Welcome to the Blog Tour for The Girl Upstairs by Jessica R. Patch, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
About the Book
Title: The Girl Upstairs
Author: Jessica R. Patch
Publisher: Harlequin Love Inspired Trade
Release Date: April 28, 2026
Genre: Psychological Thriller
"Jessica R. Patch weaves a dark, twisty tapestry that’s both unsettling and unexpectedly hopeful. Masterful." –New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan
She bought this house to save her marriage. Unearthing its secrets might just claim her life.
Gwen McDaniel’s life is broken. But she knows the perfect place to fix it. Cold Harbor, Maine, an idyllic small town with views of Acadia National Park, is where she used to vacation with her parents as a child. Here, she and Steven can start over, renovating their cliff-side fixer-upper while patching up their marriage. Soon, everything will be better.
Except from the moment they arrive, Gwen sees and hears things, and it’s more than just the drafts and shadows that are part of any old house. Steven downplays her fears, warning her not to fixate on problems as she has in the past. But Gwen spent years as a homicide detective, and her instincts don’t lie. Something happened here. Proof comes when she rips up the attic’s carpet to discover a chilling message carved into the wood underneath.
As Gwen delves into the history of the house and the Cold Harbor community, she begins to piece the fragments together. And gradually, a terrifying picture emerges: A missing girl. A house of horrors. And a dark, decades-old nightmare that is more haunting than Gwen ever imagined…
PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Harlequin.com | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | BookBub
Book Excerpt
The house looms over the harbor, its whitewashed exterior faded. It perches on the bluff like something forgotten, left to rot against the salt and wind. The porch wraps around the front, its boards warped and buckling. I can tell they’ll protest beneath my feet when I approach. Two barrels of dead flowers flank the doors.
The windows are the worst—too many, too large. They stare blankly, smeared with age and dust, clouded, like the house has been watching for so long it’s gone blind.
According to Teresa, the house caught fire in 1980, but it was contained to the main floor’s primary room and the bathroom beside it. Tragic accident around Christmastime.
The roof curls at the edges, blackened with damp, and the chimney stands like a broken spine, bricks crumbling away one by one.
Behind it, the forest presses in. The trees of Acadia stand silent, the pines too still, the birches stripped bare like reaching bones.
Something about the house is jarring. Not just old or neglected. Plenty of houses wear their history in their walls, in their beams, in the way the air inside feels heavy with time, but this one feel like the years left behind something that never quite settled.
We finally step out of the vehicle. I stand a few feet from the porch steps. The wind shifts, cold and sudden, and I swear the house exhales. Like it’s been holding its breath.
Like it’s been expecting me.
Also Available
About the Author
Jessica R. Patch is a New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than thirty novels. Known for her pulse-pounding plots, emotionally charged characters, and signature twists, Jessica’s stories explore themes of justice, resilience, and the unshakable power of hope.
Whether weaving inspirational stories of danger edged with romance or crafting chilling thrillers that probe the shadows of the human heart, Jessica delivers fiction that thrills while shining light in the darkest places. She makes her home in Northwest Mississippi, where she enjoys life with her family, a good cup of tea, and dreaming up her next edge-of-your-seat story usually over tacos and queso.
You’re invited to join the Patched In community at her website: jessicarpatch.com and receive a FREE short thriller, Nobody Has to Know.
Tour Giveaway
(2) winners will each receive a signed copy of The Other Sister and a $10 Amazon gift card!
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight April 27, 2026 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on May 4, 2026. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only for the print copy. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
