Ellen is unhappy living with her hoity-toity mother in London, and does not actually want the man she's agreed to marry, so she runs off to live with her mother's estranged family in Ireland, where she learns some family secrets and falls in love with a man who's rumored to have murdered his wife. Meanwhile, said wife's ghost is hanging around, feeling jealous.

I feel kind of bad about the fact that I did not like this book. I got it through LibraryThing's SantaThing book exchange last year, and for this one my Secret Book Santa seems to have done exactly what I asked: sent me a book they really liked, rather than one they'd guess would closely match my own tastes. I've had a lot of success asking people for that in the past. It's a really nice way to expand one's reading horizons! But, of course, there is always the possibility that what you end up with is just not going to be your sort of thing. And, in this case... Well, I appreciate the thought and salute the attempt, but... Yeah. It's really, really not my sort of thing, and I tried, but I could not manage to like it.

The ghost story aspects were at least kind of interesting, as some of the story is narrated from the ghost's POV. I'm afraid I didn't much care for the writing, though. It's readable enough, I suppose, but not exactly what I'd call deft. And the love story was just terribly shallow and impossible for me to believe in. It genuinely seems to be based on nothing but the fact that they both have pretty faces, but it's somehow presented as a romance for the ages because... Well, because it just is. I mean, that's pretty much exactly the way it's explained. As for the family secrets, they're so incredibly obvious right from the beginning that it's genuinely puzzling to me how all the characters are apparently so shocked when they come out.

And I couldn't really dredge up much liking or respect for the main character, I'm afraid. From her cowardice in not dealing with her problems to her little acts of dishonesty, to the shallowness of her love affair, to her obliviousness to the blindingly obvious, to the fact that every time it's mentioned that she's actually thirty-three I felt startled all over again because she acts entirely like a sheltered twenty-year-old, very little about her appealed to me. And not really in an interesting way that sets her up for satisfying character growth by the end, either. ( )

Shortly before her wedding to a man she is not sure she really loves, Ellen Trawton flees her pampered life in London to stay with the Aunt she's never met. Set in a charming Irish seaside village, this book has all the ingredients of a fun summer read: a mysterious death, a husband under suspicion, an old castle, romance, ghosts, and buried family secrets. A quick and lively read. ( )

One of the few books I took my sweet time reading. It was good. I liked the mystery and the romance. I was able to ignore the few mistakes in the plot because they didn't influence the storytelling that much. ( )

Santa Montefiore is another author I have recently discovered. While I don’t usually grab a chick-lit genre it does have its appeal every so often. To be honest, I wouldn’t classify this book as chick-lit or a beach read……but as there was some predictable romance in it, it is surely a book that appeals to females.

The venue is Ireland and I loved it. Such descriptive writing and fleshing out of the characters – I could see Ellen, Caitlin, Aunt Peg and Connor. The scenery and people came alive and I wished I were sitting at The Pot of Gold having a Guinness with the Byrne clan. As you read on you’ll find plenty of surprises revealed about relationships, some a bit predictable but others you may not see coming.

Ellen Trawton is our main character. She doesn’t fit in with her family in London and decides to run off to Ireland to stay with her Aunt Peg, Thing is, she has never met her aunt and only knows about her because Peg sends holiday cards every year. Her stuffy, aristocratic mother tosses them in a drawer every year and Ellen would secretly read them. What a shock it is to meet her aunt. While her mother gets her hair done three times a week, has polished nails, an elegant style and posh London way of speaking her aunt is the exact opposite. Aunt Peg comes to meet Ellen at the airport in muddied boots, graying hair sticking out at all angles and driving a beat up car. When Ellen arrives at her aunt’s home she is met by a small pig who sleeps in the kitchen by the hearth, a crow who perches on the back of Peg’s chair, a dog and many farm animals.

To further knock Ellen off her feet she discovers she has uncles. How could her mother hide this large family from her? What happened to Ellen’s mother and her family that a rift this large could come between them for over 30 years? You will discover that answer as you read on.

There is an old ruined lighthouse with a good story attached to it, hence the title of the book. Caitlin is another main character. She is a beautiful but jealous ghost. No one ever sees her but she has her own chapters where she describes her love for her children and her husband, Connor Macausland. It’s been five years since she died, a tragic death falling from the lighthouse and there is rumor her husband, Connor, may have killed her. Or did she commit suicide or was the fall accidental? This is all revealed as you get closer to the end of this book.

There are some predictable turns in the book but nothing that ruins the story. If you love reading books with Ireland as the backdrop you will enjoy this book. ( )

SECRETS OF THE LIGHTHOUSE transported me to the magical coast of western Ireland, and I savored the journey. I also enjoyed the story, even though I wanted to throttle the heroine several times. Ellen is a 33-year old modern woman, so I had no idea why she felt she had to live with her parents and do as she's told. *scratches head* Thank goodness she ran away to Ireland to track down her mother's estranged family!

Ellen's time in Connemara with her Aunt Peg turned her world on end as secrets from her mother's past were discovered. I enjoyed seeing Ellen's character grow and mature throughout the book, though sometimes she was oblivious to the truth staring her in the face. I can't forget to mention Connor, the brooding widower that Ellen falls for. He has some heavy emotional baggage, including the ghost of his wife who died five years earlier. Caitlin is still obsessed with her husband, and she's none too pleased about him loving another woman. Other than Aunt Peg, Caitlin was probably my favorite character, and I loved seeing her transformation as well.

The audiobook was narrated by Susan Riddell, and she did well with the Irish and English accents, and the wide range of emotions the characters experienced. Anyone who loves Gothic romances, ghost stories, and Irish settings should give this book a read or listen.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )