From the TBR Pile: Three Story House by Courtney Miller Santo

Author: Courtney Miller Santo
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Date of publication: (August 19, 2014)

Approaching thirty and trying to avoid the inescapable fact that they have failed to live up to everyone’s expectations as well as their own aspirations, cousins and childhood best friends Lizzie, Elyse, and Isobel seek respite in an oddly shaped, three-story house that sits on a bluff sixty feet above the Mississippi River.

As they work to restore the nearly condemned house, each woman faces uncomfortable truths about her own failings. Lizzie seeks answers to a long-held family secret about her father in their grandmother’s jumble of mementos and the home’s hidden spaces. Elyse’s obsession with an old flame leads her to a harrowing mistake that threatens to destroy her sister’s wedding. And Isobel’s quest for celebrity tempts her to betray confidences in ways that could irreparably damage her two cousins.

Three Story House ended up just being an OK read for me. The story was interesting, but it just fell short. The story told through the eyes of the three cousins each in their own section instead of alternating throughout the book. I'm not sure this format worked for me because I felt like I missed out on the other characters perspective.

I guess I wanted more out of it. I never really ended up connecting with any of the characters or their stories. I felt kind of like I was reading an outline of the story and not the meat. For instance, we never got to see any of the romance between the characters. Both Lizzie and Isobel find men and we are just kind of told how things are progressing almost as an after thought. That was weird for me. As I said, I wanted more. The reveal about who Lizzie's father was came out of nowhere and was too creepy for words. I don't fault her for her reaction.