Ruby's books: Audiobook Tour Book Review: The Haunting of Hillwood Farm by Kathryn Knight & Giveaway

Author: Kathryn Knight

Narrator: Kristin James

Length: 5 hours 18 minutes

Series: N/A

Audience: Over 18

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Suspense

Publisher: Wicked Whale

Release Date: January 4th 2019

My Rating: 4.5 Cups

Source: Audiobookworm Promotions

Blurb (from Goodreads):

After tragedy strikes, Callie Sinclair is left with a gift she never wanted—the ability to communicate with ghosts. But when a desperate widow begs for her help, she reluctantly agrees to investigate the strange occurrences at Hillwood Farm. She quickly realizes she’s dealing with a dangerous presence beyond anything she’s ever experienced, and something else becomes equally clear—the only other living person in the house, Mrs. Turner’s handsome grandson, thinks she’s a scam artist. While she’d prefer to just ignore him, her heart beats a little faster every time he’s nearby.

Luke Turner doesn’t believe in spirits. He’s moved back to restore the family farm, but living on the property serves a dual purpose—he can watch out for his grandmother. He’s not happy about the sudden appearance of a self-described psychic, or his inexplicable attraction to her. His initial suspicions crumble as evidence points to an actual haunting, but he’s still determined not to fall for Callie—the past has taught him it’s best to avoid relationships.

As Callie is drawn deeper into the mystery, she becomes the target of a vengeful spirit, and Luke can no longer fight his feelings for her. Unable to resist their desire, passion ignites…even as the paranormal activity escalates to a final deadly confrontation.

*Disclaimer: I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Kathryn Knight. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

**Disclaimer: This book contains mature content. As such my review may contain reference to material intended for a mature audience.

It's been a while sine I last read a book that was centered around an angry ghost haunting a family, so when I saw this tour was open I knew I had to sign up for it right away. I am very happy to say that I was not disappointed by this book at all.

The Haunting of Hillwood Farm is a wonderful mix of horror and romance that I absolutely loved. The theme of love was present in this book in many forms, and I love how the author explored each one. You have a budding love story, a timeless love story, a lost love, a toxic love, all very different, but all playing an important role in this story.

Callie has been through a lot in her life, and she's just learning how to pick up the pieces of her life. She's trying to move on after losing the love of her life, while also trying to accept this new ability that she has of seeing ghosts. I loved that Callie is using this ability of hers to help out other people, and a part of me wonders if she'll keep doing it after the events in this book. And yes, this is me wishing for a sequel. The thing I liked most about Callie is that she didn't let Luke's initial opinion of her give up her quest to help out Mrs. Turner, nor did she go out of her way to convince him that ghosts are real. I really liked that about her, because usually I've read about characters trying to convince the people around them that ghosts are in fact real, so this was a great thing to read. I also loved what Callie did for this angry ghost, even if this entity scared her and tried to kill her a few times.

Luke was an interesting character to read about. A skeptic at first, convinced that Callie is trying to scam his grandmother, he quickly realizes that there is something out there in the night that is trying to harm them. I loved seeing the differences between him and his brother, and I kind of wish we could have had more scenes between them. It's strange how Luke was such a loving, caring person while his brother and mother in particular were cold, especially around Luke's grandma. I ended up respecting Luke very much, especially for what he did at the end of the book. He may have been coerced a little bit, because they did have their ghost problem, but he didn't have to do it. I don't want to say more because I don't want to spoil anyone though.

The story is told from multiple points of view, which is something you guys know I always enjoy. Kudos to the narrator, Kristin James, for managing to make all the characters sound different and have their own unique style and voice.

Speaking of the narrator, I thought she really did a good job bringing these characters to life. She also did an amazing job conveying the tension in the more scary, adrenaline-filled scenes. I also liked her range, she managed to deliver impressive scenes where four or more characters were there and each sounded different every time and I never felt like she mixed up the different accents or voices she was using for each individual character. Her ghost voice was really impressive and it helped bring an extra oomph to those scenes.

The Haunting of Hillwood Farm is a pretty scary book. I read this book pretty fast, as it is rather short, which makes it even more impressive. All in all, I really loved it and I will definitely keep reading more books from this author.

Kathryn Knight spends a great deal of time in her fictional world, where mundane chores don’t exist and daily life involves steamy romance, dangerous secrets, and spooky suspense. Kathryn writes contemporary romance spiked with mysterious hauntings as well as YA paranormal romance filled with forbidden love. Her novels are award-winning #1 Amazon and Barnes & Noble Bestsellers and RomCon Reader-Rated picks. When she’s not reading or writing, Kathryn spends her time catching up on those mundane chores, driving kids around, and teaching fitness classes. She lives on beautiful Cape Cod with her husband, their two sons, and a number of rescued pets.

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Kristin “KJ” James was born and raised in the Nashville, TN area. Acting has always been a passion of hers. Starting on the stage as early as preschool, KJ pursued her passion into college where she received a BA in Communication with a double emphasis in Theatre and Public Relations from Mississippi State University. After college she found herself more and more drawn to voice overs. Several classes, coaching sessions, seminars, research, and a closet-turned-studio later, and she now records and produces audiobooks on a regular basis. She has also done several radio commercials for clients such as Advance Financial, TriStar Health, and GAC. Her ultimate dream is to work in video games and animation, so hopefully in the not-too-distant future you'll hear her in an RPG or cartoon. When she’s not in her booth, you can find her crocheting, playing video games, or running agility with her dog, Phoenix.