Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach

Title:  Wake Unto Me

Author: Lisa Cach

Pages:  304

Genre:  YA/ Paranormal

Source: Around the World ARC Tours

A haunted castle, a handsome young man dead for four hundred years, one heck of a scary portrait of a witch, and a treasure hunt -- not to mention a princess for a roommate! -- all await 15 year old American girl Caitlyn Monahan when she earns a scholarship to a French boarding school.

There are secrets behind the stone walls of Chateau de la Fortune, buried for centuries along with the mystery of who killed Raphael, the charming ghost who visits Caitlyn at night. But as Caitlyn unearths the history of the castle, nothing scares her as badly as the secret she learns about herself, and the reason she was chosen to come to the Fortune School.

And nothing breaks her heart as badly as falling in love with a dead guy. [via GoodReads]

What a unique premise!  That and it's cover... had me at hello.  I'm a sucker for a ghost story and even more so if our main character is to fall for a boy who has been dead for 400+ years. I'm also fond of stories that take place in boarding schools... and a French boarding school... well I was hooked. 

I really liked Caitlin.  She was a very realistic and easy to like character.  I love how we don't learn everything there is to know about her right off the bat.  Instead we learn about her in slow increments.  Getting to know Caitlin was like a mystery inside the bigger mystery of the story. 

I found the boarding school, its grounds, and even the sisters in charge of running the school to be very atmospheric and gothic in nature.  The constant fear of a ghostly encounter was always at the forefront of my mind.  When Caitlin starts dreaming of Raphael you get to learn more about the past of the castle/school, the mystery of the rumored treasure that has been searched for, but never found, since the Crusades and even that of the ghost of the Woman in Black who haunts the school's halls. 

Ms. Cach does an excellent job of weaving contemporary, historical, romance and paranormal threads into one captivating story.  I love the time traveling, the exquisite details, Caitlin and the friendship she bonds with her schoolmates as well as the sigh-worthy romance between her and Raphael.  I'm so glad I read this!  It had everything that I love... mystery (unpredictable I might add), adventure, magic and a love that transcends time.

My Rating: