Bark At The Ghouls

The one that nearly fell through the cracks . . . My 2 Cents for Free! No Child of Mine by Nichelle Giraldes Released September 2023 Source: Netgalley See more @  Goodreads This is a very late review (sorry author, publisher & Netgalley) because I needed a long break from arc reviews. I’m not sure what drew me to this title two years ago but it was probably the haunting cover. It looks pretty spooky but that baby carriage and the blurb should’ve clued me in. The story is pretty much as the blurb promises. A pregnancy drama with spooky overtones but unfortunately for me it was heavier on the pregnancy drama than the spooky and probably because of that it really dragged in spots. There are two timelines featuring two different couples and for nearly the entire book I had no idea how they tied together. It was a little jarring as they switched back and forth with little tying them together but eventually everything came together. I can’t say it all worked for me but I didn’t hate ...

This is such a weird and so hard to put down book. My 2 Cents for Free! The Fruitcake by Leah Orr Released October 2023 Source: Audible Plus Catalog Get it at your local library or see more @  Goodreads This is a wild book. I found it in the Audible Plus catalog and thought, why the heck not. May as well get my money's worth out of my pricey Audible plan. A well-to-do couple with triplets moves into a very pricey and exclusive gated community. Holly has people who help clean and care for the kids and life is pretty near perfect from what I’m reading. At least on the surface. As she begins to become friendly with some of the women in the community, she learns of some strange things simmering beneath the perfect exterior but it’s the fruitcake tradition that brings it all to the surface. I know. Why fruitcake? Does anyone eat fruitcake? Why eat fruitcake when you can eat cheesecake or chocolate cake or frosted cardboard, ffs? I don’t get it but I don’t have to. It doesn’t matt...

If anyone has some patience to spare, I am in desperate need. My 2 Cents for Free! The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark Released June 2025 Source: Purchased @ Gibson's Bookstore Get it at your local library or see more @  Goodreads The Ghost Writer is a book for people who have endless patience. I’ve discovered that person is not me. This story is about Olivia who is a ghost writer who has changed her name because her father is a famous writer with murder accusations from the past that surround him like a haze. She doesn’t want anything to do with him because he was a terrible father. Can’t say as I blame her really. Anyhow, now he is penning his last book, suffering from Lewy Body Dementia and needs her assistance to bring it all together. She accepts because she needs money. Can’t blame her for that either. The book then bounces back and forth between the present day and the past as she attempts to make sense of his scribblings and clues that may or may not reveal the murderer of the u...

Surprises are sometimes very good! Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen Released October 2022 Source: Borrowed from Library Goodreads  | Amazon A "Best Of" Book Amazon * Buzzfeed * Rainbow Reading * Library Journal * CrimeReads * BookPage * Book Riot * Autostraddle A delicious story from a new voice in suspense, Lev AC Rosen's Lavender House is Knives Out with a queer historical twist. Lavender House, 1952: the family seat of recently deceased matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire. Irene’s recipes for her signature scents are a well guarded secret―but it's not the only one behind these gates. This estate offers a unique freedom, where none of the residents or staff hide who they are. But to keep their secret, they've needed to keep others out. And now they're worried they're keeping a murderer in. Irene’s widow hires Evander Mills to uncover the truth behind her mysterious death. Andy, recently fired from the San Francisco police...

It started out strong but lost me for a bit. The Corpse Queen by Heather M. Herrman Released September 2021 Source: Library Borrow Goodreads  | Amazon In this dark and twisty feminist historical thriller, a teenage girl starts a new life as a grave robber but quickly becomes entangled in a murderer's plans. Soon after her best friend Kitty mysteriously dies, orphaned seventeen-year-old Molly Green is sent away to live with her "aunt." With no relations that she knows of, Molly assumes she has been sold as free domestic labor for the price of an extra donation in the church orphanage's coffers. Such a thing is not unheard of. There are only so many options for an unmarried girl in 1850s Philadelphia. Only, when Molly arrives, she discovers her aunt is very much real, exceedingly wealthy, and with secrets of her own. Secrets and wealth she intends to share--for a price. Molly's estranged aunt Ava, has built her empire by robbing graves and selling the corpses to me...

It's a 3 for me. The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke Released October 2021 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   |  Bookshop Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found--but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting. When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters--Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she's frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed. Twenty-two years lat...

This one was a wee bit of a disappointment. The Cousins by Karen M. McManus Published December 2020 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   |  Bookshop From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying comes your next obsession. You'll never feel the same about family again. Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are cousins, but they barely know each another, and they've never even met their grandmother. Rich and reclusive, she disinherited their parents before they were born. So when they each receive a letter inviting them to work at her island resort for the summer, they're surprised . . . and curious. Their parents are all clear on one point--not going is not an option. This could be the opportunity to get back into Grandmother's good graces. But when the cousins arrive on the island, it's immediately clear that she has different plans for them. And the longer they stay, the more they realize how mysterious--and dark--...

This review is part of my review archive project which I intend to finish some day before I die or my eyeballs dry up. I read this story back in 2012. Zombie Candy by Frederick Lee Brooke Released May 2012 Mystery   |   Goodreads    |  Amazon Source:  Received for Review Consideration Did you ever get the feeling your partner changed overnight with no warning? Research shows this befalls women much more often than men. You stand there thinking, I have to spend the next thirty years with this moron? Fact is, there are 10 sure signs you're married to a zombie. He gives short guttural answers like "I dunno," or "Unh uh," when you'd like to have a conversation. The TV is more important to him than listening to you. MUCH more important. He consults his iPhone repeatedly during meals. When he gets home from work, too tired to talk, he just wants a beer. He doesn't come home from work till late, and claims his phone was dead. He criticizes you...

This was one of those listens that makes you want to keep driving to hear more. The Swallows by Lisa Lutz Released August 2019 Dark Fiction   |   Goodreads   |   Amazon   Source: Library Borrow 11 hours, 1 minute A teacher at a New England prep school ignites a gender war—with deadly consequences—in this dark and provocative novel by the bestselling author of The Passenger When Alexandra Witt joins the faculty at Stonebridge Academy, she’s hoping to put a painful past behind her. Then one of her creative writing assignments generates some disturbing responses from students. Before long, Alex is immersed in an investigation of the students atop the school’s social hierarchy—and their connection to something called the Darkroom. She soon inspires the girls who’ve started to question the school’s “boys will be boys” attitude and incites a resistance. But just as the movement is gaining momentum, Alex attracts the attention of an unkno...

After my mini hiatus, I am back and sooo backed up on reviews!Argh but here's a good one: The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald Audiobook   Deceptive Fiction , 10+ Hours Released February 2019 Goodreads  | Buy A Copy Here   In the vein of Big Little Lies and Reconstructing Amelia comes an emotionally charged domestic suspense novel about a mother unraveling the truth behind how her daughter became brain dead. And pregnant. A search for the truth. A lifetime of lies. In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists. When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the t...

People love it but I'm sitting here like "meh". The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager Thriller , 384 Pages Released July 2018 Goodreads  | Buy A Copy Here   Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she--or anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips. Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings--massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees a...

A reread that doesn't disappoint! Naked In Death by J.D. Robb Mystery Thriller Released July 1995 Amazon  |  Goodreads  | Better World Books   Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant hunting for a ruthless killer. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all - and knows that her survival depends on her instincts. And she's going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire - and suspect in Eve's murder investigation. But passion and seduction have rules of their own, and it's up to Eve to take a chance in the arms of a man she knows nothing about - except the addictive hunger of needing his touch. These Are My Thoughts: I read this when was it first released in 1995 and decided to give it a reread on audio hoping it would hold up so many, many years later. 23 years later, actually! How did that happen? This book is older than my kids. Older, probably, than a few of my friends here too! Obvious...

Hmmm, perhaps I was expecting too much. Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough Dark Fiction Released September 2018 Amazon  |  Goodreads  | Better World Books Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job, and her best friend Marilyn, but when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him too. Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it's time to let her terrifying secret past go. Then her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see. Lisa's world explodes, and she finds everything she has built threatened. Not knowing whom she can trust, it's up to her to face her past to save what she holds dear. My Thoughts: Behind Her Eyes by this same author was a five star read for me (and yep, I LOVED that ending) but this one was not. I’m giving it a three and that makes me sad because I was so looking forward to another amazingly nasty little ...