The House Next Door by Richie Tankersley Cusick

The House Next Door:
On a whim, Emma Donovan bets her twin brother, Charlie, that she can spend the entire night alone at the spooky, abandoned house next door. The place is seriously creepy, but she's determined to overcome her fears and prove her brother wrong. Until she finds herself reliving a horrific night from the house's past and a passionate love with a handsome -- and strangely familiar -- young man.
When Charlie finds her, he's sure it was all just a dream. Yet Emma has persistent paranormal experiences involving the house and the young man from the past. As her "dreams" intensify, Emma becomes convinced that they are very real...and that she has a dreadful part to play in the supernatural reenactment of a tragic love.


Richie Tankersley Cusick is just one of the many authors I still enjoy today after um...many years since I was first introduced to her books as a teen. I swear I read and re-read The Lifeguard so many times that I broke the spine and had to tape that poor book back together so I could keep on reading it!

In The House Next Door, Richie immediately captures your attention with the main character, Emma. Emma is just your average seventeen-year-old, until she spends the night in the creepy house next door. Something incredible happens that night; she is taken back in time to witness a terrible tragedy and becomes both physically and personally involved in the memory haunting the house. She shares the memory of a young girl that used to live in the house that tragedy struck one hundred years ago. Emma's presence in the house so close to the anniversary unleashes the spirit of the young man who had promised to save her, Daniel. He becomes obsessed with Emma and his need to protect her, puts those around her in danger, and the love Emma feels for Daniel is like nothing she has ever experienced before. The only way to save those Emma loves and free Daniel from the house is to allow him to save her in the present, unlike in the past where he failed, and to find forgiveness. But there's a chance that Emma might not survive the anniversary of the tragedy that happened in the house next door.