The Whisper by Chelsea Iversen ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

A sweeping, atmospheric thriller following a group of friends and the power given to them by the trees.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free audiobook was provided for an honest review.

Looking for a thrill ride? Read these thrillers!

by MK French

I have one more Halloween reading recommendation - a supernatural thriller. The second thriller is one of the choices on Amazon's November First Reads list. If you are a Prime member, you can read it for FREE now.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. Free books were provided for an honest review.

The Unquiet Dead by Stacie Murphy ~ a Review

by MK French

Amelia Matthew is coming to grips with her ability to speak with the dead, and would rather forget her experience on Blackwell Island. But she and her brother Jonas find the body of a girl that was missing in Gilded Age New York, and a young teen at the club where she works is accused of the crime. Amelia and Jonas have five days to find the real killer before the boy is transferred to the infamous Sing Sing prison to await trial. Evidence is mounting against him, so are Amelia and Jonas working to free a killer?

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

The Girl in the Mirror by Steven Ramirez ~ a Review

by MK French

While renovating a house with her ex-husband, Sarah Greene finds a mirror containing the spirit of a dead girl. It seems that the original owners had a son that worshipped the devil, and the girl hadn't died of natural causes. Sarah feels compelled to discover the truth about the girl, but that might lead to even more danger.

Reading on Snow Days in North Carolina

by Susan Roberts

We recently had a large snowstorm in my part of NC - 12 inches of snow may not sound like a lot in areas where there is always a lot of snow but in NC, this storm shut us down.  No newspaper delivery, no mail delivery and no traffic moving on the streets.  It was the perfect time to snuggle under a warm blanket with a cup of tea and read.  I read several different genres and I'd like to share my reviews with you.

An Amazing Debut: The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown

by MK French

Matthew Hopkins is known in history as the Witchfinder General, as he had gone throughout Essex County hunting witches. His sister Alice returns home after five years in London and finds him different from the boy she remembers, harsher and colder, capable of cruelties in his search for witches. She loves him and fears him, and tries to find out the source of the coldness in him. At the same time, she's left in a precarious position as a widow without means, and the family history that she uncovers is not one that Matthew wants to hear.

Amazon affiliate links are used in this post. A free book was provided for an honest review.

April 2017; Ballantine Books; 978-0399179143
ebook, audio, print (336 pages)
historical, supernatural, thriller

Alice's hardships as a woman in 1640's England can be difficult to read at times. She's beholden to her younger brother, caught up in tangled emotions and memories, and is determined to do the right thing no matter what. It's difficult in the face of such superstition, hatred and poor understanding of mental illnesses.

The descriptions of the Hopkins family as well as the villagers point to anxiety, depression and psychosis, which were all believed to be the work of demons or witches at the time. In their ignorance and political/religious zeal (essentially one and the same at that time period), it became a firestorm of suspicion and doubt, where the helpless and poor widows of the county suffered.

Alice isn't left with many choices, and she doesn't interact with many of the accused witches. This leaves the book with a somewhat limited viewpoint, because Alice doesn't know much about what else is happening in the county or with the English Civil War, even though it was mentioned in the beginning. That gives the story a claustrophobic feel, intentional or not, mirroring the fact that Alice is writing the story while trapped in an attic room.

This is an amazing first novel, and I'm sure anything else that Beth Underdown writes will be just as wonderful to read.

Buy The Witchfinder's Sister at Amazon

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and golden retriever.

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Brantwijn Serrah: 13 Fun Facts about The Pact #MondayBlogs

1. Serenity is arachnophobic. She hates, and is terrified of, scorpions.
2. Though The Pact is set in the fictional world of Geiral, it is meant to reflect the American west, roughly circa 1865.
3. The runes are real. At least, they reflect the real-world Norse futhark, which is sometimes used for divination and spiritual guidance. What Serenity does with these runes, well...obviously, I’ve taken a bit of license.
4. Serenity’s teacher, Rook, is tribal. The tribal culture of Geiral is roughly based on a combination of real-world Scottish highlanders, indigenous American peoples, and overall inspired by the fictional race of the cheysuli, from Jennifer Roberson’s Cheysuli Chronicles.
5. Most of the characters in The Pact, and its subsequent stories, are based on people I know. Many are characters originally played by myself and others in one of our many roleplaying campaigns, spanning games like Deadlands, Cyberpunk 2020, Dungeons & Dragons, and several homebrew games.
6. Runes are not the only magical teachings in the world of Geiral, and Serenity is not the only one who will display a great deal of prowess with her chosen style of magic.
7. The map of Geiral is originally based on a map of Asia.
8. One of the very minor, almost throwaway characters in the first book ends up becoming one of the most important figures in the series.
9. While Serenity is very good at almost any type of runic magic, she has virtually no talent when it comes to healing magic. These spells rarely ever work for her.
10. It may seem like Serenity’s strongest talent is in destructive or combat-based magic, but this isn’t so. She’s actually most gifted in divination and visions.
11. Over the course of the series, several characters draw cards or rune stones for divining elements of the future, or lessons they are meant to take from the circumstances they find themselves in. Every one of these draws is a real draw! Each time a draw came up during the writing process, I stopped to consult my own rune cards or rune stones, and whatever I drew, that’s what appears in the story.
12. Serenity’s favorite animals are horses.
13. The series is currently set to be 7 books long, plus one “side quest” book which explores stories of some of the supporting characters.

Buy The Pact at Amazon

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About the Author:

When she isn't visiting the worlds of immortals, demons, dragons and goblins, Brantwijn fills  her time with artistic endeavors: sketching, painting, customizing My Little Ponies and sewing plushies for friends. She can't handle coffee unless there's enough cream and sugar to make it a milkshake, but try and sweeten her tea and she will never forgive you. She moonlights as a futon for four lazy cats, loves tabletop role-play games, and can spend hours on end sketching characters and scenes in her secret notebooks.

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A Love of Witches

by Elisa Hordon

Hocus Pocus, Abracadabra, Expelliarmus...from Shakespeare to Harry Potter and beyond a mystical world of witches, fantasy and wonder.

My life has always been me with my head in a book, and yes, most of the time those books involve fantasy, supernatural and mysterious wonder, make believe worlds full of witches, dragons and more.

Now books with witches are what I'm focusing on here even though I love everything supernatural, fantasy, and sci- fi, trying to write about all of that in one blog post would take forever. I have read a lot of books about witches, so if I miss some it's generally not because I have not read them but because I have read so many I sometimes forget a few, so please list more witchy books in the comments just in case there are some I have not read yet. I am always interested in more books.

It all started with the Wizard of Oz; those books were a jump start into my own world of fantasy. Next came Narnia - that magical wonderful world where you step through a wardrobe and become a king or queen of a beautiful mystical world. It was followed by Roald Dahl's The Witches, Shakespeare's Macbeth, Homer's Odyssey where Circe the Greek Goddess of magic lures Odysseus away from his quest. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmerman Bradly about Arthurian times with Merlin and Morgan LeFay, the Beauchamp witches from The Witches of East End by Melissa De La Cruz, Bonnie Bennett from The Vampire Diaries, Millie and Pamela from Shannon Mayer's Rylee Adamson series, and The Blood Borne series by Denise Grover Swank and Shannon Mayer: all of these magical books paved my love of everything witchy and some of them have also been made into awesome movies and TV shows to bring the magic even more to life.

Cozy Mystery Witches

More recently I have found a love of cozy mystery books that center around witches, some of these include funny witch families and even whole magical towns, some where magic is known and practiced openly and some where it is used in secret. My all time favorite is Amanda M Lee's Wicked Witches of the Midwest, This series centers around a fictional town of Hemlock Cove and the hilarious Winchester Witches, namely the youngest generation Bay, Thistle and Clover Winchester and the antics they get up to around town helping solve murder and mysteries with their special gifts and sarcastic humor and, of course, their Aunty Tillie. No mention of this series is complete without Aunty Tillie.

Mindy Klasky writes the Jane Maddison series. Jane is new to the craft, and her stories are wonderfully funny to read as Jane learns her way around her new magical world.

The Magic and Mixology series by Gina LaManna is a delightful read featuring a witch, a blood intolerant vampire and a shifter who has trouble shifting and there is the rest of Lily Locke's family. This series is set on a magical island and you are transported to this magical island as you read.

Jollie Wilkins series by H.P Mallory is a great magical adventure, The Easy Bake Coven series by Liz Schulte is highly entertaining. Bailey Cates's Magical Bakery series is a good fun read.

Rose Pressey writes a lot of different series: some are supernatural, some are just great mysteries. Her Halloween Laveau series is my favorite and not just because it centers around witches and is set in my favorite place, New Orleans, but it is a really funny series with great characters.

An all-time favorite author of mine is Deanna Chase. I am a huge fan of everything she writes, but my first love will always be her Jade Calhoun series. Jade is just awesome; she kicks butt on a regular basis. Jade has style and her own flare, and she has awesome friends as well.

Camilla Chafer wrote the Stella Mayweather series. There are 5 awesome books in this magical series and each one is more awesome than the next.

Leighann Dobbs's Blackmore Sisters series about 4 sisters who work together as a family to solve magical mysteries is a great cozy favorite of mine. Dakota Kassidy's Witchless in Seattle series is just plain hilarious: Stevie is awesome.

Janet Evanovich is known for her hilarious Stephanie Plum series, but my favorite series of hers is Lizzy and Deisel. This series is pure magical fun from start to finish; each book is just awesome.

Larsen Quick and her Mayhem Sisters series is highly enjoyable in a supernatural magical way. J,A Whiting writes the Sweet Cove Mysteries which I love not just for the magical mystery side but the recipes included in this series are just wonderful. Adele Abbott's Witch P.I series is laugh out loud funny and a great blend of supernatural and normal worlds.

Supernatural Mysteries

Moving away from the cozy mysteries and into more full-on supernatural mysteries...

Misty Evans writes amazing romantic suspense thrillers but she also writes the amazing Witches Anonymous series. Amy Atwood is trying to not use magic. The problem is she has a penchant for getting into magical trouble, and it probably is not a good thing that Lucifer himself is her boyfriend or maybe ex-boyfriend. This series is full of magical hijinks.

I can't talk about witches without mentioning Harry Potter. I mean, seriously, if we are talking awesome magical books this series has to be right up there for fantastical, magical adventure. I cannot tell how many times I have read these books, listened to the audio books and watched the movies. Harry Potter really is the ultimate in witchy books about magical, mysterious people and places.

Witches in Movies

Witches on the big screen generally come from the books I've read. The Wizard of Oz is always a classic movie. Practical Magic, what can I say, this is one time when I prefered the movie to the book. Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Diane Weist and Stockard Channing are all just amazing. Hocus Pocus is a funny witchy comedy with the always brilliant Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathi Najimny. Oh and The Witches of Eastwick with Cher, Michelle Pfifer, Susan Sarandon and Jack Nicolson, Harry Potter is an awesome set of movies, and even though the books were way better, I still enjoyed the movies. The Craft is an interesting 90's take on witchcraft.

Witches on TV

Now we move into TV and my favourite all time TV show: Charmed. Three sisters who learn they are witches with magical powers and how they deal with deamons on a daily basis, this series also has books availiable but they came after the TV show. There is also a graphic novel collection that took off where the show ended after 8 successful seasons. Bewitched, now there was a classic TV show about witches, so funny and awesome at the same time. Sabrina the Teenage Witch based on the character from the Archie comics.

These are just some of my favourites featuring witches on the screen as well as in books.


A few of my favourite quotes:

"A Heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." ~ The Wizard of Oz

"Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen of Narnia." ~ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

"Stars hide your fires, let not light see your deep dark desires." ~ Macbeth

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." ~ Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban


Song of the witches from Macbeth:

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

Elisa Hordon, reviewer. Elisa lives in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia where she spends her days reading, journaling, painting, cooking and homeschooling her daughter. She has always been an avid reader, Elisa loves reading many genres of books except horror; her favourite genres would be mystery, romance, and paranormal. Elisa also loves pursuing many creative outlets if she is not relaxing with a book she can be found writing, sketching, painting or cooking. Elisa loves to share her obsession with books especially with her family and friends. Reading and reviewing books is a favourite pastime of Elisa’s.

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Review: Melody Bittersweet and the Girls' Ghostbusting Agency by Kitty French

by Elisa Hordon

A rip roaring laugh from start to finish.

Melody comes from an unusual family, ok ok they are all completely bonkers, crazy and totally insane, they also have paranormal gifts that make them different to everyone else.
Melody sees dead people, and yes it's true even if some people namely a nosy, sexy super-hot reporter don't believe her and think Melody and her whole family are fakes but that doesn't stop Fletch from kissing the bejeezers out of Melody every chance he gets which just leaves Melody frustrated and confused, it also makes for some really funny scenes, I really enjoyed all of the interplay between Melody and Fletch I could really see them going somewhere together once Fletch starts to believe....lol

Melody's love life is one disastrous date after another and her Mother just loves setting up blind dates for her they go from bad to worse to totally hilarious.

Melody's family run a business from home helping people contact spirits but Melody decides to go out on her own forming The Girls Ghost busting agency with her best friend Marina and then they take on Arty, the three of them work well together I could even see some potential romance between Marina and Arty at some point, Glenda who normally works for Melody's Mother is great at popping in to keep the admin side of the business organised.

The story gets even more hilarious when Melody's ex-boyfriend Leo Dark comes back into her life after dumping her and moving on to bigger and better things namely a TV spot where he uses his own paranormal gifts to make a name for himself. I really don't think Leo is a bad guy but he is selfish and arrogant he also uses Melody every chance he gets, Melody is much better off without him, Leo is all self-serving, I enjoyed the way Melody handled herself with the Ghosts and helped them move on by solving the murder where Leo just wanted his five minutes of fame in front of the camera Melody just wanted to help the ghosts I love how she went above and beyond so all three ghosts could move on.

I really enjoyed this new book by Kitty French it was light hearted, totally hilarious with a great supernatural ghost busting side that just hit all of the right notes for me, I loved every page from beginning to end and I am looking forward to a lot more in this series

A few of my favourite quotes :-)

‘For Bittersweet women, love is big and sweeping, all-consuming and life-altering.’

“I knew your skin would feel like that,” he says. “Too soft for all your hard edges.” I frown. “I don’t have hard edges.” “Yes you do. You’re all sharp edges, sarcasm and trouble, but your skin isn’t playing games. It’s smooth and warm, and it likes me much better than the rest of you does.” 

‘I’ve spent my entire adult life either trying to fit into the outside world like a square peg in a round hole,…and however hard I try, I’m never going to be a round peg.’

Buy Melody Bittersweet and the Girls' Ghostbusting Agency at Amazon

Elisa Hordon, reviewer. Elisa lives on the Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia were she spends her days reading, journaling, painting, cooking and home schooling her daughter. She has always been an avid reader, Elisa loves reading many genres of books except horror; her favourite genres would be mystery, romance and paranormal. Elisa also loves pursuing many creative outlets if she is not relaxing with a book she can be found writing, sketching, painting or cooking. Elisa loves to share her obsession with books especially with her family and friends. Reading and reviewing books is a favourite pastime of Elisa’s.

Book info:
available formats: ebook and print (290 pages)
published; July 2016 by Bookoenuture
ISBN13: 978-1786810397
genres: cozy mystery, supernatural




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A Supernatural Cozy Mystery: Graveyard Shift by Angela Roquet #BigBookGiveaway

by Donna Huber

A few weeks ago I was preparing the Big Book Giveaway event and I noticed of the books were free in their ebook form. So, like any reading addict I clicked BUY! One such book was Angela Roquet's Graveyard Shift.

It is a cozy mystery featuring grim reapers and I don't know about you, but I don't typically put humor and reapers in the same sentence. So I had to take a chance on what I hoped would be a quirky summer read.

Graveyard Shift is the first book in Roquet's Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc series and as such there was quite a bit of world building in the opening chapters. Unfortunately it caused the story to start more slowly than I would have liked. But I think it was also because I was struggling with getting into a world about the afterlife that went against my own personal religious beliefs. (I can suspend belief when it comes to aliens ruling the world, but apparently it is a bit more difficult for me when it comes to what happens after death).

It probably didn't help that I couldn't care less about fashion and the main character loves fashion, so there were clothing descriptions that I could have done without. Particularly since I was dying to find out what kind of hilaritiy reapers could get into when dealing with the dead.

But once the story progressed past setting up the who and where and we really got into what the story was about, I became engrossed in it. So much so that by the end I was wanting to pick up another Lana Harvey mystery.

Did it turn out to be the quirky summer read I was hoping for? Yeah. Pretty much. It was entertaining, light read. And I think future books will be even better as we get to the know the characters and the world they inhabit more. I can see the potential for this becoming a "must read" series for me and I don't have very many of those.

I liked the cast of characters. There is a great diversity of personalities, which I'm sure will provide numerous opportunities for fun (for the reader at least) in the future adventures of Lana.

Lana reminded me a lot of Lisa Lutz's Izzy Spellman (Spellman Files) and JB Lynn's Maggie Lee (Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman). Just as it was with those characters, I look forward to 'watching' Lana grow up.

Roquet has definitely done a great job creating a character the reader will want to root for. Lana is absolutely an awesome option for those looking for a book best friend (you know, if you overlook the tiny fact that she's a reaper. Maybe just think of her as an undertaker. Umm... that's probably just as creepy).

If you are looking for something a bit different in your supernatural or cozy mystery reading, then I recommend giving Graveyard Shift a chance. Enter the giveaway below for your chance to win a signed paperback copy, and if you can't wait for the giveaway to be over to start reading it, then pick up the free ebook at Amazon or B&N like I did.


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Donna Huber, founder & publisher. Donna is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. She reads most genres, but her favorite books are psychological thrillers and stories that highlight the survival of the human spirit against unbelievable circumstances.

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Review: Supernatural - Deniable by Hugh Gouws

by Claire Rees

Based on the popular tv series Supernatural, the story follows two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester as they travel across America completing their very rare job. They are both ‘Hunters’. They hunt and destroy all different types of supernatural creatures  and demons. This time they are off to Louisville to investigate the strange deaths of several creative people. However, Dean starts to exhibit the same symptoms that the people had before they died. Now there is a race against the clock to find out who or what is infecting him and destroy it before it destroys him. Sam calls on some of his other hunter friends, Caleb, Pastor Jim and Bobby and asks them for help researching what it could be. He also gets help from Cleo, the lady he came to Louisville to meet and a doctor at the local hospital who tries to help Dean with medical treatments. They find out that they are fighting against a dark muse who turns an average creative person into a master at their talent. However she also drains the life out of people.

I enjoy the tv show and that's why I bought this book from Amazon. I read the whole book in a day, it was really good. Hugh Gouws captures the characters personalities very good and I could imagine the actors saying and doing the things in the story and this made the book much more enjoyable. You don't have to have seen the tv show to read the book though. If you like reading about different supernatural creatures and those that hunt them then you will really enjoy these books.

Buy Supernatural: The Deviation at Amazon

Book info
available formats: ebook
published: May 2015
genres: fantasy, paranormal
source: purchased
read: June 2015

Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.

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