[Review] Compulsion by Martina Boone

ABOUT

Title: Compulsion

Author: Martina Boone

Series: The Heirs of Watson Island #1 

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: October 28th 2014 

Goodreads Page

Synopsis:

Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.

All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead—a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn't what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.

Compulsion takes place on Watson Island, a fictional island in South Carolina. Barrie Watson comes from one of the three founding families of Watson Island and she returns to her family's plantation on the island when her mother passes away. When she arrives there, she finds that her family is fraught with secrets and some of them, dark.

I really love Barrie. She's from San Francisco and has been raised apart from all the gossipy small town-ness of her family's ancestral home where she is the last of one of the three important founding families. She wears heels all the time and she's stubborn to a fault. She's always calling Eight out on his bullshit and I love her. She also has this gift of finding things when they're lost. She sometimes can't control her need to find things when she gets the urge.

Mark was another great character. He's Barrie's mother's best friend and he lived with them and helped take care of Barrie while her mother stayed as a recluse. He's so supportive of Barrie and gives great advice.

Eight Beaufort. Oh my. He's this tan and blonde boy who's a baseball player. He's also from one of the founding families of Watson Island. He's handsome and so incredibly gentleman-ly. He supports Barrie and he goes with her to most of the things that she wants to do despite how unwise he thinks it is. He also has a gift like the Watsons. He has the ability to know what other people want and he has the compulsion to give them what they want.

And despite how much I enjoy the characters, it was the plot that drew me in. We get to explore the world of Watson Island along with Barrie and learn about her family and the history together, since she knows nothing about it all. There's also a lot of mystery surrounding the magic in her life and her family's history. It was really great fun, watching the mysteries unravel and learning a bit more about the mysterious pasts of the founding families of Watson Island.

Compulsion is a mysterious novel with great characters and a little dash of magic thrown in. I absolutely can't wait for the sequel, Persuasion, and to read more about Barrie and Eight.

Happy Reading!