Tag Archives: Fantasy

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Seashells, Spells, and Caramels

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This book totally took me by surprise as it pulled me in and made it hard for me to get any sleep. I have never read this author before but will be definitely coming back for more. I will say that I loved the main character basically from the beginning. She was quirky and likable in a nerdy kind of way for some reason, she had a drive that I admired, even if she did seem like a bit of a pushover. The locations were alright though not as well imagined as the characters, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The ending did not satisfy me, mainly because I was looking for something else, but it did make me want more of these people.

Imogen has been working for the past seven towards one goal, she wants to own a bakery. She has not confided in her adoptive family because she does not believe they would understand, in fact, she moved from St. Louis to Seattle to pursue her dream because of that very thing. Well as fate would have it on the night that she decides to enter a baking contest that would take her to France she inadvertently causes a fire in her apartment that takes all her savings and her dream of ownership.

Though things are grim she receives news that she has a place in the contest and must get to France as soon as possible in order to participate. There she will find revelations about herself and her place in the world as well as friends she might never have met. There is magic and murder in her future.

I love a good mystery story and this one was made even better because it combined my love, magic, and the paranormal. The mystery was actually very well done. It was fun trying to figure out what had been done and why and then getting to see if you were right. The tone is light even with murders since they are not gruesome or gory in any way. I enjoyed this immensely and definitely recommend it!!

I received a copy of the book from the author for an honest review.

My rating: ✮✮✮✮

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The Haunted Forest Tour

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This is the first thing I have ever read by this author and it was a nice introduction to his work. It was not something I was immediately drawn into but it did not take long for me to see that I was going to enjoy it. The characters actually made this whole story for me because I liked them almost from the start and was rooting for my favorites to get out alive. Which is pretty foolish when you have a story that you know is going to have a high body count. You get some standard monsters and some not-so-standard monsters, the main thing is that they are some evil monsters.

Four years ago a forest popped up in the middle of the New Mexico desert on the outskirts of Cromay, a small town that was taken unaware. There were not a lot of survivors that day but those who got out told tales of creatures that made the skin crawl. It didn’t take long for someone to come along and see the possibilities and so the Haunted Forest Tours began.

Christopher Brummit was having a very bad day but then he gets a call from his mother, Mindy, telling him that she has gotten tickets for the Halloween Haunted Forest tour for the two of them. He is excited and does not give his problems any further thought. When they arrive they go through the presentation and finally board a tram that will take them into the heart of the forest instead of the usual trip on the outskirts. What they find inside that forest will be with them forever if they can manage to make it out with mind and body intact.

There is quite a bit of action to find in this story. Some might find it gory, and it does have a bit of gore but nothing too excessive. While I liked the end I think that it was anticlimactic in a lot of ways, it just seemed to be very abrupt. This was a well-paced, roller coaster ride through a monster-filled territory that will thrill most and scare some. I would recommend this to anyone who likes horror with some light comic relief!

My rating: 💫💫💫💫

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12:07: The Sleeping

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I have never read anything by this author before and found that I do like them, though this book could have been a little shorter. While I appreciate the attention to detail from character development to the nuance of the plot, it could have been toned down to make the thriller aspects a bit more thrilling. The supernatural was well represented as were the religious aspects but I never felt any true sense of urgency while reading. That’s not to say that I did not enjoy it because I did, it just never fully engulfed me.

Sleeping collects the Unwanted, a child not created/born from want. They are the guardians of the underworld who feed on tormented souls. When they enter our world they are the ones who haunt those they believe belong in Hell. The Sleeping is relentless and employs whatever means are needed to obtain the souls of those they have laid claim to.

James has seen The Sleeping since he was five years old and has been fighting them since that time. They continue coming for him and he hides as best he can from them, but the things he does keep him firmly on their radar.

No real action to speak of, not scary, just not. As I have said it has a decent story with some characters that will make you hate them or love them but you will feel something about them. I just wish there had been more going on besides all the explaining about what this is and what that is. But someone will enjoy it.

My Rating: 🌠🌠🌠

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Mercy House

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This is another of those authors that I am reading for the first time. One major peeve about this book is that it seems to have more pages than are needed for the narrative, though this is of course only my opinion. You get to know some characters better than others and I feel that the ones you get so much information on are the wrong ones. I wanted more about the couple who show up on such a crazy day as they walk. I was also not really sure about where this was taking place, it seemed to be both isolated and not isolated, never sure of which. Much of the action occurs in the first ten chapters with the remaining being filler with spots of activity.

There is never any explanation as to what happens to the residents or why. That seems like an important omission to me, monster, environmental or alien. I found only one error and that is the mistake in the name of the doctor on a couple of occasions.

Mercy House is a state-of-the-art retirement home that appears perfect on the surface. The truth however is far from this ideal picture shown to prospective residents and their families. These people get to see the lively residents who reside on the first and second floors but not those who cannot speak for themselves. Don and Nikki Laurel are on their way to drop Don’s mother, Harriet, off at Mercy House something she highly resents. When they arrive things seem great but as they make their tour and settle in to enjoy dinner, changes are brewing among those in attendance.

This was not very scary in and of itself. If you are afraid of old people or afraid of what they might do if given the chance then this could be terrifying. This did make me want to try some other work by this author and see what he has to offer. Do recommend.

My rating: 🌠🌠🌠

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Some Will Not Sleep

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Some Will Not Sleep: Selected Horrors by Adam Nevill

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


After reading all the stories and giving each an individual rating I have averaged it out to 2.41 stars for this book. Some of the stories were better than others which is always the case when reading any type of anthology or short story collection. The problem for me was that I did not really find any that I felt truly could be called horror, at least by my standards of the genre. There were some creepy moments in say “Where Angels Come In” or “Mother’s Milk” both of which I liked and a few others. Then you have the ones that I could not figure out why they were even included here like “To Forget and Be Forgotten” which I could not even describe after reading because it did nothing for me or “Florrie” which pretty much gave me the whole story in the first two paragraphs so that I had it figured out right there.

I still want to read something else written by this author since this was my introduction to them. The characters and locales were fine. I could feel for them in a lot of instances and so the writing was not a problem. I would recommend this because though it did not scare or really give me chills that might not be the case for others.



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The Curse of the House on Cypress Lane #0

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The Curse of The House on Cypress Lane: Book 0- The Beginning by James Hunt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The book didn’t grab me right out of the gate but it got more and more interesting as I got to know the characters and their situation better. While the buildup is slow, it is not exactly subtle. You can pretty much all the connections immediately. This particular book is a novella that purports to be the beginning of things but that is inaccurate because what has been going on obviously began much further in the past than this. But it would have been nice to get some of that background about the house and the people who set things in motion. I have never read this author before and maybe just need to see what his process is for developing stories since everyone’s is slightly different.

The house at the end of Cypress Lane is large and with a history that is entwined with the town of Ocoee, Louisiana. The Cooley family becomes entangled in that history and must fight to stay alive in a situation, not of their making. Owen Cooley has been out of work for the past 6 months with no opportunities in sight. When he is offered a job after a phone interview which would mean a drastic relocation of his family he jumps at the chance without even trying to get any information about the place he is going. This is one of those times when if it’s too good to be true, then you should look behind the curtain. He should have looked for his family’s sake.

This did intrigue me enough to make me want to continue reading about this house and its inhabitants. It did not scare me but it does have an atmosphere of darkness that worked for me. I would recommend it to those who want a horror read with potential.



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If you ever wanted to know what fear and desperation looked like, Owen would tell you to go down to the local unemployment center and look in the eyes of the men and women waiting in line to speak with a clerk. Beyond the bouncing legs, fidgeting fingers, and long exhales riddled with anxiety, you’ll find the worst combination of fear, anger, and hate swirling around their souls. Anger for failing, fear for failing again, and a hate for everything that put them in their situation.

The Curse of the House on Cypress Lane By: James Hunt
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The Strange Case at Misty Ridge

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The Strange Case at Misty Ridge by David Brian

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


First time reading this author and it was a pleasant experience. I was not totally wowed by the story but it was still well done. The characters lacked definition and I never felt that I really got to know who they were as individuals. I was expecting something a lot different from what I got though it was a nice change from the usual haunting you get. Would have liked a little more background on the house and town maybe to give some context.

Jack Keswick survived a tragedy that took the lives of a lot of people. Because he was unable to return to his usual work he was able to indulge his passion for paranormal investigation. Jack does not have very many memories of before the accident but has flashes once in a while that gives him a look into what was.

Jack is contacted by Mrs. Featherstone about the haunting in her home and asks for his help to get rid of it. When he goes to her home in Claybrooke he finds that things are not as he thought.

The story seems to be more about Jack and his life and family than about what is happening at Misty Ridge. But I would still recommend this to anyone who likes ghost stories.





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A House By The Sea

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A House by the Sea by Ambrose Ibsen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book rates 3.75 stars from me. I liked some parts and really liked other parts while there were still other parts that I did not like at all. The lead-in is slow and it took me a while to get into the story fully. The characters were just what you would expect from those in the horror genre, stereotypes without a good fleshing out. You have the overwrought and hysterical mother, the unbelieving sarcastic father, the angst-ridden teenager who hides her knowledge, and finally the young and impressionable child who is led astray. Now that is not to say that it is a bad thing but it does make it hard to enjoy sometimes when you know what to expect.

The land on which Winthrop House sits has been shunned since before the settlers came to the area. The natives did not build or go to the area because it was said to be inhabited by some type of creature. When the house was eventually built on the land it was shunned by all the locals and bought by an out-of-town family who knew nothing of its history. Things did not get better with tenants and when they died it was left empty for years.

When Jack Ripley makes it big with a best-selling novel he wants to keep a promise to his wife, she wanted a house by the sea. They think Winthrop’s house is the perfect place for their family to settle and grow. For a few weeks, it is, then things start to happen that dampen his wife’s love of the house. When things start to escalate even Jack has to take notice and decide whether he wants the house more than to have his family safe.

This was not super scary but had some moments that caught me by surprise. This was the first book I have read by this author and while it gave me mixed feelings I want to explore other books they have written, including the second book about this house. The ending is what made it for me. I would recommend this to anyone who likes ghost stories or haunted house stories.



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“Abigail entered the room, leaving the door open behind her, and sat down at the foot of Amy’s bed. “I don’t like this,” she said with a sigh. “You don’t like what?” “Aunty Becca is here,” explained the girl. Amy shrugged. “Yeah? So, what? You love it when Becca comes to visit. She’s a lot of fun.” Abigail tugged at her bubblegum-colored pajama top and shook her head. “No, it’s not good. The man with the doggie-face doesn’t like her being here.” She looked up at her sister narrowly. “At least, that’s what Frankie says. He says that, if auntie Becca is here, we may not be able to play anymore.”
― Ambrose Ibsen, A House by the Sea

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First Contact

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First Contact by Kat Green

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is my first read by this author and I am glad that I took the time to try it out. The idea behind what the character does for a living is interesting and different from anything I have seen before. The setting is current and therefore makes it easier to relate to the surroundings. The characters themselves are fairly well defined and fleshed out giving you a good idea of who they are and what their motivations are. I was pretty much drawn into the story immediately, even though I had taken a bit of a dislike for the main character right away.

Sloane Osborne is a paranormal realtor, which basically means that she sells haunted houses once she can authenticate there is a haunting. Sloane’s real reason for doing this is to try and contact her dead fiance, Michael, who always said to wait or try things for a year and a day. Sloane has been looking and it has gotten to day 366 and she is hoping beyond hope it will happen.

Sloane has gone to a job in Wisconsin which she has found on her own in the hopes that it will be the one that allows her to make contact and gain her gift/curse of being able to speak with the dead. The house has a feel to it and the person employing her has not met with her. She investigates further in order to see who or what might be in the house. This places her in danger she could not have seen coming.

I did finally warm up to Sloane even if I felt like she was a weak individual in the beginning she showed me she could step up. I ended this really liking the story enough to want to read the next book in the series. There is a total creep factor and some great atmosphere. Not a lot of scares but it has a heavy feel that pulls you in and makes you a part of the hurt and betrayal of the story. Great for a Halloween read or just if you like a good ghost story.

Recommended!



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The Protected

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I always enjoy the exploits of the psychics attached to the FBI unit because they are not simply suits. These agents have backgrounds and stories that are in some instances heartbreaking but that only makes them more interesting to read about. The characters whether good guys or bad guys are going to be nothing short f great because you are going to get someone who is either going to make you like them or creep you out and make you dislike them, both very good things while reading.

Agent Vaughnne MacMeans would do anything to avoid going back to Orlando after the last assignment in that city. Her new assignment, keeping an eye on a psychic kid who may or may not be in danger forces her right back to the city where her sister was murdered. As an added bonus she finds herself attracted to the kids’ guardians in a big way.

Gus does not understand Alex’s gift but he knows that some people would kill to have it. And he is prepared to do whatever it takes to keep the boy safe from anything. His first inclination is to run when the beautiful woman moves into the house across the street from his, but figures getting to know her first might not hurt. When danger does show Vaughnne may be the only person standing between them and death.

Things start a little slowly but pick up swiftly and things start happening that keep you wondering. There are a number of people who come into play some known and some new. The tension builds perfectly and keeps you waiting for the next event. There is also a romance that develops which you want to see grow and hopefully work. I would definitely recommend this!

My rating: 4 of 5 stars