✨"One truly begins living once they no longer hold the opinions of others in high regard."✨

You guys this book was SO GOOD!!! 😍😍 And it was perfect for this Halloween season! If you're looking for a story with Victorian England, haunted mansions, courting and a Gothic romance that will make you swoon, but it will also make you question everything, dark secrets and maybe some out of this world...things? 👁️👄👁️ Well look no further!! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though I had predicted the twist early on, it didn't take from my enjoyment and I literally would swoon with our hero and then his actions would make me wonder what's hiding behind them. And the house... I got the goosebumps! 🙀

If you are looking for a spooky read, this is the book for you! I’m not typically a fan of historical fiction but I did enjoy this book! There is so much more to this story than just being historical fiction though. You get gothic romance, thriller, paranormal/horror. This book is well written and gives just enough clues to keep you guessing.

Wow. This one was predictable about some parts but totally threw you in others. A hint of ghost paranormal, loads of mystery and subterfuge, murder and mayhem abounds. You think you know the worse of a character, just to be shocked there’s more. Secrets can ruin you.

This was a very intriguing Gothic novel. It packs a lot in- murder, mystery, horror, supernatural, LBQTQIA+ and more. But it all works so well together.
The book will throw you through so many loops and make your head spin with all that's packed inside.

Eliza and her sister Lydia inherit an estate that brings them from New Orleans to England. A will stipulates that Eliza, as the oldest, needs to marry within 3 months or they lose the estate. Eliza falls hard and fast for their neighbor, the mysterious and handsome Malcolm.

After a whirlwind marriage, Eliza moved into the crumbling estate next door and she will get a whole lot more than she bargained for! Secrets she mysteries abound as neighbor after neighbor warn Eliza of what she got into.

This book was so good! There are some creepy parts (note to self...don't read late at night when the wind and rain is going outside and making branches scratch against your window) and some parts that can make your stomach turn. I started to suspect a bit of the ending and I needed up being right!

If you're looking for a gothic romantic thriller that's perfect for the spooky season, "Parting the Veil" is what you're looking for.

I devoured this book, I couldn't put it down! It's not my usual type of book, I tend to stay away from thrillers or spooky books in general because I get easily scared, but this one was SO GOOD and the romance intertwined with the thriller parts was the perfect combination.

This book is set in a house full of secrets, that our main character Eliza, is determined to find out, even though everyone keeps warning her to stay away from those secrets and from her husband, Malcolm. I loved Eliza's chartacter and her strength, she was living in a man's world but that didn't stop her from acting the way she wanted, not the way she was supposed to be acting.

The revelations in this book will keep you wanting to read more and more and that's one of the things I absolutely loved about it! The plot twists are amazing, trust me. I literally wanted to scream while reading this book.

Parting The Veil was so captivating, I could not stop reading! The ending is so phenomenally tense and brimming with mind-blowing twists, I felt GLUED to the page. This blend of gothic romance mixed with thriller, with paranormal/horror elements, was just utterly delicious and perfectly written. We get the mystery, the romance of passionate and darkness, the ghosts and the haunting family secrets. It's ALL here and so good It's the kind of book you go, "one more chapter" and then suddenly it's FIVE chapters and you can't stop reading because there's another twist about to hit you and you need !! to know !! more!!

Eliza Sullivan is our narrator and oh! How easy it is to adore her. She's an American heiress, newly moved to the English countryside to claim her late aunt's fortune -- but there's a clause that says she must marry if she wants to keep the estates. I loved that Eliza's intent was to raise horses and being a rich spinster quite happily. Until this clause showed up. She's outrunning some traumas from her past, so she views England as her "fresh start". Until she falls head-over-heels for the mysterious Malcolm Winfield, neighbour of a crumbling nearby gothic estate, who is haunted by dark rumours after the death of his family in a fire.

Eliza is fierce and unapologetic, super honest, and also an absolutely lovely soul. She also has a really close relationship with her half-sister, Lydia (who is biracial Haitian/Irish), and okay but I ADORED Lydia so much too!! She's so pragmatic and sensible and will protect Eliza like nothing else. They also are fiercely loyal to each other, and Eliza makes sure Lydia is respected. Perfect sisters are perfect Also Eliza is queer, and her first love was her harpist teacher, second love was a stable boy, and third love is Malcolm...who is a dark-haired, smouldering, beautiful disaster too. So Eliza has a TYPE and that is: the one everyone said she should not have.
"No, ma chère - we were only outside for a few moments, but he was more charming than I expected - and wickedly attractive in an eccentric sort of way."
Lydia gave her a stern look. "Of course you'd fall for the scandalous one. You read far too many novels."

So with the blurb saying "is Malcolm man or monster" I knew the relationship would not be...as it seemed. And they married so fast and I was so worried for Eliza. I just wanted her to have a nice life.

The second she moves into Havenwood manor the secrets begin to appear. And they are DARK and twisted. And they just keep coming. If you want a book that deftly layers plot twists, generational secrets and traumas, amongst beautiful writing and captivating characters -- this is IT. Malcolm was fascinating to read (IS HE MAN OR MONSTER!!!! it is so hard to tell) and once I hit 50% I guessed one of the twists and ended up shrieking internally. By that point, I couldn't stop reading till I had answers.

So let me just say, the ending will TOSS your brain around and I loved that.

I so enjoyed the writing voice and style! Plus there are spooky scenes, and the tension was captured with chilling precision. Also the whole way through I was thinking this would make a phenomenal movie. (LISTEN UP, NETFLIX.) It's an aesthetic delight: the crumbling mansion and rolling fields, the gorgeous gowns and balls, the lurking midnight horrors. Adored this.

I also truly enjoyed how unapologetically queer the book was. From Eliza to several of the secondary characters (I loved Sarah!! Also the way she and her husband were both queer, just not for each other, so they married to keep people out of their business ) We love to see the historical gays thriving.

Darkly gorgeous, that will ruin you with a riot of emotions, Parting The Veil is every inch the decadent gothic romantic masterpiece it promises to be. Lovely, sinister, shocking and enthralling.

A darkly romantic old school gothic novel with a gasp-inducing twist that's decidedly new school. In this lushly detailed pageturner, Paulette Kennedy piles on all the haunted house tropes you could hope for, and then some. Read this one with your lights on.

I was so grateful for the chance to read an ARC of "Parting the Veil" early. It's enthralling Gothic fiction full of mystery, romance, and a touch of the paranormal, and once I started reading it, I devoured it all in about two days. Kennedy's prose is beautiful and immersive; I could clearly picture the characters and the elaborate settings they inhabited.

Eliza, who moves from America to England to take possession of her deceased aunt's estate, is a delightful heroine, strong-willed and tough but with vulnerability at her core. All of the main characters are vivid, distinct, and well-drawn; I particularly enjoyed Lydia, Eliza's sister, and Sarah, a friend she makes in England. I also loved Malcolm and found myself as baffled by his mercurial moods as poor Eliza was.

And the plot! Every time I thought I had things figured out, I'd read another chapter and realize I was dead wrong. But nothing comes out of left field or feels unrealistic; the hints and clues are all there in the story. I've got a hard copy of the novel on order and can't wait to go back and revisit this wonderful world, and I look forward to reading more of Kennedy's work.

This novel took my breath away with its chilling and immersive atmosphere, realistic characters, and captivating plot. I devoured much of it in one sitting, as I literally could not put it down and had to find out what happened. Havenwood manor and its mercurial Lord made me swoon, scream, gasp, and everything in between.

It's rare that a book pulls off twists that genuinely surprise me but make perfect sense once revealed, and this book did just that. The hints and clues deftly woven into the story beg you to keep reading, but don't spoil the eventual reveals, which in themselves are handled wonderfully and draw to a satisfying conclusion.

This story has stayed with me long since the last page, and is a must-read for fans of historical gothic works, especially Jane Eyre and Crimson Peak.

Beautiful prose & a haunting, well-paced story left me on the edge of my seat! Kennedy weaves a spell-binding tale full of vivid scenes, well-researched historical details, and chilling encounters. The plot kept me guessing and wrapped up nicely in a satisfying conclusion. I will definitely be recommending this book to friends and family.

Parting the Veil is a compelling feast of brilliant storytelling, lush prose, irresistible characters, and a haunted countryside manor painted in atmospheric detail.

As a reader who loves all those things, I can’t dive in quick enough. But it's not just that. Paulette hits on places and themes that touch me in a personal way - the references to New Orleans, my beloved hometown. To Scotland, a place I hold dear. To the internal conflicts I can relate to. So when grieving Eliza takes me on a soul-baring journey to claim a new life across the pond, she seizes my heart and never lets go. We truck through love and loss, through deceit and forgiveness, through unimaginable twists and breathless turns. She's not just haunted by her past, she's haunted by a monster. She's got me on the edge of my seat, thrilled for every minute experienced with this damn fine book.

I stayed up much, much too late to finish the ARC I received of PARTING THE VEIL, and I have no regrets. This feminist and queer gothic romantic thriller was a fantastic read. It has beautiful prose and an atmosphere that I really sunk my teeth into—it’s the kind of writing that feeds you.

As the mysteries of Lord Havenwood and Havenwood Manor unfolded, there were lots of discernible clues for the reader, and yet the twists were expertly built to a very satisfying conclusion—one I’d guessed, another I hadn’t, but no less enjoyed. I had so much fun digging into each scene trying to figure out if my theories were correct.

And because I’m a romance writer and reader I would be remiss not to point out how much I loved the romantic elements. I’m still thinking about Malcolm’s letter to Eliza. Short, sweet, but packing heat (fans self).

Fellow romance lovers, please note that the steamy scenes (and there were a lot of them) were fade-to-black. I would have LOVED open door scenes, but then again I’m the type of reader who doesn’t think you can have too much spice ;) While romance isn’t the central plot, especially in the second half of the book when the mystery and thriller elements come to the forefront, it is the backbone, as another reviewer pointed out. Still, the story ends happily and hopeful and I absolutely adored it.

I was told this book would be a treat and a dark delight and it thoroughly was! This was a fabulous debut, and I cannot wait to read more by Paulette Kennedy.

Thank you Paulette & Lake Union Publishing for the ARC!

CW:
Please note and read with care.

This novel includes subject matter such as domestic abuse, addiction, suicidal ideation, pregnancy/child loss, murder, mental illness, implied incest and sexual abuse, as well as racism and misogyny that is reflective of the time period.

I read this book in one sitting – and I was completely enthralled.

Paulette’s grasp on prose, character and atmosphere was what made this book for me, giving me strong Daphne du Maurier vibes. She has a knack for picking verbs that both carries the atmosphere of a scene (“furred with hoarfrost”, “the passageway snarled”, “tucked into her eggs”, “walls crawled around the edges of her eyes”), while also providing you with a subtle understanding of her characters without shoving it in your face. Rather, she demands that you pay attention to the details and wait around for them to be explained. Which you’ll happily do. In fact, the mystery of the book is built up around the characters, as is the custom of the gothic genre, and Paulette has created delightfully intricate characters that reveal themselves to the reader at just the perfect pace to keep you hungry for more, yet satisfied with your current scraps.

To continue with the mystery of the book, I was left with definite clues that kept me guessing throughout the book, yet the plot twists were so well-crafted that I could never quite pinpoint the how and the why – even if I could pinpoint the what. I particularly loved how Paulette used twists as diversion tactics, planting an obvious twist for me to focus on so I’d miss the subtler twist hiding behind it. I had complete faith that the many twists would make sense at the end of the book, like a perfect crescendo, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Then there’s the romance. While the romance isn’t always at the center of the plot, it remains the emotional backbone of the story as a whole. Like I mentioned earlier, the mystery of the book is built up around the characters, like all good gothic novels, so it’s no surprise that romantic angst is prominent throughout most of the book while the romance itself takes a backseat at times. More so than many other gothic novels I’ve read, in fact. I was far more interested in seeing the protagonist’s marriage fall apart than I was in seeing it come to life. Romance readers should take note that the sex scenes were fade-to-black (or artfully implied in-scene), so if you’re looking for a romance with high heat levels, you might be disappointed.

Lastly, there’s the research. So much research has gone into this book and it absolutely shines, adding enough plausibility to the setting that I felt transported to the world and the time within the first few pages alone. And, yes, I had to look up plenty of objects and fashions, which tells me the research is solid. The same goes for the feminist and LGBTQIA elements, which all felt plausible for the time and place. They ended on happier notes, no less, adding a hopefulness to the book that was a nice breather from the heavier themes of assault, violence, self-harm and suicidal ideation befitting of the genre.

If you enjoyed Jane Eyre, Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, Mexican Gothic, and Crimson Peak, then this book is for you.