The Lightkeeper's Ball by Colleen Coble

It is the early twentieth century, and the Stewart family finds that they have been cut in a deal that economically changes their lives for the far better. It all depends on the marriage of Eleanor Stewart, a girl of twenty-some in the Stewart family, to Harrison Bennett, the son of Eleanor's late father's former business partner. All goes well, until Eleanor's body is found dead. Drowned. Eleanor's slightly older sister, Olivia, is next in line for the marriage, but she travels in disguise to the town of Mercy Falls, where the Bennetts live, in order to find out what really happened. She knew that Eleanor was afraid of water, and if she were to commit suicide, it would not be by drowning herself, and thus she suspected foul play. Before long, she is soon working with Harrison, of whom she suspects of assisting the possible murder, and of whom she is eventually supposed to marry, to reveal a much greater scheme than just one murder.

To tell the truth, the reason why I got this book, The Lightkeeper's Ball by Colleen Coble, was because it was for free. I just recently joined a website that is run by the publisher Thomas Nelson, which gives out free books for bloggers to review. I chose this book because it was one of the only fiction books available. It looked like a girly novel, sure, but it was fiction nonetheless. The thing is, though, once I started reading it, it was hard to put down.

I loved the story. This is truly a mystery novel, with elements of thriller and romance sprinkled in. Parts of the book were just downright creepy, and coming from a novel that is "officially" in the romance genre, that is just plain awesome. It is true, this was written by and for girls, but I enjoyed the whole trip through. I love thrillers, so the parts of the book that I would consider "thriller" almost made me visibly grin.

The Lightkeeper's Ball is many things. A story of finding truth, a murder mystery, a love story. I really recommend it to you if you're a girl. I would recommend it for boys, too, except I've learned from experience that it's awkward for a boy to walk around carrying a book that has a cover such as this one.

The Lightkeeper's Ball was publicly released on April 20, 2011.
This book was sent to me for free from Thomas Nelson Publishing. http://www.BookSneeze.com/

~Reuben/Arkatox~