Haunting Miss Trentwood

Written by Belinda Kroll

Narrated by Arielle Lipshaw

The first book in the Hesitant Mediums series

It it a truth universally acknowledged that father knows best, even after death, and especially about one's suitors.

For fans of Manners & Monsters, Scales & Sensibility, and Half a Soul

Resigned to spinsterhood in her English manor house, Mary Trentwood is horrified when her father’s ghost crawls from his grave, and struggles as he spouts opinion after opinion about the most mundane things.

Mistaking the newly-arrived and quietly handsome Alexander Hartwell as her father’s solicitor—for who else would interrupt her mourning?—Mary soon realizes her father is adding matchmaking to his repertoire. Neither Mary nor her father realize Hartwell hunts a blackmailer, and shouldn’t waste time seeking Mary’s smiles…

Haunting Miss Trentwood is a cozy Victorian fantasy featuring sweet romance, found family, and ridiculous comedy-of-manners fun.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bright Bird Press
• Release date: May 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9780983078678

Belinda Kroll

Belinda Kroll writes award-winning cozy Victorian fantasy and fiction, featuring mild romance and comedy-of-manners ridiculous fun. She is a user experience design professional, hobbyist photographer, and lindy hopper. She is obsessed with eyeglasses, Korean dramas, home renovation and cooking shows, and petting every dog that allows her to do so. She lives with her family in Ohio.

Reviews for Haunting Miss Trentwood

[Sam Ashish · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Got to chapter 5 and could not continue to listen to the narrator, yes she can read as we all can but to bring a book to life is something else, and thats whats missing, unfortunately I could not listen to the rest of it, perhaps with another narrator.

[kaitnolan_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a general rule, I don't like historicals. I mean, I love Jane Austen, but other than my annual re-reading of Pride and Prejudice, I don't seek them out. I admit to a prejudice against them from having gotten ahold of a few too many with ninnies for heroines. So I was REALLY pleasantly surprised when I read this book. The heroine is spunky and witty, the hero honorable with just the right amount of rough around the edges. And FUNNY, OMG, I laughed so much during this story! Love, love, love the ghost. The whole situation kept me in stitches. My only gripe was that the ending felt a wee bit rushed. I'd have preferred to see those last few scenes stretched out a bit longer just so I could enjoy it more. But all in all, a delightful read and a good choice for your To Read shelf.

[jenniferlane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Though I adored the movie Sense and Sensibility, I can’t proclaim to be a voracious reader of Jane Austen type books. However, I LOVED this Victorian ghost story!Taking place in 1887 in the English countryside, the story begins when 26 year-old Mary Trentwood watches her father’s ghost climb out of his freshly dug grave and begin to boss her around like he did in his living form. Not only is Mary dealing with this frightening predicament, but also the only family member she has to help her with the failing estate is her cold aunt Mrs. Durham.Soon after Mr. Trentwood’s death, Alexander Hartwell, a mysterious man with a scarred face and brusque personality, visits the estate. At first Mary believes he is her father’s dreaded solicitor but then it leaks out that Alexander is on a hunt for his sister’s blackmailer who is threatening the life of his young nephew. Might the blackmailer be living at the manor? Complicating factors is the arrival of Jasper Steele, a London hottie that Mary still swoons for despite her father’s clear disapproval.My favorite part of this story is the characterization. These characters feel very real, full of calculation and doubts and flaws and genuine emotion. Mary Trentwood is a plucky, independent, slightly off-kilter lass who’d be just as content to rescue the hero as be rescued herself. Belinda Kroll paces the budding relationship between Mary and Alexander just right, with Jasper’s butting in providing the perfect foil. It is such a wise choice to make Alexander scarred, and I enjoyed the intrigue of how he got the scar. Handsome yet caddish Jasper totally reminds me of one of my favorite characters from Sense and Sensibility: Willoughby. Mr. Trentwood starts off as a smug jerk but then it becomes clear how much he loves his daughter and is only trying to do what “father knows best”. Even the funny butler Pomeroy has depth.Because of the restrained playfulness of the dialogue, I didn’t realize the true danger from the blackmailer until the threat suddenly springs to the forefront of the story. I rarely figure out the bad guy ahead of time in mysteries, and this story kept me in appropriate suspense. This was a very fresh take on the familiar elements of paranormal phenomena, romantic triangles, and English society. Haunting Miss Trentwood kept me on my toes with a faint smile on my face. It is quite a pleasurable read!Because Belinda Kroll and I are both authors in Columbus, Ohio, I had the pleasure of meeting her and I was very impressed by her writing accomplishments at a relatively young age. I look forward to reading her future novels!

[ccourtland_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Haunting of Miss Trentwood is a gorgeously crafted Victorian novel through which Kroll creates a perfect gothic literary revival. Admittedly, the author suggests that upon completion she recognized the influence of Hamlet in the story. I also see other classical influences such as Bronte and Shirley Jackson. However, the most notable and flattering comparison I can draw is to The House of Seven Gables, by Nathanial Hawthorne because “The Haunting of Miss Trentwood” visits the archetypal theme of withdrawal and return. It explores isolation and redemption along with a person’s relationship to the past and determination to a future. It’s about escaping and embracing all that influences or paralyzes. This concept (theme) can be examined as it applies to each character, which is fascinating and would make for a lively literary analysis. Similarly, Kroll achieves the proper restraint evocative of the classical Victorian era while harmonizing it with just the right amount of shadowy eeriness necessary when portraying a haunting. The use of the dying house as a character as well as setting is specific and greatly important in this style of novel. Much like Jackson and other gothic authors, the home is often a breathing thing that isolates or separates characters. There is a definite elegance presented in the word choice and proves the painstaking effort the author took in committing to the voice of the story. The lead character, Mary, is vulnerable, but not overtly fragile. There is a feminist quality to her reactions and thoughts, which is evident in her finding a prince in need of rescuing.