous secrets…

Zo Grey is reeling from the sudden death of her mother when she receives a surprising call from an attorney in Divinity, Louisiana, with the news she has been left an inheritance by a distant relative, the terms of which he will only discuss in person. Destitute and alone, with nothing left to lose, Zo heads to Divinity and discovers she is the sole beneficiary of a huge fortune and a monstrosity of a house that sits ominously at the peak of Watch Hill—but she must live in it, alone, for three years before the house, or the money, is hers.

Met with this irresistible opportunity to finally build a future for herself, Zo puts aside her misgivings about the foreboding Gothic mansion and the strange circumstances, and moves in, where she is quickly met by a red-eyed Stygian owl and an impossibly sexy Scottish groundskeeper.

Her new home is full of countless secrets and mystifying riddles, with doors that go nowhere, others that are impossible to open, and a turret into which there is no visible means of ingress. And the townspeople are odd…

What Zo doesn’t yet know is that her own roots lie in this very house and that in order to discover her true identity and awaken her dormant powers, she will have to face off against sinister forces she doesn’t quite comprehend—or risk being consumed by them.

Thank you William Morrow for the gifted copy and LibroFM for the audiobook.

NOT SURE THIS WAS FOR ME.

This is my first KMM book…and it might be my last? I liked the writing style and I thought most of the aspects of the plot were perfectly fine. Those were the pieces I enjoyed and made for a decent read. I also thought the audiobook production was good so if you want to try this book that format, go for it!

What bugged me the most was how the “romantic” plot lines were used in this book. I’m just personally not a fan of one night stands or lets just do it to let some steam off. I wanted much more true romance and connection, even some chemistry between the FMC and the love interest(s) (yes, I think there’s a love triangle?). The scenes weren’t over the top graphic but too lusty for me overall.

I thought the last quarter had some nice reveals and turns to really bring the action and tension of the plot. And y’all know I love a good cliffhanger. But I’m not sure it’s going to be worth picking up the sequel.

Overall audience notes: