The House on Tradd Street
By Karen White
(NAL Trade, Paperback, 9780451225092, November 2008, 352pp.)

The Short of It:

Full of Southern charm but sadly, the story never grabbed me.

The Rest of It:

Melanie Middleton sells houses. Old houses. But she doesn’t really like them and can’t understand why anyone would ever want to restore one. This becomes a bit of a problem when an old man leaves his home to her with a slew of conditions that must be met. She has to live in the house for year, restore it and only then can she sell it.

Well, you know where this going, right?

It’s haunted and Melanie has, how can I say it…a special talent.

I know that Karen White has a huge following and really, there were parts of this novel that I liked quite a bit. I adored the parts about the house and I grew to like Melanie quite a bit, but in the end it was too much of a good thing. There’s romance. Actually, quite a bit of it and as charming as Jack Trenholm is, the whole relationship was formulaic (think, woman in peril).

Plus, it took way too long to set-up.

Having said this, I took a peek at the other books in the series as this is only book one and I have to tell you that book two looks to be a bit more my style. Everything is more established, the newness of the romance is gone and the story looks pretty good.

Would I give Karen White another shot? Yes, but I prefer a story with a little less romance and a bit more meat on its bones and frankly, more about the house and its inhabitants.

Source: Borrowed
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