Adult, book review

Salt & Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher (Review)

A gifted healer unravels the mysteries of a cursed estate―and its enigmatic owner―in a witchy retelling of Jane Eyre . Salt and broom, make this room Safe and tight, against the night. Trunks packed with potions and cures, Jane Aire sets out on a crisp, clear morning in October to face the greatest challenge of her sheltered girls’-school existence. A shadow lies over Thornfield Hall and its reclusive master, Edward Rochester. And he’s hired her only as a last resort. Jane stumbles again and again as she tries to establish a rapport with her prickly new employer, but he becomes the least of her worries as a mysterious force seems to work against her. The threats mount around both Jane and Rochester―who’s becoming more intriguing and appealing to her by the day. Jane begins to fear her herb healing and protective charms may not be enough to save the man she’s growing to love from a threat darker and more dangerous than either of them imagined.… Read More Salt & Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher (Review)

Adult, ARC review, book review

The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke (ARC Review)

In the midst of the woods stands a house called Lichen Hall.

This place is shrouded in folklore—old stories of ghosts, of witches, of a child who was not quite a child.

Now the woods are creeping closer, and something has been unleashed.

Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965, one of a string of young women sent to Lichen Hall to give birth. And she soon suspects the proprietors are hiding something.

Then she meets the mysterious mother and young boy who live in the grounds—and together they begin to unpick the secrets of this place.

As the truth comes to the surface and the darkness moves in, Pearl must rethink everything she knew—and risk what she holds most dear… Read More The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke (ARC Review)

Adult, ARC review, book review

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling (ARC Review)

Practical, unassuming Jane Shoringfield has done the calculations, and decided that the most secure path forward is this: a husband, in a marriage of convenience, who will allow her to remain independent and occupied with meaningful work. Her first choice, the dashing but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence, agrees to her proposal with only one condition: that she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town. Yet on their wedding night, an accident strands her at his door in a pitch-black rainstorm, and she finds him changed. Gone is the bold, courageous surgeon, and in his place is a terrified, paranoid man—one who cannot tell reality from nightmare, and fears Jane is an apparition, come to haunt him. By morning, Augustine is himself again, but Jane knows something is deeply wrong at Lindridge Hall, and with the man she has so hastily bound her safety to. Set in a dark-mirror version of post-war England, Starling crafts a new kind of gothic horror from the bones of the beloved canon. This Crimson Peak-inspired story assembles, then upends, every expectation set in place by Shirley Jackson and Rebecca, and will leave readers shaken, desperate to begin again as soon as they are finished… Read More The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling (ARC Review)

ARC review, book review, young adult

What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo (ARC Review)

Eleanor Zarrin has been estranged from her wild family for years. When she flees boarding school after a horrifying incident, she goes to the only place she thinks is safe: the home she left behind. But when she gets there, she struggles to fit in with her monstrous relatives, who prowl the woods around the family estate and read fortunes in the guts of birds. Eleanor finds herself desperately trying to hold the family together — in order to save them all, Eleanor must learn to embrace her family of monsters and tame the darkness inside her… Read More What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo (ARC Review)

top ten tuesdays, weekly meme

Top Ten Tuesday #57: Top Ten 2018 Releases That I Recommend For Reading On/Around Halloween

Happy Tuesday, and happy Top Ten Tuesday day, everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of these, and that’s because I just haven’t been inspired. I’ve also been devoting time to another post series that I publish on Tuesdays called Book Birthdays (and I’ve been having a lot of fun with that). But,… Read More Top Ten Tuesday #57: Top Ten 2018 Releases That I Recommend For Reading On/Around Halloween

Adult, book review

Cauchemar by Alexandra Grigorescu [Review]

Title: Cauchemar Author: Alexandra Grigorescu Type: Fiction Genre: Adult, Southern Gothic, Horror, Paranormal Publisher: ECW Press Date published: March 17, 2015 Format: Paperback Page Count: 316 Source: Publisher A physical copy of the book was kindly provided by the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Summary: Gripping, fast-paced, gorgeously written, and with unforgettable characters, Cauchemar tells the story of 20-year-old… Read More Cauchemar by Alexandra Grigorescu [Review]