Review: The Royals Upstairs - Karina Halle - September 2024 There's something magical about receiving the perfect book at just the right moment. When "The Royals Upstairs" by Karina Halle arrived as a birthday gift from one of my wonderful bookstagram groups, I had no idea I was about to fall head over heels for this charming romance. Holding this paperback in my hands felt like unwrapping a cozy hug and that's exactly what this story delivered. From the very first page, I was swept into pure Hallmark royal movie territory, and I mean that in the absolute best way. This book has all those deliciously swoon-worthy elements we crave: a brooding bodyguard, a spirited nanny, adorable royal children (who James hilariously describes as "demon children"), and a picturesque Norwegian estate that practically begs you to curl up with a warm blanket and get lost in its pages. James Hunter and Laila Bruset's second-chance romance absolutely captivated me. There...

Review: America's Most Gothic - Haunted History Stranger Than Fiction - Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes - September 2025 I'm absolutely delighted to share my thoughts on America's Most Gothic: Haunted History Stranger than Fiction by Leanne Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes. This atmospheric gem arrived as a physical ARC from Kensington Publishing, and honestly, it couldn't have found a better home on my nightstand. One of my reading goals for 2026 is tackling at least twelve non-fiction books ,one per month and I'm thrilled to report I'm right on track. This beauty marks my second non-fiction read of the year, and what a wonderfully eerie way to continue this journey. As a writer for Gothic Bite Magazine US, I've spent countless hours researching historical crimes, peculiar criminals, poison rings, and architecturally strange buildings. The weird, the wacky, the downright spine-tingling , demons, hauntings, unexplained phenomena , all of it fascinates me...

Review: The Dead Husband's Cookbook - Danielle Valentine - August 2025 There's something wonderfully cozy about curling up with a book that centers around food, recipes, and the warmth of a kitchen until that comfort turns deliciously sinister. That's exactly what Danielle Valentine serves up in The Dead Husband's Cookbook, which I devoured on the Libby Library App. I'd already fallen for Danielle Valentine's YA thrillers, so I was eager to see what she'd cook up for adult readers. Let me tell you, this didn't disappoint. What makes this book particularly charming is how it weaves actual recipes throughout the story and it's like getting a cookbook and a thriller all in one satisfying package. The book-within-a-book structure reminded me of Catherine Ryan Howard's The Nothing Man, adding layers of intrigue that kept me turning pages late into the night. The premise is absolutely mouthwatering: Maria Capello, a beloved celebrity chef with her ow...

Review: Regrets Only - Kieran Scott - January 2023 I curled up with Regrets Only by Kieran Scott on my trusty Libby app this February, and what a treat it was to dive back into her world. I've been a longtime fan devouring her YA novels years ago and falling hard for everything she wrote as Kate Brian so when I discovered she'd penned a suburban mystery, I couldn't download it fast enough. It felt like reconnecting with an old friend. Kieran Scott absolutely nails the chaos and cattiness of PTA or as they call it in this book PTB culture in this delightfully twisty tale. Our protagonist, Paige Lancaster, returns home to Connecticut nursing wounds from a Hollywood disaster. She's broke, humbled, and bunking with her mom and eight-year-old daughter Izzy. Enter Ainsley Anderson: gorgeous, intimidating, and inconveniently married to John, Paige's high school sweetheart. At the annual Parents and Pinot fundraiser held at Ainsley's magazine-worthy mansion everythi...

VBT # Review: Our Daughter Is Missing - Darren O'Sullivan - January 2026 Welcome to The Phantom Paragrapher Book Blog! I'm thrilled to be hosting a stop on the Zooloos Book Tours virtual book tour for Darren O'Sullivan's gripping thriller, Our Daughter is Missing. Imagine waking up to your worst nightmare: your daughter doesn't come home. Now imagine you're physically unable to leave your house to search for her. This is the gut-wrenching premise that pulled me into O'Sullivan's latest psychological thriller, and honestly, I couldn't put it down. Our protagonist is a mother trapped by agoraphobia, watching the world through her windows while her daughter Faye vanishes somewhere out there in the dangerous world she's been hiding from. The setup is brilliant how do you rescue someone when you can't rescue yourself from your own fears? It's the kind of high-concept premise that immediately hooks you, and I found myself racing through chapt...

Review: The Birthday - Book #1 Detective Natalie Ward - Carol Wyer - September 2018 You know those books you pick up when you're in that very specific mood for a thriller that gets your heart racing? That was me with The Birthday. I've been absolutely devouring thrillers lately, and when I saw this premise a five-year-old disappearing from a birthday party and the investigation that unfolds years later -I knew I had to read it. Carol Wyer does a solid job building the tension here. The idea that these little girls all attended the same party and then, one by one, terrible things happen to them? Absolutely chilling. As a reader, you can't help but keep turning pages, desperate to figure out who's behind these horrific crimes. Detective Natalie Ward is a compelling lead ,I appreciated that she's a mother herself, which adds this extra layer of emotional weight to the investigation. You really feel her determination to bring these children home. Here's where I hav...