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Tradd Street #3
The Strangers on Montagu Street
Psychic realtor Melanie Middleton returns-only to be greeted by a house full of lost souls.
Psychic realtor Melanie Middleton is still restoring her Charleston house and doesn't expect to have a new houseguest, a teen girl named Nola. But the girl didn't come alone, and the spirits that accompanied Nola don't seem willing to leave...
Psychic realtor Melanie Middleton is still restoring her Charleston house and doesn't expect to have a new houseguest, a teen girl named Nola. But the girl didn't come alone, and the spirits that accompanied Nola don't seem willing to leave...
339 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2011
930 people are currently reading
7452 people want to read
About the author
Karen White
42 books7,581 followersWith more than 2 million books in print in fifteen different languages, Karen White is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 34 novels, including the popular Charleston-set Tradd Street mystery series.
Raised in a house full of brothers, Karen’s love of books and strong female characters first began in the third grade when the local librarian issued her a library card and placed The Secret of the Old Clock, a Nancy Drew Mystery, in her hands.
Karen’s roots run deep in the South where many of her novels are set. Her intricate plot lines and compelling characters charm and captivate readers with just the right mix of family drama, mystery, intrigue and romance.
Not entirely convinced she wanted to be a writer, Karen first pursued a career in business and graduated cum laude with a BS in Management from Tulane University. Ten years later, in a weak moment, she wrote her first book. In the Shadow of the Moon was published in August, 2000. Her books—referred to as “grit lit” (Southern Women’s Fiction)—have since been nominated for numerous national contests including the SIBA (Southeastern Booksellers Alliance) Fiction Book of the Year.
Karen’s next book, THAT LAST CAROLINA SUMMER, will be published by Park Row Books in July, 2025.
When not writing, Karen spends her time reading, scrapbooking, playing piano, and avoiding cooking. Karen and her husband have two grown children and currently live near Atlanta, Georgia with two spoiled Havanese dogs.
- See more at: http://www.karen-white.com/bio.cfm#st...
Raised in a house full of brothers, Karen’s love of books and strong female characters first began in the third grade when the local librarian issued her a library card and placed The Secret of the Old Clock, a Nancy Drew Mystery, in her hands.
Karen’s roots run deep in the South where many of her novels are set. Her intricate plot lines and compelling characters charm and captivate readers with just the right mix of family drama, mystery, intrigue and romance.
Not entirely convinced she wanted to be a writer, Karen first pursued a career in business and graduated cum laude with a BS in Management from Tulane University. Ten years later, in a weak moment, she wrote her first book. In the Shadow of the Moon was published in August, 2000. Her books—referred to as “grit lit” (Southern Women’s Fiction)—have since been nominated for numerous national contests including the SIBA (Southeastern Booksellers Alliance) Fiction Book of the Year.
Karen’s next book, THAT LAST CAROLINA SUMMER, will be published by Park Row Books in July, 2025.
When not writing, Karen spends her time reading, scrapbooking, playing piano, and avoiding cooking. Karen and her husband have two grown children and currently live near Atlanta, Georgia with two spoiled Havanese dogs.
- See more at: http://www.karen-white.com/bio.cfm#st...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,068 reviews
March 31, 2020
My favourite literature is such an uncommon niche, I feel protective of it. There are millions of mysteries about detectives, murders, and teenaged protagonists. Karen White gifts us with non-crime or spirit-driven mysteries and a forty year-old civilian heroine. If characters are silly about realizing romantic feelings, I overlook it because the thrill of these gold strikes are not about that. I am so elated to read standard adult mysteries, which take spirits seriously, that I buy these in hardcover; waiting two years apiece for the right condition and price.
I delayed reviewing this hardcover for months, which I read in August. It happened that my previous mystery also featured a dollhouse that generated misgivings, except that the Montagu Street one is indeed haunted. Publishing sequence is a must. We are rewarded with character development and a lot goes on in this story, for the whole cast. I liked the first two Tradd Street novels better, with the more thrilling impact of house hauntings, discovering hidden rooms, artifacts, and identities. We know who the dollhouse spirits are and Melanie and Jack arrange for Nola, his daughter, to study with an instructor who taught Melanie’s Mother: opera sensation Ginnette Prioleau. Their need to learn everything they can about the dollhouse is in the open soon.
“The Strangers On Montagu Street”, 2011, receives five stars and is a fantastic book nevertheless, because it resolves threads that had languished. Nola’s song-writing Mom, Bonnie, adds poignancy; whose death pushed Nola to meet her Dad. Melanie’s relationship with her parents has blossomed. Emotions rise, with Ginnette fearing for her child, Melanie. I pity anyone who closed this sensitive novel, in the years it took for the next sequel to be finished. I praise “Tradd Street” as my favourite series and savour each of its books!
I delayed reviewing this hardcover for months, which I read in August. It happened that my previous mystery also featured a dollhouse that generated misgivings, except that the Montagu Street one is indeed haunted. Publishing sequence is a must. We are rewarded with character development and a lot goes on in this story, for the whole cast. I liked the first two Tradd Street novels better, with the more thrilling impact of house hauntings, discovering hidden rooms, artifacts, and identities. We know who the dollhouse spirits are and Melanie and Jack arrange for Nola, his daughter, to study with an instructor who taught Melanie’s Mother: opera sensation Ginnette Prioleau. Their need to learn everything they can about the dollhouse is in the open soon.
“The Strangers On Montagu Street”, 2011, receives five stars and is a fantastic book nevertheless, because it resolves threads that had languished. Nola’s song-writing Mom, Bonnie, adds poignancy; whose death pushed Nola to meet her Dad. Melanie’s relationship with her parents has blossomed. Emotions rise, with Ginnette fearing for her child, Melanie. I pity anyone who closed this sensitive novel, in the years it took for the next sequel to be finished. I praise “Tradd Street” as my favourite series and savour each of its books!
June 19, 2016
The Strangers on Montagu Street by Karen White is a 2011 NAL publication.
It’s hard to believe I had never read anything by this author until recently, when I checked out “The House on Tradd Street” from the library. I was instantly hooked, and have fallen in love with all the characters, paranormal mysteries, and romance in Charleston.
In this third chapter of the four- part series, Jack learns he is the father a thirteen- year old daughter whose mother just died, making him a single parent. But, it is not Rebecca he turns to when he needs help with Nola, but Melanie, who welcomes Nola into her home with open arms.
It becomes clear almost immediately that Nola didn’t show up alone. It would seem the ghost of her mother, Bonnie, has also arrived to watch over her daughter, which is only the beginning of Nola’s paranormal adventures.
In the meantime, Sophie is planning a wedding and things heat up between Melanie and Jack, finally!
While all the mysteries so far have been suspenseful, this one is the most sinister so far. It is also pretty emotional, especially in the last few chapters when Melanie and Jack have another huge personal crisis. But, the humor was strategically placed to keep things from becoming too tense, and Nola is a very welcome addition to the cast.
I am excited to see how things will finally turn out for my favorite OCD real estate agent and her leading man, Jack.
4 stars
It’s hard to believe I had never read anything by this author until recently, when I checked out “The House on Tradd Street” from the library. I was instantly hooked, and have fallen in love with all the characters, paranormal mysteries, and romance in Charleston.
In this third chapter of the four- part series, Jack learns he is the father a thirteen- year old daughter whose mother just died, making him a single parent. But, it is not Rebecca he turns to when he needs help with Nola, but Melanie, who welcomes Nola into her home with open arms.
It becomes clear almost immediately that Nola didn’t show up alone. It would seem the ghost of her mother, Bonnie, has also arrived to watch over her daughter, which is only the beginning of Nola’s paranormal adventures.
In the meantime, Sophie is planning a wedding and things heat up between Melanie and Jack, finally!
While all the mysteries so far have been suspenseful, this one is the most sinister so far. It is also pretty emotional, especially in the last few chapters when Melanie and Jack have another huge personal crisis. But, the humor was strategically placed to keep things from becoming too tense, and Nola is a very welcome addition to the cast.
I am excited to see how things will finally turn out for my favorite OCD real estate agent and her leading man, Jack.
4 stars
March 7, 2020
The further I get into this series, the more I enjoy it. Loved the haunted dollhouse!! Ending was definitely a cliffhanger, so I'll be picking up the next one very soon.
February 22, 2012
So the ghost story part was great and I even liked the addition of Nola the teenage daughter Jack never knew about. My problem is the handling of Mellie and Jack's relationship. Why can't they just sit down and talk it out like adults? It seems every time they start to talk something interrupts them just so it can drag out some more. I think that we could still be solving a different ghost story each time without all this relationship torture to add to suspense.
January 17, 2012
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE This book. Who am I kidding, I LOVE this series. I haven't read any other books by Karen White but I'm totally enamored with the characters from these series of books. I've always loved Jack. I mean who wouldn't with his charm and good looks. Melanie is a little OCD and she just reminds me of me sometimes with all her little quirks. Her emotional baggage isn't overbearing in any of the books but it enhances the story and I love it. I love Ginnette and Melanie's Father as well as Sophie and Chad and Mr. & Mrs. Trenholm. Nola is just a doll as are the other supporting characters in this story. It was a well written book and I wouldn't hesitate to rave about it to anybody who would listen. Though I think this book could be read out of series I highly recommend reading The House on Tradd Street and The Girl on Legare Street first. The stories are just wonderful and there are some instances in The Strangers on Montagu Street that allude to certain events in the previous two books. GREAT Reads.... when does the next book come out so we can read about what happens with Jack and Melanie?!!
December 16, 2011
Melanie is too hate-able for me to care what happens to her through the book. The drama is put on herself because she's a prudish control freak in denial of everything unpleasant- so there's no "why should I care" when reading it. Nola and Jack are the saving graces as well as the developing mystery. The end deflates like a bad balloon though; the mystery is anti climatic and requires the cop-out of a ghost calling and explaining the details. (Something I'd only expect to see in a bad TV series, and certainly beneath Karen White's writing skill.) The mystery can be solved halfway through the book, yet it's dragged out through the poor excuse of Melanie refusing to think (referring back to the denial of everything unpleasant). The wedding that was being planned through the entire book barely gets started on the remaining pages. (A cliffhanger? Perhaps.) When Melanie starts coming to face her emotions and begins to show what real women in their 40's are like, a medical excuse is given. So when I thought that -finally- some character change was going on and the annoying character was behaving for a purpose, it was thrown off as a temporary and excusable thing. As a last note, the readers are only told of what happens to the haunted dollhouse, so all the build up for it being evil is dismissed as if it was nothing special to the plot. Two Star rating was because the writing skill was there and for the development of Nola and Jack.
January 22, 2022
.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable series.
Each book escorts the reader through another time zone in the life of those characters you have come to know and love.
This is a clean read with a H.E.A.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable series.
Each book escorts the reader through another time zone in the life of those characters you have come to know and love.
This is a clean read with a H.E.A.
May 8, 2016
I'll go with 4 stars even though I can't say I "really" liked this. But I did "really" like some of it starting with the haunted dollhouse. That was creatively thought out and I was pulled into the drama that was created with that. I also liked the addition of Nola, a young teen who turns out to be Jack's daughter. Melanie's mother was also still around in this installment. She was kind of fun. So, this book was a quick and easy read that was enjoyable. I liked the humor that was added to this as well.
The thing that still continues to irk me, is the romance between Jack and Melanie. It isn't working for me because Melanie (even though I like her character) has no control over her life. She is repeatedly acted upon and takes no control over any situation. She is like an abused puppy banished to the corner waiting for scraps to be thrown its way and grateful for any crumb. This doesn't bother me so much in the other aspects of her fictional life, but it doesn't work in an adult relationship. She's 40 but acts like she is 12.
The thing that still continues to irk me, is the romance between Jack and Melanie. It isn't working for me because Melanie (even though I like her character) has no control over her life. She is repeatedly acted upon and takes no control over any situation. She is like an abused puppy banished to the corner waiting for scraps to be thrown its way and grateful for any crumb. This doesn't bother me so much in the other aspects of her fictional life, but it doesn't work in an adult relationship. She's 40 but acts like she is 12.
November 9, 2011
I love Karen White... especially this series!!! Fun, easy reads that just make you feel good... love the characters and all the southern charm of Charleston!!!
November 1, 2017
Not as good as the first two. I am getting tired of whiny Mellie. She is 40 years old! Grow up already.
November 9, 2019
I could eat this series up with a spoon! I just love it so much, and Karen White serves up just the right amount of paranormal, romance, and southern charm.
December 21, 2011
Such as fun southern series, ghosts and Victorian mansions in Charleston, secrets and mysteries to be solved. Great characters with extremely interesting relationships and the visits from the dead provide an out worldly atmosphere.
June 19, 2016
Read in 2014, but I listened this time. The audio was excellent I highly recommend it.
Story - Character's lives 5, Mystery 4, narration 5
I loved this one, the personal part of the series really went up a notch. Jack having a 13 year old daughter he had no knowledge of, seeing how Mellie stepped up and Jack found his way was great. I think my favorite character not named Jack/Mellie is Nola. She is excellent, she'd have been the cool kid in school but with a giving heart. The mystery this time wasn't quite as good as the prior two novels, I'm thinking what was lacking was the danger factor. I think you really felt the menace of evil in the prior two novels. This one you knew the "ghost" was pissed but it wasn't quite as personal as the first two novels. I just loved this cast of characters, Mellie's phobias are so over the top, but she keeps trudging along. I know they'll get on my nerves at some point, but I'm not there yet.
Great series, but I think the narration makes this series a 5. I feel like I'm listening to a movie that's playing in the other room. It's a pleasure to listen to this performance.
Story - Character's lives 5, Mystery 4, narration 5
I loved this one, the personal part of the series really went up a notch. Jack having a 13 year old daughter he had no knowledge of, seeing how Mellie stepped up and Jack found his way was great. I think my favorite character not named Jack/Mellie is Nola. She is excellent, she'd have been the cool kid in school but with a giving heart. The mystery this time wasn't quite as good as the prior two novels, I'm thinking what was lacking was the danger factor. I think you really felt the menace of evil in the prior two novels. This one you knew the "ghost" was pissed but it wasn't quite as personal as the first two novels. I just loved this cast of characters, Mellie's phobias are so over the top, but she keeps trudging along. I know they'll get on my nerves at some point, but I'm not there yet.
Great series, but I think the narration makes this series a 5. I feel like I'm listening to a movie that's playing in the other room. It's a pleasure to listen to this performance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2011
I have been anxiously awaiting the latest story about Melanie and Jack and I was certainly not disappointed in this one! At the end of the last story we left as Jack was introduced to his daughter Nola. In Strangers, Nola ends up staying with Melanie and of course, trouble with the not so recently departed make things interesting. In addition, things begin to progress between Melanie and Jack's relationship...however trust issues threaten their budding romance. The only fault that I can find with this story is that leaves on a really BIG cliffhanger and now I have to wait 2 WHOLE YEARS to see how things end up! Arrrggghhh! At least I will have other Karen White stories to look forward to until then!
February 12, 2018
I really like these characters, the sense of humor and the spooky goings-on. This was another goodie!
January 23, 2024
This is my third visit to the Tradd Street series written by Karen White. Beginning with The House on Tradd Street (#1) and continuing with The Girl on Legare Street (#2), The Strangers on Montagu Street (#3) picks up with the same set of characters and moves us along with their lives and complex relationships.
Melanie Trenholm is a successful realtor in Charleston, South Carolina and continues to work on restoring her historic home. Love interest Jack is still on the scene but he's shocked early on to discover he has a daughter he didn't know about. Oh, and Melanie is also psychic but she keeps it on the down low.
Not sure why it is that I enjoy this series so much, is it the frequent mention of architecture, restoration and antiques? Melanie's ability to see/sense ghosts or the tension brewing between Melanie and Jack? I don't usually enjoy the romance elements of a plot but here it works. The Southern location and sultry heat along with unearthing family secrets containing betrayal and loss kept the pages turning with enthusiasm. And there's even a haunted dollhouse, need I say more?
With so much time elapsing since reading the first two books in 2011 and 2015 respectively and with the third in 2024, I'm surprised I was able to immediately dive straight back into the series with such ease and relish. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that while I was off reading other things, the author continued on with the series, ultimately choosing to end it with book #7 in 2021.
It's rare for me to be able to read a series right through to its conclusion - either losing interest, prioritising elsewhere or abandoning the task due to diminishing reading returns - but I'm excited to give it a try this time, and now have the following books to look forward to.
The remaining books in the series are:
Return to Tradd Street (#4)
The Guests on South Battery (#5)
The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street (#6)
The Attic on Queen Street (#7)
Melanie Trenholm is a successful realtor in Charleston, South Carolina and continues to work on restoring her historic home. Love interest Jack is still on the scene but he's shocked early on to discover he has a daughter he didn't know about. Oh, and Melanie is also psychic but she keeps it on the down low.
Not sure why it is that I enjoy this series so much, is it the frequent mention of architecture, restoration and antiques? Melanie's ability to see/sense ghosts or the tension brewing between Melanie and Jack? I don't usually enjoy the romance elements of a plot but here it works. The Southern location and sultry heat along with unearthing family secrets containing betrayal and loss kept the pages turning with enthusiasm. And there's even a haunted dollhouse, need I say more?
With so much time elapsing since reading the first two books in 2011 and 2015 respectively and with the third in 2024, I'm surprised I was able to immediately dive straight back into the series with such ease and relish. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that while I was off reading other things, the author continued on with the series, ultimately choosing to end it with book #7 in 2021.
It's rare for me to be able to read a series right through to its conclusion - either losing interest, prioritising elsewhere or abandoning the task due to diminishing reading returns - but I'm excited to give it a try this time, and now have the following books to look forward to.
The remaining books in the series are:
Return to Tradd Street (#4)
The Guests on South Battery (#5)
The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street (#6)
The Attic on Queen Street (#7)
November 2, 2021
This series is a bit dated but it is enjoyable to read a mystery ghost story. It's easy on the brain as it's a bit predictable, and maddening in the sense that you really just want Mellie and Jack to get together.
This book in particular ends on such a giant cliffhanger that I'm glad I started the series when many of the books are already published and I can move right along to the next in the series.
This book in particular ends on such a giant cliffhanger that I'm glad I started the series when many of the books are already published and I can move right along to the next in the series.
October 11, 2020
I love Karen White and I love this spooky series. I have to agree with some other reviews here that
February 1, 2023
It worked pretty well for me!
I loved spending time with these characters, I liked following them as they went on with their lives and problems even though I recognize some of the issues found throughout the novel were depicted in a less than good way.
I'm eager to read the rest of the series!
I loved spending time with these characters, I liked following them as they went on with their lives and problems even though I recognize some of the issues found throughout the novel were depicted in a less than good way.
I'm eager to read the rest of the series!
December 18, 2016
Even factoring in that Tradd Street is Karen White's "trashy" series, it doesn't excuse the overwhelming want of an editor.
The inconsistencies alone (even within just the first book) could take up several pages, but it's not even the most appalling aspect of the books.
Don't get me wrong, her supernatural mysteries are compelling--but they are incredibly easy to pick apart and solve, several chapters before the supposed quick-witted Jack and Mellie put two and two together. Not only are they obtuse in their relationships but also painfully so in solving rather obvious puzzles.
By the third book, Jack's elusive remarks to Mellie regarding their relationship no longer feel enticing or like a slow-burning sizzle, it just feels emotionally abusive. By this point, it is very well established that Mellie needs things spelled out, painfully so. Jack knows this and continues to fuck around with cryptic comments like "we're not done" and leaving her in the dark about his relationship with Rebecca. It's childish--and if this behavior is suppose to help Mellie, the admittedly emotionally-stunted, own up to her feelings and take a chance on him, he's woefully mistaken. He's hardly fostered trust or a sense of safety in their relationship by jerking her around and not modeling good relationship behavior. Mellie is justifiably damaged when it comes to trusting those close to her, and instead of truly understanding that and reassuring her of his commitment, he lies, withholds, and condemns.
Additionally, regarding the end of the book, it's a cheap tactic to create a cliff-hanger. It simply is done to drag out the already painfully long process of these two getting together. If she was willing to say "I love you, I always will, but I can't marry you," I think she's more than capable of saying, "as previously discussed, I'm worried you only want to marry me out of sense of duty. I said 'I love you' and you said, 'I'm sorry.' I can only marry someone who loves me as I love them.'" To which he'd obviously say, "you idiot, I've been in love with you for two years. Let's get hitched." Karen White's dialogue requires too much suspension of reality that's it's physically painful.
And can we talk about proportionality here? The weight of Mellie *finally* owning her feelings and communicating them to Jack far outweighs the withholding of the fact that Marc Longo stole his book idea--which, honestly, they have to be two of the stupidest people not to have suspected that since Marc first mentioned his book, in the second Tradd Street novel. They have only themselves to blame. And coming from a guy who lied to Mellie and misrepresented himself for most of the first book, it's beyond hypocritical for him to get all high and mighty about her poor call in judgment and timing.
Finally, please, PLEASE stop writing about the plumber's fucking butt crack. We get it. He's a stereotypical cartoon plumber whose pants are too low and whose butt is too large.
The inconsistencies alone (even within just the first book) could take up several pages, but it's not even the most appalling aspect of the books.
Don't get me wrong, her supernatural mysteries are compelling--but they are incredibly easy to pick apart and solve, several chapters before the supposed quick-witted Jack and Mellie put two and two together. Not only are they obtuse in their relationships but also painfully so in solving rather obvious puzzles.
By the third book, Jack's elusive remarks to Mellie regarding their relationship no longer feel enticing or like a slow-burning sizzle, it just feels emotionally abusive. By this point, it is very well established that Mellie needs things spelled out, painfully so. Jack knows this and continues to fuck around with cryptic comments like "we're not done" and leaving her in the dark about his relationship with Rebecca. It's childish--and if this behavior is suppose to help Mellie, the admittedly emotionally-stunted, own up to her feelings and take a chance on him, he's woefully mistaken. He's hardly fostered trust or a sense of safety in their relationship by jerking her around and not modeling good relationship behavior. Mellie is justifiably damaged when it comes to trusting those close to her, and instead of truly understanding that and reassuring her of his commitment, he lies, withholds, and condemns.
Additionally, regarding the end of the book, it's a cheap tactic to create a cliff-hanger. It simply is done to drag out the already painfully long process of these two getting together. If she was willing to say "I love you, I always will, but I can't marry you," I think she's more than capable of saying, "as previously discussed, I'm worried you only want to marry me out of sense of duty. I said 'I love you' and you said, 'I'm sorry.' I can only marry someone who loves me as I love them.'" To which he'd obviously say, "you idiot, I've been in love with you for two years. Let's get hitched." Karen White's dialogue requires too much suspension of reality that's it's physically painful.
And can we talk about proportionality here? The weight of Mellie *finally* owning her feelings and communicating them to Jack far outweighs the withholding of the fact that Marc Longo stole his book idea--which, honestly, they have to be two of the stupidest people not to have suspected that since Marc first mentioned his book, in the second Tradd Street novel. They have only themselves to blame. And coming from a guy who lied to Mellie and misrepresented himself for most of the first book, it's beyond hypocritical for him to get all high and mighty about her poor call in judgment and timing.
Finally, please, PLEASE stop writing about the plumber's fucking butt crack. We get it. He's a stereotypical cartoon plumber whose pants are too low and whose butt is too large.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2014
Jack's daughter has just arrived and is not getting along with her newly found dad. Enter Mellie, who agrees to let Nola move in with her. Well, technically her mother, since the house on Tradd street is being renovated. In celebration of Nola moving in her paternal grandmother gives her a dollhouse, which turns out to be haunted. Mellie deals with the malevolent spirits attached to the house as well as the benign one following Nola about. Everything seems to be going well until well, suddenly things aren't.
It took too long to get to the heart of the mystery, which was easily guessed at but took the people in the book a looonnnnngggg time to figure out. I am also fed up with Jack and Mellie's on again off again relationship.
It took too long to get to the heart of the mystery, which was easily guessed at but took the people in the book a looonnnnngggg time to figure out. I am also fed up with Jack and Mellie's on again off again relationship.
February 20, 2013
Melanie must be the stupidest heroine out there.
July 2, 2020
Wow! There's a lot that happens in this novel. A daughter. A wedding. A baby. And of course ghosts that come with a mystery. I love the prose of White's descriptions, especially of the houses. You can tell she has a real passion for the old houses. I think Melanie definitely did some growing in this one and all I can say is it's about time! She was long over-due for a bit of an overhaul! This one really kept you hanging so I'm going to have to dive into the next one real quick!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2018
I am so smitten with this cast of eclectic characters and the setting of Charleston. Melanie's character has continued to grow with each installment. I was a little apprehensive about Nola, but she turned into a fabulous secondary character. Like the last book, the ending left me reaching for #4 right away.
If you like cozies, this is a series I'd definitely recommend!
If you like cozies, this is a series I'd definitely recommend!
February 14, 2022
I am liking this series more and more. This time Jack's 13 year old daughter (that he never knew about) shows up at his doorstep. There is a ghsot story of course and Sophie is getting married. Jack and Melanie's relationships develops more but still at an annoyingly slow pace.
October 30, 2018
Another good book from this series!
May 30, 2018
But why does Melanie have to be so irritating?? Ugh... I could really get into this series otherwise. I've been through this before. This series has so much to offer and could be amazing were it not for its ridiculous, exaggerated, conceited, condescending protagonist...
Should I list the reasons why I find Melanie to be a blatantly horrible protagonist? Might as well. In no particular order, here is my "Melanie Middleton, you're completely ridiculous, and not in a good way" list:
1. Your overly exaggerated obsessive compulsive tendencies... I'm talking spreadsheets for your spreadsheets and penciling in your bathroom breaks on your own work calendar. Making a list of your own lists. Spending Saturday labeling the inside of your sock drawer. Never wavering from your schedule, never doing anything not on your calendar. Is this supposed to be cute? Because it's WAY TOO MUCH! I'm literally going insane thinking about it and can't even comprehend how you gained any friends when you are so straight-laced and stick-up-your-rear organized. And after three books of this and you haven't loosened up even a little tiny bit? Blahhh.
2. Your snide internal dialogue that is overly critical about everyone and everything. Your house, your childhood, your mom, your dad, Jack... You are constantly in a state of denial about so many things... Why do you still have to lie to yourself about enjoying renovating your house? Why do you still have to constantly put down your parents for being romantic with each other? What are you, 10 years old? Oh, wait... you're 40! **exaggerated eye roll** SMH.
3. Speaking of Jack... MELANIE MIDDLETON, YOU BLIND IDIOT!!! He is clearly in love with you. For the love of all things good in this world, stop leading him on!!!! Stop criticizing him and then wondering why he's mad when you do. Stop lying to yourself and acting like you aren't attracted to him when you clearly love him too. For heaven's sake... do you really have to ask why your heart beats faster and your knees are weak when you're around him? (Gag me) Do you even live on planet earth?! Do you even understand your own sexuality? You're. Forty. Years. Old. I can't even. Ugh!
4. And speaking of Jack...
5. Oh yeah, and speaking of Jack...
6. And um... speaking of Jack... Okay... this one is totally on Jack. Not cool, man.
7. (OMG I know) Speaking of Jack again...
(In case you haven't noticed, this book was just Melanie-and-Jack drama wrapped in a ghost story, topped with a long-lost child and sprinkled with a few fancy, rich, southern people.)
And a side note: I am not buying this high metabolism crap. A bag of chocolate donuts and a cappuccino with extra whip every morning? I don't care who you are... you would not still be pin skinny if you ate like that every single day. Unless maybe you were a vampire or a mutant or something. No way. Too much.
Okay, maybe I'm a little salty. But I just read my third book of this series and Melanie hasn't changed even a little bit for the better. And I can't handle watching her continue to do the same old nonsense over and over anymore, I don't care how exciting the ghost aspect of the story is. I can't handle it anymore. Melanie Middleton, you brought my stress level from zero to a hundred in only 300 pages... congratulations!
Should I list the reasons why I find Melanie to be a blatantly horrible protagonist? Might as well. In no particular order, here is my "Melanie Middleton, you're completely ridiculous, and not in a good way" list:
1. Your overly exaggerated obsessive compulsive tendencies... I'm talking spreadsheets for your spreadsheets and penciling in your bathroom breaks on your own work calendar. Making a list of your own lists. Spending Saturday labeling the inside of your sock drawer. Never wavering from your schedule, never doing anything not on your calendar. Is this supposed to be cute? Because it's WAY TOO MUCH! I'm literally going insane thinking about it and can't even comprehend how you gained any friends when you are so straight-laced and stick-up-your-rear organized. And after three books of this and you haven't loosened up even a little tiny bit? Blahhh.
2. Your snide internal dialogue that is overly critical about everyone and everything. Your house, your childhood, your mom, your dad, Jack... You are constantly in a state of denial about so many things... Why do you still have to lie to yourself about enjoying renovating your house? Why do you still have to constantly put down your parents for being romantic with each other? What are you, 10 years old? Oh, wait... you're 40! **exaggerated eye roll** SMH.
3. Speaking of Jack... MELANIE MIDDLETON, YOU BLIND IDIOT!!! He is clearly in love with you. For the love of all things good in this world, stop leading him on!!!! Stop criticizing him and then wondering why he's mad when you do. Stop lying to yourself and acting like you aren't attracted to him when you clearly love him too. For heaven's sake... do you really have to ask why your heart beats faster and your knees are weak when you're around him? (Gag me) Do you even live on planet earth?! Do you even understand your own sexuality? You're. Forty. Years. Old. I can't even. Ugh!
4. And speaking of Jack...
5. Oh yeah, and speaking of Jack...
6. And um... speaking of Jack... Okay... this one is totally on Jack. Not cool, man.
7. (OMG I know) Speaking of Jack again...
(In case you haven't noticed, this book was just Melanie-and-Jack drama wrapped in a ghost story, topped with a long-lost child and sprinkled with a few fancy, rich, southern people.)
And a side note: I am not buying this high metabolism crap. A bag of chocolate donuts and a cappuccino with extra whip every morning? I don't care who you are... you would not still be pin skinny if you ate like that every single day. Unless maybe you were a vampire or a mutant or something. No way. Too much.
Okay, maybe I'm a little salty. But I just read my third book of this series and Melanie hasn't changed even a little bit for the better. And I can't handle watching her continue to do the same old nonsense over and over anymore, I don't care how exciting the ghost aspect of the story is. I can't handle it anymore. Melanie Middleton, you brought my stress level from zero to a hundred in only 300 pages... congratulations!
November 16, 2011
The past has a way of inserting itself into psychic Melanie Middleton's life. Living in Charleston and being a realtor of historical homes has placed her in the catbird's seat in terms of meeting up with many entities that are unsettled and seeking some kind of closure. Enter Jack Trenholm: dark, handsome and brooding, but a man who has worked with her in solving mysteries, and you find another kind of unrest.
When Jack shows up on her doorstep asking a favor, Melanie is totally unprepared for his teenage daughter from a long-ago relationship; a daughter he didn't know he had. And he is begging Melanie to take in fourteen-year-old Nola for awhile until he and Nola can sort out their rocky relationship. For Nola was led to believe that Jack had abandoned her and her mother Bonnie years ago; now Bonnie is dead, leaving these issues very much unsettled.
Melanie and Nola scarcely have gotten to know each other when Jack's mother, an antiques dealer, shows up with an antique dollhouse for her new granddaughter. And suddenly, all kinds of shenanigans are unleashed. Strange happenings, like miniature dolls and furniture flying about, things generally in havoc, and unsavory ghosts making appearances and stirring things up.
As if things weren't dicey enough, Melanie's Tradd Street home develops serious problems with the foundation, and she has to move into her mother's house on Legare Street.
As all these events unfold, Melanie discovers the origins of the dollhouse: an old estate on Montagu Street, where the ancient owner, Julia Manigault, has many secrets from her past that are rising up to haunt those around her.
How do an ancient dollhouse, the house on Montagu Street, and the current events around Nola relate to an ancient event in the 1930s? And why is Nola's mother's spirit hovering about and seeking its own kind of closure? Will Melanie finally connect with Jack and settle her own unsettled life?
Turning the pages of "The Strangers on Montagu Street (Tradd Street)," I was fascinated, captivated, and unsettled until I could reach the final page. But that's not all we're going to learn about these characters. Another book is on the horizon, and I can't wait! Five stars.
When Jack shows up on her doorstep asking a favor, Melanie is totally unprepared for his teenage daughter from a long-ago relationship; a daughter he didn't know he had. And he is begging Melanie to take in fourteen-year-old Nola for awhile until he and Nola can sort out their rocky relationship. For Nola was led to believe that Jack had abandoned her and her mother Bonnie years ago; now Bonnie is dead, leaving these issues very much unsettled.
Melanie and Nola scarcely have gotten to know each other when Jack's mother, an antiques dealer, shows up with an antique dollhouse for her new granddaughter. And suddenly, all kinds of shenanigans are unleashed. Strange happenings, like miniature dolls and furniture flying about, things generally in havoc, and unsavory ghosts making appearances and stirring things up.
As if things weren't dicey enough, Melanie's Tradd Street home develops serious problems with the foundation, and she has to move into her mother's house on Legare Street.
As all these events unfold, Melanie discovers the origins of the dollhouse: an old estate on Montagu Street, where the ancient owner, Julia Manigault, has many secrets from her past that are rising up to haunt those around her.
How do an ancient dollhouse, the house on Montagu Street, and the current events around Nola relate to an ancient event in the 1930s? And why is Nola's mother's spirit hovering about and seeking its own kind of closure? Will Melanie finally connect with Jack and settle her own unsettled life?
Turning the pages of "The Strangers on Montagu Street (Tradd Street)," I was fascinated, captivated, and unsettled until I could reach the final page. But that's not all we're going to learn about these characters. Another book is on the horizon, and I can't wait! Five stars.
February 20, 2017
I read the first two books of this series in early college and I picked up the third book because I needed something light to read. In doing so, I realized that either my tastes have since changed or White's writing has become very... stale. Since I haven’t read the first two in a few years, I don’t know which of those scenarios is the case.
Although this book definitely had some entertaining moments, the characters are annoyingly flat and immature (particularly the main character, Melanie, who acts like a stubborn, ignorant child rather than a full grown adult woman) and the interactions all seem forced. Not to mention that the “will they, won’t they” drama between the Melanie and Jack got old very fast. By the age of 40, you would think two adults would be able to communicate their problems and feelings rather than dramatically running away and refusing to talk to one another. Then again, you’d also think that a 40 year old woman would have a better grip on her physical and mental health, but given how many doughnuts this character eats (a bag each day and a dozen in one sitting, really?) and the number of times she rolls her eyes and says “whatever,” I guess my expectations would be too high in that regard. It seems that the author, instead of actually developing the character, she took the much lazier route of giving her character “quirks” like eating too much sugar, being unnecessarily mean to everyone around her, and having an obsession with high-end designers.
Of course, this book is meant to be light reading and not a literary masterpiece, and I certainly recognize that, but, essentially, the best part of the book was the ghosts -- and even then their story was not very well resolved. Ghost stories alone are not enough to save this book. I think I’ll skip the rest of this series, as I anticipate it will follow the same, tired script.
Although this book definitely had some entertaining moments, the characters are annoyingly flat and immature (particularly the main character, Melanie, who acts like a stubborn, ignorant child rather than a full grown adult woman) and the interactions all seem forced. Not to mention that the “will they, won’t they” drama between the Melanie and Jack got old very fast. By the age of 40, you would think two adults would be able to communicate their problems and feelings rather than dramatically running away and refusing to talk to one another. Then again, you’d also think that a 40 year old woman would have a better grip on her physical and mental health, but given how many doughnuts this character eats (a bag each day and a dozen in one sitting, really?) and the number of times she rolls her eyes and says “whatever,” I guess my expectations would be too high in that regard. It seems that the author, instead of actually developing the character, she took the much lazier route of giving her character “quirks” like eating too much sugar, being unnecessarily mean to everyone around her, and having an obsession with high-end designers.
Of course, this book is meant to be light reading and not a literary masterpiece, and I certainly recognize that, but, essentially, the best part of the book was the ghosts -- and even then their story was not very well resolved. Ghost stories alone are not enough to save this book. I think I’ll skip the rest of this series, as I anticipate it will follow the same, tired script.
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