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Shivers Box Set
Lose yourself in four eerie, atmospheric tales of romance…and revenge
In a decaying mansion, a ghostly presence refuses to relinquish the artist she's long haunted to a new lover and muse. In an ancient Cornish castle, an innocent woman may be sacrificed to a family's legacy of madness. On the fringes of a Welsh estate, a vengeful figure targets the long-lost daughter of a cursed clan. In the Louisiana bayou, a serial killer hunts the one woman who can bring his demonic crimes to light. If you love Gothics by Victoria Holt, Daphne du Maurier and Barbara Michaels, and enjoy dark romance, then delve into the new Shivers Collection. Four beguiling stories, one great price.
DARKENING AROUND ME by Barbara J. Hancock
LEGACY OF DARKNESS by Jane Godman
DEVIL'S EYE by Dawn Brown
BLACK ROSE by Jenna Ryan
Mood, mystery…romance that makes you shiver. Look for more titles coming in April 2014.
In a decaying mansion, a ghostly presence refuses to relinquish the artist she's long haunted to a new lover and muse. In an ancient Cornish castle, an innocent woman may be sacrificed to a family's legacy of madness. On the fringes of a Welsh estate, a vengeful figure targets the long-lost daughter of a cursed clan. In the Louisiana bayou, a serial killer hunts the one woman who can bring his demonic crimes to light. If you love Gothics by Victoria Holt, Daphne du Maurier and Barbara Michaels, and enjoy dark romance, then delve into the new Shivers Collection. Four beguiling stories, one great price.
DARKENING AROUND ME by Barbara J. Hancock
LEGACY OF DARKNESS by Jane Godman
DEVIL'S EYE by Dawn Brown
BLACK ROSE by Jenna Ryan
Mood, mystery…romance that makes you shiver. Look for more titles coming in April 2014.
ebook
First published December 4, 2013
87 people want to read
About the author
Barbara J. Hancock
40 books104 followersComing in July 2023, writing as Willa Reece, WILDWOOD MAGIC from Orbit/Redhook. Were the Ross women really witches? A magical tale about coming home when the only home you’ve ever known is gone. Also be sure to check out the first book set in a mystical mountain wood, WILDWOOD WHISPERS.
For Harlequin Nocturne, I've written as Barbara J. Hancock, a Faustian series featuring men who've sold their souls and the women who save them--Brimstone Seduction, Brimstone Bride, and Brimstone Prince. And a fairytale shifter series featuring three Russian wolf shifters-- Legendary Shifter, Legendary Wolf and Legendary Beast. Also a YA Gothic Thriller for Entangled Publishing. When I'm not writing, I'm the adopted mom to many rescued pets. I live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia with my soulmate where ghost stories are often told on a dark side porch in the flicker of firefly light.
For Harlequin Nocturne, I've written as Barbara J. Hancock, a Faustian series featuring men who've sold their souls and the women who save them--Brimstone Seduction, Brimstone Bride, and Brimstone Prince. And a fairytale shifter series featuring three Russian wolf shifters-- Legendary Shifter, Legendary Wolf and Legendary Beast. Also a YA Gothic Thriller for Entangled Publishing. When I'm not writing, I'm the adopted mom to many rescued pets. I live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia with my soulmate where ghost stories are often told on a dark side porch in the flicker of firefly light.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 1, 2014
This review is for Legacy of Darkness by Jane Godwin, the second book in the set. I will add the others as I read them.
The heroine Lucy Alleyne arrives at Tenebris an innocent young woman, alone in the world. Demelza Jago, a cousin of sorts, has brought her here as a companion to her. Here Lucy meets the magnetic Uther Jago, Demelza's brother, and their nephew Tynan, the Earl who will come into his inheritance in a few weeks time on his twenty-first birthday.
The Jago's have possessed Tenebris, and I say it advisedly, for hundreds of years and there is a long history of Jago's who have been less than stellar citizens.
Uther has a special interest in Lucy but she becomes aware that the brother and sister have another motive for befriending her that they keep from her. The sickly Tynan holds his own secrets and as Lucy learns the history of Tenebris and the Jago family she becomes more and more disturbed.
For some reason Victoria Holt kept coming into my mind although the beginning had faint undertones of a Daphne Du Maurier story. I was amused by the reference to Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen's very own gothic romance. I also was reminded a little of Georgette Heyer's Cousin Kate.
This was certainly more erotic than any of those books mentioned to the point of discomfort. Not from the writing but the situation which was probably intentional.
Overall it was a little slow to start with but once it gained pace I found myself enthralled. I haven't read any gothics for years and it was like a step back into the past recalling the authors I enjoyed as a teenager. (I think I just dated myself)
The heroine Lucy Alleyne arrives at Tenebris an innocent young woman, alone in the world. Demelza Jago, a cousin of sorts, has brought her here as a companion to her. Here Lucy meets the magnetic Uther Jago, Demelza's brother, and their nephew Tynan, the Earl who will come into his inheritance in a few weeks time on his twenty-first birthday.
The Jago's have possessed Tenebris, and I say it advisedly, for hundreds of years and there is a long history of Jago's who have been less than stellar citizens.
Uther has a special interest in Lucy but she becomes aware that the brother and sister have another motive for befriending her that they keep from her. The sickly Tynan holds his own secrets and as Lucy learns the history of Tenebris and the Jago family she becomes more and more disturbed.
For some reason Victoria Holt kept coming into my mind although the beginning had faint undertones of a Daphne Du Maurier story. I was amused by the reference to Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen's very own gothic romance. I also was reminded a little of Georgette Heyer's Cousin Kate.
This was certainly more erotic than any of those books mentioned to the point of discomfort. Not from the writing but the situation which was probably intentional.
Overall it was a little slow to start with but once it gained pace I found myself enthralled. I haven't read any gothics for years and it was like a step back into the past recalling the authors I enjoyed as a teenager. (I think I just dated myself)
March 20, 2014
This was my first read of a Shivers Box Set and I really liked all the stories it contained.
Darkening Around Me, is set in the Pacific Northwest and is dark and haunting with The Thornleigh Bride having a hold over all who live there. Samantha has gone to have a clay likeness made of her by Miles O'Keefe, but no one is allowed to stay longer than a week for fear of what the ghost can do.
Legacy of Darkness is a Gothic romance set amongst the stunning scenery of a rugged Cornish coast. Lucy Alleyne is rescued by a distant relative from life as a companion and taken to the family home. The house is full of horror, danger, forbidden love and dark secrets.
The Devil's Eye is set on the Isle of Anglesey off of the Welsh coast. Brynn James has come to meet a family she only recently discovered. Too many deaths and missing persons surround the house of Stonecliff and Detective Harding would like to point the finger at Brynn's half sister Eleri. But there is something very evil in the grounds of the house, for years rumours have spread about The Witch of Stonecliff.
Black Rose is set in the Louisanna Bayou. Mia has witnessed a gruesome murder and needs protecting. Rick Ryder wants a chance to catch the murderer and together they go deep into the bayou. Black Voodoo, psychic predictions and a mystery doll called Billy all play a part in this delicious spooky chase as the murderer draws ever closer.
Darkening Around Me, is set in the Pacific Northwest and is dark and haunting with The Thornleigh Bride having a hold over all who live there. Samantha has gone to have a clay likeness made of her by Miles O'Keefe, but no one is allowed to stay longer than a week for fear of what the ghost can do.
Legacy of Darkness is a Gothic romance set amongst the stunning scenery of a rugged Cornish coast. Lucy Alleyne is rescued by a distant relative from life as a companion and taken to the family home. The house is full of horror, danger, forbidden love and dark secrets.
The Devil's Eye is set on the Isle of Anglesey off of the Welsh coast. Brynn James has come to meet a family she only recently discovered. Too many deaths and missing persons surround the house of Stonecliff and Detective Harding would like to point the finger at Brynn's half sister Eleri. But there is something very evil in the grounds of the house, for years rumours have spread about The Witch of Stonecliff.
Black Rose is set in the Louisanna Bayou. Mia has witnessed a gruesome murder and needs protecting. Rick Ryder wants a chance to catch the murderer and together they go deep into the bayou. Black Voodoo, psychic predictions and a mystery doll called Billy all play a part in this delicious spooky chase as the murderer draws ever closer.
dnf
June 13, 2014Darkening Around Me by Barbara J. Hancock
2.5 Stars
The gothic scenes were really well written and creepy as hell, but the plot lacked cohesion and felt more like set peices. The romance was more "tell" than "show" and unbelievable. The hero was really boring, lacking the danger and moral ambiguity of great gothic heroes. I did enjoy the gothic parts very much and I think the story would have benefited from about 50-100 more pages to flesh things out.
Legacy of Darkness by Jane Godman
4.5 Stars
Now this was the gothics I remembered reading as a kid, with the scandal, suspense, and horror with a dash of the supernatural. I always love when the heroine is torn between two men and neither she nor the reader know which is the evil one or the good one. The sensuality is more explicit than the Gothics of the 70's and 80's, but it wasn't out of place and underlined the themes of the story. There were a few things that seemed jarringly modern, but I couldn't stop reading until the satisfying yet creepy conclusion. Worth the price of the anthology.
The Devil's Eye by Dawn Brown
Black Rose by Jenna Ryan
2.5 Stars
The gothic scenes were really well written and creepy as hell, but the plot lacked cohesion and felt more like set peices. The romance was more "tell" than "show" and unbelievable. The hero was really boring, lacking the danger and moral ambiguity of great gothic heroes. I did enjoy the gothic parts very much and I think the story would have benefited from about 50-100 more pages to flesh things out.
Legacy of Darkness by Jane Godman
4.5 Stars
Now this was the gothics I remembered reading as a kid, with the scandal, suspense, and horror with a dash of the supernatural. I always love when the heroine is torn between two men and neither she nor the reader know which is the evil one or the good one. The sensuality is more explicit than the Gothics of the 70's and 80's, but it wasn't out of place and underlined the themes of the story. There were a few things that seemed jarringly modern, but I couldn't stop reading until the satisfying yet creepy conclusion. Worth the price of the anthology.
The Devil's Eye by Dawn Brown
Black Rose by Jenna Ryan
August 24, 2014
I just finished reading the first story in the complimentary copy of the Shivers box set I received. Gothic is not the usual type of story I read but once I started the first story "Darkening Around Me" I was hooked. I even started reading it aloud to myself. The descriptive an atmospheric elements are captivating. If all the stories are as intriguing and captivating as the first, then this set is a winner.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews