The Retreat: You can check in but you may never leave

The Retreat by Nicola Marsh is a “You can stay, but you may never leave” gothic thriller. Arcania is a wellness street in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Its guests enjoy a week of digital detox where all forms of technology are not permitted and relaxation is the goal. The gothic mansion is a welcome haven but for some it is a nightmare. When her mother dies suddenly, Lucy discovers a mysterious Viking tattoo on the bottom of her mother’s foot. The tattoo is linked to Arcania and impulsively Lucy books a week. The staff seems welcoming enough but soon the creepy house and some of its inhabitants are urging Lucy to leave. Cora Medville is the current owner, arrived at the house forty years ago. She falls in love with the house, Harlan, the dashing heir, and finds the sense of belonging she desperately craved. She stayed. There’s a terrifying truth to the house, how far will Lucy go to discover the truth? How far will Cora go to protect its secrets? 

I have known Nicola Marsh for her domestic psychological thrillers. Now she can add gothic thrillers to her repertoire. Wow! What a story! The Retreat is like a slow burn fire which builds into an inferno that makes it hard to pull away. A thriller that pulls readers into a story that can’t quite be trusted. At the beginning of the story, Lucy seemed too meek and mousey to take such a leap to visit Arcania with so little information. But is there more to Lucy than meets the eye? Is she playing everyone? Or is Lucy slowly going crazy? Could Arcania really be haunted? What are Cora's motives and secrets? There were plot points that were guessable; however, I think that could have been by design. Giving the readers a little tidbit before revealing the big shocker of the story. There were twists that I didn’t see coming and left me gasping in surprise as I turned the page. If you enjoy Nicola Marsh’s psychological thrillers or enjoy gothic thrillers, I highly recommend The Retreat. 

The Retreat is available in paperback and eBook

The Brighter the Light: family secrets and discovery of inner strength

The Brighter the Light by Mary Ellen Taylor is a dual-timeline story of one woman’s journey to discover the stories hidden in her family’s past. Legends say when a shipwreck surfaces, old secrets are discovered. It seems to be true in Ivy Neale’s hometown of Nags Head, North Carolina. When she inherits her family’s beachfront cottage after her grandmother Ruth’s death, she’s prepared to face Dani, her best friend, and Matthew, her boyfriend, that she left behind twelve years ago. As Ivy begins to shift through her grandmother’s belongings, a winter gale uncovers the shipwreck of the Liberty T. Mitchell. A strange series of events as Ivy finds clues to the family secrets so long held in silence. One particular secret brings forth the fateful events of the summer of 1950 as twelve year old Ruth experiences a summer that will change her life forever. Will the truth finally be revealed? Will Ivy discover a strength she didn’t know she had to make her home by the sea? 

I chose this book as my Amazon Reads title. I was dazzled by the beautiful cover and intrigued by the story description. The Brighter the Light is an emotional family drama with secrets galore along the North Carolina shore. Ivy is a young woman who desperately wanted to leave Nags Head at 18 and did. She never looked back until her grandmother’s funeral. Now she must deal with Ruth’s packed cottage. What she sees as useless junk appears to have deeper meanings as she finds connections to the summer of 1950. She also discovers aspects about her grandmother that she never knew and a strength she didn’t know she had. I enjoyed The Brighter the Light as I could not put it down. I enjoyed the added mysterious air of the shipwreck appearance. This book is my first by Ms. Taylor and I look forward to reading more of her books. If you enjoy family secrets and discovery of inner strength, I recommend The Brighter the Light. 

The Brighter the Light is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook