March 12, 2026
Black and red book cover reading "The Night Library of Sternendach" by Jessica Levai - TEXT of image: Book Review, Sue Cook
Published by Sue Cook at March 12, 2026
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The Night Library at Sternendach — A Vampire Opera Novel Review

The Night Library of Sternendach reads as a mixture of Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera — revolving around the library at Castle Sternendach, the Graf’s home. The dance of words played in my mind’s eye with each new verse. All I needed was Andrew Lloyd Webber to write the music. I’ve already cast the show for him, if he’ll but ask.
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December 2, 2025
Purple background, with novel cover centered on page. Cover includes images of white, gray, and purple roses, with a slash through the middle. TEXT: Violeta - Gothic Literature Review - Julie Sara Porter
Published by Julie Sara Porter at December 2, 2025
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Violeta: A Gothic Literature Tale Fit for the Ages

Fourteen-year-old Violeta Valentine lives with her older brother, Tommy, and their widowed mother in Arizona. Violeta’s mother isolates Violeta and targets her with abuse and neglect. Tommy tries to protect her as much as he can. This tense situation explodes one day when their mother puts both children’s lives in danger.
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October 31, 2025
Deep red rose on a black, otherwise "darked out" image. Rose is lying on the ground, with a short stem and leaves piercingly obvious. The cover of the book "Carmilla" (all black and white with two women illustrated from the Gothic era, looking off into the distance) in upper right hand corner. In deep red text, matching the rose's color, Carmilla: Review of a Classic Vampire Novella. Zina Mona.
Published by Zina Mona at October 31, 2025
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Carmilla: a Review of the Classic Vampire Novella

Filled with gothic imagery, Carmilla makes for a dark and spooky reading experience. I was immediately enamored with the setting, from the vast castle to the village ruins. I easily became absorbed in the story, and the tense atmosphere from the start pulled me right through to the end.
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October 5, 2025
Book cover image with a creepy house in a red haze -- it's set askew. Outline of Ohio behind the image, with a rolled up newspaper above the book cover. TEXT: Supernatural Thriller Review, Julie Sara Porter - The Bellfeontaine Haunting by Marie Wilkens
Published by Julie Sara Porter at October 5, 2025
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The Bellefontaine Haunting — A Supernatural Thriller Review

The Bellfontaine Haunting by Marie Wilkins is a suspenseful and gripping supernatural thriller and murder mystery. It held me from the first page to the last with its story of the ghost of a deceased woman haunting a reporter and the cold case surrounding her death suddenly becoming hot and open.
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September 22, 2025
Blue, blurred background with yellow and aqua accents in background - Book Cover for The Life Impossible by Matt Haig - TEXT: An Environmentalist Fantasy Review - Zina Mona
Published by Zina Mona at September 22, 2025
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The Life Impossible, an Environmentalist Fantasy Review

The premise writes itself — a one way ticket, an idyllic island, and a mysterious death. But it is not thrilling, in the pure sense of the word, nor is it a pure fantasy; The Impossible Life exists in a plane of reality that is magical and precisely mathematical.
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June 30, 2025
Book cover with black background and floral images on dark green background. TEXT: We Are All the Same in the Dark - Suspense Book Review, Karrie Wortner
Published by Karrie Wortner at June 30, 2025
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We Are All the Same in the Dark, a Fiction Review

In We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin, ten haunting years have passed since Trumanell Branson disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a smear of blood and a town suspended in yearning.
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May 25, 2025
The Forger's Forgery Audio Book Review
Published by Rita Mock-Pike at May 25, 2025
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The Forger’s Forgery, an Audio Book Review

Overall, The Forger’s Forgery is an exciting, intriguing literary fiction novel that keeps a reasonably quick pace, as long as you’re not expecting an action or thriller. The characters are vivid and memorable (even after a couple month gap at one point, the characters were still extremely present for me, even if the plot needed reminders!).
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February 19, 2025
Bait & Swiss book cover featuring a cheese shop - Text: Cozy Mystery Review - Rita Mock-Pike
Published by Rita Mock-Pike at February 19, 2025
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Bait & Swiss – a Cozy Mystery Review

Bait & Swiss, at a quick glance, comes from the Cheese Shop Mysteries cozy mystery series by Korina Moss. The stories center on the first-person narrator, Willa, the owner of a cheese shop in a small town on the West Coast. The story follows the mystery of poisoned chocolates and murder, which Willa must solve for the sake of herself and her friends (and former friends).
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October 17, 2023
The Descent book cover and fiction review title
Published by Sue Cook at October 17, 2023
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Book Review: The Descent-A Halloween Novel

The women gathering in the house, the evil collecting around them and the terrifying events of the weekend had me shouting to the the group not to do whatever action it was that they were set to do. It was as if I was watching a horror movie.
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September 22, 2023
Mrs. Morris and the Vampire, a book review - cover of book with text
Published by Rita Mock-Pike at September 22, 2023
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Mrs. Morris and the Vampire, a Halloween Fiction Review

Enter Salem, the site of those famous witch trials. Enter witch-y characters and their friends, Charlene, Celeste, Serenity, Lucas – even the guests at the B&B. Within mere pages, you’ll fall in love with (or hate!) every character who dances across the page. And with good reason.
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August 16, 2023
Her Dangerous Journey book review cover
Published by Rita Mock-Pike at August 16, 2023
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Her Dangerous Journey Home, a Sapphic Novel Review

As a history fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the honest, in-depth historical setting, details, and experiential ways of life depicted in the book. Other history fans, particularly of the medieval period, will enjoy these elements as well. These historical pieces come into vivid clarity through Swanson’s writing in ways that non-historians could never offer.
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