Jaime Jo Wright is a Christy Award-winning author who is quickly becoming more recognized for her incredible storytelling skills. In each of her novels, she brings dark and thrilling stories to life while simultaneously infusing them with truth and light. Usually set in two different time periods and with two casts of characters, the plot of past and present is intricately intertwined (but not fully revealed until the nail-biting conclusion). The newest Bethany House release from Jaime Jo Wright is “The Curse of Misty Wayfair”; perhaps the most haunting, and yet also the most inspiring, of her novels so far.

“The Curse of Misty Wayfair” is a dark and troubling novel at times, with a gothic feel to it. Most of the characters have pretty hefty issues they are working through. And yet. . . darkness and despair do not get the final word. Hope and healing, all possible through the truth of God’s love, have the final say in this story. . .

“You are created to be an image of your Creator, my dear. That is a great honor. To be designed as Thea Read, and signed by the mark of the Artist himself. You are a work of genius.”

“That while the past – the consequences of the past – might have a dire effect on me, it still doesn’t change who I am. We weren’t created to find our identity in life. We were created to discover our Creator. In doing so, our identity is defined.”

“In broken places, beauty could be found. In beauty, she would find the Creator’s perfect story. A story that didn’t need to be rewritten, because it already was. Her story… She was . . .created. And being created was no small thing.”

As you can see, the themes of identity and relationship with our Creator are powerfully portrayed in “The Curse of Misty Wayfair”. Although the novel is classified as “Romantic Suspense”, it is so much more than that. It is thrilling and compelling and sometimes frightening, yet it also helps us to hold a mirror up to our own lives as we strive to discover our Creator more and more each day.

If you enjoy suspenseful novels that are more than just scary stories, I highly recommend “The Curse of Misty Wayfair”. To summarize: it is masterfully written, not for the faint of heart, and with overarching themes that are beautiful to watch unfold.

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.”