Review: Traces (Ghosts of Roseville #1) by Betty Bolte

Meredith Reed, a forty-year-old architect turned demolition expert, desperately searches for the means to bury her grief. When she inherits her family’s historic plantation home in Tennessee, she decides to start anew by razing the antebellum house and replacing it with a memorial garden. A plan met with outrage from her family and her grandmother's estate lawyer.

James Maximillian “Max” Chandler needs two things to complete his life plan: become a senior partner and find his soul mate. He's been promised a promotion once his proposed legislation to protect all of the county’s historic properties is approved. The wife part he finds more challenging, having never met the right woman in all of his forty-six years. If only the talented and attractive Meredith weren’t so aloof toward him and didn’t want to destroy the very property he’s grown to cherish.

Meanwhile, Meredith's estranged sister moves in and refuses to leave. The memories of their childhood spent there causes turmoil between them. And while Meredith struggles to reconcile her past and her future, she learns a lesson from the spectral Lady in Blue that may save both her family and the family home from destruction.

Paperback, 352 pages

Published July 30th 2014 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Kristine's Thoughts:

I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled a bit with this book. From the synopsis I was excited and expecting part romance and part ghost story but it didn't quite take me there.

The characters in this book were really hard to like. In fact, I could not stand Meredith and Max wasn't much better. I understand that Meredith was dealing with the loss of her husband but I found I couldn't even feel sorry for her because she was so unlikeable. She was too selfish, immature and rude most of the time that there was no redeeming herself as far as I was concerned. Max was just kind of dull and I couldn't understand his attraction to Meredith with the way that she treated him. I found their whole relationship awkward.

The relationship and story surrounding Meredith and her sister was a train wreck for lack of better words. The reasons for their alienation didn't fly with me and could not account for the extreme resentment found in the pages. I found it really hard to swallow that two sisters in their forties would actually resort to a physical altercation for any reason and particularly the reasons that were laid out in this story. I think I would have preferred if the sister was completely cut out of the story because it irritated me that much.

The "Lady in Blue" was the part of the plot that I was most excited to read about. I was anxious to know the secrets of the past and why it seemed that her spirit was stuck inside the house. Again, it didn't quite take me there. Her visits to Meredith were too infrequent and her story was extremely underdeveloped. I was hoping that I would hear her story and that the pages would take me into the past to get to know her but that didn't happen. Instead a few letters were read about her disappearance and there was a lot of guessing and speculation. There were no hard facts as to how Meredith discovered what really happened to her and it was very anti-climatic.

The story idea is good one but I feel like the characters need some revamping and the ghost aspect needs some development in order for it to translate onto the page.

About the Author

Betty Bolte, historical and paranormal romance author, writes stories featuring strong, loving women and brave, compassionate men, with a touch of paranormal.

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