​“A psychological portrait akin to Lord of the Flies.” ~Midwest Book Review


SOME TRUTHS ARE BETTER KEPT SECRET. SOME SECRETS ARE BETTER OFF DEAD.

ALONG THE BANKS OF THE BOGUE FALAYA RIVER, sits the abandoned St. Francis Seminary. Beneath a canopy of oaks, blocked from prying eyes, the teens of St. Benedict High gather here on Fridays. The rest of the week belongs to school and family—but weekends belong to the river.

And the river belongs to Beau Devereaux.

The only child of a powerful family, Beau can do no wrong. Star quarterback. Handsome. Charming. The “prince” of St. Benedict is the ultimate catch.

He is also a psychopath.

A dirty family secret buried for years, Beau’s evil grows unchecked. In the shadows of the haunted abbey, he commits unspeakable acts on his victims and ensures their silence with threats and intimidation. Senior year, Beau sets his sights on his girlfriend’s headstrong twin sister, Leslie, who hates him. Everything he wants but cannot have, she will be his ultimate prize.

As the victim toll mounts, it becomes clear that someone must stop Beau Devereaux.

And that someone will pay with their life.


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60553298-river-of-ashes

Preorder:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/39XSdAz
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/river-of-ashes-alexandrea-weis/1141117946?ean=9781645480983

Alexandrea Weis, RN-CS, PhD, is a multi-award-winning author of over twenty-seven novels, a screenwriter, ICU Nurse, and historian who was born and raised in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Having grown up in the motion picture industry as the daughter of a director, she learned to tell stories from a different perspective and began writing at the age of eight. Infusing the rich tapestry of her hometown into her novels, she believes that creating vivid characters makes a story moving and memorable. A member of the Horror Writers Association and International Thriller Writers Association, Weis writes mystery, suspense, thrillers, horror, crime fiction, and romance. She lives with her husband and pets in New Orleans where she is a permitted/certified wildlife rehabber with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries and rescues orphaned and injured animals.


​
http://alexandreaweis.com/
https://www.facebook.com/authoralexandreaweis/
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https://www.instagram.com/alexandreaweis/



 
Lucas Astor is from New York, has resided in Central America and the Middle East, and traveled through Europe. He lives a very private, virtually reclusive lifestyle, preferring to spend time with a close-knit group of friends than be in the spotlight.

He is an author and poet with a penchant for telling stories that delve into the dark side of the human psyche. He likes to explore the evil that exists, not just in the world, but right next door behind a smiling face.

Photography, making wine, and helping endangered species are just some of his interests. Lucas is an expert archer and enjoys jazz, blues, and classical music.

One of his favorite quotes is:  “It’s better to be silent than be a fool.”  ~Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)

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Shadows come from the mirror…

And then there are nightmares.

A month after Nora and her friend from the mirror, Jesse, defeated the doppelganger who haunts mirrors, life has returned to normal. For Nora.

A relic from a past era, thirteen-year-old Jesse has a difficult time adjusting to the twenty-first century.

Jesse fears the ghosts of souls, the Bad Ones, lurking in the reflections, are planning on seeping through the mirror and dragging him back.

Only when the voice of a friend from the past begs for his help from inside the mirror, Jesse has to choose between living in fear or facing the Bad Ones in the mirror once and for all.

Lies.

Betrayal.

Hope…

Nothing is as it seems ​

Note: Read Fake Nora first. 

The Bad Ones is the follow-up to Martin's smash hit Fake Nora. We met Jesse in Fake Nora and he was such a compelling character that the fans demanded to hear/read his story. Thus The Bad Ones was born.

Once again I find myself terrified to look too closely at a mirror for fear of what might come crawling through. Poor Jesse thought he had escaped the mirror and the horrors inside but it would seem Reflection Land is not quite done with him. 

Kelly Martin is the Queen of Horror whether she is writing YA, NA, or MG. May her reign be long and full of spooktacular books.

5 STARS
​Lynn 

​Another 5 Star read and brilliant start to a new series from E.M. Rinaldi! I love the characters and the unique story. I've never read a book that featured a witch's familiar as both a shifter and human.

The MC Kaya is strong, beautiful, and a powerful familiar. Her attraction to Prince Auden is palpable. I thoroughly enjoyed their steamy scenes. But Kaya is much more than just a love interest. Her troubled past and broken soul make her a relatable character. Her strength is amazing.

I'm excited for this new series and to see where Rinaldi let's these characters take her Another 5 Star read and brilliant start to a new series from E.M. Rinaldi! I love the characters and the unique story. I've never read a book that featured a witch's familiar as both a shifter and human.

The MC Kaya is strong, beautiful, and a powerful familiar. Her attraction to Prince Auden is palpable. I thoroughly enjoyed their steamy scenes. But Kaya is much more than just a love interest. Her troubled past and broken soul make her a relatable character. Her strength is amazing.

I'm excited for this new series and to see where Rinaldi let's these characters take her 

​It's 1985.
Everyone is wearing a Swatch Watch and carrying a Trapper Keeper.
Goonies, Back to the Future, and The Breakfast Club are killing it at the theaters.
Super Mario Brothers is a lifestyle.
Posters of Duran Duran and Madonna are on every bedroom wall.
But for fifteen-year-old, August East, the biggest news is the move his family made to the odd little town of Whynot, Ohio, a cute boy named Keller West, and, of course, that whole murder thing.
*This is a DUAL POV*

I have spent a week thinking about this story and trying to put my thoughts into a review. Since this is PART 1 of a 2 PART series it is difficult to review only part of the story. This installment is all about meeting the characters, getting the backstory, and laying the foundation for what I am sure will be a hauntingly beautiful tale as only Rue Volley can weave. 

I'm hooked. I need to know more about this stoic, creepy, house on the hill. I'm cheering on the romantic story of August and Keller. 

Pros: 
Super creepy house that is actually a live-in funeral parlor!
Poisonous garden.
Bleeding tree!
Teens finding themselves.
Complex characters.

Cons:
The book is told from 2 POVs - August and Keller. in the beginning August and Keller and telling the same story. The first 100 pages having dual POVs didn't add much new info to the story. The same scene was told by both characters and I felt it didn't add to the story. I could have skipped those extra chapters and not missed anything. HOWEVER, this does get corrected and the reader gets intense POV's through the rest of the story and they definitely added to it. 

I am anxiously awaiting PART 2. Something about that house isn't right. I need those secrets exposed! 

* PART TWO IS AVAILABLE

Taylor's outrageous Vow 
by Sara Jo Cluff
Genre: YA ROM COM
Publisher: Monster Ivy Publishing

​Sara Jo Cluff is a YA contemporary author. She grew up in Yorba Linda, California, but now resides in snowy Utah with her husband. She is an avid reader, jigsaw puzzle enthusiast, Netflix addict, and a member of the #PepperPack. Her writing is basically fueled by Dr Pepper.

INSTAGRAM ~ FACEBOOK ~ WEB

​Kaya Thornton killed her best friend. On the run since the tender age of thirteen, she left the safety of her Community’s magicked walls and tried to disappear in the human world. Four years later, she’s found and dragged back kicking and screaming by Auden, her best friend’s older brother.

The second Prince of the Wardwell line is antagonistic and unforgiving, but surprisingly gentle as he forces her home to face the judgement of his father and the Council. She expected hatred and bitter punishment, not private training with a hot and cold Prince and…demonology courses?

Things are not as she left them. Her people are dying and the demon numbers are only growing. Once Witches and their Familiars are wiped out, who will stand between the Demon King and his bottomless appetite? Kaya has no intention of waiting to find out. And this time, she isn’t running.

I love E.M. Rinaldi and I have been impatiently waiting for series!  When Rinaldi offered me an ARC I dove right in.
******************************************************
Another 5 Star read and brilliant start to a new series from E.M. Rinaldi! I love the characters and the unique story. I've never read a book that featured a witch's familiar as both a shifter and human.

The MC Kaya is strong, beautiful, and a powerful familiar. Her attraction to Prince Auden is palpable. I thoroughly enjoyed their steamy scenes. But Kaya is much more than just a love interest. Her troubled past and broken soul make her a relatable character. Her strength is amazing.

I'm excited for this new series and to see where Rinaldi let's these characters take her 

Well, it turns out Mrs. Rinaldi does not have a bio online. I'll just have to share what I know!

E.M. Rinaldi resides in North Carolina with her husband, daughter, and a spoiled dog. Her first series, The Cross Chronicles, is available to read for free in Kindle Unlimited.  Rinadli was named Best Debut Author if the Year for Evading the Dark by 2 Girls & A Book. 


You can stalk her on social media @emrinadli

​Fresh off the high of solving her first major investigation at her new department, Detective Rachel Ryder is about to risk losing it all.

A drug overdose case hits close to home when a body is linked to the family of Rachel's friend. But the seemingly simple investigation leads her down a rabbit hole from her past; a past she fears has finally come back to haunt her.

As bodies begin to accumulate, Detective Ryder knows in her gut that vengeance is upon her. Yet time and again the evidence just doesn't add up.

Obsessed with stopping a murderer bent on revenge, Rachel plows ahead on instinct alone. But emotions cloud her judgment, mistakes pile up, and she puts the lives of others at risk.

Increasingly isolated, Rachel begins to question her own sanity. Is she succumbing to fear? Or has Rachel's past finally caught up with her?

Bestselling author Carolyn Ridder Aspenson delivers a riveting addition to the Rachel Ryder series.

This installment reminds me of one of my favorite southern crime TV shows, Justified. Like the shows MC Raylan Givens, Aspenson's Rachel Ryder is gritty, gruff, and at times rash. I love how the author combines Ryder's past and current cases into a complex and twisted storyline. This "who dun it" has a lot of players and at times I felt I needed a whiteboard to follow it too. But in the end, it was a fantastic crime procedural. I'm looking forward to reading other books in this series and seeing how the case of Ryder's murdered husband plays into future installments.

Lynn 
​4 Stars 

From Book 1:
​Bestselling author Carolyn Ridder Aspenson is back—this time with a scrappy heroine whose bold detective work and well-timed one-liners will leave you riveted—and entertained—at every turn.
"Detective Rachel Ryder is smart, tough, and fearless—readers will gladly follow her through every twist of Aspenson’s knockout first installment in this riveting new series.” —LynDee Walker, Amazon Charts bestselling author of Fear No Truth
New to town and a little rough around the edges, Detective Rachel Ryder finds herself on the receiving end of a suspicious person’s call in Hamby, Georgia. When the call turns out to be a dead body, the medical examiner is quick to rule the death a suicide. But was it something more sinister?
Everyone in the small department believes the case is closed—except for Rachel. The sudden passing of a local politician during the mayor’s run for Congress strikes her as a little too coincidental, and Rachel is eager to follow her instincts. Her partner, Rob, a 30-year veteran, isn’t the type to disobey his boss or ruffle any feathers, but he can’t convince strong-willed Rachel to let it go.
Obsessed with finding out the truth, Rachel begins to examine the evidence and drags her reluctant partner along for the ride. But the clues are confusing. Nothing is adding up.
Puzzled and running out of time, Rachel and Rob rush to work every angle and bring the elusive killer to justice before someone else ends up dead.
_____________________
"...a fast-paced police procedural with a killer ending." —Susan Hunter, author of Dangerous Habits
"...an awesome mystery..." —Kimberly Charleston, Books Uplift

​Only the Rourkes can take something as serious as a hostile takeover of Carnage Crossing and make it macabre yet beautiful, deadly yet humorous, loveless yet romantic ALL at the same time. Bravo on another amazing series!

5 Stars
​Lynn 

Rook Dagger spent the first 15 years of her life safely tucked away in a beautiful cottage on the lake, enjoying home-cooked meals and homeschooling far away from the rest of the world. But her power couldn't be hidden forever. The time has come for her to be enrolled in Hemlock Academy, a centuries-old institution designed to cultivate and create the greatest necromancers in the world. 
The children who attend will one day be placed among the seven kingdoms of magic, serving kings and country for as long as they're needed. To harness the power surging through her veins, Rook will need guidance in the art of giving of life - and taking it away. This power makes her unique. Dangerous. Different. Her abilities could make her an unstoppable force of nature if she wasn't hung up on a boy: G Gianni - a beautiful distraction with pouty lips, pale skin, and a sharp tongue. His attention consumes her. His scent entices her. His words infuriate her. She loves to hate him. He hates to love her. And together? Well, together, they could destroy the world.

First Impressions: 
Rook Dagger is the sexiest, coolest name ever! She sounds like she should be a PI instead of a student.

Want to make a fictional character even hotter? Give him a one letter name!
G oozes sex appeal.

I want to visit the town of Hawthorn! A town full of various paranormal and fantasy creatures, oh yeah, I'm there!

*****************************************************************************************
The characters in Hemlock are fun, sassy, and sexy. My only complaint is that I found them eerily similar to the cast of 13 Ways to Midnight (also by this author). The story definitely has undertones of 13WYTM and Twilight. Now that's not a thing. I LOVE 13WTM. #TeamAsher all the way. But it would have been nice to not feel like I was with the same characters in a different setting. Will that stop me from continuing the series when the next book releases? Absolutely not. I'm invested and I enjoy this trope.

Moving on to the narration. I have never experienced an audiobook with such a diverse ensemble. I loved the unique quality each person lent to bringing the story to life. All the different accents were great too. However, in terms of production, it seemed obvious some of the male narration was added in. It didn't flow seamlessly. I only noticed it a few times. 

Overall, I enjoyed the story and the narration. I look forward to hearing this cast do the next book.