The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

It has literally been too long since I've posted. I promise I am going to post a LOT more regularly starting now. And now for the book review...
Can love last beyond the grave?

Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship.

Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand.

Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well?
(Description from Amazon)

Let me start of by saying Clement-Moore has an amazing style of writing. I don't know what it is about it, but I love it and I couldn't put this book down. You feel really bad for Sylvie and can tell how much she wishes she could dance and how heartbroken she is that she can't. You also feel awful gor her because she thinks she is starting to lose her mind, which is also interesting to follow at the same time. Ryhs is amazing too and I love the way Sylvie and him talk to each other. Rhys' father is also pretty cool. Aunt Paula rubbed me the wrong way sometimes though.

The whole concept of the plot is interesting and this book keeps the pages turning. I recommend it to anyone!

The Hollow by Jessica Verday

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead, and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.
Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her—one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity. (Description from Amazon)

The Hollow is a fantastic book. Verday depicts Abbey as a very believable character mourning her best friend's death. Caspian is a mystery and throughout the book, I wanted to know more and more about him. I also felt like I knew Kristen with Abbey's flashbacks and descriptions of her.

The plot is fast-paced and keeps you interested the whole time. There is not one point in the plot where I was bored. The descriptions of scenery are amazing and I love Washington Irving, who plays a big role in the plot. Everything in the story builds up to the very last pages when you finally learn the truth about Caspian and I LOVE how Verday wraps up this book. For some reason I absolutely loved the last line. I cannot wait for the sequel.