Review: Sole Possession by Bryn Donovan

Bryn Donovan’s Sole Possession is the perfect scary, haunted house story for the Halloween season – or anytime you might be in the mood for a chilling read.

After David inherits his father’s house, he answers an ad for a contractor to get the house ready for a quick sale. He’s expecting an Andy when Andi shows up at the front door. His first instinct is to keep her away from the house, which leads Andi to think he’s a sexist jerk who doesn’t want to hire a woman.

David isn’t even sure why he wants Andi away from the house, but he is sure of his attraction toward her. She isn’t the sort of woman he normally dates. David prefers casual relationships, ones that provide a safe emotional distance. But immediately he feels close to Andi and realizes whatever happens between them won’t be casual.

The two wouldn’t seem to have much in common, David is a handsome successful lawyer and Andi has left her office job to work as a contractor. She strips wood and does tile, but her dream job is a full kitchen remodel. She likes the freedom her job provides and was never comfortable working in a cubicle. David admires her feisty determination, and her insistence that she’s the best person for the job.

As soon as Andi begins working on the house, she realizes there’s something strange happening here when she notices a face in the wood of the banister looking back at her.

There’s something in the house, something evil. David grew up as a victim of this evil, and now Andi is frighteningly aware of it. David is afraid he’ll never be able to escape and now he’s worried that his involvement with Andi – the first person he’s ever allowed himself to care about – will lead to her being another victim of this malevolent force.

As Andi and David begin uncovering the secrets buried within the house, they find themselves forced to confront their own secrets stemming from their childhoods. I found this to be the most interesting aspect of the story. In order to move forward in their lives and in their relationship, these two characters must struggle with their own personal demons, as well as banish the demon clinging to the house. As a child, Andi saw things other people couldn’t see, leading her to believe there was something wrong with her. Now, she’s beginning to realize that maybe what she saw wasn’t part of her childhood imagination. She has to decide what she is going to do with this ability she’s been denying her whole life.

I really enjoyed this story. It’s plenty scary and creepy, and there’s a very nice, hot, sexy romance happening between Andi and David. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good ghost story on a chilly fall night, but be warned, you might end up wanting to sleep with the lights on.