Review of ‘Georgetown Glen: Queermunity Living At Its Finest’ by Annette Mori

‘Georgetown Glen: Queermunity Living At Its Finest’ by Annette Mori is a book you’ll want to devour. Lucy and Bea buy an old ghost town, with the hope of turning the ramshackle old buildings into a retirement village for sapphic ladies of a certain age. As they make plans, they hire Fi, an expert in architectural restoration, and Saville an electrician. With the help of Lucy’s niece they begin to knock the old town into shape – until the resident ghost objects. As the group are forced to deal with the spirit in their midst, they uncover secrets and start to investigate the history of Georgetown. And there might even be time for a love story in there too.

Mori has a winner on her hands here. Her trademark humour shines through, and she has managed to weave a fascinating tale encompassing love, friendship and sapphic history. I loved the multigenerational nature of the story and the historical aspects too. I think Saville was my favourite character. She tried to come across as confident and a player.  But she wasn’t. She was caring and sensitive underneath it all. I love the fact that there can be many more stories to tell with this group of characters and those who end up living there. 

I was given this ARC to review.

Lady Grim 2021 coming 18th September

My story ‘The Shop on Pitkin Lane’ is part of this wonderful anthology due out on 18th September.

Lady Grim 2021 is a collection of stories from some of your favourite authors, just in time for the Halloween season.

There are stories from Adrian J Smith, Annette Mori, Elaine Mattern, Jane Alden, KT Brodland, LL Shelton, Kitty McIntosh, Lila Bruce, Nance Sparks, Ocean, Rita Potter, Serenity Snow, Tiffany E Taylor.

Review of ‘Midnight Slain in Georgia’ by Anne Hagan

‘Midnight Slain in Georgia’ is a well crafted short story ideal for the upcoming Halloween season. Callie works for a travel company organising tours. One of them is a ghost tour of Savannah. Part of Callie’s job is to vet applicants to be included on the tour, and when one comes up with a link to history, she wants nothing to do with it. But along with her partner, Jo, she is required to check it out. Will an overnight stay change her mind about the property? And who is the ghost supposedly haunting the B&B?

The first thing that appealed to me about his story was the link to Anne Hagan’s ‘Loving Blue in Red States’ series. I’ve read all of them and was delighted to get a follow-up with two of the characters. There’s no need to have read the previous story, ‘Savannah Georgia’, but if you have you’ll bet an extra kick out of this story. The characters of Callie and Jo have a good humoured relationship which comes through here. They also have a hot and steamy time together and this is very evident in this story. The story was brilliantly executed and made me gasp. A clever and delightful tale.

I was given this ARC to review.

Review of ‘Origins’ by Jen Jensen

Jamis Bachman is a ghost hunter, and in this second mystery she finds herself in Arizona trying to help out the new owners of an old house in the desert. Scary apparitions appear each night, but there may be more to it than unhappy spirits. With the help of her friends, she must find out what the ghost wants, before it’s too late.

This is a creepy, scary story, with plenty of twists and turns. Behind it all there are some fascinating historical details, and characters who kept me turning the page. If you’re up for a few frights and like a well-written mystery, then this is the book for you.

I was given this ARC to review.

Review of ‘The Girl Who Died’ by Ragnar Jonasson

‘The Girl Who Died’ is a creepy, atmospheric tale set in a tiny, isolated hamlet in Iceland. Una is tired of her monotonous life teaching in Rekyavic, for little money. When the chance of moving to somewhere new comes up, she decides to take a leap into the unknown. But moving to a community filled with secrets and odd characters is not what she expected. Far from it.

There’s a darkness and heaviness hanging over the whole story. A feeling that no one is telling the truth. The atmosphere was scary and stifling and, like Una, I didn’t know who to trust. The tension was ramped up and the creepiness quotient was amplified to an almost unbearable level. I couldn’t get enough. The story kept me gripped and surprised me. It’s one I won’t forget.

I was given this ARC to review.

Review of ‘The Wine of Angels’ by Phil Rickman

Merrily Watkins is the new vicar in a small Herefordshire village. Women priests in the Church of England are still fairly unusual in the late 1990s and although some villagers are friendly, others seem resistant. But as time goes on she begins to wonder if the resistance is due to her gender or something rather more disturbing. 

This is a beautifully written and perfectly executed mystery with a decidedly spooky element. Merrily and her teenage daughter Jane try to settle into the vicarage and the community, but they become aware that there is much more going on underneath. Things no one wants to talk about openly. The gradual teasing build up to the reveal is masterfully done and I did not see any of it coming. And the best bit? Finding out that this is only book one in the series, and I have many more hours ahead of me with Merrily Watkins. Highly recommended.

Review of ‘Share The Moon’ by Toni Logan

Jamie Carr inherited a vineyard in California. Helped by her best friend , Kali, and her aunt’s surviving lover, Kate, they are trying to make a go of it together. Oh, did I mention there is a resident ghost, Ruth there too? Ruth has lived there for fifty years and has watched the group from afar. Although they are aware of her, they’ve had no real contact, until now. One night, with a full moon in the sky, Jamie sees her – and realises something startling. She finds her attractive, and the feeling is mutual. But a relationship between and ghost and a human can’t work – or can it?

I enjoyed the group camaraderie and the dynamics between he different women. The setting was interesting and I liked getting to know about the area. The love story was convincing and I liked the two main characters. ‘Share The Moon’  is a story of love, friendship and passion, with an unusual couple at its centre.

I was given this ARC to review.

Review of ‘Spirited’ by Julie Cohen

If there is one book you must read this year, ‘Spirited’ is it. Viola Worth has a passion for photography, a skill taught by her father. When her photographs begin to show the unexpected and intriguing, she becomes friends with celebrated medium Harriet Blackthorne, and her life changes forever. Viola’s husband Jonah struggles with his own demons and a notoriety he feels he does not deserve. As their lives intertwine, secrets emerge that must, in the end, be faced.

The writing is beautiful and poetic and places the reader in a time and place, where rules were different and society was not ready for the truth. This is a slow-build, with a gentle style, where the casual cruelty of the Victorian era is all the more shocking. It’s about secrets and lies, about love and friendship. But also about believing the impossible and above all the enduring nature of love. My heart was bursting as I turned the final few pages. A masterpiece.

I was given this ARC for review.

Review of ‘The Mortician’s Daughter’ by Nan Higgins

‘The Mortician’s Daughter’ is one of those books where you completely accept the premise and run with it. Aria has always dreamed of being a singer and up until her 22nd birthday that’s where she was headed. When she realises that ghosts exist – and they want to talk to her – life is never going to be the same. Finding out her father’s funeral home business is just a front for AfterCorps, an organisation set up to help the ghosts move on, is also a huge shock. Sloane has known about this side of life forever and joins Aria in training to work for AfterCorps. Far from being freaked out by it all, she relishes the challenge and wants a job in the Criminally Demonic Unit. But the pair are about to find out that there’s more going on within the company than they thought – and deciding who to trust is becoming more and more fraught with danger and uncertainty.

I loved this book. Nan Higgins has imagined a world not unlike our own, but with some magnificently thought out paranormal twists. I felt sorry for Aria when she was faced with giving up on her dreams, but I was also fascinated with the world that had opened up to her. I wanted to know more about it and the first person telling worked well in immersing the reader into each discovery. This world deserves a whole series of its own. A great read.

I was given this ARC for review.

Review of ‘Legacy’ by Charlotte Greene

‘Legacy’ is a scary, creepy story that had me jumping out of my skin. It was brilliant. Jo and Carter are cousins and have spent their whole lives taking vacations in the family cabin in the mountains. But after a few years of neglect, the cabin is in need of repair and a good cleaning out. With a few friends, they hike to the remote cabin and hope to spend a couple of relaxing weeks sorting it out. The trip is anything but relaxing though. Strange occurrences give Jo cause for concern, but when it starts to become dangerous, and people get hurt, she has to start thinking the unthinkable. Meeting the most gorgeous woman out of the blue takes her mind off it for a moment, but all of the women have to admit that the cabin, and the mountain are not safe places to be.

The creeping tension is beautifully done and I was seriously spooked. Charlotte Greene ramps up the fear factor slowly and with delicate precision. Her masterful writing is so suited to this genre and I can’t imagine anyone doing it better. She weaves the relationship dynamics of the group, with references to the past and manages to introduce the scary elements bit by bit, never overdoing it. There were some surprising twist to the tale and some lovely romantic moments too. Jo’s burgeoning relationship with ranger Andy was tender and sweet, but also had an intensity that caught my breath. It was an amazing story, about family, love, history and fulfilment. Highly recommended.

I was given this ARC for review.