Tag: Book blogger

How to Sell a Haunted House

“A puppet is a possession that possesses the possessor”

Hendrix has done it again, y’all!
How to sell a Haunted house is everything I never knew I needed in a horror book, and *spoiler alert* it’s not actually about a haunted house. I mean kind of, but it’s so much deeper than that. The puppets sucked me in, and the wild ass family drama kept me going.

When Mark and Louise’s parents unexpectedly pass away in a car accident Louise comes home to South Carolina to help her brother with the arrangements. Mark and Louise have never been close, their strained relationship made worse by the reading of their parents will.
The drama unfolds as we learn that Louise gets her moms prized art collection (haunted puppets included) and Mark gets everything else. Everything.
As Louise starts clearing her moms art collection from the house scary things start happening….and only get worse.
Mark and Louise have to work together to not only clean out and sell the house, but try to stay alive while doing it.

Hendrix’s campy style never gets old to me, and I absolutely love how the book is sectioned by the stages of grief. It was a perfect added touch! I found myself invested in the family dynamics and fell in love with every character. Even Pupkin.
I finished this book in one day and as soon as I closed it I wished I could read it again for the first time.

This book made me laugh AND cry. I really loved it, and I will always recommend it!

Advertisement

All Good People Here + Review

All Good People Here By Ashley Flowers

All Good People Here Follows the story of reporter Margot Davies and her endless quest to solve a cold case that has haunted her for more than 20 years. When Margot was 6, her friend and pageant princess January was brutally murdered. Margot was never able to get over the trauma of January’s death, and during Margot’s time as a reporter she came across another case that was eerily similar to January’s but was never able to tie the two together.
Margot travels back to her hometown, the town where it started all those years ago to help her ailing uncle and while she is there ANOTHER murder happens that is ALL to familiar. Will Margot be able to crack this case?

Ashley Flowers is the co-host of the true crime podcast “Crime Junkies”, and this is her debut novel! I’m a huge Crime Junkie fan, I listen to it all the time! I love Ashley and Britt, so I was super pumped when I was approved for this arc, and I had really high expectations! Ashley is an incredible story teller, and this book is very well written.

This book is written in multiple points of view, going from Margot in present day to January’s mom Krissy. I like how Ashley tied the story together between the present and past. This story is a SLOW burn, and it points the finger at literally everyone, so trying to figure out who done it is pointless, which I LOVE. Throughout the book the reader is pointed very convincingly at almost everyone.

One of the things that took away from this book for me was the murdered pageant princess plot. It’s a story we are all too familiar with, and one we all wish we knew the answer to. I feel like that aspect didn’t add to this story, and I wonder if Ashley meant for the parallels to be so strong? To me, it was almost a tired re-telling of that infamous case. While we do find out who and what, the ending felt so rushed for me, and it left a lot of loose ends. One minute we are in a very tense scene with Margot, and the next, its over. It just fell flat for me in that sense.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was very well written, and stellar for a debut novel. Thank you NetGalley & Random House for my copy of this thriller!

All Good People Here comes out on August 16, 2022

Pre-Order it HERE

Check out the early reviews HERE

Get to know the author HERE

Listen to the Crime Junkies podcast HERE

If you pick up this book, let’s talk about it! Happy reading, friends!

What’s on my NetGalley shelf? Day 5

It’s the LAST day of my NetGalley series, and I CAN NOT wait to share this book with you! Today we’re going to talk about Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates. Gallows Hill is a gothic, paranormal, psychological ride, and I want on! I love a good coming home story, and this one sounds delicious!

DAY 5

Gallows Hill

Description

Darcy Coates brings you a brand-new horror novel that’ll take your breath away… Gallows Hill is:
Perfect for fans of Jennifer McMahon and Simone St. James
For lovers of ghost stories and anyone mesmerized by the twisted secrets of the past

The Hull family has owned the Gallows Hill Winery for generations, living and working on the beautiful grounds where they grow their famous grapes. Until the night Mr. and Mrs. Hull settle down for the evening…and are dead by morning.

When their daughter, Margot, inherits the family business, she wants nothing to do with it. The winery is valued for its unparalleled produce, but it’s built on a field where hundreds of convicts were once hanged, and the locals whisper morbid rumors. They say the ground is cursed.

It’s been more than a decade since Margot last saw her childhood home. But now that she’s alone in the sprawling, dilapidated building, she begins to believe the curse is more than real-and that she may be the next victim of the house that never rests…

All the vibes with this one! I love a good paranormal mystery. I haven’t read any books by this author yet, this will be my first, and I can’t wait to devour it!

Also By Darcy Coates:
The Haunting of Leigh Harker
From Below
The Whispering Dead
The Haunting of Ashburn House
The Haunting of Blackwood House
Craven Manor
The House Next Door
Voices in the Snow

Gallows Hill comes out on September 6, 2022

Thank you NetGalley & Poisioned Pen Press for my copy of this thriller!

Read the early reviews HERE

Check out the author HERE

Happy Reading, friends!

What’s on my NetGalley shelf? Day 4

Hey friends! It’s day 4 of what’s on my NetGalley shelf, highlighting 5 books in 5 days!

First, I just want to say that a NetGalley decline of one of my most anticipated books this year has led me to this book! If you’re new to NetGalley, let me leave you with this one nugget of invaluable advice-Always read your NetGalley emails! Whether it’s an approval or denial-it might lead you straight to your next favorite book!

DAY 4

The Ghosts of Paris

Description

A thrilling tale of courage and secrets set in postwar London and Paris, in which a search for a missing husband puts investigator and former war reporter Billie Walker on a collision course with an underground network of Nazi criminals

It’s 1947. The world continues to grapple with the fallout of the Second World War, and former war reporter Billie Walker is finding her feet as an investigator. When a wealthy client hires Billie and her assistant Sam to track down her missing husband, the trail leads Billie back to London and Paris, where Billie’s own painful memories also lurk. Jack Rake, Billie’s wartime lover and, briefly, husband, is just one of the millions of people who went missing in Europe during the war. What was his fate after they left Paris together?

As Billie’s search for her client’s husband takes her to both the swanky bars at Paris’s famous Ritz hotel and to the dank basements of the infamous Paris morgue, she’ll need to keep her gun at the ready, because something even more terrible than a few painful memories might be following her around the city of lights . . .

THIS COVER IS EVERYTHING. I mean how glamorous; I love all the details! Day 4 and I’m 4 for 4 on covers that I absolutely adore!

I don’t usually read historical fiction, but I fell for Billie Walker so hard you guys! It was love at first sentence. I’m a sucker for a strong woman, and I have to meet her! The Ghosts of Paris is the second Billie Walker novel, the first being “The War Widow”, which, by the reviews is CLEARLY a book I need to put on my TBR!

The Ghosts of Paris comes out on June 7, 2022 -go put it on your TBR!

Thank you NetGalley & Penguin Group Dutton for my copy of this mystery!

Check out the early reviews HERE

Pre-Order it HERE

Get to know the author HERE

Happy reading!!!

What’s on my NetGalley shelf? Day 3

Hi, hey friends! I’m baacckkkkk with what’s on my NetGalley shelf- highlighting 5 books in 5 days.

Today I want to talk about The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang. If you know me you know I’m a HUGE sucker for a strong female protagonist, and this book is IT! I love when I meet a cast of characters that I know I will never forget, and I have a feeling I’m going to find that in this book. Adventure, mystery, and magical realism with some sci-fi peppered in. LETS GO!

DAY 3

The Wilderwomen

Description

Ohioana Book Award finalist Ruth Emmie Lang returns with a new cast of ordinary characters with extraordinary abilities in The Wilderwomen.

Five years ago, Nora Wilder disappeared. The older of her two daughters, Zadie, should have seen it coming, because she can literally see things coming. But not even her psychic abilities were able to prevent their mother from vanishing one morning.

Zadie’s estranged younger sister, Finn, can’t see into the future, but she has an uncannily good memory, so good that she remembers not only her own memories, but the echoes of memories other people have left behind. On the afternoon of her graduation party, Finn is seized by an “echo” more powerful than anything she’s experienced before: a woman singing a song she recognizes, a song about a bird…

When Finn wakes up alone in an aviary with no idea of how she got there, she realizes who the memory belongs to: Nora.

Now, it’s up to Finn to convince her sister that not only is their mom still out there, but that she wants to be found. Against Zadie’s better judgement, she and Finn hit the highway, using Finn’s echoes to retrace Nora’s footsteps and uncover the answer to the question that has been haunting them for years: Why did she leave?

But the more time Finn spends in their mother’s past, the harder it is for her to return to the present, to return to herself. As Zadie feels her sister start to slip away, she will have to decide what lengths she is willing to go to find their mother, knowing that if she chooses wrong, she could lose them both for good.

First of all, I want to take a second to just appreciate that gorgeous COVER ART! I’ve loved the cover of every book I’ve shared so far- My toxic trait is that I choose my books by the cover, and my wine by the label!

The Wilderwomen is Ruth Emmie Lang’s second book, her first being “Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance” which was published in 2017 and was Target Book Club’s pick of December 2018!

The Wilderwomen comes out on November 15, 2022

You can pre-order it HERE

You can check out the early reviews HERE

You can order Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance HERE

Learn more about Ruth Emmie Lang HERE

I hope you consider picking this book up, and if you do, let’s talk about it! Happy Reading, Friends!

What’s on my NetGalley shelf? Day 2

I’m highlighting 5 books in 5 days, and I’m back for day 2! Today we’re going to talk about a YA thriller from one of my FAVORITES- Courtney Summers!

Courtney Summers has written quite a few YA thriller/mysteries, a few of my favorites being “Sadie” and “Cracked up to Be”. Summers has a unique voice in the YA world- Her books are always thrilling and ALWAYS have me on edge, so I was PUMPED when I got an approval for this book!

Sidenote- Let’s talk about this beautiful cover! it’s perfect!

DAY 2

I’m the Girl

Description

When sixteen-year-old Georgia Avis discovers the dead body of thirteen-year-old Ashley James, she teams up with Ashley’s older sister, Nora, to find and bring the killer to justice before he strikes again. But their investigation throws Georgia into a world of unimaginable privilege and wealth, without conscience or consequence, and as Ashley’s killer closes in, Georgia will discover when money, power and beauty rule, it might not be a matter of who is guilty—but who is guiltiest.

A spiritual successor to the breakout hit Sadie, I’m the Girl is a bold and masterfully written account of how one young woman feels in her body as she struggles to navigate a deadly and predatory power structure while asking readers one question: if this is the way the world is, do you accept it?

I’m the Girl checks all of my thriller-bingeable-read boxes, and I can’t wait to start it! All 5 books highlighted on my blog this week will have reviews up this month, so watch this space, you might find your next favorite book!

Thank you NetGalley & MacMillan for my copy of this thriller!

I’m the Girl comes out on September 13, 2022

You can Pre-order it HERE

Check out the early reviews HERE

Learn more about the author HERE

Happy Reading!

F**k Buddies+Review

Christa and Eric. Eric and Heather. Johnny and Christa. Paige and Johnny.

Thank you, Lisa Andrew for reaching out to me with an ARC of this spicy book!
First, I want to say that this is not my typical genre, but after reading Lisa’s short story “Kink or Kill” which was an easy 5 star read for me, (Seriously, go read it) I COULD NOT pass up the opportunity to read this book. I am SO glad I took that chance, because this story did not disappoint!

Christa and Eric are set up on a blind date that goes HORRIBLY. HORRIBLY right. I absolutely love the banter these two share throughout the book. They love/hate each other, and I could not get enough! After their first night together they start to have feelings for one another, which is so sweet, until…..HERE COMES JOHNNY! When we are introduced to Johnny who is both Christa and Eric’s best friend, and Heather, who is Christa’s best friend, things get really WILD, really FAST!

This isn’t your typical spicy romance book, if you’re looking for characters that make good and right decisions, this isn’t it! But what I really loved about it was the author wrote the characters in such a way with such depth that I was rooting for THEM ALL! I loved all of them. These morally gray characters are like us all, and that’s what I really enjoyed. Love is messy, humans are messy, and things don’t always go the way you hope, or the way you think they should.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, It was a nice palate cleanser from my norm, and I’m glad I took the chance on it. The only thing that took away from it for me was that some of the dialogue was hard to follow. I had to go back and re-read who said what, but overall, it was well written with relatable characters who I grew to love. It is broken up into 3 books which worked so well with the timeline, and the Author leaves it open to a sequel, which I’m really rooting for!

F**k Buddies comes out on May 1st, and If you pick it up, I have to know-Are you Team Eric or Team Johnny? Let’s talk about it!!

Pre-Order F**k Buddies HERE

Check out Lisa Andrews Blog and Other Titles HERE

Lisa’s Instagram HERE

People we meet on vacation

“I’ve always felt like, when someone sees me deep down, that’s it. There’s something ugly in there, or unlovable, and you’re the only person who’s ever made me feel like I’m okay.”

SWOON! Poppy and Alex forever!

People we meet on vacation is the first book I have read by Emily Henry, and all I have to say is YES to this slow burning atmospheric romance.
Poppy and Alex have been best friends for ten years. He is stoic, reserved, and slightly neurotic, while she is the complete opposite. Bright, loud, and hilarious. Every summer they take the most epic of vacations together, all the while falling deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that is their complicated love.
I fell in love with the cast of characters in this book right away, and it had me laughing out loud before I finished the first chapter. I fell completely in love with Poppy, she is funny, charming, and the chemistry she shares with Alex is complete FIRE.
This book is a slow burn, which I have to admit, I am not used to when it comes to romance. I am used to the fast paced, falling in love happily ever after romance books, and I can tell you right now, this is not that. Okay, I digress, there IS happily ever after, just not how I predicted it, which I LOVED.
People we meet on vacation is written in a dual timeline, switching between each year’s epic summer vacation, to the current summer, which I thought gave the book and the characters evolving relationship a lot of depth. The reader really gets to know them, and the changing dynamics of their love story. We get taken on such amazing adventures with these two characters, Canada, Croatia, Nashville, Vail….honestly, the adventure and atmosphere of everywhere this book takes us one thousand percent makes up for the slow burn.
While I was sitting there thinking, OKAY LET’S GET TO IT, Y’ALL LOVE EACHOTHER LET’S MAKE OUT NOW, I was also swooning over every new place we would be swept off to, wondering where the author would take us next.

I loved this book. It’s the perfect book to read in the dead of winter, curled up with a cozy blanket and hot tea. It’s the perfect vacation!

The Sundown Motel

Viv Delaney disappeared from the Sundown Motel in 1982, years before her niece Carly was born. When Carly’s mother passes away, she decides she needs to visit the motel where her aunt disappeared all those years ago. When she gets to Fell, New York and finally sets foot into the roadside motel that her aunt disappeared from, she realizes that nothing has changed.

The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James is a very compelling ghost story. I read this book after a very long reading slump, and I wasn’t disappointed…. but I didn’t love it either. It was good. I was following this book all over instagram, I was seeing it everywhere, it was one of those “Bookstagram made me buy it” books. The world St. James delivered was nothing short of creepy and I thought she did an amazing job of painting the picture of a retro roadside motel.

When Carly moves to Fell, the similarities between her life and her aunt’s life are eerily similar, which I thought added a nice touch to the atmosphere and characters. It was interesting to see how the mystery of her aunt’s disappearance unfolded and learning about the characters secrets was one of my favorite things about this book. If you think you know the characters, no you don’t. The characters surprise you up until the end, which, honestly, I live for! I love a good character twist.

For me, the story fell flat at the end, it was pretty predictable, and I did end up predicting the ending, so that was a bit of a letdown, HOWEVER, I feel like the character twists made up for that a bit. All in all, I enjoyed this book. This is the first book I have read by St. James, and I would definitely pick up another.

If you enjoy a twisty-ghost-revenge-mystery story, this one is it!

Untamed+Review

Short story- I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it.

Long story- I wanted this to be a life altering, perception changing, empowering book, but it just wasn’t that for me.

I’m not a self-help/memoir reader, so maybe I’m not the target audience for this book, but I had to read this empowering, feminist piece of work everyone on bookstagram was raving about. Im always up for a feminist tirade!

The first 1/4 was great! It was interesting, the stories pulled me in, and it felt relevant and real….after that it all went downhill for me. It was fluff peppered with cute motivational quotes.

This was not a memoir or self help book, it was a book of short stories about Glennon’s life, a book about how she CHOSE to be gay, how she has life figured out, and to achieve the best life you must be selfish, always choosing yourself over everyone else. If you’re not choosing you and your truth, are you even living? Sometimes I like to put my kids or husband first, and that feels good to me and my heart. It doesn’t make me a martyr. Sorry Glennon.

Im probably not the target audience for this book, but I gave it a good solid college try.

If you’re into motivational quotes and want a fast, feel-good read, you’ll love this book!