DNF 27%

I had too many issues with this story for it to entertain me.

This could have been a good book. It had all the right things for a kick ass horror book. Classic haunted house that a determined woman wants to renovate into a bed and breakfast. A sordid past for both house and woman. Plenty of strange goings on, and a creepy atmosphere.

It could have also been a heartwarming romance novel. Divorced, alcoholic woman buys a dilapidated house to renovate into a bed and breakfast. Meets handsome handyman, and things go from there.

Unfortunately, the author cobbled the two together, and not in a well done manner. The romance suffers because the story keeps turning to the haunting; the haunting suffers, since every time things start getting creepy, the romance part kicks back in.

The characters were flat as well. More stereotype than anything. You could replace the characters with generic stereotype names and it wouldn't change a thing.

~Recovering Alcoholic Woman
~Rugged Handyman recovering from wifes death
~Young vicar who doesn't follow the rules.
~Young nun who is ashamed of being a lesbian.
~Materialistic Asshole Ex-Husband.

Just a few examples of what you'll encounter.

I'd love to reread the book at a later date, but only if the author were to go back and add some depth to the characters, and make either the romance or the horror the main focus, instead of having them compete against one another. ( )

I would like to thank Carina UK for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this book.

The Good Sisters had a lot of potential, but it never quite got there. The premise was a good one, but too much attention was given to the subplots and the main plot suffered as a result. The whole haunting just fell flat, it could have been executed much better.

The storyline concentrated far too much on the romance aspect to the detriment of the atmosphere and tension. As for Kate's personal life, to be honest, the story would have been much better without all the drama, drinking and romance. The romance storyline was way too cringe worthy and didn't add anything positive to the story. Her drinking problem and family drama distracted from, and totally overshadowed, what could have been a great haunted house story.

I much preferred the 1930's timeline, mainly because Kate wasn't in it, but it too had its problems, unrealistic events, and actions. To give a few examples: I struggled with the idea of nuns nipping out to the cinema to see the latest horror film, policemen using curse words in the presence of the nuns, and I'm pretty sure that nuns had to keep their hair covered. Even with the problems I encountered, the earlier timeline was much more enjoyable than the present day one.

As a whole, the storyline didn't have enough depth. The potential for a great haunted house story was there but I feel it only scratched the surface. ( )