Kindred Spirits at Harling Hall

By Sharon Booth

What it’s about?

Can Callie give some needy ghosts their happy-ever-afterlife, while making Rowan Vale her own forever home?

When single mum Callie visits Rowan Vale with her daughter, she is enchanted. The beautiful Cotswold village is run as a living museum, allowing tourists to see history in action. But there’s more to the place than meets the eye…

To the residents’ surprise, Callie is observed talking to several villagers she simply shouldn’t be able to see – as they’re ghosts.

The elderly owner of the village, Sir Lawrence Davenport, then makes an astonishing offer: to sell Callie the whole estate for a tiny sum, if she agrees to protect the village’s present tenants and its headstrong spirits.

With a spectral lord of the manor and his imperious wife, a naughty 1940s schoolgirl and William Shakespeare’s former tutor among them, it seems Callie’s role as owner wouldn’t be easy.

And that’s without the added complication of Sir Lawrence’s disinherited grandson, the gorgeous Brodie.

Rowan Vale and Callie may need each other. But is this a match made in heaven or hell?

Fans of the BBC’s Ghosts, or books by Lucy Jane Wood, Laurie Gilmore and Heidi Swain will love this heart-warming and magical novel.

What I think:

Ghost stories aren’t normally my thing, but I thought this sounded fun so decided to jump in. And I am so glad I did. I really enjoyed this coat romance with ghosts.

Callie accompanies her daughter on a school trip to Rowan Vale, a living village in the Cotswold. The village is beautiful and unbeknownst to most of the visitors, full of ghosts from different eras.

Sir Lawrence Davenport, owner of the village,  is ready to retire and pass Rowan Vale and it’s spooky residents on to the next generation. The new owner has to be able to see the ghosts which rules out Davenport’s gorgeous grandson Brodie.

Callie agrees to take on the task of running Rowan Vale and moves into Harling Hall with her daughter Immy. But once she moves in it is clear that she has no idea exactly what she has got herself into.

As well as the estate and villagers, she has to get to know the ghostly residents – some of whom are not very impressed by her. There’s also the matter of the spark between her and Brodie.

This is such a fun and warm-hearted read. The ghost have their own tales to tell. The children are particularly poignant reminders of the tragedies of war and loss of young lives. I loved that even the ghosts could find families and a measure of contentment.

This is a really fun start to a promising series. And despite not being my normal genre, I will definitely be looking out for future books as there are a lot more stories to tell in Rowan Vale.

Thank you to Boldwood Books for my gifted digital copy of Kindred Spirits at Harling Hall, and to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be a part of this spooky blog tour.

About the author:

Sharon Booth writes feel-good stories set in quirky villages and market towns, including the Tuppenny Bridge series. Sharon writes cosy romances with a magical twist for Boldwood. She lives with her husband in East Yorkshire, England.