This was a fun book to read--full of feisty feminist academics and crazy southerners--that has, at its core, a serious subject matter: the subjugation of women writers. The characters were delightful, the plot was believable (even the haunted house aspect), and the women's history lesson was a seamless part of the storyline. ( )

I'm not sure what to make of this book. It's a much longer, slower-paced book than most of Barbara Michaels' body of work. It's also a lot meatier and it reads very much like Michaels had a couple of agendas when she wrote it, among them feminism, history and archeology, and the origins of the gothic novel. Anyone familiar with Barbara Michaels knows she was qualified on all fronts.

Unfortunately, though she did redeem herself about 75% of the way through, I never really warmed to the MC, Karen. In fact it took me that long to remember her name, though I could have rattled off a list of all the secondary players without a problem. For most of the book she's so ardently 'feminist' that she is paranoid and distrustful of literally every word that comes out of anyone's mouth. Her best friend Peggy spends much of the first half of the book apologising to her for perceived slights. I put the word feminism in quotes before because Karen equates being a feminist with having that mistrustful chip on her shoulder, when in reality that chip has more to do with her own perception of herself and how she is always 'handled' by others. It's no coincidence that the point at which she started letting go of all her resentment was the same one at which I started to like her.

Houses of Stone is a story of a story within a story within a story, and though there are suspicious and mysterious events that happen from start to finish, it never really had that typical build up of tension inherent to mysteries or suspense. There was a climax of sorts, but honestly it sort of felt tacked on so the paranormal aspect of the book could be wrapped up. The heart of this book is about the research involved when an important, previously unknown text is discovered. With a tad of romance, intrigue and deception.

For me, Peggy made this book. I loved her competent, no-nonsense attitude and Ioved how comfortable in herself she was, and therefore how unstoppable a force. She kept me reading long after I'd have gotten fed up with Karen; a fortunate thing, since I'd have missed a good story otherwise.

I read this as a buddy read with Linda Hilton and Moonlight Reader and also for the Gothic Square for Halloween Bingo. ( )

Gothic romance is a fun genre for me and this book proved to be a good one by Michaels. As an English lit major, I enjoyed the background story and had met those professors, I am sure. Houses of Stone certainly does show its 1990s roots, but as long as you remember there aren't cell phones and ubiquitous access to the internet, it is easy to sink into the story. I sort of wish that the "found novel" really existed as I think I would have enjoyed it.

There are enough plot twists to keep me going, from love interests to dastardly deeds. I think an important quotation from the book is "A house of stone can be either a refuge or a prison." Reading the book lets you see both sides of the story.

If you like romantic suspense, I suspect you'll like this book. ( )

3.5 stars-Enjoyed the book but thought the ending was rushed. The rest of the story went at a a nice pace and then it was like Michaels woke up & said oops my deadline is today & just threw the ending together in a couple pages. The fast batch job at the end just didnt flow with the easy pace of the rest of the book. ( )

Michaels delivers a poor-man's Posession with Houses of Stone, and I mean that in the best possible way. This has everything I like in a light read: crumbling mansions, literary references, buried documents, near-murders and very old bones. If you like This Kind of Thing (and I do) this is Very Good at This Kind of Thing. If you don't (like This Kind of Thing, that is) I suggest reading a different book. ( )