The Ghost Rider is an exciting, romantic and eerie tale; classic in its concept and style, but the thrills of the supernatural most definitely haunt the present. Kate Dalton, a young Australian woman, and an only child, has just undergone heart surgery for a congenital heart defect. She will be fine, but this life threatening event has taken its toll. Recuperating for many weeks at her parents’ home, she is somewhat depressed and listless.
Her mother gets her interested in going through old family paraphernalia, and Kate comes across a letter from her three times great-grandmother, Sophie. It tells of the disappearance Sophie’s sister Catherine. Sophie knows her sister has been unhappy in her marriage and that she has fallen in love with a ghost, the first Giles Lacey of Lacey Hall. Sophie doesn’t know what has happened to Catherine. She fears she may have been murdered or kidnapped. Could she possible have left with the ghost? Kate, our present day protagonist, asks her mother about these ancestors, and it turns out there is also a journal kept by Catherine that was passed down with the letter. Kate now has the diary of her ancestor, Catherine Lacey.
Kate reads all of this and is captivated. She is determined to leave her home in Australia and go to Lacey Hall in England and see if she can find out what happened to her ancestor, Catherine. Kate is now full of purpose, excitement and energy. This is the background and set up for the adventure, love interests and terrifying events that Kate will experience in the here and now at Lacey Hall.
As Kate rereads the diary, in England, looking for clues, you are transported back into the past, to 1879, and begin to live in Catherine’s mind and understand what she is going through. Lacey Hall is known for its Ghost Rider, who is the first Sir Giles Lacey, a narcissistic man who won Lacey Hall in a card game in 1676. He then unscrupulously usurped additional land from the neighboring farmers to make a lake. It was said he was murdered by some of the angry farmers and drowned in the lake. His ghost rides each night and disappears into the lake. Catherine, depressed and heartbroken with her life, begins to see the Ghost Rider. From her diary, we realize the ghost is real to her, and she falls in love with him. One day, Catherine disappears. Her last entry in her diary is that she has made the final decision and is running away with the Ghost Rider. Her sister, Sophia, was the last person to see her.
The present day characters that populate Lacey Hall are wonderful. The younger Lacey brother, Lyle, is charming, flirtatious and flighty. He takes an interest in Kate. The older brother, Charles, the present day heir, is stormy and handsome and brings Heathcliff to mind. He runs the estate responsibly and is impassioned with gardening and creating the wildflower meadow. Attractions begin to simmer. Both brothers find Kate’s connection to the history of their home and family intriguing and she comes to live at the hall as a guest.
The Hall is opened to the public at certain hours and also boasts gardens, a tea house, the beautiful Damselfly Meadow and the Old Widcombe Woods, which Kate is warned many times to stay away from. The twins, Celia and Delia, work at the tea house and they are such unnerving characters, odd and oddly friendly in a peculiar way. There is the house manager, Mrs. Casey, elegant and elusive, but friendly to Kate. And there is the gentle, sensitive gardener and assistant to Charles, Raymond Forrest, who is socially awkward and has met with much rejection in his life. Charles has become his friend and protector.
Will Kate discover what happened to her four times great-aunt, Catherine? Much intrigue begins to unfold. There are family secrets, hidden corridors, and mysterious locations on the estate. What is being hidden? Who knows what, it is hard to tell, amongst the many people that Kate finds herself surrounded with. Each time she seems to get closer to an answer, she meets with an accident and injury. Is her life in danger?
This ghost story is filled with everything you could want in a ghostly tale….eerie descriptions, strange occurrences, beautiful settings, attractive men, and a beautiful and intelligent, though reckless female protagonist. There is romance, secret family histories, parallel histories, paranormal events, and yes, ghosts! The ending will really take you by surprise. I very much enjoyed my visit to Lacey Hall.
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From the Publisher
Absolutely loved this intriguing, facinating ghost story - Pauline Reid, Reviewer
About the author
The Ghost Rider is a modern love story with roots into the past
Is The Ghost Rider a ghost story, a love story or perhaps both? This story has its beginnings in 1879 England and spans generations. The Prologue is ominous in setting the tone of this unusual love story. What if????The Ghost Rider is a modern love story with roots into the past, transcending generations and bringing to mind other great love stories… those by Jane Austen easily come to mind except this one has a ghost or two. I was fully immersed into the story with the first chapter. Just like her other books, Read sets the tone drawing you in with descriptive passages of surroundings, architecture, paintings, furniture music and nature. This is her literary trademark which I have come to expect and enjoy.The characters are well defined and memorable, especially the twins. Catherine is strong and intuitive. Charles comes off standoffish at first but I liked him right away. Raymond! Loved Raymond. Nevaeh…easily the one I loved to hate. Then there’s Lady, a Golden Retriever! All in all, a well rounded cast of characters.Everything played out as I read. I had my suspicions and I had my fingers crossed. I consider myself pretty good at figuring out the how and the why; but I didn’t see this ending playing out like it did. One more thing; do not skip the Author’s Note at the end.A Ghostly Love Story ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️The Ghost Rider does contain some psychological and sexual abuse scenes. These are vital to the story and are not explicit. May be appropriate for the mature YA reader 16 and up.
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