Refuge on Crescent Hill

Moving home after a recent job loss was supposed to reassure Camden Bristow and give her time to decide what to do next. But when she arrives in Etherton, Ohio, she discovers that her grandmother, who she hasn't talked to in years, has passed away and "home" is an empty mansion hundreds of years old. Not exactly the comfort Camden was looking for. What happened to the house she played in as a child, the bedtime stories that told of secret passageways and runaway slaves, and all those family memories?

When antiques start disappearing and footsteps are heard, some of those memories start to creep back and Camden wonders if her grandmother's bedtime stories might actually be true. What really happened here . . . at Crescent Hill? How was her grandmother involved? Who still has access to the house? And for what purpose? As she works to uncover the past and present mysteries harbored in her home, Camden also uncovers secrets about her family that could change the town-and her life-forever.

This is one of those books where you really need to pay attention. We've got four main characters (Camden, Alex, Jake, and Stephanie) that we switch perspectives on in a fairly orderly pattern. And while one seems further out of the loop than the others, it comes to light that she's directly linked to each. When you're spanning back enough generations to predate the American Civil War, with all the secrets and lies leading the way, it's bound to be tricky.

Little romance. Only about as much as Jenny and Louise could scrape together as they pushed Camden and Alex together. The interest was there though, but mostly because Camden was the only woman Alex could stomach. That guy had some serious issues with woman talking to him.

Oh, let be on record that I am strongly opposed to the name Jacob/Jake being used for a villain. Especially a very *bad* villain. (And no, that has nothing to do with Stephanie Meyers or Twilight Saga damn it.)