Maddy is staying with her Gran in a cramped flat after leaving an abusive relationship. She is an author with one book already published, but is struggling to get on with its follow up. Her best friend Stella spots an advert for a caretaker for a large house in Cumbria. The house is rundown and needs a lot of work, the owners want someone to move in whilst the builders get on with renovations. Maddy thinks its ideal for her and will jumpstart her writing. Needless to say that when she arrives the builders have been delayed elsewhere and she is left to live alone in the crumbling pile in the middle of nowhere with a patchy telephone signal. What could possibly go wrong?

Even with all the inconsistencies and poor characters (Stella, why?), I was enjoying the book. Particularly liked Glenys and thought more could have been made of her character rather than wasting time on Stella, and the setting was perfect. The house sounded ideal for a haunting, but I was left not knowing if it was a coincidence of dreams or haunting or actual human interference.

However the ending. What! All over in a flash, no explanation given for what made the killer tick, no idea why Maddy was not targeted, especially as the killer needed the house to be empty so the bodies could continue to be dumped there without being discovered. After all the trauma of being attacked, fighting off the killer, being hospitalised and generally traumatised, just for them all to sit down with fairy cakes and tea was laughable.

An enjoyable book totally spoilt by a poor ending.

2.5* rounded up to 3*

Thank you NetGalley.

I’ve enjoyed previous novels by the author and this one sounded right up my alley. Maddy published a successful book, but is suffering from writer’s block and can’t even start the sequel. She also just broke up with a psycho, so moving to a secluded, crumbling mansion in the middle of nowhere sounds like a great idea. The titular Lakeview House is fantastically rendered, as well as the lake and rundown gardens that surround it. I liked the supporting characters, and was rooting for Maddy. That said, I was disappointed. Her best friend and everything relating to her seemed to me like a waste of chapters. I didn’t like her at all, especially compared to the other secondary female character; and her whole subplot didn’t make much sense. The other side story, starring Maddy’s ex, didn’t work for me either. Dreams that could have been glimpses into the past weren’t properly explained in my opinion, and I wish that the story would have stuck more to the main issue of whether the house was haunted, or if there was a more pedestrian explanation. That was my favorite part, but the rest didn’t work for me.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Bookouture!

This was an interesting enough read, two killers, two budding romances though they felt a bit overdone, a haunted house with history and some quirky characters. A quick read,, somewhat predictable but pretty good

#LakeViewHouse #NetGalley
A FUN read.
Maddy wants to concentrate on her writing, she wants to finish her book and therefore in order to do so she happily accepted the job of a live in caretaker at a gorgeous lake house but soon strange things starts to happen, hearing cracking sounds, the radio sounds, feeling someone's presence. More sinister is that she feels familiar here and then one day she finds a dress on her doorstep. Did she do a mistake coming here? Is her ex warning her? Or the house is holding some sinister things? This was a fun read. I love reading creepy stories but parts of it were similar to The Cottage by Lisa Stone and Do Not Disturb by Claire Douglas. I didn't like the romance part and the ending was ok for me. It could be written more brilliantly.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an advance copy.

A great read. well written with a gripping storyline and a good cast of well developed characters. The story was suspenseful and mysterious with a good level of intrigue and unpredictability taht kept me guessing. I really enjoyed it.

Good book! Wow got the chills quite a few times in this one! N this book had plenty of suspense, intrigue, murder, a serial killer and sort of ghosts!! Lol it was a great read! I definitely recommend reading this book! It was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Thank you so much Netgalley, Bookouture, and Helen Phifer for my gifted copy!

Synopsis:
All Maddy wanted was some peace and quiet to finally be able to finish her second book - and to get away from her abusive ex-boyfriend. So when she arrives at the creepy but beautiful Lakeview House, everything seems perfect. But somebody's trying to scare her - and they are closer than she thinks...

My thoughts?
The thriller part of this book really kept my interest and I enjoyed having a ghost story thrown in there. I really liked the creepy vibes and the atmospheric style of writing. However, I guessed the ending pretty early on, and I could've done without that cheesy romance kind of stuff. But if you're into that, you will absolutely love this book!

Parts of this book reminded me of:
- Do Not Disturb by Claire Douglas
- Single Mother by Samantha Hayes

This was my first book by this author.

What a book. I was gripped from the very beginning. The characters the storyline everything was just really gripping and that ending just wow.

Maddy jumped headfirst into a new job as caretaker of crumbling old estate by the side of a lake. The old house is unsettling and Maddy is puzzled by the feeling of familiarity she feels for a building she’e never been in before. Strange occurrences and things that go bump in the night combine to convince Maddy that the past she’s been running from has caught up with her, it’s either that or believe that something inside Lakeview House has awoken…..