COUNTENANCE is a suspenseful yet heartfelt story full of intrigue and unexpected revelations, where magic is made in the kitchen and angels can fall in love.
Memorable characters inhabit a home that is more than it seems. Together, they unwittingly prepare for a final showdown where forces battle. The souls of both those who reside there and the dead who cannot move on to the next realm are at stake.
Thirty-eight-year-old Nealey Monaghan’s life is turned upside-down by unbearable tragedy. One night her sister’s estranged ex-husband kills nearly everyone she loves in one fell swoop. Numb to the world, Nealey turns to her charmingly eccentric Aunt Sylvie. Cookbook author and proprietress of the Playhouse Inn Bed and Breakfast in the hills of Tennessee Sylvie Walcott’s heart offers solace to Nealey’s.
Hoping to help her niece find purpose and meaning in her life again, Sylvie makes Nealey a co-owner. Then begins teaching her the tricks of the trade…and the secrets of the house. Nealey, like her aunt, becomes attached to the ghost relatives who have lived there since they were murdered in 1889, Unbeknownst to all, there is a common thread running through their veins, and a deep secret that is dying to come out.
COUNTENANCE, full of history, hospitality and romance was a breakthrough novel for others to come.
Featured in a recent review at Daily Review — Linda Pirtle and at Cardinal Bluff Reviews.