Review: Let Him In

Read from 23rd – 28th September 2023

Synopsis: 

William Friend’s haunting debut Let Him In is a creeping, gothic psychological suspense about a young, newly widowed father struggling to raise twin daughters obsessed with an imaginary friend.

“Daddy, there’s a man in our room…”

Alfie wakes one night to find his twin daughters at the foot of his bed, claiming there’s a shadowy figure in their bedroom. When no such thing can be found, he assumes the girls had a nightmare.

He isn’t surprised that they’re troubled. Grief has made its home at Hart House: nine months ago, the twins’ mother Pippa died unexpectedly, leaving Alfie to raise them alone. And now, when the girls mention a new imaginary friend, it seems like a harmless coping mechanism. But the situation quickly develops into something more insidious. The girls set an extra place for him at the table. They whisper to him. They say he’s going to take them away…

Alfie calls upon Julia—Pippa’s sister and a psychiatrist—to oust the malignant tenant from their lives. But as Alfie himself is haunted by visions and someone watches him at night, he begins to question the true character of the force that has poisoned his daughters’ minds, with dark and violent consequences.

Whatever this “friend” is, he doesn’t want to leave. Alfie will have to confront his own shameful secrets, the dark past of Hart House, and even the bounds of reality—or risk taking part in an unspeakable tragedy.

Bookish Things: 240 pages. The cover is suitably creepy and fits with the genre of choice.

Review: The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses

Read from 13th August – 8th September 2023

Synopsis: 

Theodora Corvus can hear the whispers of her crumbling family home. She can hear the whispers of Kingsward Manor, her place of employment. She sees the watchers by the lake, black-eyed and waiting. But Broken Oak is silent. Broken Oak is empty.

When Theodora takes the job as governess to young Ottoline Thorne, she leaves behind her beloved grandmother and the decaying ruins of her childhood home to travel far north to Broken Oak Manor. There, she finds a house filled with secrets. Under the stern eye of the foreboding housekeeper, Theodora quickly navigates the dark and winding corridors of Broken Oak, only to find herself irrevocably drawn to the mysterious lord of the manor. But someone walks the hallways late after nightfall, their footsteps leading to the attic. The only place in the sprawling house that does not remain silent.

As her scandalous feelings for Cassias Thorne grow, Theodora fights to unearth the secrets of Broken Oak. Who wanders the house at night? Where is the Lady of the manor? What lies behind the attic door high up under the eaves of the house?

“Where is Lady Thorne, Cassias? Where is your wife?”

Bookish Things: 194 pages. The cover is glorious and very fitting of the style of story.

Review: Her Dark Enchantments

Read from 16th July – 11th August 2023

Synopsis: The Wicked Fairy. The Mistress of All Evil. The villain of Sleeping Beauty goes by many names, but where did she come from?

Myravelle Spinner grew up in a tower with only spiders, spindles, and stone walls for friends while her mother spun gold for the king. She wondered why her mother refused to teach her fairy magic until one fateful mistake led Myravelle to become the healer in the king’s Sleepy Wood Company…

Drained from years of waking soldiers from a cursed sleep, Myravelle must now choose a new canvas–a man whose life she drains with a dagger to fuel her healing powers. A ritual binds her to Byzarien Dumont, who loathes fairies for the fires that left his family impoverished and his body riddled with scars. His burning hatred causes Myravelle’s enchantments to wilt, leading the king to threaten her mother’s life.

Byzarien can only see Myravelle as a beautiful spider who strings men along her web, while Myravelle considers love a weakness for the king to exploit. With their families in danger and soldiers rotting in a death-like sleep, the pair must learn to trust one another before the dark magic spinning in Myravelle’s soul unravels once and for all.

The Wicked Fairy never asked to become a monster…

Review: The Blood Countess

Read from 25-31st March 2023

Synopsis: Aged 19 and fresh from small town Gretchenville, Pandora English arrives in New York City to live with her mysterious Great Aunt Celia. Pandora is going to make it big in the fashion world… or so she thinks. It turns out her great aunt is not the geriatric she is expecting. Celia is elegant, cool, and unnaturally beautiful. The suburb she lives in – Spektor – is a bit odd, too, surrounded by a weird fog and inhabited by some unusual residents. When Pandora lands a job at a glossy women’s magazine, her first assignment is covering the exciting A-List launch of BloodofYouth, the latest miracle beauty product to take America by storm. Supermodel Athanasia, the face of BloodofYouth, is drop-dead gorgeous, but Pandora senses something else too. Something sinister…

Review: Deadlands Hunt

Read from 26-29th January 2023

Synopsis: 

Born to the finer things in life, Amethyst finds her comfortable world turned upside down when she seeks to discover the truth about her sister’s disappearance.

Chase is a Weren and one of the many dangers she expected to find but was ill prepared to deal with. He is the one who can help her find the answers she seeks; yet accepting his help comes at a cost.

Bookish Things: This book has also been released under the author name G. L. Drummond. 144 pages. This cover is eye catching and suits the story well.

Review: Redemption (The Warrior #4)

Read from 11-26th January 2023

Synopsis: 

Rachel Clancy made a decision to erase herself from the lives of her friends and family. She did this, she believes, to free herself up to make some hard decisions. Only to realize out she was manipulated by a master into doing just what he wanted….

Now, she is alone with no one to turn to for help.

But fate isn’t done with Rachel. When she is thrust back into the path of her former people—who have no idea who she is—she will find that life gives second chances. Will she gain redemption? Or is it too late…?

Bookish Things: 202 pages. I really like the newer covers, they look very swish!