I really loved this debut. It had a great characters and edge of your seat suspense. I loved the dual timelines and was equally interested in both stories. There were mysteries in both story lines that kept me guessing throughout the book. If you enjoy the mystery/thriller genre, I highly recommend this book.

I received this book for free for the purpose of review.

I was hoping this book would be a good murder mystery. My hope didn't last long. The book jumps back and forth between the distant past and present, trying to link happenings to the spirit realm, like a bad spirit following a family. The backstory of each of the main female characters were not very compelling, and Kaine's especially seemed overdramatized. The book could've been a lot shorter. Especially since Ivy's reasons for being angry with Joel were pretty pathetic. When the whole story was finally revealed I felt let down. So many interactions between characters seemed ridiculous and I found myself rolling my eyes and skipping entire pages without having missed anything. It was all just too implausible for me, and the relationship between Grant and Kaine was annoying. I just didn't care for the book or any of the characters in it. I would probably not read another by this author.

The House on Foster Hill simultaneously chronicles two mysteries. : one set in 1906 and the other in present day.
Kaine fleas her life in California after her husband's death in an effort to connect with her roots and to restore a house that has mysterious connections to her pat. But Kaine's life isn't cut and dry. she believes her husband was murdered and she has a stalked but the police don't believe her. She hopes to create a new life away from everything but quickly becomes entangled in a mystery of the past.
When a body is found in a tree close to Foster Hill House, Ivy becomes obsessed with solving the murder. A young girl was strangled and their is evidence she had a baby. But where is the baby? The answer brings Ivy to the brink of death.
As seems to be typical for me, I was more enthralled in the period drama than I was in what was going on in everyday life. While there is nothing wrong with Kaine's story, I love historical fiction and really like to immense myself in the world. Jaime Jo Wright does that well as I also felt entombed I'm the creepy house on Foster Hill.
This was an engaging read with some Interesting twists and turns. The writing kept me reading until I got to the bottom of the mystery.

This mystery spans a hundred years – tying together a mysterious death in 1906 with a murder and stalker in the present day. Wright takes the reader on a wild ride as she ties the 2 storylines together. A creepy house, a stalker, a little romance—what a fantastic debut novel! I highly recommend it!

Gripping! This book held me spellbound. The only thing that kept me from reading this in one sitting was the obligations of work and family.

Debut author, Jaime Jo Wright, demonstrates skill one usually finds in a more experienced author. Her ability to tell a story with dual timelines is remarkable. The suspense skillfully builds in both story-lines, keeping this reader invested in both Kaine and Ivy's stories. The common link between both stories was not forced, unfolding naturally. Two strong women find their lives in danger as they seek to solve the mysteries hidden in Foster House in their respective time periods. Not only does this book provide a great mystery, it is also a story of hope, a hope that heals, a hope that God's promises will be fulfilled in spite of our circumstances.

Be prepared for a few spine-tingling moments as you immerse yourself in this mystery. I will definitely be watching for more releases by this author.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

It was the cover of the book, with a piano at the bottom of it a beautiful winding staircase, that had drawn me into this book, and it was the cozy mystery that invited me to stay. I was intrigued to find out how the lives of Ivy Thorpe and Kaine Prescott were connected a hundred years apart.

The book is written in the third person past tense point of view of Ivy Thorpe a hundred years ago, and that of Kaine Prescott in the present day. Both these women have been affected by past tragedies, and their sadness is aggravated on coming into contact with Foster Hill.

Ivy assists her father, Dr Thorpe, in medical emergencies and post mortems. She lost her brother in a tragic accident twelve years ago. At that time, she also lost touch with their chidlhoood friend, Joel Cunningham, an orphan. Since then, she has developed a morbid fascination with death. Joel has since returned to the town as the Sherriff’s deputy.

When an unidentified woman is found dead in a hollow in an oak tree near Foster House, Ivy feels very distressed on her account. Learning that the dead woman had given birth just weeks before, she returns to Foster House to find the baby, and is savagely attacked. Determined to find and save the baby, Ivy puts her own life in danger.

Kaine lost her husband, Danny, two years ago, in an accident in which he lost control of his car. Investigations revealed that he had narcotic substances in his blood. Kaine insists that her husband was never a drug user, and that it is therefore a murder. Meanwhile, she is also being stalked. The police believe that she suffers from trauma, and refuse to open Danny’s case, dismissing it as suicide.

Scarred by her tragedy and suffering badly from depression, she decides to move across states to her hometown in Wisconsin, where an unscrupulous realtor cons her into buying Foster House, a dilapidated house that is reputed to be haunted, and that has was the scene of a crime 100 years ago.

The body of an unidentified woman had been discovered there and Ivy, who had become more than a little interested in the life of the ill-fated woman, had been severely assaulted there.

When Kaine gets there, she realizes that the house is unlivable, dilapidated, and worse, it seems, haunted. Plus, the stalking continues, and Kaine wonders why she seems to attract trouble. In her grandfather’s hometown, she is befriended by Joy, a woman who manages a local store, and Grant Jesse, the romantic interest for Kaine.

Their parallel lives meet when Kaine finds a copy of Dickens’ Great Expectations under the floorboards of the house. The book contains a woman’s writing in the margins.

The text seems to suggest that the woman was in deep trouble and was calling out for help. It is the same copy that had propelled Ivy to invest in the predicament of the dead woman.

Both women become aware that there is someone out there who will go to any extent to hurt them. Even as their lives are in danger, they are determined to solve the mystery of Foster Hill House. But time is running out, and their unnamed enemy is getting closer. Will it be too late for them, as it for the unidentified woman who was killed in Foster Hill House?


Love enters the lives of Kaine and Ivy in the person of Grant Jesse for Kaine, and Joel Cunningham for Ivy.


Ivy is an unconventional character. She is courageous, prone to unorthodox exclamations and helps her father in post-mortems. I found Ivy more interesting than Kaine, especially since the house was creepier in her day.

Besides, I felt that Ivy had been actually assaulted. The stalking that Kaine experiences pales in comparison.

By association and on his own strength, Joel felt much stronger than Grant Jesse who doesn’t appear to be a strong character, even though the author tried hard to speak of his strength and bravery. Grant is supposed to have some experience as a counsellor, which is why, Kaine surmises, he can see through her and he knows exactly what is happening to her. Trouble is, we're not convinced.

The dead Danny doesn’t come alive as a character. Even when he was alive, he was rather lifeless. Of course, the only time we meet him is in Kaine’s memories and even then not so often or so vividly either. You don’t get any impression of deep love between him and Kaine.

Even stranger, she hardly meets Grant and her heart seems to pound. I couldn't understand why. Grant was thoroughly uninspiring and insipid.


There were some errors. In one place, there was the word, emblazed, instead of emblazoned. Kaine is said to have heralded from San Diego, instead of hailed from. In one place, Detective Tamara Hanson is referred to as male in one paragraph.

Patti, the librarian, is referred to, quite unnecessarily, in my opinion, as a gargoyle, while Mr Mason, the curator of the local museum, is described as adorable, in a curator sort of way. What is that supposed to mean?


The writing was okay, rather tepid, I would say. It would have greatly improved in the first person points of view of both women.

The pace was slow and repetitive. The Gothic effort that the author strove to achieve didn’t quite come off well.
Even the element of Christian faith came out as totally forced. Neither Joy nor Grant seemed convincing when they spoke about their beliefs. Their talks on faith appeared unreal. It seemed as if they were either talking in a trance, or reading from a script. No conviction at all.

I can understand Joy never reading her grandmother’s diary scribbled on the pages of Great Expectations, in deference to her wishes, but for Kaine to refrain from reading through the unidentified woman’s diary, when there could have been clues to explain the mystery there, seemed foolish.

The mystery took far too long to get resolved. The book could have been shorter and tighter. Ivy spent an excessively long period of time in feeling upset with Joel even after knowing the compulsions that had driven him away. Her personal drama kept getting in the way of the solving of the mystery.


I was rather disappointed with this one.

The House on Foster Hill is a captivating debut novel by Jaime Jo Wright. In her first full-length novel (she’s previously published several novellas), Wright captures the heart of Gothic novels, using a time-slip plot to mysteriously tie past events with more contemporary ones.

Wright’s novel follows two heroines as they circle the mysteries shrouded in an old abandoned house in Wisconsin – the house that sits on Foster Hill. With the town murmuring of ghost sightings, mysterious music in the night, and other perplexing events (both in 1906 and the present), Wright’s heroines seek answers to the mysterious happenings while also battling demons from their own pasts.

This is a story that grips you at the beginning, and doesn’t shy away from darkness as its protagonists each search for hope and light. Ultimately, past connects with present after several turn of events, most of which were unpredictable. Wright manages to keep readers interested from page to page, and largely maintains clarity throughout the jumps back and forth between years.

The novel’s characters are written well, hinting at Ivy and Kaine’s similarities while also maintaining the autonomy of each. As in any time-slip novel, the characters receive only half of the book’s attention (half to Ivy in 1906, half to Kaine in the present day), but the book still manages to give adequate development to each.

This debut is a fresh offering, one that relies heavily on Gothic themes while also directing audiences to remember the hope eternal that is found through faith, even in the face of dark circumstances that may seem unable to be redeemed. This one kept my attention until the end, as connections between the past and present were slowly revealed. An intriguing read I didn’t want to put down.

Jaime Jo Wright is an author to watch.

Oh, a new author to follow! :) I wasn't sure what I was getting into, with the spooky tones, but I really, really loved the mystery that is strewn through the story, parallel in the two time frames as each character (Ivy and Kaine) probes into the mysterious secrets surrounding the deserted Foster Hill house. A murdered girl was found in a hollow tree a hundred years ago. Ivy, in the early 1900s, is the doctor's daughter and the keeper of the book of deaths, her way of writing obituaries for townspeople.

Ivy is considered odd after her brother's early death leaves her pensive and quiet. Her quick intuition leads to town rumors of a "second sight" and leaves her even more alone. At the young woman's mysterious death and unknown identity, Joel re-enters her life: her brother's best friend who disappeared years before and left her to face her grief alone. He's just returned as the new sheriff's deputy and is soon in the midst of the attempt to solve the crime.

Kaine, the modern-day heroine, is also doubted by her community after no real evidence shows up for a stalker she knows she has. The person who caused her husband's fatal car accident, she's sure, must still be after her. Problem is, the death was ruled accidental. Only her sister believes she's telling the truth, and isn't simply overly forgetful or suffering from some form of PTSD. Unable to stand the sinister tricks any longer, she quits her job, buys a historic home in her ancestors' hometown, and heads off to an adventure. Trouble is, the realtor's pictures were overly kind, and she finds herself in a world of hurt trying to make her new home livable. And things begin to happen there...things like what her stalker did, only more aggressive than before.

There are quite a number of creepy passages, melodies from an abandoned house, "ghosts" in the halls...but it's not sensationalized. The focus remains on the house's mysterious past rather than the creepy phenomenons. I liked having an engaging mystery with a touch of the shiver-y to keep it compelling, and I actually enjoyed both timelines equally.

Thanks to the publisher for a free ebook for review. A positive review was not required.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

The House on Foster Hill brings two women, two time periods, and one house of secrets together. There are numerous twists and turns that keep the reader engaged. You really do not know the underlying connections until the very end. You ultimately realize the societal significance of events and how they relate to issues which continue today.

Wow! That sums up the whole book in one word!
I like suspense and mysteries and old houses. Add some great characters in the past and present, intertwine their stories, and it certainly makes an intriguing storyline. Add to that an author who can truly write and you’re in for a treat. The House on Foster Hill is all this and more!
I was hooked from page one and had no idea what the outcome would be. The author kept me guessing till the satisfying end.
Great story! Great writing! On my favorites list of 2017!

The House on Foster Hill switches back and forth between two different stories - Ivy in past, who is helping to investigate a mysterious death; Kaine in the present, who is running from her past. I enjoyed the story quite a bit. I always like books with multiple story lines going - I don't know why, I just do. The book is very well written, with believable dialogue and characters I fell in love with. While there is a dose of romance in the book, it isn't romance heavy and that part of the book doesn't take away from the mystery.

That said, I can't give this book a 5 star rating because of one aspect - too often, it reads more like a handbook on abuse than a fictional book. Several times the author almost takes a time-out from the story to explain certain ideas through dialogue or character's inner thoughts, and it was distracting. Overall, however, the book was both thought-provoking and a good read.

A fantastic debut novel! The dual storyline was equally enjoyable with lots of twists and unexpected turns. Absolutely a must read!

I loved this new debut novel by Jaime Jo Wright. It held my attention from the very beginning and made me keep coming back to read so I could see what happened next. The way that the author went from the present story of Kaine to the past story of Ivy was seamless and the plot and character interaction intertwined in such a way that it was very intriguing. Wright also kept the identity of the villain hidden until the very end which keeps the reader hooked. There were many layers to this story and this complexity kept me interested. I will definitely be reading another book by Jaime Jo Wright and will recommend this to others!

I have been trying to finish this book for a long time.. picking it up and putting it back down because the story just did not pull me in. I think the writer shows promise but the full story did not flow very well to me. I still would give it a chance if you like historical fiction.

I am generally not a connoisseur of suspense novels, but the cover of The House on Foster Hill is so beautifully done and intriguing that that it drew me in and I found myself wanting to discover the mysterious secrets the Foster Hill house was holding. If you are an avid reader of Colleen Coble, you will fall in love with book by Jaime Jo Wright. Her descriptive narrative made the Foster Hill house come alive and I could almost feel the evil that emanated from within its abandoned old walls. I really enjoyed the plot line as it switched from past to present and the secrets of the old house were revealed.

A major theme of the novel is hope, and living a legacy that is full of hope in God so that future generations may learn and gain strength from the Godly lives that went before them. Another theme running through this novel is healing. Both Ivy and Kaine had a broken and fledgling faith. Jaime Jo Wright reminds her readers that God wants to reignite the dying embers of our faith and He will, if we are willing to let him.

I highly recommend reading The House on Foster Hill.

You can purchase The House on Foster Hill from your local or online book retailer in November, 2017. Mark your calendars! This is a book you won't want to miss!

Thank you Bethany House and Net Galley for the free copy of The House on Foster Hill. The opinions expressed are my own.

I really enjoyed this book It was a little more thriller than mystery and while Wright alluded to deep, dark evil, it wasn't with graphic or explicit details. The sense of evil was there yet it wasn't scary enough that I couldn't go to sleep. Now I did wake up in the middle of the night and pick it back up to see what was going to happen next so there was definitely suspense that drew me into the story.

The story shifts between Kaine, a California widow who is running from a stalker that nobody else believes actually exists, and Ivy, her great-great-grandmother who is caught up in the middle of the murder of a mysterious woman back in the 1800's. The book unfolds by shifting between the time lines and Kaine's and Ivy's points-of-view. I thought this structure lended itself very well to the story and the way the separate mysteries intertwined and even built on each other was really interesting. The villain was a complete surprise and masterfully handled

One thing I really enjoyed was the way Wright shed light on the very serious issue of human trafficking. This is not a new plight that women and children have faced in recent decades; it continues to exist and as a society we tend to turn our eyes away from it, as if ignoring it will make it go away.

Walter Lavender Jr. was born five months after his father, co-pilot of a flight to Bombay disappears. The plane is never found, so it is assumed the occupants are dead.
Lucy, Walter's mother, has dreamed of opening a bakery and tries to make a go of things, but sales are not going well until one night, during a storm, Lucy invites a homeless artist in to get warm. In exchange, the woman leaves a special book in the bakery. Suddenly not only is the bakery thriving, but the baked goods seem to be quite lively.
Walter, who has trouble speaking, has grown up hoping his father would someday return or send a sign. When someone steals the book from the shop, Walter skips school to search for it, meeting all sorts of people along the way, and learning about himself in the process.
A beautifully descriptive book!

I really enjoyed this book. The characters from the past, Ivy and Joel, were well drawn and quite interesting. I think perhaps Kaine had just too many bad things coincidently happen that at times seemed a bit far fetched. One stalker might have been enough with perhaps a different variation for the second situation. The only character that never felt real was Mason. I never really felt that I really understood his madness/obsession with protecting the past. It might have helped to flesh him out a bit and make the reader understand why this was so important to him. Protecting secrets shouldn't be enough to totally change a man's moral compass. Something that can lead a man to attempt murder should be huge but concealing crimes from generations past doesn't seem real. I also thought the secondary character, the librarian, might have benefitted from just a bit more explanation.

I am not normally a fan of Christian literature but it worked well here. Gabriella was a beautifully drawn character and I found myself wanting to know more about her history. How did she keep her faith after all she went through. A strong mother, minister, what? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the back and forth in time worked well here. This was a very good and interesting book.

I have read the authors novellas and was excited for this debut novel and it did not disappoint! The dual story line was very intriguing and was written so that it flowed great from chapter to chapter. I was never confused about what time i was in and was always eager to get back to the past or present to continue their story.. The mysteries kept me on my toes right up until solved, I must say that I can usually solve mysteries on my own but this one I did not see coming. I enjoyed being on Ivy and Kaine's journey with them and seeing them learn so much about themselves in the process. OUTSTANDING debut novel from Jaime Jo Wright

I don't know what it is lately but there's been a lot of melodrama masquerading as thriller. This is no exception.

Things that made me (constantly) roll my eyes:

- The main character (Kaine) was hugely annoying. Ivy was alright but Kaine was just so weak and unlikeable. Zero personality. Her past traumas are supposed to make her interesting or a survivor, I guess, but I never felt that. Maybe it was the constant leap back to Ivy who was much more interesting. Or maybe it's because she was clueless, helpless, and careless. I'm inclined to think it was the latter though.
- The constant and completely unnecessary reference to God and faith. It got to the point where it was so prevalent I thought that the story (either of them) was going to end with some divine intervention. In that case, the constant references would have made sense (but I still would have rolled my eyes).
- Kaine's "romantic" subplot. Ivy's was supposed to be stormy, I guess, but I was pretty indifferent to it. But that is far better than my reaction to Kaine's. Weak woman falls for protective male after knowing him about 30 seconds and spends the whole time going back and forth between blushing and talking about how cute he is but no, I can't, my deceased husband but I can't control all these emotions. I would have understood the main character's hesitancy and her attraction despite that but I didn't need to be hit over the head with it. It also would have helped if the dude was at all interesting or had a personality other than do research and put his arm around her in a safe way.
- The inclusion of a character with Down syndrome would have been nice if her only purpose wasn't just to sit there and look cute. Like flesh her out, give her something to do, or a personality or a purpose.

Give anyone in this book a personality or a purpose, really. I felt nothing for anyone, possibly to spite the author who really, really, really wanted me to have faith in God and feel safe with Grant and to feel for Kaine's trauma despite giving me absolutely no reason to do any of those things, no matter how many times she not so subtly implied it.

The strongest part was Ivy and the focus on the past; having to share half the book with the less interesting Kaine and the less interesting (and convoluted) present day plot was kind of a shame.

Those two stars are for you Ivy.