Blackthorn

📖 Blackthorn by J.T. Geissinger Rating 4.75/5

Maven Blackthorn returns to her hometown for her grandmother's funeral and finds that the body has vanished. Suspicion quickly falls on the Croft family, longtime rivals of the Blackthorns. That puts Maven back in the path of Ronan Croft, her first love and the son of the man suspected in her mother's death.

The book works best as gothic suspense. Family grudges, occult details, dark magic, and a deeply unreliable sense of reality keep the central mystery unsettled. Maven and Ronan have convincing history, so their hostility and attraction feel rooted in old hurt instead of a convenient romance setup.

The final section delivers several revelations in quick succession. That rush is exciting, though some twists could use extra room to land. The content is also much darker than the playful banter may suggest, with graphic sexual material, violence, horror, and disturbing family secrets.

Readers looking for a standalone gothic romance with enemies-to-lovers tension, psychological suspense, and a intentionally disorienting ending should find it compelling.

Published by LiteraryLure.