Night Echoes

Artist Emma Beck discovered a folder after her father died. In it was a record from a detective who was detailing the circumstances of Emma's adoption and the death of her birth mother. Up to that moment, Emma had not realized she'd been adopted. When she visited her birthplace, Emma found an old derelict house that both said 'home' to her and nearly frightened her to death. She'd been painting bits of this house in her art throughout her career. Then she discovers that Mike, her contractor, had also figured prominently in her illustrations. As the story unfolds, Emma hears strange sounds in the house, finds her paints messed with while she's been sleeping, etc. All in all, "Night Echoes" is a fast-paced, hard to put down thriller that could well defend a place with mainline thriller novels. It's also a paranormal that doesn't count on lycanthropy, vampires, or any similar character to keep it fresh. I regretted when Holly Lisle left writing fantasy for the romance novel field, yet, I have read almost every romance she's written and enjoyed them. This comes from someone who doesn't particularly care for romance novels. Lisle so seamlessly blends the romance in with the storyline that it's a natural part of the flow. Lisle has a way of creating sympathetic characters that pull you in because you care about their lives and want to see them survive--if not succeed and be happy. Emma and Mike, and to a lesser extent, Cara, are more than just constructs. And the house itself became a being in this story. Lisle's scene setting really takes you there even if you've never seen a Southern Gothic style home before. I'd definitely consider her as someone to study if you are interested in learning how to pull in and hook a reader with subtle foreshadowing. Lisle's a pro and she's a pleasure to read no matter what she writes.

I highly recommend this book. I hated having to put it down to work & sleep.

Artist Emma Beck was adopted as a baby. She is now alone since both her adopted parents are dead. She travels to the town she was born in and intends to search for her birth mother, she knows her name. But almost as soon as she arrives she sees an old house and her heart and mind say she has found her home. She quickyly buys the old house and hires someone to start renovating it as she returns home to pack for the move to the old pre-civil war farmhouse in Benina, SC. Arriving with a U-haul and her old truck she is again welcomed by the old house. All of the work has been done and she intends to restore the old place. There is something warm and homey about the house but also mysterious. She finds the familiarity comforting. Mike Ruhl, the carpenter, worked on the house but felt very uncomfortable in it. Now when he comes to check for a leak he meets Emma and with her presence the old place feels like home to him and Emma feels like the one woman he has been searching for forever. Mike and Emma are pulled into the mysteries of the old house, mysterious leaks, footsteps, and a cat only Emma can see. Then Emma discovers her birth mother is dead, she was only 16 when she had Emma and died in a hospital where she was being treated for mental problems. As death follows Emma to Benina, it seems she and Mike are caught up in two different mysteries. One of which is over 100 yrs old. The discovery of a civil war saber and other items allow more memories and revelations. I loved the dark moody ambiance in this book, it will keep your attention and the two stories are fasinating, they lead to a final confrontation. I enjoyed it and hated to put it down. Do not miss it.

I must admit I had to stop reading this book a time or two or three because the creepy factor got to me. LOL! This is the story of love between Emma Beck and Mike Ruhl and it's excellently written and really draws the reader into a sensual plot of hate, love, revenge, loss and reincarnation. This is a must read. A+++

With the death of her adoptive father following that of her adoptive mom, artist Emma Beck decides there is nothing left for her in Wisconsin so she buys a dilapidated Civil War era house in Benina, South Carolina, the hometown of her late biological mother. Her objective is to learn more about her roots. However, Emma is stunned by the attraction between her and Mike Ruhl the contractor she hired to fix the house. For some reason it feels as if the duo have already shared intimacy although they just met. Even scarier is the fact he looks identical to a visage she has used in some of her paintings. Emma becomes more frightened by noises and a phantom cat that seems to vanish into thin air. When she goes to meet two friends of her late mom, Emma is horrified to find two corpses. As Mike uncovers documents in the attic, he begins to believe that he and Emma are caught in some sort of action from beyond just like her parents were a few decades ago. NIGHT ECHOES is a fabulous haunted house (town?) romantic suspense that will elate fans of the supernatural as well as those who like some heat between the lead (human) characters. The story line is fast-paced as Emma and Mike fall in love to the backdrop of increasingly frightening supernatural happenings that both insist cannot occur. Fans of paranormal romantic suspense and horror readers will fully appreciate Holly Lisle's superb chiller. Harriet Klausner