Month: December 2024

Spoiler Free Review: Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

Title: Haunted Ever After (Boneyard Key#1)

Author: Jen DeLuca

Pub. Date: August 13th 2024

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Paranormal

Format: eARC

Publisher: Berkley

 Pages: 325

Goodreads | Barnes & Noble |LIBROFM | Amazon

☆☆ARC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

Cassie Rutherford has decided to up and go buy a historic coastal cottage in Boneyard Key Florida after realizing just how much her social circle of friends has matured, married and most have had kids. She ditches Orlando and seeks comfort in a yellow cottage right by the ocean in a town that makes its money off of its haunted ghost tours. Her house seems quaint up until strange things start to happen in her new home. Magnets spelling out words she knows she didn’t arrange as part of her morning message on the fridge like “Wrong” and “My House” appear the next morning. She can never get her laptop to charge which really interferes with her work from home career and leads her to seek out a local coffee shop to work from. It’s not Publix but they sell coffee and that’s all she’s looking for…that and WIFI. 

Local coffee shop owner Nick is used to tourists coming by and overstaying their welcome using his wifi connection while sipping on the same cup of Jo for hours on end. He doesn’t think Cassie is any different and doesn’t hold back from a jab or two at her type. The tourist type. When Cassie informs him she’s a Floridian native just not from the coastal side of the state, he is instantly curious as to why anyone from Orlando would move to Boneyard Key. Even more intriguing is just how much Cassie hasn’t heard of their ghostly town. So he volunteers to be her tour guide of sorts while holding back some truths about his own connections to the founding families and their ghostly ties. 

The vibeZ Book lovers! I love a beachside read set in a small town with cute coffee shops and town happenings. This time Jen DeLuca gives us some bonus ghost characters who refuse to NOT tell their story with the help of the towns inhabitants. There are 12 prominent families with descendants still living in town, some of which can speak/see their dead ancestors. Nick spends his evenings walking with Cassie along the shore and sharing stories of the towns history and that of her newly purchased home. Cassie starts to piece things together while really enjoying Nick’s vibe and attention…until he starts acting differently which throws the story down the path of an unraveling mystery. The ghostly things happening to both Nick and Cassie were at times funny (text messages Nick Received from his ghost) and at others a bit creepy, that’s because the righting of wrongs was at the center of this paranormal story. It’s cute until you realize the pain behind the haunting of Cassie’s home. If you’re looking for haunted vibes on a beachside setting, this ones for you. The romance was there but the driving force is the mystery from the very start. We also get introduced to ghost tour guide Sopie and librarian Theo as side characters that I would LOVE to see get their own nerdy ghost story in the next Boneyard Keys installment 🤗

🖤FOLLOW LAIR OF BOOKS🖤

Instagram: @LairOfBooks

Twitter: @LairOfBooks

Goodreads: LairOfBooks

The Story Graph: LairOfBooks

Librofm Referral Code

Spoiler Free Review: Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

Title: Love and Other Conspiracies

Author: Mallory Marlowe

Pub. Date: August 20th 2024

Genre: Contemporary/Paranormal Romance

Format: eARC

Publisher: Berkley

 Pages: 368

GOODREADS | LIBROFM | BARNESANDNOBLE | AMAZON

☆☆ARC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

Web series producer Hallie Barrett has just been dumped by her co-worker who also happens to be the star of the online series she was producing. Even though Hallie is way better off without that guy (all the red flags), she’s also stuck having to see him every day. This while also being tasked with coming up with a new series idea to present for the company competition or say goodbye to this beloved job she’s worked very hard for. While searching for inspiration one late night, she stumbles across a docuseries where the handsome host is passionately covering the legend of Bigfoot. She doesn’t believe in any of this stuff but she can’t help but binge watch every single episode as she asks herself why she’s dedicating so much time to what is clearly myth/legend. One lightbulb moment later and Hallie feels inspired to reach out to the Paranormal conspiracy theorist Hayden Hargrove. She hopes to convince him to turn his hit podcast into a web show. Hayden seems unsure he’s the right guy with the presence needed to pull off a web show and he is absolutely right! the banter that easily is exchange between Hallie and Hayden while she challenges his claims with a dose of skepticism is missing, until she steps in to help him during his audition. Her producers LOVE the chemistry they’re seeing play out between them! they see a viewership tuning in just for them and ask that they do the show together. While it isn’t what she’s expecting, as long as he’s oK with it she’s fair game to join while also producing. 

10/10 I recommend listening to the audiobook for the cool/nerdy alien space music played during snippets of the web show, so much fun! I had such a good time with this book and found myself binge reading it while prepping a big meal, laughing and smiling from start to finish. I loved how even though Hallie didn’t believe in any of the Bigfoot and Mothman theories, she still respected how passionate Hayden was with his research and delivery. Hayden in turn sees all of Hallie’s quirks as charming and gives off all the green flags she is not used to seeing in a love interest. The audiobook narrators SLAYED their performance making the chemistry that catches the eye of Hallie’s producers MOST definitely felt in the audiobook, it’s easy to get wrapped up in their romance. I’ve already Marlowe’s next book Love At First Sighting to be released August 2025. If you’re looking for a Romantic Comedy with paranormal elements, I HIGHLY recommend giving Love and Other Conspiracies a go 😉

🖤FOLLOW LAIR OF BOOKS🖤

Instagram: @LairOfBooks

Twitter: @LairOfBooks

Goodreads: LairOfBooks

The Story Graph: LairOfBooks

Librofm Referral Code

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler Free Review: The Seventh Veil Of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Title: The Seventh Veil Of Salome

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Pub. Date: August 6th 2024

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance/Latinx

Format: eARC

Publisher: Del Rey

 Pages: 336

GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLE | LIBROFM | AMAZON

☆☆ARC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

The Seventh Veil Of Salome is a dual timeline/multi-perspective Historical Fiction set during 1950’s Hollywood and Biblical times (with background appearances of Jesus who at the time is performing miracles on the townspeople.) We follow three women as their stories unfold: Vera Larios – an unknown Mexican ingenue who is cast in the lead role of Salome; Nancy Hartley – an actress whose career has run dry and is starving for a lead role that will grant her access to a life of fame and fortune; Princess Salome – in love with a prophet who has angered many of the higher officials looking to silence him but not before he speaks on the misfortune that is to come onto Salome’s stepfather.

We meet Vera Larios who’s just been cast in a swords-and-sandals biblical movie that is being directed by a notoriously difficult to work with director. Vera has no acting experience whatsoever but she caught his eye as the only ideal fit to play the role of the beautiful Salome. In the bible, Salome is known for the beheading of John the Baptist. Vera who has spent most of her life being overlooked or dismissed by her mother for her darker complexion saw this as an opportunity to step into the limelight and a chance to breakaway from the toxicity at home. On the film set and in the media she encounters misogyny and racism from men and women. The men objectify her, the women see her as stealing their roles with her “exotic” features, while the media portrays hers as an explosive unpredictable Latina. As the movie begins to film, we get an inside look at Hollywood during this time as the cast of Salome parties and gives the media the tea for their headlines. Nancy Hartley on the other hand is desperately trying to secure a lead role by any means necessary, Vera being a Mexican woman fuels her ire. We see an unhinged woman’s downward spiral powered by hate and racism. The cunning Salome has suitors lined up but she’s set her eyes on the one man she absolutely can’t have and whose days are numbered. will she choose love or power?

It wouldn’t be a SMG novel if it followed the same style of writing with each story she delivered. The Seventh Veil Of Salome is part documentary told through the lens of multiple characters reflecting on what transpired on the set of Salome. While also traveling back to the biblical times of Salome and John the Baptiste. Each of these ambitious women deliver such a captivating story that as much as I was enjoying the perspective I was in, I was also thinking of the other women’s situations. Whether you’re new to SMG or an avid reader of her books, the atmospheric writing alone will guarantee a rich reading experience. I’m not sure what is in SMG’s pen but no matter the time period/plot, the ease with which you are transported make all of their books a must read.

🖤FOLLOW LAIR OF BOOKS🖤

Instagram: @LairOfBooks

Twitter: @LairOfBooks

Goodreads: LairOfBooks

The Story Graph: LairOfBooks

Librofm Referral Code