It's 1812 in Massachusetts and the wealthy Montrose family, mother, father and daughters, Catherine, Lydia, and Emmeline have fled Boston pursued by scandal. The son of the house, Charles, has also fled to London. Catherine is the beautiful, volatile eldest daughter, Lydia the mousey, quiet middle daughter and Emmeline the imaginative youngest. Willow Hall is newly constructed and palatial but from the beginning seems unwelcoming, and even threatening to the family. Even worse, it seems to be amplifying certain powers that Lydia has been trying to suppress all her life. When spirits start to manifest, one an ancestor who was hung as a witch during the Witch Trials of the previous century, Lydia begins to understand that she must explore her heritage to save herself and her family.

Lydia is immediately drawn to her father's upright new business partner, John Barrett, and despite his reticence, he appears interested in her as well. She has always considered herself to be much less attractive than her flamboyant sister, Catherine. The fact that her fiance broke off their engagement when the scandal broke has not helped. Catherine is the source of the embarrassment that hounds them but seems to be determined to find a husband and get away as soon as possible. To that end, she will do anything, even undermine Lydia. Their father is distant, their mother is fading away slowly, so it is up to Lydia to raise and educate Emmeline. It will take a series of tragedies to bring some peace to the Montrose family.

The Witch of Willow Hall is a mixture of genres; gothic, ghost, paranormal, mystery, romance, and family history. It begins with an episode in Lydia's childhood that immediately engaged my interest and continues with enough twists and turns to make one's head spin. Hester Fox draws out the revelation of the scandal that caused the Montrose family to uproot themselves masterfully. When it finally is revealed, it is quite a shocker, unless one has been taking in just how destructive Catherine is. I am afraid that I found all the twists annoying after a while and just wanted to get on with it. My interest held, however.

Thanks to Graydon House and NetGalley for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.


RATING- 3 Stars

WoW! I just loved this story. It was very uniquely creative and kept true to the period. It follows Lydia, the middle sister of three, and her family as they are forced to move from Boston to a New Oldbury due to rumors and gossip regarding her and bizarre events surrounding her. As the family settles in Willow Hall, the strange occurrences follow and Lydia comes to realize that there is more to her than what she knows. I do not want to go into the story more as to not spoil it but I will say that this is a "Must Read" for the Autumn/Halloween season. It is full of ghosts, witchcraft, sibling rivalry, love and even death. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I read The Witch Of Willow Hall with eight of our Traveling Sisters and we all agreed that this was the perfect book for this time of year.

The Witch of Willow Hall is just what we were craving. It has all the elements for a great spooky, atmospheric, entertaining and chilling read with just a little bit of creep to add a little shock to the story. There is just the right amount of tragedy and romance with a sprinkle of witchcraft and a dash of the supernatural, making this the perfect gothic historical fiction for us.

We loved the gothic feel here with Willow Hall and were intrigued by the mystery it holds from the past and now the mystery of a scandal that a family is fleeing from. The suspense to the story grabbed us right from the start and increased as tragedy hits and secrets are slowly revealed.

The sisters here in this story are compelling, complicated and one very messy one that we grew to love to hate. They are very different from each with some mystery to their characters making each very intriguing. We loved the dynamics between them.

We highly recommend this fun and entertaining gothic historical fiction to anyone who loves an easy paced story.

Thank you to NetGalley, HARLEQUIN – Graydon House Books and Hester Fox for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Traveling Sister Read Review
https://twosisterslostinacoulee.com/2018/10/20/the-witch-of-willow-hall-by-hester-fox-hesterbfox-travelingsistersread-bookbloggers-harlequinbooks/

The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox is a period piece, a ghost story, a story of witchcraft, a story of family dynamics and tragedy, albeit a little more intense than most, and a romance. A big order for one book and Fox pulls it off nicely. It is essentially the story of the Montrose family: Charles, Catherine, Lydia, and Emeline, and their parents, Martha and Samuel who have been forced to leave Boston, due to a scandal and have settled in New Oldbury where their father is building a mill on the river band with his new partner, John Barrett.

Willow Hall is their new home, huge house with three stories and bedrooms aplenty where the remaining servants, Joe and Ada hold sway. Snip, Emeline's dog quite likes the open spaces in which he is able to run and Lydia is taken with finally having the space for an herb garden. There is a pond on the property where Emeline (who is 8) hopes to discover mermaids. The plot is interesting; the characters are drawn with plenty of detail, both physical and emotional. Lydia has an ex-fiancé she left behind in Boston, not quite broken-heartedly, and Catherine is on the prowl for a beau and a social life. These situations are drawn in exquisite detail.

This was an enjoyable book to read, not believing in either ghosts or witches made it more fun and less frightening. The sounds of the night in both Boston and New Oldbury are drawn so well that a reader feels he/she is there in the dark with Lydia. The interactions of this family are ones anyone with a family will recognize, although their tragedies are far worse than most.

I recommend this book. It was a lovely read for anyone who likes period fiction. The plot was intriguing and the characters interesting, #netgalley #thewitchofwillowhall

First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.

Unfortunately, I DNFed this book at 40%, as it just wasn’t what I expected and way too many things were putting me off.

I was quite intrigued by the historical setting and the hint of darkness and a witch, but that didn’t quite seem to be the main purpose of the tale. The main focus, at least for the first 40%, was on the messed up family relations, and the low self esteem of our main character, Lydia.

The first main issue I had with this was Lydia. She is our witch in the story, but in 40% of the book, this is only vaguely mentioned 3 times, of how she feels a need to release her anger and that just so happens to be magical. The first time was not fully explained, as she releases her anger on a boy and then the boy is seriously injured. The details are brushed over, and we don’t hear much of what happens next or anything. The other two instances are just her anger rising, before she forces herself to calm down because she doesn’t want a repeat of what happened with the boy when she was young. Besides her being good with herbs, this is the only witchy stuff that happens, and nothing about it is actually explained (though I feel this will happen later in the book).

Additionally, the book is also sold as one about a spooky manor, and hidden secrets, and while this did come up within the story, it also felt like a background story in the portion of the novel I read. We have your standard slamming doors, neighbors telling you there’s something off about the house, some ghost sightings, and that’s it. This lack of happening, lack of build-up, kept me from being at all frightened or intrigued by the mystery behind Willow Hall, and didn’t want me to keep reading.

Now, the above two reasons are things that disappointed, but would not have necessarily stopped me from continuing just on their own. Lots of books have boring build-ups, and I’ve gotten through some before to find fantastic endings. However, the reasons below are what pushed me to actually stop.

First, I want to warn other readers by stating there is an animal death early on in this book, and I fear there might be another later. This first death was described in such a way that made me imagine quite a gruesome scene, and I only wish these strong, frightening descriptions were used in moments that would have been better for it.

Secondly, the scandal behind the Montrose family moving is not the sort of scandal I like reading about at all, especially not when the perpetrator of it finds nothing wrong with what was done. While the others, especially the narrator, denounce what was done, it still seems to play a large role in the book, and I didn’t feel like sticking around to see what the inevitable aftermath will be.

Thirdly, the focus of the book is sometimes this awkward sister rivalry between Catherine and Lydia for men. Catherine is the standard gorgeous older sister that has no regard for her sister’s feelings, and enjoys flaunting her beauty to get what she wants. She manipulates Lydia, she takes from Lydia, and Lydia only ever hides away from the confrontation, sometimes being nice to Catherine for no reason. Additionally, Lydia is always comparing herself to her sister, and constantly comments on how plain she is, how no one will ever love her, etc. While I’m not saying narrators with low self esteem are bad, this just isn’t what I expected from this story. I didn’t want to read about two sisters competing for the affections of certain men, or of the narrator constantly being put down and used by her sister.

Additionally, I just didn’t like where the story was going. Spoilers (Emmeline has just died, Lydia just tried to kill herself, and now Mr. Barrett/John is finally kind of admitting that he likes Lydia more than her sister. I just feel like this, on top of the incest + pregnant sister + dead kitten just pushes me away from this book too much).

What I read, in terms of writing and development and such, wasn’t necessarily bad, but there was nothing in the story to keep me reading, to make me want to stick around.

I found The Witch of Willow Hall to be a wonderfully cozy and spooky read. Absolutely perfect for this time of year! I found myself really enjoying reading it during the evenings after work.

Admittedly, I believe this time period is one of my favorites. Not to mention, I loved the setting! Being a fan of books centered around witchcraft, I thought the subtlety was so well done. There wasn’t so much that it was your main focus, but it still played a large role. Also, I found myself really loving the main character. While she may have seemed very timid at times, she was a rather strong female lead who stood her ground even when it would have been frowned upon. Lydia’s love for her family ran very deep even when she did not much care for certain family members. The supporting characters did a wonderful job encouraging the plot and storyline. There were characters that you loved to hate too. Plus, some unsavory topics that I felt were handled very well.

Overall, I would read this book again. I would also love to read another book by this author!

3.5 stars.

Gothic. Mysterious. Haunting. Secretive.

This was a spine-tingling, highly atmospheric story. Willow Hall, the countryside mansion that this novel revolves around, has such an alluring and dominating presence. The house itself, the grounds the house lays on, the woods and the hidden pond. They all held a vital piece of this story and added an extra layer of suspense and intrigue. I loved that!

The characters were so very well done! The author, Hester Fox, does an outstanding job developing each and every character whether they were central to the story or held background roles. There is a supernatural element to this novel which is handled very gently and subtly. I tend to shy away from novels involving strong supernatural aspects. My hesitation is always that the story will feel unrealistic, however, that definitely wasn’t the case with this novel. I truly felt interested and invested in this story throughout.

For me, the intrigue and suspense in the first half of this novel outweighed the second half. While I was still interested and engrossed in the main storyline, I felt that some parts of the second half dragged.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable read that was perfect for the month of October!

This was a Traveling Sister read that we all enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley, HARLEQUIN – Graydon House Books and Hester Fox for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Historic fiction fans, rejoice! Hester Fox has added to your library with "The Witch of Willow Hall," a novel about three sisters with a witch-laden legacy. When the Montrose family is forced to flee a scandal-laced Boston in the 1820s, they find themselves in a rural country home with little to do. The three Montrose girls are as different as can be - Catherine wants to marry, little Emeline wants to explore the woods and nearby pone, and Lydia, well, she just wants to read, dream and live a simple life. Emeline's mysterious death puts everything they've know and dream into a tailspin, forcing them to yield to long-held secrets. Who holds the power in the family? Is it the women's past, or is the spirits of Willow Hall? Fox artfully crafts a tale of history, romance, mystery and devotion in this entertaining novel, a perfect read for Halloween and a chilly night.

3 stars!

The Witch of Willow Hall was a really well-written historical romance debut full of scandal, secrets and drama. While I really liked and enjoyed reading the book, I did not love it. I expected a bit more “witchiness” and a little less romance. I felt it to be a bit to YA for me as well, which is not a preferred genre of mine. I know it’s categorized as a YA novel, but I wanted to give it a shot because I thought it would be a little creepier with some witchcraft tossed in.

I did enjoy the historical aspect a lot and it was a super quick, easy read. I would recommend for anyone who enjoys historical romance with a gothic feel. I look forward to seeing what’s next in store from Ms. Fox!

Traveling Sisters Read 🧡

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin - Graydon House Books and Hester Fox for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox is an exciting New Adult, Historical Fiction debut by a talented storyteller. It’s haunting, has family secrets, strange powers, witchcraft, tragedy, and love, against the backdrop of the 1821 New England witch hunts. An hauntingly addictive tale, with gothic elements and a dash of the supernatural, that will keep readers entranced and turning pages. Very satisfying and enjoyable read. The characters are superb and charming. The plot, mesmerizing and intriguing. Well done, Hester Fox!

“I voluntarily received a complimentary copy, however, these are my honest opinions. I was in no way required nor compensated to write a review.”



Rating: 4. 5

Reviewer: AprilR

My Rating:

3.5

Favorite Quote:

Mother has thrown herself into the occupation of invalid with her characteristic vigor and dedication. She has the whole household on pins and needles.

My Review:

I struggled valiantly with this one to the very end; it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a bad book just, unfortunately, an avalanche of my pet peeves. While the premise was interesting and the storylines were imaginative and well written, the plot unfolded at an extremely slow pace and was cast with largely unlikable and disagreeable characters. This book felt more historical YA than anything else, and there is a reason I don’t often read YA; I tend to become exasperated with the characters, which unfortunately happened here. The parents were indifferent and disinterested in parenting, the older sister was vile, and the main character was naïve and spineless.

The author performed an excellent job of maintaining tension, as most of the characters were uptight, fractious, deceitful, and largely uncommunicative while the storylines were taut with family drama, angst, and conflict. The sense of impending doom was well executed from beginning to end. This wealthy family had fled Boston on the edge of ruin to avoid scandal, although it is well into the book before the actual cause of the scandal was exposed and wow – it was not the usual twist. I was intrigued and curious about the otherworldly issues which were the most creative and entertaining aspects to the tale, but sadly, those story threads occupied but a small portion of the narrative. I was considerably frustrated and circling despair when the last few pages finally allowed me to unclench my jaw with a satisfactory HEA although I still despised most of them… but I tend to hold a grudge.

This was another perfect read for the season. If I’m being completely honest, I ended up enjoying this tremendously more than I had anticipated I would. The Witch of Willow Hall is a gothic, historical novel that enchanted me from the beginning.

There was a lot to enjoy about this book, but my favorite thing was its atmospheric setting. The Witch of Willow Hall reads like a Jane Austen book with some witchcraft and eerie paranormal activity mixed in. The period drama aspects were so charming! The romance that develops between two characters was really cute and I couldn’t get enough of it. The scandal that haunts the Montrose family is juicy enough to belong in a Game of Thrones book. Along with some endearing characters, such as Lydia and Mr. Barrett, we also have some very unlikeable characters, like Catherine and Cyrus. All the characters are well-written and form interesting dynamics important to the story.

Hester Fox does a fantastic job of blending the drama with suspense. Although the story is more of a gothic romance, there are still some spooky encounters and mysterious elements that make this a wonderful read for October. The Witch of Willow Hall is a suspenseful historical novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. I stayed up later than I expected to finish this because I couldn’t put it down!

Sadly I’ve decided to DNF this book - it not because it’s a bad book, I just can’t seem to get into the story and it’s starting to feel like a chore to continue reading. Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book to get you in the mood for Halloween.

Because of a scandal, Lydia, her two sisters, and her parents have to leave their city lives behind and move to the country.

The house is nice, the area is beautiful, but something just isn't right. Lydia starts hearing voices, seeing people that aren't there, and has a feeling of unease.

Maybe there's a reason it was empty for so long before they moved here.

I enjoyed this book. It had the creepy vibe that I look for this time of year.

This is a delicious new novel that combines so many of my favorite gothic plots: a scandalous past, a mysterious house, an emotionally damaged man and a legacy of witchcraft. I enjoyed how it starts out slow and methodical building the suspense of the family dynamic and situation and then it just hits you in the groin with death and a terrible family secret that really packs a punch. The appearance of the ghosts and why they're there kept me up at night. That scene with Emmeline truly creeped me out. The romance worked for me - Mr. Barrett clearly likes her from the time the two characters meet but she can't see it because of her obsession with her sister and comparing herself to her older sister. I like how the big scene is basically "I like you you dummy! Now kiss me!" - the dread at the idea that she might actually marry Cyrus kept me turning pages screaming in my head "No!" My only criticism is that I wanted more about her witchcraft legacy and how she can control it. It seems she finally accepts her legacy and boom the book is done. So I need a sequel please!

The Witch of Willow Hall is a perfectly written gothic tale of witches, dark secrets and history. 
This is the debut novel written by Hester Fox and all I can is, "Wow!" Every first book should be this amazing! I was completely blown away by the history, the suspense and the storyline itself. It was, without a doubt, a great book! 

Lydia Montrose is the middle child and a loving sister. Her family was run out of town after horrible rumors began to swirl around the family. It's 1821, and these types of "rumors" can be a death warrant even 200 years after the Salem Witch Trials. Her family moves to Old Newbury where her father sets up a mill. But things at the house itself are more than a strange. Lydia hears noises and sees ghostly type apparitions. What exactly is going on in their house and with Lydia's family? This slow simmering tale will answer those questions - and more.

One of the first "big girl" books I ever read was "The Witch of Blackbird Pond." It set the stage for my intense love affair with gothic tales, horror and spooky reads. Although, when I re-read Blackbird Pond I chuckle at how tame it is in comparison. The Witch of Willow Hall is not so tame - it has everything a reader could ask for in a great witch story. The characters are very well drawn; the love that Lydia and her sisters have for one another shines throughout the book. There is a touch of romance and a plot full of  well placed twists to keep you on your proverbial toes. The Witch of Willow Hall is the perfect Halloween read - but be sure to leave your light on when you do! 

Thank you #Netgalley, @HesterBFox, and #Harlequin-GraydonHouse for my copy of this perfect gothic tale!

In 1821, the Montrose family flees Boston in the wake of a scandal. They settle in New Oldbury, MA with their three daughters. Their new country home, Willow Hall, seems perfect, but the longer they live there the more dark history seems to seep out of the very walls. Secrets never stay in the shadows indefinitely. One of the Montrose daughters is a witch and doesn't know it yet...but she will have to call on her powers to protect those she loves from the secrets and evil lurking at Willow Hall. The Montrose family will never be the same.

I loved this story! It has touches of creepy gothic darkness, social commentary, a bit of scandal, and even a splash of romance. Definitely a lot of dark, gothic fun in this book! The suspense developed slowly, building as the darkness of the story was revealed. I liked how the truth being revealed was not only about the history of Willow Hall and events there, but also the secrets and scandal that caused the Montrose family to leave Boston.

This book is definitely written for the YA audience, but will be enjoyable for adult readers as well. It's age appropriate for teenage readers.

The Witch of Willow Hall is Hester Fox's debut novel. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for more by this new author! This story had just the right amount of creepy...not too much, not too little. It kept my attention from beginning to end!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Harlequin/Graydon House Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Welcome fellow readers, to 1800's Boston, Massachusetts - two centuries after the Salem Witch Trials. Meet Lydia Montrose - she is the daughter of a wealthy businessman and a prim AF lady of the house. She does not shine quite as bright or as boldly as her elder sister Catherine, and she is not as imaginative and carefree as her younger sister Emeline. As a prominent family in the large city of Boston, we enter our story with the devastation of having to leave their established society due to the rumor mill churning on about Lydia's sister Catherine. They've left Boston in the wake of scandal for what was intended to be a summer home in the quiet countryside town of New Oldsberry to make Willow Hall their home.

Yet at the same time I want to untether my heart, toss it up into the sky and let it take wing. There's a wildness here that, if nothing else, holds promise, possibility.

While Catherine and her mother lament this move, Emeline is too young to care about much except for the prospect of mermaids in a nearby pond. Lydia, having recently had her engagement broken off wants nothing more than to care for her younger sister and avoid any more scandal befalling her family. However, Lydia has past secrets buried deep within her that she must keep bottled up but that Willow Hall seems to want to bring to the surface.

As the family settles into their new home strange happenings seem to follow in Lydia's wake. She hears the deep, painful wails of a woman in mourning, she sees pale-faced little boys roaming the grounds and their tinkling laughter fill the halls. As Lydia continues to ignore these signs, tragedy befalls the Montrose family and these dark secrets about her familial past come bubbling to the surface.

A witch has a third eye that she may use to see the world not as it is, but as it may be. See what you want to see, bend the vision to your will.

In addition to the historical fiction/fantasy that Fox has constructed here, there is a bit of romance thrown in. Based on the synopsis I didn't see this coming and while I haven't been reading a lot of romance recently I'm honestly a sucker for a good love story. I love getting swept up in the excitement that goes along with romance and I'm a bit of a cheese-ball so I loved seeing that pop up here. However, I think that even if you aren't a big romance fan that it wouldn't sway you from enjoying this story. The romance isn't overwhelming or insta-love the way many are these days. It feels genuine and my heart soared and sank as the romance ebbed and flowed and I was absolutely on the edge of my seat to see how it all played out.

"Lydia Montrose," he said, his sea-storm eyes dancing with light, "you are an exquisite little mystery and I have never wanted anything or anyone so badly in my life." I mean - COME ON. *swooning*

What left me wanting a bit more with this one, however, was that it got a bit bogged down on weaving what felt like less necessary plot points. I was left wanting a bit more witchy-ness and development into the history of the Montrose family. The first quarter of this moved fairly slowly for me and it did start to pick up but didn't really get moving to me personally until the second half. While I enjoyed the ending and my overall takeaway was pure enjoyment and entertainment I wish I knew more about what felt like the basis of this novel (witches and history) and little less about the MCs feelings about the scandals that will ultimately be forgotten.

Despite a few misgivings I absolutely adored this novel and I'd suggest it to anyone to pick up and read. It has a little bit of everything in it and I think anyone who loves a good October read would really enjoy this. It was expertly written, well paced and had developed and likable characters throughout.

One of the more misleading publishers' summaries I've encountered. This was billed as gothic, or at least gothic-adjacent (Witches! Creepy old house! Malevolent spirits!). In actuality it's mostly a schlocky, soapy romance about a nice girl with a really nasty sister and a really nasty ex-fiancé.

The sense of atmosphere we expect in gothic novels is completely absent, the spirits barely matter to the story, and even the witchcraft alluded to in the title is mostly secondary and underused.

The writing is fine (which is the only reason this book merited two stars, rather than one), but the book simply doesn't deliver anything close to what it claims to. This may be more the fault of the publisher than the author, but either way, this reader felt duped into reading something she would never have picked up had it been presented honestly.

If you're a fan of romance with a dash of supernatural, you'll probably like this just fine. But if you're looking for what the title and summary suggest the book will be, you'll be highly disappointed.

Unfortunately, this was not the book for me. I was able to make it through about 40% of the book before I had to quit. I did not enjoy Fox's writing style; it felt generic and unfocused. I'm not sure I could tell you what the main plot line was because it seemed like a number of subplots. It may have been more clear had I finished the novel and I understand the purpose of being intentionally vague, but by the time one of the big clues was given (what these "rumors" were that drove the family out of Boston), I was no longer interested in the story. The writing doesn't transport me to the year this novel is set in nor did it engage me and keep me interested.
Besides the writing and the lack of plot, I also had a lot of trouble connecting with and understanding these characters. No one is particularly likable (and I want likable characters in my books!) and though I didn't stick around for any character arcs or growth, I found that when I put the book down, I was not interested in these characters and their lives. Sadly, not finishing was not a big loss for me. Thank you NetGalley and Graydon House Books for the free copy and opportunity to review the novel!