The Château by Karen Aldous

Name: The Chateau
Author: Karen Aldous
Format: ebook
Pages: xx pages
Release date: 21st August 2014
Publisher: Carina UK

Teaser

Can young hearts ease a restless spirit?

On the shores of stunning Lake Geneva, Gina Remy is celebrating her brother’s wedding – when the figure of a woman appears hovering above the water, beckoning to her. Ghostly visitations do not happen to Gina - a self-confessed control freak with her own successful property business, she prides herself on being level-headed. But as she is tormented by dreams and visions, her perfect life begins to unravel, and she knows she needs to help this ghost find peace if she’s to get any of her own!

Enter Ollie Martin, an Anglo-Swiss property developer who’s sexy as hell and knows it. His arrogance annoys Gina, but he’s the only one who will take her seriously… and the closer they come to understanding the quest the ghost has set for them, the closer they get to one another…
 

My thoughts

I kindly received The Château in exchange of an honest review by the author via NetGalley.

Since starting up her new business about the property market in London Gina Remy hadn’t much of a chance to see her Family lately. Therefor she is more than happy to attend her brother's wedding at Lake Geneva. Ginas's parents came out to Switzerland while she was at Univerity. When the figure of a woman appears hovering above the water, Gina's world turns upside down. From now on Gina is haunted by nightmares every night. She was sure this woman was seeking some kind of help. Was this woman trying to get her understand something? That could be the only explanation otherwise why did she keep coming back? It could only be some kind of spirit trying to tell her something. She needs to help this ghost find peace if she’s to get any of her own but who could she turn to, or trust to? Not only did Ollie Martin appear at the right time when Gina's relationship was, bit by bit, falling apart, but he turned out to be the only person who she felt she could talk to about what she'd seen, without being laughed at. We are following Gina and Ollie as they trying to put the piece together to solve the mystery. Are they on the right path?

Karen Aldous is a new author to me, but The Château has put her firmly on my list of authors whose books I have to read and keep track of, because it was simply amazing.  It is a perfect mix of everything that I look in a book: love, drama, humour, suspense, it has brilliant characters and very original plot. It keeps you guessing, it makes you fall in love or hate the characters, it makes you root for them. Gina, a very loveable character with bags of confidence and personality, a big heart and successfully independent. For Gina, Ollie was rather presumptuous and arrogant at times he did seem nice and find her quickly  drawn to Ollie while trying to figure out what is going on with the nightmares. Gina could feel a genuine connection to him. A deep feeling that came from the heart rather than from the head. I loved Ollie and how cheeky he was. The chemistry nearly exploded between them. I enjoyed that the plot was not only focused on the ghost of Agnes-Francescia. It's good a change to follow Gina's life in London and how she supported her mother in a difficult time. I loved how the story developed, I loved waiting for the situations to be explained and I couldn’t wait to know if Gina and Ollie resolves the mystery. It was hard for me to put the book down. The ending left me very contend, I couldn’t wish for a better one. As much as the book was about very serious issues and had some very heart wrenching moments, it was written with a lot of humour and easy to follow. This novel is a great combination of romance, mystery and the paranormal.