COMPULSION by MARTINA BOONE

All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead. (From Goodreads)

Compulsion is written by Martina Boone and published by Simon Pulse. It is 448 pages and will be published on October 28, 2014.

THE FAERYS VIEW

Compulsion by Martina Boone is absolutely one of my favorite books of 2014. It’s a dark southern gothic with an amazing historic account that delves back into the 1600’s. Charmingly romantic and eerily creepy, and Yep, I can come up with many more superlatives because it was just that fantastic!

Compulsion centers on Barrie Watson, a very non-normal girl with a ‘compulsion’ to find things. Barrie cannot ignore this compulsion without significant physical discomfort. “Finding things was the Watson gift. Barrie could find anything – had to find it, really – and the pressure that built in her head whenever she was near something lost had seemed stronger ever since her mother’s death” (Location 68).  When Barrie loses her mother, Lula, she heads to Watson Island in the Deep South, to live with her Aunt Pru, her mother’s twin sister, at Watson’s Landing Plantation. Barrie has an immediate connection with Watson’s Landing and feels immediate tugs of loss from within the house and the surrounding woods.

Once at Watson’s Landing, Barrie meets Eight Beaufort and learns a bit about the Islands history along with the curse that has hounded the three founding families: The Watsons, Beaufort’s and Colesworth’s, since the mid-1600’s. The curse of The Fire Carrier, sound ominous, right? Well, it is! I won’t delve too far into it, it’s better if you read about it!

Barrie first sees the Fire Carrier that cursed the founding families her first night at Watson’s Landing, as she watched him light up the river with a ball of fire she at first thinks she’s jet-lagged or hallucinating but she eventually realizes what she’s seeing is real, although it’s terrifying to her, she’s also interested because she knows the Fire Carrier can reveal the answers she’s searching for. This starts Barrie and Eight on a journey that will lead them into deep peril and treachery. You must read the story to find out more!

I love, love, love, the characters in this book! They are rich, they are deep and they are so real! Barrie is flawed but loveable which makes her the most perfect of heroines. Eight Beaufort is equally awesome, what one would think is a perfect guy reveals that he, too, has his flaws. Together, they make a great couple. Their romance bloomed beautifully, it was sweet, charming and romantic. These two characters really complemented each other and were a joy to get to know. I cannot wait to read more about them. The secondary characters, Aunt Pru, Cassie Colesworth, Wyatt Colesworth, and Mark were all equally personable. They were people that I really truly either liked or deplored, pitied or feared, some I even cried for!

Compulsion is deeply atmospheric, it is written so beautifully and descriptively that it was easy to imagine myself at Watson’s Landing Plantation, from the heavy humid air to the sweet smell of the magnolias.

I am impatiently awaiting the next in The Heirs of Watson Island series!