Beyond the Sea
by L.H. Cosway
A Gothic Romance set in modern times
Released – June 9th 2020
Available now!
Amazon | Paperback
Blurb
On a lonely cliff beside the vast blue sea there is a house.
In the house there lives a girl, and in the girl there lives a dream.
Soon she’ll be as free as the fishes that swim beneath the water. But until then she bides her time and lives quietly, her every move ruled over by an uncaring, heartless stepmother.
The hope for freedom is all she has to hold onto. So close she can almost taste it. But when her stepmother’s estranged younger brother comes to stay, he presents a mystery that lures her in.
The girl doesn’t understand that beneath the allure of the unknown sometimes all we find are horrors. And in searching for the truth, her heart is in danger of falling like a rock to the bottom of the deep dark sea.
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Review
5 stars!
After her father’s passing, Estella is left with her cruel stepmother and living the life of a modern day Cinderella. She has hopes of leaving but she must finish school first if she wants access to the inheritance she’s been promised. Until then, she’s biding her time and doing what is asked of her. However, when her stepmother’s younger brother comes for a visi, things start to change. Nobody could have known the affect Estella and Noah would have on each other, least of all them.
“I planned for everything, but I didn’t plan for you.”
I was blown away by this book. It drew me in and before I knew it, I was completely hooked. It’s different than what I expected from this author and I loved this change of pace. The whole story is so well done. The emotion is powerful, the plot is original, and the love is believable. The characters made me feel so much and I was invested in them and their romance. Honestly, it consumed me and it still has me in its clutches.
Estella is a such a good girl but even she isn’t perfect and her imperfections make her a believable character. She tries to be the best she can, holding on to her strong faith but she still has darkness that seeps in. She is trying to make it to the end of school and is merely existing. It’s not until Noah enters her life that she really starts living. There is something about him that draws her in. He is mysterious, intriguing, and makes her think in new ways. He is the black sheep of the family and has his reasons for being back, but he doesn’t expect Estella and she has a greater impact on him then he could have imagined.
Noah and Estella have a connection and I felt if from their first meeting. There is a push and pull that is believable and the tension crackles around them when they are together. Even when they try to stay away from each other, they can’t seem to do it.
I was an outlier. Something he hadn’t planned for.
Despite this separation, the tension mounted between us. Each day it thickened and evolved. Whenever we were in the same room, there were so many words left unspoken. I felt them drift on the air, like little ticking time bombs waiting to explode.
Even with all of the tension, chemistry, and attraction between them, it is a slow burn romance. Estella and Noah take their time and let their friendship grow so that when they actually come together, it’s beautiful and solid. Yet, they have much to face and it is heartbreaking. The emotion pulled at my heart and I hurt for them. I felt their pain and tragedy and just wanted to take it all away.
“If I pit my demons against yours, will they obliterate each other so we can both finally be free?”
Both Estella and Noah are well developed characters. They are complicated and emotional making them endearing, relatable, and real. They challenge each other and I love that their differences don’t break their connection. They accept each other no matter what and that they don’t give up on each other.
It’s not just Estella and Noah that made this story so good, it’s everything. There are all kinds of surprises and nothing is as it seems. The minute you think you figured something out, something new develops and you are left questing everything again. You realize there is always more than one side to every story. Good guys and bad guys, and everyone in between play a role and your jaw will drop with certain discoveries.
There’s more darkness than light in this story, and I like the depth that’s shown in the characters as well as the plot and flow of the book. The pacing is done in a way that lets the anticipation of what is to come grow. It’s mysterious and captivating, I was desperate to discover the truths and I couldn’t put it down. I had my theories and though some of them were right, I was on the edge of my seat until the very end. The epilogue is the perfect ending to the story and a much needed happily-ever-after for these two wonderful characters.
“You’re not a mistake. You could never be a mistake because you’re mine. We were always meant to find each other.”
Overall, Beyond the Sea is a tragic but beautiful love story of two broken souls who find each other when they least expect it. It pulled at my heartstrings and still hasn’t let me go. I loved it!!
*ARC generously provided by the author*
Check out our L.H. Cosway AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT for more amazing reads!