I DIED AT FALLOW HALL by Bonnie Burke-Patel

I Died at Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We found this book in a local Street Library, so I decided to get stuck into it last night to see if I liked it... and couldn't stop reading.

Anna Deerin lives in a remote cottage in Cotswold and is a gardener on the grounds of the Fallow Hall estate. She lives alone and wants it to stay that way. Detective Inspector Hitesh Mistry left the city to escape his past and personal grief. He lives a solitary life and likes it that way. When Anna finds bones buried in the garden, their paths cross and an old mystery unfolds...

What a great story! I REALLY enjoyed this small-town murder mystery. The first thing that grabbed me was the lush description and the quaint location. The second thing is the characters. Not just the three narrators, but also the great cast of secondary characters. I mean, how cute is David the golden retriever? And David's human, Reverend Watts is also such a good character.

Anna and Hitesh are interesting together and apart, each living with their own personal trauma. But at the heart of the story is the tragedy of Catherine Blackwaite, which is quite sad because she's such a lively and spunky young woman determined to find her place in the 60s. Too bad I don't feel the same about Lord Blackwaite.

I also like the author's cozy writing. Her storytelling style is addictive.


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It's Release Day!!

 Today is the day!

FALLEN DESTINY IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM BRIGIDS GATE PRESS.

Destiny isn't human and she has the horns to prove it. She's also damned good at blending into the human world.

That, along with her powers, has helped her forge a career out of locating supernatural beings and objects.

Got demon troubles? Need a mystical artifact found? Destiny's the one for the job.

All goes well for her until the day she's hired by a mysterious nun, and for the first time, Destiny's stumped.

How exactly does a demon hired by a nun find an angel?

Grab an eBook or paperback copy here:

AMAZON | B&N | KOBO

BOOKSHOP.ORG | WATERSTONES | BOOKS-A-MILLION

ADD TO GOODREADS

I'd want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to Gwendolyn Kiste, Angela Sylvaine, Sonora Taylor, Wayne Fenlon, and Brian Bowyer for these amazing blurbs:

"I've been a fan of Yolanda Sfetsos for years, and whether you're brand-new to her work or you've loved her books for as long as I have, Fallen Destiny is an absolute must-read. This cozy dark fantasy takes you on a supernatural adventure with page-turning prose and characters you'll adore. Enjoy the ride."

— Gwendolyn Kiste, Four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Haunting of Velkwood and Reluctant Immortals   

“Fallen Destiny is a wicked urban fantasy that will appeal to fans of Kim Harrison. Sfetsos delves into the mysteries of heaven and hell while wrapping the reader in the warm embrace of found family. Move over Hellboy, there’s a new kick ass demon in town, and Destiny won’t be denied.”

— Angela Sylvaine, Bram Stoker Award nominated author of Frost Bite. 

"Fallen Destiny is a fun, devious, supernatural mystery with lots of clever twists and turns. Sfetsos manages to create a large and fascinating world of amazing characters, all of whom I loved. Don't miss this one."

— Sonora Taylor, award-winning author of Little Paranoias: Stories and Without Condition

"A cosy blend of genres: infusing horror, folklore, and eroticism, with a hint of mystery. A detective story at heart. This one, like all of Yolanda's work, is another proper page turner. A great writer."

— Wayne Fenlon, author of The Black Cabin

“Sfetsos is simply one of the best, and Fallen Destiny—thrilling, intense, and filled with suspense—displays an artist at the top of her game.”

— Brian Bowyer, author of Metro Kinetic. 

"A lively and atmospheric occult mystery with a main character who’s as hellish as she is human."

—Kirkus Reviews, GET IT verdict

Read full review here

I'm SO excited about this new release and can't wait for readers to read my cozy urban fantasy book about an occult detective investigating a mystery that might lead to her past.

The beautiful cover art was made by: Alison Flannery

Thanks for reading!

THE CHANGE by Kirsten Miller

The Change by Kirsten Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been meaning to read this book for ages, so I'm glad I finally got stuck into it.

Three very different women find each other when they start going through some changes. Harriett Osborne is an advertising director, but now spends most of her time growing a wild garden. Jo Levison is a former executive who runs a gym and has developed a newfound strength that manifests in a fiery rage. Nessa is a widowed nurse who can hear the voices of dead girls who deserve to be found. Together, the trio is determined to get justice...

Wow. This book is fucking amazing. There's no other way to describe how much I enjoyed it.

I love the way it deals with everything, starting with everyday sexism, amping up to disgraceful misogyny, and everything else in between. Through the lives and the untimely deaths of the girls and women who live in Mattauk, the female experience—the wonderful and the nightmarish—is captured perfectly.

OMG. I absolutely LOVE Harriett, Jo and Nessa!! All three are such strong, empathetic characters whose flaws enhance their personalities.

Not only did I enjoy the interactions between the three leads, because their friendship is strong enough that they can be brutally honest with each other, but I also liked their individual stories.

The way multiple POVs are threaded into the main narrative hooked me from beginning to end.

The powerful tales of three very different middle-aged women opens up to include so much more, and other stories weave their way into the narrative in a way that kept me glued to the pages. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next, and I was on the edge of my seat during the last few chapters.

It's a long and it's quite sad, but the author's brilliant voice is very addictive. This is a powerful and important book and definitely worth reading.


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Hey, it's November!

How are you?

I hope you all had an awesome Halloween! I spent mine listening to a thunderstorm while reading the latest Sally (The Nightmare Before Christmas) book. Such a trope, right? I also popped into my ACNH island to catch up with Jack, chatted with hubby, and filled up my first Attic Notebook.

It might be November, but the Halloween aesthetic never ends. At least, it doesn't for me. 😊

For the first time in years, I'm not actually writing a novel first draft during November. But it's not a big deal because I've been busy writing a lot of short-stories. Speaking of shorties, I completed another one last week.

The final word count:  1,987.

As I mentioned last week, I completed two more stories, and both were about the same character. The idea to round them out as a trilogy of sadness and self-discovery came to me during one of my walks. And guess what? After I finished, I realised that I love this character so much, she's getting a spin-off. Not sure if it's going to be a novella or novel, but I'm very excited about the continuation of her story and already started taking notes!

So, here's the vampire world update: two novels, one novelette, and twenty-one short stories. The short story collection has now crossed 78k words.

Still having a blast writing them but I think it's slowly coming to a nice and organic end. Of course, that's what I think today. Tomorrow, the plan could change because these characters are loud.

Did you guys hear about the upcoming ACNH updates? My husband and I still pop into our islands daily, so we're super excited!! I love my island (I called it Grimoire) and my villagers are adorable, so these new features are going to be a lot of fun. Especially getting the chance to build islands inside your dreams. What a cool idea!

Well, asides from all the writing and revising, I've been catching up with some reading. I'm also enjoying long daily walks. The days are a lot longer and I'm taking advantage.

Okay, that's it for now.

Have an awesome week!! 😁

 

HOUR OF THE PUMPKIN QUEEN by Megan Shepherd

Hour of the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas by Megan Shepherd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favourite stories. I love Sally and Jack, so I'm always going to be interested in checking out any Sally book that gets released. 😊

Sally and Jack Skellington got married a year ago. During that time, Sally has been busy because she takes her role very seriously. As the Queen of Halloween Town she wants to make everyone happy and is spreading herself a bit thin. When she gets sucked into a mysterious portal with her new apprentice, Sally goes on an adventure that will test her in many ways...

OMG. I absolutely loved Sally's latest adventure through time. And I mean that literally because she actually ends up in Time Town. Another fascinating location that leads Sally to a serious problem: the destruction of Halloween Town.

A lot of very cool and intriguing locations and characters are introduced during Sally's adventure to save everyone she loves and cares about, but the underlying theme at the heart of her story is being honest with herself. That helping others, or being their queen, doesn't mean losing herself in the process.

I also like that every Sally story I've read so far (this is my third) is true to the character. Her voice feels sincere and her actions match the subtle bravery she displays in the movie. Another thing I loved about this particular book is that the love and romance between Sally and Jack is passionate and sweet. A mutual devotion and adoration that adds so much to the chaotic events.

The addition of a rag doll apprentice is so cute. Luna has a lot of potential and she's great, especially when she meets a curious dragon. Scorch longs to be a hero instead of the villain.

I wanted to read this during Halloween, and it has the perfect cozy vibes. A great way to end the month.

Oh, and although the main mystery is solved... the darker one isn't. Can't wait for the next installment.


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BLOB: A Love Story by Maggie Su

Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm enjoying my unhinged-women-behaving-badly run, and decided to read this book next. I mean, who doesn't want to read a love story about a blob?

Vi doesn't fit in, her boyfriend dumped her months ago, she flunked out of college, and now works behind a hotel reception desk. She mostly keeps her distance from people, but the night she goes out with a workmate, she finds a blob with eyes in an alley. When she decides to rescue him, her life takes a weird turn...

What an entertaining story! I was hooked from beginning to end, and couldn't wait to see where Vi and Bob ended up.

Let me start by saying that Vi isn't a very nice person. She's a total wreck, and some of the shit she does is appalling. In many ways, she's a lot messier than the blob she's trying to shape. Bob is a blob that transforms himself into a man. Together, these two misfits embark on their personal journey to find out exactly what it means to be human.

Vi is such a spiky character who's got a huge chip on her shoulder and has convinced herself that no one could possibly ever want to be her friend, or be romantically interested in her. So she pushes people away by hurting them before they get a chance to hurt her.

Like I said above, she's not a very nice person. But I still enjoyed her voice and the self-discovery she makes along the way.

This is a great book and I thoroughly enjoyed it!


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Spring & Writing

Hey! How are you? Hope you're all having a great October!

Personally, I think it's going too fast and for some reason, in spite of finding some very cool Halloween stuff, it doesn't feel very Halloweeny this year. Maybe it's because I haven't watched any horror movies or shows yet. Although, it could also be because this season is giving a lot of not-feeling 100% vibes. Yeah, the change of season is really affecting me this year because the temperature is all over the place.

The cool thing is that, even though it took me over a week to complete the first draft of the story I mentioned during my last post, after I realised what was missing, I finished it. Actually, as of this afternoon, I've completed two more stories.

This is the final word counts: 6,984 and 3,037.

These two particular tales have been circling my brain for a while, but I wasn't ready to write them because this character's stories fit into timelines that made it tricky until I had everything straight in my mind. When that happened, the words poured out of me.

So, here's the vampire world update: two novels, one novelette, and twenty short stories. The short story collection has now crossed 76k. Yikes.

I just can't shake these characters, LOL. 

Asides from writing and revising the above stories, I've also been doing a bit of reading (reviews posted below) and quite a bit of walking. Also been sorting out and updating my Writing Folders and external drives (time-consuming boring work that has to be done).

Also, my publisher gave me the link to an awesome Kirkus review for FALLEN DESTINY today. If you're interested in finding out a bit more about my upcoming novel (release date: 11 November), you might want to check it out. A GET IT verdict from Kirkus makes me very happy. Especially since the reviewer totally got Destiny's tale.

Well, that's about it.

Have a great weekend!!

THE PISCES by Melissa Broder

The Pisces by Melissa Broder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been curious about this book for a while and finally decided to check it out.

When Lucy's relationship ends, she ends up in a very dark place. So when her sister offers to pay her to housesit and watch her dog during the summer, Lucy agrees. She also has to go to group therapy and plans to work on her book-length project about Sappho...

Yikes! Lucy is one messy woman. She's selfish, and indecisive. She's judgy, and nicknames/puts down every woman she meets. She can't be trusted, and is obsessed with making men want to be with her. She's also obviously suffering from depression, and her mental health is in a really bad place.

Basically, she's not fit to look after a house, let alone a gorgeous dog. 😫

In spite of the fact that I didn't like Lucy because she's so awful, I still enjoyed this book. It's raw and gross, a little too honest in its depiction of bad dates and unsatisfying sexual interactions with strangers. Even the raunchier 'love' scenes are full of descriptions that might make some readers pause. But I'm sure that was the intention.

Lucy is DEFINITELY NOT a nice person. In fact, I found her to be terrible. She wants everyone to be there for her, but refuses to help others. She craves male attention but when she gets it, tires of the guys too quickly. She's too self-involved and often drowns in her own pompous thoughts. Like I said, not nice. But that's who she is. A terrible person who doesn't give a fuck about anyone or anything not serving her purpose.

This leads me to Dominic and Theo. The two males she appears to actually care about at some stage during her summer visit.

Dominic is her sister's beautiful foxhound and he's adorable. She truly doesn't deserve him and what she does to this poor dog is atrocious. Disgusting. I hated every interaction she had with him during the second half of the book because she's such a cruel bitch.

Theo is a merman she meets on the rocks. A seemingly young and attractive mythological creature enamoured with her. In him, Lucy sees herself differently. It's like he's a mirror reflecting adoration and love that consumes her. But is any of it real? Or is she once again projecting her shit on someone else? The way things turn out sure answers at least one of those questions. Yet, makes you wonder about the reality of the situation.

Either way, the writing style and Lucy's voice drew me in and kept me glued to the pages.

Yeah, while I personally enjoyed it, this book is not flowery or pretty. It's not romantic and definitely needs several trigger warnings: mention of suicide, dealing with suicidal thoughts and actions, animal cruelty, animal death, lying, mention of self-harm, mental illness, adultery.


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