Review: THE LINE THAT BINDS by J.M. Miller

Title: THE LINE THAT BINDS

Author: JM Miller

Source: ebook from author for review

AMAZON  B&N 

GOODREADS

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Stained with heartache and cursed with vengeance, a stone well lies on a nineteenth-century estate, waiting for the Stockton line to wish again. 

When seventeen-year-old Lila Wayde's father loses his high-paying job in Las Vegas, the family relocates to a Pennsylvania estate bequeathed by an estranged aunt. Lila begins a new life there, one not corrupted by wealth and fake friends. She soon meets Ben, the groundskeeper's gritty grandson, and experiences the kind of happiness her life's been missing. But as she settles into the ancient house, she learns information about her ancestors and the old stone well that may make her wish she'd never come.

Ben Shadows has lost enough in life. So when Stockton Estate's owner, Janine, wills the land to her great-niece Lila, Ben fears for the fate of the property. He decides to find out Lila's intentions as the new owner, but his grandfather wants him to protect her from Stockton Estate's alleged curse. As Ben helps Lila dig through the estate's history, they grow closer than he ever intended. Now, along with concerns about the property and the reality of the curse, he struggles with feelings he can't ignore.

Will the secrets of Stockton Estate bring them together or will knowing the truth rip them apart?

My take...

I gave this book 4.5 stars, but when leaving a review at sites such as Amazon, Goodreads, etc... I round to the next highest star.

***

Ben doesn't believe in the curse but has decided to help his grandpa out and search for something, anything, that will shed some sort of light into it. When he meets LJ he assumes she is a high maintenance girl who will quickly wreck havoc on the estate. What he assumes is wrong. LJ is beyond different and soon he has growing feelings for her.

LJ is tired of the way her life was going when in Las Vegas. She figures with a new home, a new life should come with it and reinvents herself. No longer the selfish girl she was, she hides from others. Only opening up to Ben during their afternoon work hours. She looks forward to their afternoons working the estate grounds and soon realizes she has feelings for this boy she will one day share the estate with. 

I absolutely love a good mystery of a story, and THE LINE THAT BINDS hit the nail on the head. Throughout the story we are following Ben and LJ as they search for answers about a curse on LJ's family since the late 1800's. A curse that has now been set into motion in LJ's life. The entire book you are desperately seeking answers right along with them. You want to know if they will be able to over come a curse that affected her family for over a hundred years. 

***

But Ben has strength. I felt it months ago at the will reading. I was threatened by it then, and now I just wanted to bury my face into his chest to let it surround me. Why am I cracking around him?

***

Let's not forget the slow building romance part of the story. Yes, I just loved it. I fully believe that stories that center around paranorm'ish and supernatural aspects definitely need a romance to help balance it out and make it more real. And this one did. It absolutely did. These two characters got to know each other and in the end it was perfect. I love how it all wrapped up in the end for them. Beautiful and brilliant. 

***

Before I could say anything else, his lips were on mine with passion so demanding it took my breath away. In that instant, I knew this wasn't over. He wasn't there to end things. This was something else entirely.

***

With that ending I am so looking forward to where the curse and the story are headed. Will Ben and LJ find the answers they so desperately seek? Will they be able to end the curse once and for all before it is too late? I am eager to know! And I know you readers will be too. 4.5 Mysterious Stars!