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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The queen of the South, Karen White returns following Flight Patterns (2016) landing on my Top 50 Books of 2016 list and (2014) Return to Tradd Street (Tradd Street, #4) with the continuation THE GUESTS ON SOUTH BATTERY (#5) with more mystery, history, spirits, a twist of paranormal and dark family secrets.
"There is always a way to look past the bad to see the good."
Set in the Holy City - historic Charleston, SC, we pick up from the last book with Melanie (Middleton) and Jack Trenholm, settling into marriage with a busy lifestyle and twins, Sarah and JJ (Jack, Jr), and Jack’s daughter, Nola, a sophomore at Ashley Hall. Nola is also interested in a boy named Cooper which Jack must warm up to.
They are the owners of a historic home on Tradd Street (an interesting story from previous books), with its quirks and their dogs. The restless dead had left her along for almost a year as Melanie settled into her new life as wife and mother without the distraction of spirits needing her for something.
Jack is a bestselling author (charming, funny, and irresistible) and Melanie, a successful Realtor, is returning to work after her maternity leave. They are coming up on their first year as parents. Melanie is having a hard time finding and keeping a nanny since she likes things a certain way with her routines. This has been the reason she has been delayed getting back to work, much later than she planned.
Melanie’s first day back, feeling a bit insecure, not having lost all the baby weight, she lands a new client, Jayne Smith from Alabama, who has recently inherited a prominent historic home, the Pinckney mansion. Being an orphan, she is not related to the owner and hates old homes and has never been to Charleston.
She wants Melanie to sell it and find her a new one. Something fresh and new with lots of metal, glass, and stone. Ironically, she is a qualified nanny and does not mind Melanie’s attention to order and details. A match made in heaven.
However, Jayne is not so sure she wants to move into Melanie and Jack’s house since it is also old and historic until she decides about her own living arrangements. However, she soon learns it feels like a home and feels comfortable there.
Melanie and her mom (both with psychic gifts) decide they want to try and discover the past of the house, to warn off the spirits for Jayne to possibly decide to hold on to the home since there was a lot of history. After all, it was on South Battery near the corner of Legare, a huge white house with the portico and columns.
Button Pinckney was an acquaintance of Melanie’s and a good friend of both her mother and mother-in-law. They all went to school at Ashley Hall years ago, and her mom had attended the funeral.
Why would Jayne inherit a home from a stranger? Jayne was raised in the foster care system and was never adopted. Melanie liked her and wants to help. If they can warn off and rid the house of spirits, evil, and ghosts- maybe Jayne will decide to keep the house.
Melanie had a flash of déjà vu, since a man Vanderhorst had left her his crumbling old home that she did not want or need either, not so long ago. She knows all too well about an albatross of a house left to an unsuspecting stranger.
We meet up with Dr. Sophie Wallen-Arasi, professor of historic preservation at the College of Charleston, and Melanie’s mom, Ginette, as well as Melanie’s annoying cousin and Jack’s ex-girlfriend, Rebecca—plus her husband, Marc Longo who stole Jack’s book idea, the story of a disappearance and a murder that occurred in the twenties in her house and made it into a runaway bestseller (with Jack being dropped by his publisher as a result).
An ongoing mystery of the Pickney house. Button never married. She had an older brother-Sumter. He married Anna, another classmate and they had a daughter. She died when she was a child. Anna and Sumter divorced shortly afterward and Anna remained in the house with Button. She died about ten years later. Sumter never remarried and moved to New York after his divorce.
Melanie’s parents have recently remarried and have a good relationship. In the meantime, Melanie lets her old insecurities get in the way making her jump to the wrong conclusions. We also meet up with Detective Thomas Riley and he helps Melanie run a background check on Jayne for the nanny job and he seems to like Jayne. Melanie and Ginette are curious why a generous philanthropist decided to give her entire estate to a deserving orphan.
However, Melanie and Ginette get more than they bargained for with ghosts of the past at the old Pickney mansion. From chilling spirits, haunting ghosts, a cat, a disturbing antique doll, a hanging, a past mental illness, warnings to go away, and desperate cries of help— Jayne, Melanie, and Jayne may have more in common than they may know.
Under the mold, falling plaster, spirits of the past, and its sadness, they soon realize there must have been happiness before the tragedy within the walls. It may be worth the chance of a new beginning. Houses are like people. They all deserve a second chance at happiness.
Old secrets which have been buried, all come to the surface. A decades-old mystery to be solved with a shocking conclusion.
As always, Karen White is multi-talented, writing southern women’s fiction, mystery, suspense, paranormal, romance, literary, and historical, crossing many genres. Always love her tales of Charleston and the dark family secrets of the South. I especially loved the reference to Wendy Wax (very cool) —another favorite.
Charleston is such a beautiful city with its historic architecture, and always love catching up with familiar landmarks. Well-crafted and engaging. An intriguing twisty mystery with paranormal elements, enjoy catching up with familiar characters. I enjoy Jack and Melanie’s relationship and the dramas of their lives. If you love history, southern fiction, and ghost stories you will enjoy the series.
Having read and enjoyed all the books in the series, highly recommend them all! In addition to the reading copy, also listened to the audio version (nicely done as always), narrated by Aimée Bruneau, with a charming southern accent.
Looking forward to the next- hoping we hear more about Jayne's mysterious past.
Cannot wait for [b:The Night the Lights Went Out|32281670|The Night the Lights Went Out|Karen White|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1483454144s/32281670.jpg|52905899] (cover love), Coming April 11, 2017.
A special thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
JDCMustReadBooks
"There is always a way to look past the bad to see the good."
Set in the Holy City - historic Charleston, SC, we pick up from the last book with Melanie (Middleton) and Jack Trenholm, settling into marriage with a busy lifestyle and twins, Sarah and JJ (Jack, Jr), and Jack’s daughter, Nola, a sophomore at Ashley Hall. Nola is also interested in a boy named Cooper which Jack must warm up to.
They are the owners of a historic home on Tradd Street (an interesting story from previous books), with its quirks and their dogs. The restless dead had left her along for almost a year as Melanie settled into her new life as wife and mother without the distraction of spirits needing her for something.
Jack is a bestselling author (charming, funny, and irresistible) and Melanie, a successful Realtor, is returning to work after her maternity leave. They are coming up on their first year as parents. Melanie is having a hard time finding and keeping a nanny since she likes things a certain way with her routines. This has been the reason she has been delayed getting back to work, much later than she planned.
Melanie’s first day back, feeling a bit insecure, not having lost all the baby weight, she lands a new client, Jayne Smith from Alabama, who has recently inherited a prominent historic home, the Pinckney mansion. Being an orphan, she is not related to the owner and hates old homes and has never been to Charleston.
She wants Melanie to sell it and find her a new one. Something fresh and new with lots of metal, glass, and stone. Ironically, she is a qualified nanny and does not mind Melanie’s attention to order and details. A match made in heaven.
However, Jayne is not so sure she wants to move into Melanie and Jack’s house since it is also old and historic until she decides about her own living arrangements. However, she soon learns it feels like a home and feels comfortable there.
Melanie and her mom (both with psychic gifts) decide they want to try and discover the past of the house, to warn off the spirits for Jayne to possibly decide to hold on to the home since there was a lot of history. After all, it was on South Battery near the corner of Legare, a huge white house with the portico and columns.
Button Pinckney was an acquaintance of Melanie’s and a good friend of both her mother and mother-in-law. They all went to school at Ashley Hall years ago, and her mom had attended the funeral.
Why would Jayne inherit a home from a stranger? Jayne was raised in the foster care system and was never adopted. Melanie liked her and wants to help. If they can warn off and rid the house of spirits, evil, and ghosts- maybe Jayne will decide to keep the house.
Melanie had a flash of déjà vu, since a man Vanderhorst had left her his crumbling old home that she did not want or need either, not so long ago. She knows all too well about an albatross of a house left to an unsuspecting stranger.
We meet up with Dr. Sophie Wallen-Arasi, professor of historic preservation at the College of Charleston, and Melanie’s mom, Ginette, as well as Melanie’s annoying cousin and Jack’s ex-girlfriend, Rebecca—plus her husband, Marc Longo who stole Jack’s book idea, the story of a disappearance and a murder that occurred in the twenties in her house and made it into a runaway bestseller (with Jack being dropped by his publisher as a result).
An ongoing mystery of the Pickney house. Button never married. She had an older brother-Sumter. He married Anna, another classmate and they had a daughter. She died when she was a child. Anna and Sumter divorced shortly afterward and Anna remained in the house with Button. She died about ten years later. Sumter never remarried and moved to New York after his divorce.
Melanie’s parents have recently remarried and have a good relationship. In the meantime, Melanie lets her old insecurities get in the way making her jump to the wrong conclusions. We also meet up with Detective Thomas Riley and he helps Melanie run a background check on Jayne for the nanny job and he seems to like Jayne. Melanie and Ginette are curious why a generous philanthropist decided to give her entire estate to a deserving orphan.
However, Melanie and Ginette get more than they bargained for with ghosts of the past at the old Pickney mansion. From chilling spirits, haunting ghosts, a cat, a disturbing antique doll, a hanging, a past mental illness, warnings to go away, and desperate cries of help— Jayne, Melanie, and Jayne may have more in common than they may know.
Under the mold, falling plaster, spirits of the past, and its sadness, they soon realize there must have been happiness before the tragedy within the walls. It may be worth the chance of a new beginning. Houses are like people. They all deserve a second chance at happiness.
Old secrets which have been buried, all come to the surface. A decades-old mystery to be solved with a shocking conclusion.
As always, Karen White is multi-talented, writing southern women’s fiction, mystery, suspense, paranormal, romance, literary, and historical, crossing many genres. Always love her tales of Charleston and the dark family secrets of the South. I especially loved the reference to Wendy Wax (very cool) —another favorite.
Charleston is such a beautiful city with its historic architecture, and always love catching up with familiar landmarks. Well-crafted and engaging. An intriguing twisty mystery with paranormal elements, enjoy catching up with familiar characters. I enjoy Jack and Melanie’s relationship and the dramas of their lives. If you love history, southern fiction, and ghost stories you will enjoy the series.
Having read and enjoyed all the books in the series, highly recommend them all! In addition to the reading copy, also listened to the audio version (nicely done as always), narrated by Aimée Bruneau, with a charming southern accent.
Looking forward to the next- hoping we hear more about Jayne's mysterious past.
Cannot wait for [b:The Night the Lights Went Out|32281670|The Night the Lights Went Out|Karen White|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1483454144s/32281670.jpg|52905899] (cover love), Coming April 11, 2017.
A special thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
JDCMustReadBooks
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
it is so sad when a series becomes "a ghost" of its former self. What happened to Melanie? She has been reduced to a whiny, silly, pathetic woman. And if I have to read one more time about her doughnut fixation or struggles with her insecurities and how wildly handsome Jack is I might become sick. There is one more book in the series and I would like to read it, but the ghosts of series past is holding me back.
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
The latest in this series centered around Melanie Middleton a realtor who has some hidden talents. She is now juggling being a mom, her job, a wife, home owner - to a testie house and helping others. Although this book wasn't my favorite of the series, I would say it is probably two or three.
This one is high on the list because I love how it incorporates Melanie's family and really centers around her. There were almost two separate mysteries in this one and it was interesting watching Melanie along with her mom solve them both.
The latest in this series centered around Melanie Middleton a realtor who has some hidden talents. She is now juggling being a mom, her job, a wife, home owner - to a testie house and helping others. Although this book wasn't my favorite of the series, I would say it is probably two or three.
This one is high on the list because I love how it incorporates Melanie's family and really centers around her. There were almost two separate mysteries in this one and it was interesting watching Melanie along with her mom solve them both.
Creepy drama about an old house, a nanny, and ghosts with an agenda. Loved the audiobook version.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
http://www.anurseandabook.com/2017/04/the-guests-on-south-battery-by-karen.html
Okay, no secret that I'm a huge Karen White fan. On Folly Beach and The Forgotten Room are two of my favorites - but the Tradd Street series routinely scares the crap out of me. So why do I keep reading them? I have no idea, but I keep going back for more.
I like the characters, I like the scenery, and I like the stories. But I hate the ghosts! And this one was even worse because it's a creepy doll, and a young girl ghost and her mom. I'm getting the creeps just thinking about it again.
Melanie has a mysterious stranger show up in her office when she returns to work after a year home with her twins. It seems meant to be since she is a nanny and Melanie is looking for a nanny. Jayne moves into the house on Tradd Street with Melanie and her family.
Suddenly everyone is experiencing creative block, including Melanie who can no longer use her ghost sensing abilities, she continues to feel like a curtain has been dropped over her third eye. But Melanie isn't making the connection to Jayne, she is more worried about the relationship she feels is developing between her husband and the nanny - honestly, at times her jealousy seems pathological.
As the ghosts become more restless, the effects on Jayne and Melanie's life become increasingly difficult to maneuver. Melanie has no choice but to solve the mystery before it destroys her family.
And seriously, why do I torture myself with books that make it difficult to sleep? Every time, I say I'm never reading one of her ghost stories again, then I just fall for it all over again.
Okay, no secret that I'm a huge Karen White fan. On Folly Beach and The Forgotten Room are two of my favorites - but the Tradd Street series routinely scares the crap out of me. So why do I keep reading them? I have no idea, but I keep going back for more.
I like the characters, I like the scenery, and I like the stories. But I hate the ghosts! And this one was even worse because it's a creepy doll, and a young girl ghost and her mom. I'm getting the creeps just thinking about it again.
Melanie has a mysterious stranger show up in her office when she returns to work after a year home with her twins. It seems meant to be since she is a nanny and Melanie is looking for a nanny. Jayne moves into the house on Tradd Street with Melanie and her family.
Suddenly everyone is experiencing creative block, including Melanie who can no longer use her ghost sensing abilities, she continues to feel like a curtain has been dropped over her third eye. But Melanie isn't making the connection to Jayne, she is more worried about the relationship she feels is developing between her husband and the nanny - honestly, at times her jealousy seems pathological.
As the ghosts become more restless, the effects on Jayne and Melanie's life become increasingly difficult to maneuver. Melanie has no choice but to solve the mystery before it destroys her family.
And seriously, why do I torture myself with books that make it difficult to sleep? Every time, I say I'm never reading one of her ghost stories again, then I just fall for it all over again.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn't love this one. I feel like the stories are getting a little crazier and crazier. I know it's a book, but just the whole story was kinda crazy. I also did not like the way everyone was mean to Mellie. I don't find her to be dumb or anything like that that she is made out to be. I find her someone who has issues that stem from childhood that people are just expecting her to sweep away. I also found Jack to be really unlikeable this book.