Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Format: Paperback
Pages: 513
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: 2009

Can love last beyond the grave?
Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship.

Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand.
Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well?


Plot: A horrible tragedy has befallen Sylvie Davis. Her ballet career has come to an end after she breaks her leg. She takes a Vicodin and chases it some champagne and passes out. Her new shrink step-dad suggests that she goes to visit her cousin in Alabama. Arriving at the airport, she is instantly met with brown-haired, green-eyed foreigner, Rhys. Her cousin, Paula is just as sunshiny as she was over the phone and she doesn't like Sylvie's dog, Gigi. At the huge house, Sylvie meets southern charmer Shawn and is caught between some triangle troubles. When Sylvie discovers a mystery surrounding her house and family and when strange things start appearing, she doesn't know who to trust. She soon realizes that one of her boys isn't as trustworthy person.


Characters: I absolutely loved Sylvie as a narrator. It was her tone and story-telling that made the action and romance so flowing. She is a bit unappreciative and grumpy, but it is expected considering her situation. I enjoyed her relationship and interactions with Rhys. I guess I like her with Shawn, but I instantly knew something was up with him. I can admit that I seriously underestimated this book. I expected it to just be a regular old mystery, but was very surprise about the paranormal attributes.

Overview: This book was like a sigh of relief after carrying the world. The action was wonderfully depicted and the history beautifully weaved. With a headstrong heroine and two beautiful male specimens, Rosemary has awakened the historian in me.