A Passionate Spirit

A little girl lost.An ill-omened spiritual healer.A raven with its eye on a prize.A Passionate Spirit is a modern gothic mystery set in the present-day Cotswolds about an idealistic young woman who leads a creative retreat with her priest husband and suspects a beautiful and mysterious guest of evil intentions. Only when the eerie visitor seduces the priest and all the guests with miracle healings does our heroine unmask the spiritual healer's true fanatic nature and paranormal power. She must risk her life if she is to save the sanity of them all.Zoe believes all her dreams have come true, living with her new husband in a beautiful and mysterious old manor house. But instead she finds she must share her life with a disturbing ghostly child. Here in England's lovely Cotswold hills, who would have thought evil could have found her?This is the sequel to the story of the two sisters Juliet and Zoe which began in SC Skillman's debut novel, Mystical Circles.The book is ideal for fans of paranormal and supernatural fiction.“The scenario at first seems familiar but as unexplained events stack up, an insidious menace develops. The characters interact in a combination of naive and increasingly sinister ways... the last sections are very fast-paced with some nicely-worked twists. One to read with the lights on and door bolted in a cosy Cotswold cottage!” (David Smith, author of Searching For Amber, Death in Leamington and Love in Lindfield)“The paranormal theme is dominant... the child added a sense of vulnerability and tension. The revelation about the child and her role in the drama added to the climax. The setting is credibly drawn and adds to the gothic feel of the novel, because modern gothic it certainly is.” (Fran Hill, author of Cuckoo in the Nest)"I took A Passionate Spirit on holiday with me. I loved it. I was hooked from the very beginning, the characters got inside my head and I couldn’t put the book down. I was really very surprised at how spooked I felt considering I was on a sunny beach in Tenerife very far removed from the Cotswolds.” (Janice, Amazon reviewer

About the Author

SC Skillman lives in Warwickshire and writes psychological, paranormal and mystery fiction. She is also a public speaker, and gives author talks on her Warwickshire books and on the power of story. Her first two novels Mystical Circles and A Passionate Spirit are both set in the same mysterious English manor house in the heart of England - the beautiful Cotswold hills. Mystical Circles begins, and A Passionate Spirit continues, the story of the two sisters Juliet and Zoe. There in that mysterious manor house, gothic goings-on, paranormal events and ghostly tales are never far away.SC Skillman has set these two books in contemporary times, not far from her present home. But her new upcoming young adult gothic series starring teen rebel and musical genius Dylan Rafferty will be set in different English locations; so far, London and Stratford-upon-Avon. She has just completed 'Director's Cut' and is currently working on the second in the series, 'Standing Ovation'.She also writes inspirational non-fiction: 'Perilous Path, a writer's journey' is packed with encouragement, tips and reminders for authors. Her Warwickshire books are published by Amberley: Paranormal Warwickshire, Illustrated Tales of Warwickshire, and A-Z of Warwick.SC Skillman was born and brought up in Orpington, Kent, and has loved writing stories most of her life; inspired by the adventure stories of Enid Blyton, she started writing adventure stories at the age of seven.She studied English Literature at Lancaster University, and her first permanent job was as a production secretary with the BBC. Later she lived for nearly five years in Australia before returning to the UK. She has now settled in Warwick with her husband and son, and her daughter lives and works in Australia.Near SC Skillman's home may be found some of England's most famous destinations: the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Shakespeare properties at Stratford-upon Avon, and the two great castles at Kenilworth and Warwick: all of them powerful places to visit, for someone seeking spiritual and historical inspiration.

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