"A horror novelist inherits a haunted house"

Horror novelist Kelly Masters needs to leave her apartment in the city and the memories that linger there. The apartment no longer feels like home after her husband was murdered just outside their front door months ago. When Kelly learns that she and her two sisters have inherited a house in rural Ohio, Kelly packs up her daughter Jenna and they embark onto their new lives. She finds that small town life is a big change from city living.

Deputy Sheriff Glen Westfall is immediately taken with the beautiful young widow. Being a small town, everybody already knew of her husband's death and her inheritance. Something about Kelly draws him in, despite her feistiness towards him. She's a challenge and he's ready to take her on. Of course, he didn't expect to see her in an official capacity so soon.

Mysterious happenings are going on at Cottonwood Hill. Kelly and her family encounter ghostly apparitions and a prowler, spurring multiple calls to the sheriff's office. Just what happened all those years ago? And why are things happening now? What stirred up the ghosts so much that they make their presence known?

The disappearance of a little boy is only the tip of the iceberg of what happened decades ago. Can Kelly, working with Glen, uncover the truth so that the ghosts will finally be able to rest in peace? She can't raise her daughter in such an environment, after all. Is Kelly betraying her late husband if she finds another man attractive? Glen does his best to convince Kelly that life does move on.

COTTONWOOD HILL is an interesting paranormal mystery with a little romance. The emphasis is definitely on uncovering the events of the past, before facing the future. If modern ghost stories are your thing, you'll definitely want to read Ms. Miller's latest offering.

Sensuality: Moderately explicit sex; sexually explicit scenes: 1.

Reviewed by Denise Powers
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted September 23, 2003

Summary

Kelly Masters, horror writer, is moving to Oak Grove, Ohio. Nine months ago, her husband Brian was murdered outside the door of their New York apartment. When Kelly received a phone call informing her that she and her two sisters had inherited the Cottonwood Hill Estate from a great aunt that they knew nothing about, Kelly thought it was a God-send. This was the perfect chance for her to get her six-year-old daughter Jenna away from the tragic memories surrounding their apartment.

Little does Kelly know that Cottonwood Hill holds its own mystery. When she arrives in Oak Grove with Jenna, she meets the handsome Deputy Sheriff Glen Westfall. Sparks fly as they joust with words while Kelly struggles to control her conflicting emotions concerning her attraction to Glen and her aversion to police uniforms that she acquired while dealing with Brian's murder.

When Kelly's sisters, Sera and Nikki, arrive at the estate to help her settle in, the mystery of Cottonwood Hill rears its head. Ghostly visions, bats in the attic and bones buried in the backyard are just a hint of what is to come. Local legend has it that Cottonwood Hill is haunted by a little boy who disappeared there years ago and the ghost of his father who is still searching for him.

Kelly takes it upon herself to solve the mystery of the lost boy and his ghostly father so that their spirits can be put to rest. She can't raise Jenna in a haunted house and she refuses to uproot her daughter again. Kelly and Glen are thrust together as strange things happen that require the assistance of the local Deputy. Working together, Kelly and Glen dig up the long buried secrets of Cottonwood Hill as their attraction to each other builds, starting as a tiny spark that soon bursts into a raging fire.