Julian and the Ghosts of Moorcliffe Hall
Grade : A-

Julian and the Ghosts of Moorcliffe Hall contains all the right ingredients for an entertaining and atmospheric gothic romance. A remote, dilapidated mansion? Check. Things going ‘bump’ in the night? Check. A gruff, taciturn (and handsome) earl? Check. A wide-eyed, innocent protagonist? Er… not quite, but the subversion of that particular trope gives our narrator a far more entertaining and amusing perspective than you’ll get from your average gothic ingénue.

In November of 1889, Mr Julian Clere is dispatched to the North Devon coast in order to avoid being caught up in a scandal in London. He’d much rather have weathered the storm in warmer climes, but he can’t afford to travel overseas, so his formidable great-aunt Viola, dowager Duchess of Leeds, comes up with the idea that he should make himself useful to a distant cousin who has recently inherited a title and the crumbing estate that goes with it. Hugh Bingham, now the ninth Earl of Excombe, has spent his entire adult life in the East Indies and has only recently arrived in England, where he has few – if any – connections. The dowager has the perfect solution to both their problems – Excombe will need a friend and help setting everything to rights about the estate, and Julian needs to be somewhere quiet and out of the way where nobody knows him for a while and where he can use the opportunity to take stock and think about his future. Julian recognises that his fate is sealed - and supposes a seaside holiday isn’t the worst thing in the world.

After spending an uncomfortable night at a dodgy inn in Ilfracombe because no coachman would drive him to Moorcliffe Hall after dark, Julian sets out the next day in a raging storm, hoping for some home comforts when he arrives. Those visions of a good fire and a warm bath disappear when he sees the overgrown, long-neglected gardens and at his first sight of the hulking Jacobean structure with its dark mullioned windows framed in dirty grey stone and the choking brown vines that have all but taken over the façade. There are no lights inside, and Julian is on the point of telling the coachman to turn back when one of the enourmous double doors swings open and a grizzled-looking man, dressed in grey plaid rather than in servants’ livery, comes down the steps. After a brief exchange, the coachman takes Julian’s trunks inside as Julian huddles down into his cloak and scuttles towards the door, only narrowly avoiding a falling roof-tile landing on his head before he goes inside.

The man in grey introduces himself as Dougal, the butler, and tells Julian that the earl is currently out on some estate business. As Dougal escorts Julian through the house and to a guest chamber on the first floor, Julian can’t help shivering at the draft which has somehow found its way under his greatcoat as the storm continues to buffet the outside. Then he hears a strange sound, a faint, melancholy wail, from deeper in the house, which makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Dougal suggests it’s just the wind – but Julian isn’t convinced. After Dougal has left to go and see about some hot water, Julian is pondering his clothing choices when a loud bang startles him - and when he goes into the hallway to see if he can work out where it came from, he hears that wailing sound again.

That evening, Julian joins his host for dinner in the great hall. The new earl cuts rather a romantic figure and Julian certainly likes what he sees – but unfortunately it seems Excombe’s personality isn’t as attractive as his looks, because he’s gruff and taciturn and clearly resents Julian’s presence. With his every attempt at conversation rebuffed, Julian has to work to maintain his pleasant demeanour – but when Excombe disdainfully asks what good the Dowager thinks Julian can do there, Julian has had enough. The epitome of scorned, icy politeness, he coldly bids his host goodnight - and plans to leave in the morning.

Well, of course Julilan ends up staying at the Hall, and it doesn’t take him long to discern that there’s a deep vulnerability and loneliness lurking beneath Excombe’s – Hugh’s – often brusque and moody exterior, and to become intensely drawn to him. After an eerie turn of events that sees Julian come dramatically to Hugh’s rescue, the earl’s attitude towards him begins to soften and he admits that he really does need Julian’s help. Together, they begin working to set the estate to rights and unravel the mysteries that have plagued Moorcliffe and its inhabitants for so long, and in doing so, find a very real companionship in each other. The pacing is leisurely and the book is perhaps a hundred pages or so longer than the average romance novel, but this is a slow-burn romance of the very best kind because Rowan McAllister allows her protagonists time to really get to know each other, to build a genuine friendship and then to fall deeply in love. I never felt bored or as though I wanted things to speed up because I was so engrossed in the story and the development of the romance; the mystery is detailed and well thought-out, and the author slowly ramps up the tension surrounding the supernatural elements of the story, incorporating some really spooky moments as new discoveries are unearthed. She also does a fantastic job when it comes to creating a pervsively creepy atmosphere – so much so that the house is almost like another character in the story. It’s gloomy and poorly maintained, which could explain all the drafts and creaks and thumps, but knowing the servants won’t stay in the house overnight and remembering how nobody was willing to journey there after dark finds Julian seriously contemplating the idea that the place is haunted or cursed. And the more he learns about the house and the history of the family who lived there, the more convinced he is that that is the case – and the clearer it becomes that one of the spirits is determined to remove him from the picture for good.

As I said at the beginning, while Julian’s character is sort of cast in the role of the beautiful newcomer who is attracted to the broody lord of the manor, he doesn’t entirely fit that role. He’s young and handsome, yes, but is far from innocent and virginal; he’s lived something of a debauched life, and as a second son, is in somewhat straightened circumstances until his next allowance arrives, which is why he ends up in Devon and not the South of France! He’s intelligent, good-natured and quick-witted, but has never really had much of a purpose in life, until he comes to Moorcliffe and realises he actually can do something to help – and not only that, but he’s good at it. I liked him a lot – he’s self-aware and upbeat and not easily cowed, with a nice line in witty asides:

“Had I but guessed I was travelling to the House of Usher, I might have chosen a different jacket.”

Julian is the PoV character throughout, but the author does a good job of presenting Hugh through Julian’s eyes, and showing how his attraction grows through little signs we can see that Julian misses. He is, perhaps, not quite as well defined a character as Julian, but he’s a good man and obviously head-over-heels for him. Their chemistry and connection grow in a believable way and they’re a good match. (One teeny niggle - Julian is supposedly the second son of a baronet, but the author later says his father is a viscount.)

It’s been a while since I’ve read a gothic romance, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Julian and the Ghosts of Moorcliffe Hall is vastly entertaining – a great combination of tender romance and intriguing mystery full of ghosts and dark secrets, and I was glued to it from the first page to the last.

Reviewed by Caz Owens
Grade : A-

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : December 17, 2023

Publication Date: 11/2023

Recent Comments …

Caz Owens

I’m a musician, teacher and mother of two gorgeous young women who are without doubt, my finest achievement :)I’ve gravitated away from my first love – historical romance – over the last few years and now read mostly m/m romances in a variety of sub-genres. I’ve found many fantastic new authors to enjoy courtesy of audiobooks - I probably listen to as many books as I read these days – mostly through glomming favourite narrators and following them into different genres.And when I find books I LOVE, I want to shout about them from the (metaphorical) rooftops to help other readers and listeners to discover them, too.
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