Interesting supernatural horror. I liked the way the characters were able to see things in their dreams. And the close knit family made me happy.

My personal complaint was how many characters smoked and how much they smoked. I could imagine the house being filled with smoke and how it would smell and it disgusted me.

This was interesting the whole way through. I thought the ending was satisfying and the thought of this being a series is interesting. I can see myself reading the next book.

Science fiction. This book takes place entirely in the caverns, and except for the technologically advanced suit she wears, it's hard to know that this takes place on a different planet. I am fascinated by people who explore underground so I enjoyed this one. The claustrophobic atmosphere really got to me. I didn't like the relationship between Gyre and Em, the person controlling the mission. I didn't understand the bond they developed.

Based on the cover art, and the description of this as "laugh out loud" funny, I was expecting this to be a light hearted story. Instead, this is quite depressing. Elizabeth encounters such misogynistic attitudes from the men around her. And there is a rape scene early on. This book is not for me.

Bailed

A well written, interesting middle grade horror book. It had some truly disturbing imagery with the wasps. I wanted to learn more about Mr. Nobody and his relationship to the wasps. Very entertaining.

Really a 3.5 star read, but I love this book. It is a comfort read for me.

I am a sucker for stories about dogs. This was a good paranormal romance story that was fast moving and interesting. The first half of the book seemed really unique, and the last half was a little more formulaic, but still a good read.

I liked the basic story. It is a good apocalyptic survival story. Although we never get a real idea of why Ben has survived untouched while everyone else is affected.

I did not like the way Ben's weight was treated by the other characters and also by himself. There is a lot of hateful speech that wasn't really necessary. The story would have been just as interesting without all the insults and fat phobia.

I've read Garton's Ravenous and Bestial, and really liked his take on the werewolf legends. I love the idea of vampires as sex workers, they can avoid scrutiny by working in the seedy underbelly of New York.

This story was fast paced and I enjoyed reading it. I liked the way the vampire's were portrayed. And also liked the supporting characters of Casey and Benedek. I had fun reading this and am going on to the next in the series.

This book was great. I really enjoyed reading it. It was very interesting. A father and two daughters are on the run from something (we don't find out what until the end). He takes a job investigating a haunted house for a large amount of money. This house is really haunted and puts everyone in danger. There are a lot of themes about death and what life is after death. This seemed different from other haunted house books.

The story of Olivier and Nathalie in the car. Why? What was the point?

Enzo, what a terrible child. Why did they allow him to come on a school trip in the first place?

The most disturbing part of the book was when the teachers told the kids the story of The Laws of the Skies. How could anyone think that is appropriate for a group of 6 year olds.

Much of the book was the children musing on the meaning of live and love and family.

A house full of puppets and dolls. I can't think of much that is creepier. Louise's parents die, and she goes back home to help her brother Mark clean out the house.
I really enjoyed this book. The story did feel a little long. I felt it could have ended 50 pages earlier and I would have been fine with that. There is quite a bit of supernatural activity and violence as the story progresses. I didn't want to put it down until I was finished.

Loosely based on Elizabeth Bathory, a fascinating historical figure. This is a different type of vampire story. She is certainly an interesting character. Life in the house is one of extreme decadence. This may be horror adjacent, but not a scary story. It is very descriptive and draws you into Marion's life. I enjoyed the book, but I didn't feel 100% invested in the story. Even with the sex scenes, the book felt very YA to me.

3.5 stars I chose this book because I liked Sandi's work on the Great British Baking Show. She has an extensive career in Britain, but since I am from the United States this was the only thing I knew her from. This was a fascinating look at her life in theater and television. The book is framed as a bus ride through London. Along the way, she talks about the sights she sees, and the memories they stir up. This was a comforting read.

This was a fast moving story. The monster is a vicious killer. The part I didn‘t like was the local woman who worships the creature and leaves offerings for her. I also don‘t understand why the group of explorers is so desperate to be the first in the cave that they ignore all the warnings. The parts exploring the cave were great, the parts outside of the cave got a little boring.

Constanta is a medieval peasant saved from death by a mysterious stranger. As she awakens to her new life she finds she is now a vampire. At first she loves her new life but as the years pass she begins to feel dissatisfied and want to leave her lover. This book was well written with a flowery prose. There wasn‘t enough action for me. It was very introspective, a character study of Constanta. Overall the book was fine but not very exciting.

I was very excited to start this. I had heard good things about the book and was looking forward to it. I loved the nine houses and their secret societies. Alex was an interesting character. I enjoyed watching her discover this secret world hidden at Yale. Overall I liked the book but I wasn‘t in love with it. The ending reveal was a surprise but getting there wasn‘t super exciting for me.

Wow, Phoenix Bones is definitely an interesting character. This short novella is my first introduction to him. I love that this takes place in the Bayou because that is a fascinating place to me. The Blob monster is great and terrifying. This is fun and fast paced. It can easily be read in an hour or two.

I was engrossed in this book from beginning to end. Jenny Callow is a great character. She has a good relationship with her partner Oakley. I love that she trusts her instincts and follows through with her intuition. Some of her logic leaps do seem a little forced, like the decision to look for a man with a prosthetic. But overall, I was caught up in the story and enjoyed it all.

A fun, charming cozy mystery. Set in the world of the LA Night Market and the local Asian restaurants, I loved all the descriptions of the foods. It made me want to try some of everything. I liked the main characters, Yale and her cousin Celine. Both characters were nice, always willing to help out the other local restaurant owners. The mystery was interesting with multiple suspects. I found this to be a quick, fun read that I finished in one day.

I liked the premise of this book and how it all played out. This book has a lot of gore but it felt relevant to the storyline. It may be disturbing to someone who is not used to reading more extreme horror. I felt sorry for Melvin the whole book and hated the people who bullied him. The ending was not what I expected and I enjoyed the part where Melvin meets the mysterious stranger again. This was a fast read with nonstop action.

A fun fantasy story with cozy vibes. Viv, an orc, retires from battle to open a coffee shop in a town that has never heard of coffee. I love how coffee is the invention of the gnomes, and other races have never heard of it. As Viv opens the coffee shop of her dreams she creates her own found family in the new town. There is some low stakes conflict, but overall this is just a pleasant story.

The Salpêtrière in the 1880s was a mental hospital, housing many women diagnosed with hysteria. This book tells the story of Laure, a former patient who now works at the hospital, and Josephine, a new patient with amnesia. As Laure takes care of Josephine, she begins to care for her and slowly learns her story. The story of Josephine is intertwined with Laure desiring to find her younger sister and move to a new town.

Super cool music festival vibes.

At the Valhalla music festival, on the site of an ancient viking massacre, crazy supernatural things are happening. What starts as a great day turns into another massacre. In this novella, things move quickly. The ending is exceptionally creepy. There are also illustrations that add to the mood. I love books with illustrations.

I liked the mystery and watching the people try to survive the weekend with a killer on the loose. The motive for the kills was understandable, yet the identity of the killer was a surprise. I was entertained throughout the whole book, but still felt something was missing with the writing style. Probably because this is written for a young adult audience and I was looking for some more depth. 3 stars

I was pleasantly surprised how much I like this book because I do not like the cover art and the description sounded just ok.

The beginning of the book was more enjoyable for me than the second half. I liked the writing style and was interested in getting to know the characters. The second half became more repetitive with Kari‘s actions and thoughts. The ending was interesting and not what I was expecting.

This is my favorite Megan Goldin book so far.

I liked the continuation of Rachel's story. Working on a true crime podcast gives her opportunities to investigate many different cases. My favorite part of this book was when Rachel attended the BuzzCon conference for internet influencers. I am always fascinated by that topic, and getting a behind the scenes look is so much fun.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked the world building. Prospera was a very interesting place, and the recycling of human souls was crazy. This is one of those books that the more I think about it, the more confused I get. I don't want to give any spoilers, but after the big reveal I found it hard to wrap my mind around what was going on. Just the sheer logistics of it all.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun, quick read. I finished it in about an hour. 5 14-year-old best friends each get a fortune from a machine in the mall. Somehow this becomes a catalyst for change within the group. This story takes place over a couple of days, but so much seems to happen. Each girl experiences a change for the better. A sweet story about friends and life.

I received a free copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I enjoyed this book more than I have the recent ones. The bondage play was more interesting that some of the other hardcore sex in her books. One question I do have: most of the series talks about how there is so few leopards left, yet each book ends with a huge fight and many leopards being killed. Haven't we run out of leopards yet?

I really liked the world building. I thought the ghouls were a great creation, and felt that the backstory made sense. The only thing that rang false to me was I don't think they would have been integrated into society as quickly as described in the book. The ending was pretty cool, complete with a secret laboratory. I liked all the main characters, it is a gift to have a group of friends like these four. The book was fantastic 5 stars ⭐️

The beginning was hard for me to follow. Every chapter focused on a new character, and it was hard to see how everyone was going to tie together. At about the 30% mark it started coming together and I enjoyed the book more from that point. The book had a creepy, dark atmosphere. I can't say it was very scary to me. We really don't see the demon, just the results of his actions. I would have liked to see more scares and a more fleshed out evil.

Winding down for the evening after a delicious dinner at La Cocina. Current read : Dark Corners by Megan Goldin.

I thought I would love this book because I am such a big fan of the HeartStopper series. Somehow this didn't have the same sweetness. I like the ACE representation, and watching Georgia realize that she is asexual. I felt that it tried to educate readers about different types of sexuality, but I find it hard to believe that none of them had heard of asexuality before, given that her best friend is a lesbian.

So far my least favorite of the series, it was still a fun read. I think I'm just getting tired of the same old troubles being rehashed in every book. Yet I still love Nick and Charlie. I just wish this series moved a little faster.

Book 6 of Torpedo Ink is Savage's story. He is into BDSM and spends time telling his girlfriend how she will “learn to like it." I don't see why there is any reason to learn to like something that causes pain. Too much inner dialogue from Seychelle really took me out of the story. It is all her justifying why she loves Savage to herself. I understand that book 7 follows their story and gets heavily into the BDSM. I think I will skip that book.

Based on the title, I was hoping for more serial killers and less love. This is your basic meet cute romance. I really liked that Phoebe is working on her PhD dissertation on true crime. That seems like a pretty interesting field of study. This was a fun and fluffy read.

This book was a bit boring and repetitive for the first part. Player is shot in the head, and as he recovers, he relives the same nightmare over and over. The second half got more interesting as the group tried to take down some people who were targeting local elderly. I liked that the sex was not as kinky as the previous book while still being spicy.

Book 11 in the Leopard People series. Interesting novel that goes deep into the politics of the leopards and the various territories. At times there were too many names to follow. The basic love story was satisfying. On to the next one.

I really liked this book. The writing style worked for me and the story created tension that rose throughout the novella. The story was weird and the cult surrounding the worm was annoying. But I couldn't help enjoying the book. I'm not sure how I feel about a sequel though. Seems unnecessary.

3.5 stars. Informative but a little dry. I wish there was a directory of websites and organizations at the back of the book.

I enjoyed this story, but felt it was too short. It didn't feel like a novella, just a long short story. So I was a bit disappointed that this was marketed as a book when it was so small, I enjoyed learning about Ro and discovering with her things about her friends, She does seem to attract a lot of dark characters. I wish there was more Krampus in the story, he never really makes an appearance. I feel this could have been fleshed out a bit more.

I have to say this is the most striking cover I have ever seen.

A science fiction novella about an isolated girl from Africa who gets a full scholarship to a university on a faraway planet. Binti is super smart. There is a lot of talk about math and science here that is hard to follow. The ship is highjacked by a species called the Meduse, who kill everyone on the ship except Binti and the pilot. The ending felt very simplistic and unrealistic.

A horror book about Rory, who moves back to her hometown temporarily to take care of her pregnant twin sister. The book follows Rory coming to terms with being bitten by a werewolf, and then learning what to do to keep everyone safe during her monthly transformation. An interesting read that proceeds at a medium pace. The characters are mostly likable people who sometimes do unlikable things. There is some gore and body horror in the book.

I like this series less as it goes on, yet I still want to read them. Formulaic, but I like the formula. This book contains some very kinky sex that made me a little uncomfortable, because I can't imagine it being fun. But I guess some people enjoy it. I am still looking forward to reading the next in the series.

This book was surprisingly wonderful. I picked it up on a whim and am so glad that I did. It felt reminiscent of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series with the whacky characters and crazy adventures. I really liked Finlay's relationship with her nanny/business partner. Definitely looking forward to reading more in this series.

Disturbing. Definitely disturbing. That is what I think of this collection. It is actually my favorite that I have read from LaRocca. The story with the woman babysitting her niece was definitely one of my favorites and very tense. The story where the couple with a baby meet the strangers in the park was probably my least favorite but still good. This collection was full of great stories.

Publication date March 7 2023

I absolutely love this series. My biggest complaint is that the volumes are too short, easily read in an hour. Nick and Charlie are a great couple. However, the plot moves slowly, and I feel is becoming repetitive with the same fears being reiterated frequently. Still a super sweet story and I look forward to reading the next volume.

So glad to get this continuation of Charlie and Nick's story. It is so great to see the evolution of a romance, taking it slow and getting to know each other.

A very sweet graphic novel about 2 high school boys falling in love. My only complaint is that volume 1 was too short. Now I have to go to the library to get the next volume.

This novella follows 3 sisters growing up poor and black in a small Louisiana parrish in 1889. The black community lives on the edge of the small town ruled by the white sheriff.

The sisters go to visit their aunt who practices hoodoo and rootwork. This was the part of the book that was most interesting to me.

This is a fast read that only takes a few hours. It was ok while I was reading, but this is not something I will remember.