The After House begins as a historical ghost story and soon turns into a dark mystery / love story with a touch of humor. After a failed marriage that her parents warned her about, Remy and her daughter are starting over by renting a historic cottage on Long Island.

They soon discover the house is haunted by a whaling captain name Eli whose boat was attacked by a whale many years ago. There are some wonderful and creepy scenes of Eli spying on the family, as well as some flashbacks of Eli and his family as the characters and the reader both try to discover why Eli still inhabits the house. Meanwhile, strange things begin happening to Remy that are not the ghost's fault, and a new love interest comes to her aid.

There are some sentinels who overlook Eli and what he is doing. I found them to be a bit confusing really. Also, Remy's new love is the mayor of the town. His name is Hugh so a joke is repeated throughout the book about his name (Think Who's on first? Who? No! Hugh!") It was funny at first but got kinda old after a while.

Supernatural events, children communicating with spirits, a creepy old house, unexplained occurrences, romance, humor, and a dark coastal history of an old whaling town. This book has a little bit of everything and was quite enjoyable overall.

The After House is a delightfully historical, romantic, ghostly quick read that will endear you to Remy, Olivia, Captain Eli and Hugh. The history of the whaling port is so informative blended with the story plot and characters making this an exciting mysterious read. I loved Michael Cash' s work.

This is a ghost story that I truly loved. Thank you Mr. Cash. I just didn’t want it to end. What did I love most? The characters!
Many thanks to Red Feather Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I'm sorry I was not able to read and review this book before it was archived due to serious health issues.

Set in the once whaling town of Cold Spring Harbour, Remy finds herself starting her life over, as a single parent to the adorably tenacious 6 year old, Olivia, building her yoga business up from scratch whilst fending off her parents attempts to match make.

Having finally saved up enough money to move out of her old bedroom, and into a historical cottage, she is soon disturbed by bumps in the night. Olivia, when she is there, is finding it hard to settle, and it seems like she will have an uphill struggle to be taken seriously.

In addition to this, she is being stalked, literally, by the cottage's previous inhabitant, a whale boat captain, Eli, who is far from happy about these female interlopers. He and the old man who used to live there had come to an understanding, and lived in relative calm whereas these two looked to him like trouble. So he sets to, knocking things over, causing all sorts of shenanigans, only for his efforts to be usurped by someone who wants Remy hurt. An attempted arson attack on her yoga studio, nearly being run off the road whilst driving home, are very real dangers, but who is after her?

Eli can only be seen by Olivia, which makes things even more complex, and whilst Eli and she are at a mutual standstill, there are 2 characters which neither ghost nor human can see. They are there to assist Eli to move on, but until he comes to terms with the fatal last voyage which scuppered his whole crew, he can't.

So, in essence, you have this mystery about what happened to Eli and his family, why he is so attached to the cottage and won't ascend to join his family, whilst Remy is under threat from a very human direction. It is gentle, heart warming and very readable, a gentle romance with a whaling background which is explored through Eli's history and made me want to go back and read 'Moby Dick' and 'Ahab's Wife'!

A love story that crosses the centuries, a reminder of the historical importance of remembering a past whilst establishing a future, and very engaging ghost, all combine to create a book which I thoroughly enjoyed. I definitely want to read more by this author!

The author does a great job weaving in historical details of the whaling industry and the local culture of this New York seaport. The secondary characters are all great too. It’s a quick read and I think you’ll find yourself smiling at some of the humor and then feeling very content at how Mr. Cash tied everything together at the end of the book.

I’d be more inclined to call this one a paranormal romance than horror and if that’s your sort of book, I highly recommend this entertaining read.

The cover and synopsis drew me to this book and I was eager to start......but it was such a let down.

So the plot of the story was my biggest let down because I thought this would be scary, but it wasn't. It felt drawn out in places and I didn't find any of it to be fast paced or exciting. The whole mystery part I had figured out right from the get go. It was very obvious!! The instalove was just.....ugh. I'm so not a fan of it anyway, but here it was cringe worthy. Plus the ghosts weren't any bit scary! Also, why have the other 2 beings?? What did they bring to the story.

I think the only thing I pretty much liked was some of the characters. I liked Remy's dad the most. He really was awesome.

In all, an ok read, but one I wouldn't revisit.

The After House by Michael Phillip Cash

9781500600365

214 Pages
Publisher: Red Feather Publishing
Release Date: September 30, 2014

Mystery, Ghost Story, Romance, Paranormal Suspense

Remy leaves an abusive relationship from her husband Scott. She and her daughter Olivia move to a small sailing village with a rich history is whaling. Remy is unaware the house she is renting was owned by Captain Eli Gaspar who died while at sea in the 1840s. He now haunts her life but also comes to her aid when her life is threatened by a mysterious stalker. Remy meets Hugh, the mayor of the village and the chemistry ignites.

The name of book comes from the deckhouse on the stern of the ship. The characters were developed. and the story had a steady pace. It was written in the third person point of view and jumped from the past to the present. I enjoyed the book and about whaling in the 1840s.

I found most of this novel quite enjoyable, with reasonable characters and an interesting idea. I had not read any others in this series, and that did not affect my enjoyment of this one at all, this seemed to stand alone.
I did feel a little disappointed with events near the end, it became rather 'ghost whisperer' and rather cheesy. I felt this was a shame, as until that point it had held my interest quite well.
By today's standards, there didn't seem much 'paranormal suspense' to this book, more of a cosy mystery with a side order of ghosts.

Unfortnately, I couldn't get into the book at all and did not finish it. It wasn't my cup of tea and different than what I expected it to be. Therefore, I won't be giving a review, although I can see that it might appeal to someone with different reading preferences.

I did not like the part where Remy was married to an abusive man. I have lived that so that was a little to close to home for me. But I really enjoyed the rest. This was a little creepy but a very enjoyable read. I recommend it to others who enjoy mystery.

This was an entertaining haunting.

Remy rents a cottage for her and her young daughter, despite the protests of her parents. She needs her independence since her divorce.

It’s not long before eerie things start to happen in the house. Her daughter, Olivia, sees a ghost. Remy hears things and sees things out of the corner of her eye. And someone is stalking her.

Trying to run her business and raise her daughter, Remy has precious little time for romance. Her parents say that’s nonsense. There’s always time for love. And her mother arranges a meeting with the town mayor.

Hugh and Remy hit it off immediately. It’s like they’ve known each other forever. Someone or something doesn’t like this one bit.

Her house is ransacked, someone tries to burn down her business, and she sees something in the bushes by her house. And her ex-husband is a pain in the behind.

Will she have a happy ever after or will something put an end to her dreams, or her?

This was a lot of fun. I liked Remy and her need for independence. Her daughter, Olivia, is a precocious, charming young girl. And Hugh is sexy and smart, yet gentle and nurturing.

The ghost is another matter. He’s a mess and ornery as a snake. There’s something keeping him here, and as I read more, I began to cheer him on, hoping he’d find what he forgot.

There’s more than one mysterious otherworldly being in this story two. There are two onlookers that have their own agenda. They seem to have been involved with the characters in another book by this author, The Flip. I like that connection.

There’s also a fascinating prologue. You learn a lot about the whaling era. And you will understand the meaning behind the title. I enjoy learning some new trivia from stories. Then the story begins in the present and the connections are made later.

I enjoyed meeting these characters. Liked the mystery. Enjoyed the multiple character’s stories. And had a good feeling when I finished this book.

Not too scary. Just right.

I AM SO EMBARRASSED ... JUST NOW FINDING THIS ONE ON MY KINDLE/AMAZON. WAS NEVER READ SO NO REVIEW COMING AT THIS LATE DATE. MY SINCERE APOLOGIES.

It took me quite some time to get to this book and I'm glad that I was finally able to get to it. I read this book in June of 2015 and can still remember this story so well.

I haven't read many ghost story books but this is a top of the list kind of book. It's that good. It's so much more than the typical bump in the night kind of ghost story. There is mystery and suspense plus romance and friendship.

Pick up a copy! You'll be glad you did.