I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Despite dreams of adventures far beyond the Salann shores, seventeen-year-old Verity Thaumas has remained at her family’s estate, Highmoor, with her older sister Camille, while their sisters have scattered across Arcannia.
When their sister Mercy sends word that the Duchess of Bloem—wife of a celebrated botanist—is interested in having Verity paint a portrait of her son, Alexander, Verity jumps at the chance, but Camille won’t allow it. Forced to reveal the secret she’s kept for years, Camille tells Verity the truth one day: Verity is still seeing ghosts, she just doesn’t know it.
Stunned, Verity flees Highmoor that night and—with nowhere else to turn—makes her way to Bloem. At first, she is captivated by the lush, luxurious landscape and is quickly drawn to charming, witty, and impossibly handsome Alexander Laurent. And soon, to her surprise, a romance . . . blossoms.
But it’s not long before Verity is plagued with nightmares, and the darker side of Bloem begins to show through its sickly-sweet façade. . . .

Short and Sweet Review

Its been years since the events of House of Salt and Sorrows took place. Now Verity the youngest sister is seventeen and she still lives in Highmoor with her eldest sister Camille, while the rest of their sisters have left and are scattered about. When Verity gets a letter from her sister Mercy explaining that the Duchess of Bloem wants Verity to come there and paint a portrait of their son Alexander. Verity is excited about the opportunity and wants to go, but Camille gives her a hard no, that’s when Verity learns that she’s able to see ghost. Verity ignores Camilles warning and goes to Bloem anyway and she learns that being at Bloem is more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.

Verity has lived at Highmoor her whole life and when she gets Mercy’s letter she knows this is her time to explore the world around her and see what’s out there. Camille immediately shuts down the idea and after they have an argument Camille reveals to Verity that Verity is able to see ghost and she doesn’t want her at Bloem sounding like a mad woman. Verity still feels like she needs to get away and she goes to Bloem with her sisters warning at the back of her mind. At Bloem Verity meets Dauphine, Gerard, and Alex. At first everything seems normal and Verity does her job starting the portrait of Alex. Alex and Verity begin to develop a relationship, these two have a lot in common, mainly how they’ve been sheltered. The Duke Gerard is a botanist and he has some weird plants growing in his greenhouse. Verity sees a lot of weird things at Bloem and she’s having trouble sleeping and she’s hearing things. Verity is determined to find out what’s going on at Bloem and she has to use her ability of talking to ghost to see if she can learn anything. Alex and Verity get engaged and that’s when things really take a turn, more unexplainable things are happening and Verity really has to dig deep to seem like she’s sane.

This book gives off a different feel than the first one, but the writing is hauntingly beautiful. I love the feel of a dark mansion with plants growing everywhere and the ghost also add to the gothic and horror theme. Alex and Verity have a slow burn romance and I also liked the representation of Alex, he’s in a wheelchair, but he does most of the things he wants in life and he’s special. There’s a lot of twists and turns in this book and even if you think you know what’s going to happen there’s another twist. I throughly enjoyed this book and loved seeing the secrets unravel and how Verity dealt with her new found freedom. If you enjoyed the first book, definitely get your hands on the sequel!