Books

Charlotte's Story

  • Jan 19, 2021
  • Laura Benedict
  • 619 responses.

Charlotte s Story The fall of in southern Virginia was a seemingly idyllic even prosperous time A young housewife Charlotte Bliss lives with her husband Hasbrouck Preston Press Bliss and their two young child

  • Title: Charlotte's Story
  • Author: Laura Benedict
  • ISBN: 9781605988788
  • Page: 413
  • Format: Hardcover

    • The fall of 1957 in southern Virginia was a seemingly idyllic, even prosperous time A young housewife, Charlotte Bliss, lives with her husband, Hasbrouck Preston Press Bliss, and their two young children, Eva Grace and Michael, in the gorgeous Bliss family home On the surface, theirs seems a calm, picturesque life, but soon tragedy befalls them four tragic deaths, witThe fall of 1957 in southern Virginia was a seemingly idyllic, even prosperous time A young housewife, Charlotte Bliss, lives with her husband, Hasbrouck Preston Press Bliss, and their two young children, Eva Grace and Michael, in the gorgeous Bliss family home On the surface, theirs seems a calm, picturesque life, but soon tragedy befalls them four tragic deaths, with apparently simple explanations.But nothing is simple if Bliss House is involved How far will Charlotte go to discover the truth And how far will she get without knowing who her real enemy is Though Bliss House may promise to give its inhabitants what they want, it never gives them exactly what they expect.

    • Charlotte's Story Best Read || [Laura Benedict]
      413 Laura Benedict
    Charlotte's Story

    About "Laura Benedict"

    1. Laura Benedict

      Laura Benedict is the Edgar and ITW Thriller Award nominated author of seven novels of suspense, including the forthcoming The Stranger Inside February 2019 Small Town Trouble, her latest book, is a cozy crime novel Her Bliss House gothic trilogy includes The Abandoned Heart, Charlotte s Story Booklist starred review , and Bliss House Her short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine, and in numerous anthologies like Thrillers 100 Must Reads, The Lineup 20 Provocative Women Writers, and St Louis Noir A native of Cincinnati, she lives in Southern Illinois with her family Visit her at laurabenedict.

    619 Comments

    1. I think what makes this book so splendid is the fact that it all seem so normal, the house the family And, then people start to die and suddenly nothing is normal any This is not a ghost story with an old creepy house with creepy people This is a happy family, and then something happens that starts everything and suddenly the normal life doesn t seem that normal longer And, slowly the house doesn t seem that idyllic any I found the book is especially good because of the slow introduction of the [...]

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    2. 3 stars I liked the book.I m reading the Bliss House novels backwards which, ironically, is the correct chronological order I liked this installment, but not as much as The Abandoned Heart A Bliss House Novel This one was slow and repetitive, and all the horror elements seemed very rushed at the end If I hadn t read the first well, third book before this one, I d likely have been confused about what was going on.Still, I enjoy Bliss House s history, and appreciate the female centric voices of th [...]

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    3. Charlotte Bliss has everything a loving husband, two perfect children, and a generations old house filled with light and space But everything comes crashing down around Charlotte on the day her daughter dies Charlotte had been alone in the house with the children, sleeping off an afternoon of champagne, when Eva drowned in the bathtub She knows it was her fault She knows if she hadn t indulged that afternoon Eva would still be alive Her husband, Press, says he doesn t blame her but in the days a [...]

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    4. Laura s books are the type that are best read in broad daylight with a good and comforting cup of tea And each time I think she can t possibly impress me than she did the last time, she surprises me.If you ever met the author, you can t imagine that dark and twisted things that come out of her mind That s why she surprises She seems like a Midwestern soccer mom, but don t let the great smile and kind heart fool you, she s a master of writing haunting tales that leave you wondering how much of w [...]

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    5. This was a difficult book for me to review because of possibly revealing too much I don t want to spoil it for future readers Randolph Bliss had built Bliss house in 1870 It was unlike the other grand houses in the area, having both a ballroom and a full theater on the third floor It was a house that seemed to show preference for stateliness than comfort The house was tall and ungainly, but had a touch of romance to it, with its formal and lush gardens Bliss house had a reputation for unnatural [...]

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    6. We received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via TLC Book Tours Horror Ish Actually, seeing that tagline almost had me inching away Whenever I ve seen that warning the gore, sex, and violence is gratuitous, and this book was soooo not that But, I did find it was an excellent mystery There were paranormal elements that punched through Charlotte s daily life and some heinous deeds did happen, but the horror elements weren t in such detail that it would gross anyone out I actual [...]

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    7. Charlotte s Story is a book that you shouldn t judge by its cover At first glance you might think this is a family saga, perhaps some light reading If you go by the blurb, you still might not get the whole gist of this story It is anything but light reading.Charlotte loses her mother in law and then her daughter and then two other people that were friends of her best friend Rachel There s a lot of depressing stuff here, but that s what makes it a great gothic style read, especially as there are [...]

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    8. I was eagerly awaiting this prequel to Bliss House I love a good house story When I discovered that this delved deeper into the earlier residents of Bliss House, I loved the idea and having just finished it I discovered that there is another prequel coming next year as well What a fascinating idea to tell the story of a particular house, its biography, backwards while never losing sight of what happened most recently Again I had strong emotional reactions to almost all of the characters Those fe [...]

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    9. I absolutely thought this book was amazing It was even better than the first in the series I kept feeling the heat slowly turn up every chapter It was incredibly dark and so not the normal book I read but it sneaks up on you Get ready for a creepy ride

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    12. 2.5 stars Charlotte s Story is the second book in the series The story actually takes place before the events of Bliss House In this installment, Charlotte has married into the Bliss family Soon after her mother in law Olivia dies, her young daughter Eva dies tragically Lost in her grief, Charlotte begins to see Olivia and Eva in the house Olivia begins to show her events that happened years before Charlotte begins to suspect she and her son Michael aren t safe.I can t say that I liked this one [...]

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    13. I read Bliss House, and liked it better Charlotte s Story was disappointing for me because I wanted paranormal activity regarding the house itself Orgies, cruelty, and murder do not constitute a good haunted house story unless the main characters are interesting and believable For instance, Charlotte s husband did not work, even though he was a lawyer, nor did Charlotte question any of his activities, namely his theater group or his long absences from home on any given day Most wives who are i [...]

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    14. A rare accomplishment, a novel that works as a mystery, a ghost story, and a touching family drama Many reviews give a complete overview of this novel, but I thought the above quote gave a synopsis I couldn t compete with A compelling drama that reveals of the mystery that is Bliss House Thanks to Pegasus Books for the opportunity to read review the Bliss House Triology

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    15. Charlotte s Story by Laura BenedictBliss House Series Book 23 StarsFrom The Book The fall of 1957 in southern Virginia was a seemingly idyllic, even prosperous time A young housewife, Charlotte Bliss, lives with her husband, Hasbrouck Preston Press Bliss, and their two young children, Eva Grace and Michael, in the gorgeous Bliss family home On the surface, theirs seems a calm, picturesque life, but soon tragedy befalls them four tragic deaths, with apparently simple explanations But nothing is s [...]

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    16. Another story about the sordid past of Bliss House, this one the story of Charlotte, the biological grandmother of Rainey from Bliss House Laura Benedict is a wonderful story teller I don t know whether I wish there were a story from Michael s perspective about his life and the house, or whether I m glad there isn t one I m looking forward to reading The Abandoned Heart, about the original builders and inhabitants of Bliss House Each dark story is almost haunting than the previous one.

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    17. Good writing enjoyed the character and setting development I did not like how the books are out of order, but that would be too predictable I did not like the sexual violence and children s death.

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    18. I enjoyed reading Bliss House so much, but this book left me a bit disappointed Everything was somewhat predictable, like I had read it before It s not a waste of time by any means, especially if you intend on reading all of the Bliss House novels.

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    19. I enjoyed Bliss House but was disappointed with Charlotte s Story Bliss House kept me on edge but Charlotte s Story was not as creepy Instead, it was full of twists that were just weird I will read the third book with hope that it is comparable to Bliss House.

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    21. There were some creepy parts in this story, interesting characters The only trouble I had was the ending, I felt it was rushed and the Epilogue I felt really did not need to be there.

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    22. book show 2Charlotte s StoryA Bliss House Novel, Book 2By Laura BenedictISBN 9781605988788Author s website LaurabenedictBrought to you by OBS Reviewer DanieleSynopsis The fall of 1957 in southern Virginia was a seemingly idyllic, even prosperous time A young housewife, Charlotte Bliss, lives with her husband, Hasbrouck Preston Press Bliss, and their two young children, Eva Grace and Michael, in the gorgeous Bliss family home On the surface, theirs seems a calm, picturesque life, but soon tragedy [...]

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    23. Summary from The fall of 1957 in southern Virginia was a seemingly idyllic, even prosperous time A young housewife, Charlotte Bliss, lives with her husband, Hasbrouck Preston Press Bliss, and their two young children, Eva Grace and Michael, in the gorgeous Bliss family home On the surface, theirs seems a calm, picturesque life, but soon tragedy befalls them four tragic deaths, with apparently simple explanations.But nothing is simple if Bliss House is involved How far will Charlotte go to discov [...]

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    24. There are many things I do not understand about this book But let me begin by saying that the book was haunting and captivating I could not put it down I read it in 7 hours during the day in between taking care of kids, making dinner, etc I couldn t stop reading it When I finished I felt like time had stopped Right then and there I was ready to give it five stars But I always feel overly connected to a book that I actually get to finish, so I knew to just wait and let the story sink in I had som [...]

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    25. Charlotte s Story by Laura BenedictBliss House is a palatial estate nestled into the farmland and orchards of Old Gate, Virginia The home was built in 1878 it is the home of the Bliss Family And the house is definitely haunted Into this world and this family comes Charlotte, wife of the current master of Bliss house, Preston Bliss The home s tragic past was explored in the novel Bliss House by the same author The home isn t just simply haunted The house is dangerous Already Preston s mother Oliv [...]

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    26. Another suspenseful mystery from Laura Benedict Charlotte s Story, the second novel in the Bliss House series, answered many questions that I had from the first novel The first novel partly covered Charlotte s sons as grown men I wondered why the brothers acted they way they did No spoilers Read Bliss House Charlotte s story goes back in time to the 50 s when Charlotte s children are very young The story provides a background of some of the key characters, such as Charlotte s husband and son, Mi [...]

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    27. This is a story of a normal family mother, father, and two children living in a big mansion in the fictional Old Gate, Virginia and how their lives unravel and become all twisted up by evil, death, and mysterious events The opening line of the novel foretells and warns the reader of events to come We came to the end of time on a bright October afternoon I found it foreboding and continued reading until I finished the book and I will admit that the ending did surprise and shock me a bit I will re [...]

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    28. WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW I went into this story knowing I would love it I loved Bliss House and everything else I ve read of Benedict s But I had no idea just how much I was going to love it, how drawn in I would be unable to put it down Her ability to weave the supernatural into every book, and especially this one, is amazing You may never feel safe in an old house again When you get ready to read this, put aside the time you ll need because you will not put it down AND, leave the lights on You ll w [...]

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    29. I was excited to read this follow up story to Bliss House the first book in this series I found this book even interesting than the first The story does answer some questions that you may have had after reading the first book in the series It also leads you down an exciting path to even characters.I liked this story even than the first When I was told that this series is a Gothic ghost type story I was kinda cynical since I don t usually read much super natural type stuff However, to me I was [...]

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    30. Almost a modern day Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte is a 50 s housewife married to a rich husband with two beautiful children While sleeping one of the children comes to a tragic end Charlottefeels guilt for she was napping ehen th tragedy occurs She begins to see ghostly apparitions is it really in her head Very well written I love how the author tells about Charlotte s 21st year and the way one feels at 21.

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