Books › Haunted
Haunted
First published 1990 · 192 pages
A tense, atmospheric romance where the ghosts of a passionate, possessive past collide with a brooding new desire.
What it feels like
Reading this vintage romance feels like stepping into a beautifully shadowy, emotionally charged dreamscape. The narrative moves at a brisk, breathless pace, driven entirely by the protagonist's internal turmoil and the suffocating weight of her grief. Set against the tranquil yet isolating backdrop of the French Loire Valley, the atmosphere is thick with tension, blending the melodramatic intensity of a classic category romance with the brooding, suspenseful undertones of a gothic novel. The prose is earnest and highly emotive, capturing the dizzying sensation of being trapped between a haunting past and a deeply unsettling present. It is a perfect escape for readers who love their romances steeped in angst, possessive shadows, and the slow, dramatic unraveling of long-held secrets.
- Mood
- somber
- atmospheric
- tense
- shadowy
- Tone
- melodramatic
- intense
- brooding
- earnest
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- grief and mourning · possessive love · shadows of the past · emotional awakening
- The writing
- Emotionally charged and highly dramatic, the prose leans heavily into breathless internal monologues and atmospheric descriptions of the French countryside.
- The arc
- The protagonist journeys from a state of suffocating grief and haunting memories into a tense, passionate awakening that finally allows her to let go of the past.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave vintage, high-angst romance with gothic undertones, brooding heroes, and intense emotional turmoil.
Content notes
- grief
- toxic past relationship
- possessive behavior
About the book
Elizabeth had been wildly in love with Damian Hayes, but his jealously had been too much for her and two years ago they had parted. And now she had heard that he was dead. It was a dreadful blow, and in an attempt to try and exorcise some of the grief, Elizabeth went back to France, to the peaceful Loire Valley where they had once been so happy – but found instead that she was haunted by the memory of him as never before. Why, with the feeling that somehow Damian was still near her, was she so disturbed by his friend Yves de Lavalle...?
Description from Open Library.
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