Bethany's Book Nook

 "Sooner or later, each of us reaches that point where the evil ghost that's been stalking me since childhood is trying to murder everyone we care about"     The south channel lighthouse is an abandoned crumbling historical building at the mouth of the Savannah River. Stories tell of the woman in white who often stood at the top of the lighthouse, watching the sailors coming into port and waving them off and ensures their safe travels. She is still seen years after her death. The property is now owned by a famous movie star with local ties to Tybee Island. The old ghosts of the river and lighthouse are in full force because of the construction of a new mansion connected to the lighthouse cottage. The team with the help of the "Hoff", have to remove the ghosts who are getting increasingly, violent. They're threatening the team, the client and her family, and her personal staff. This latest installment dives into the dark history of the lighthouse, its ghosts,

  "You want to see if you can train the evil singing nursey ghost to...do what? Babysit evil children?"     Ellie Jordan's life just got a whole lot more complicated; Calvin sells the company, and the new owners are in town calling all the shots...not to mention Michael is in a coma due to the injuries sustained on one of her last investigations. The new client they are to meet is a pregnant woman who has a ghost that appears in the nursey singing an eerie lullaby. As always, the team discovers there are more ghosts in the house and that one hunts children, and they need to stop them before they try to kill again. All while figuring out where the now dormant Anton Clay is hiding.      Once again Bryan just absolutely knocks it out of the park with this new addition. I just want to open this up with saying how much I absolutely hate the new owners PSI, and Kara the Russian woman overseeing everything. she is extremely in touch with the paranormal and has a few tricks up he

  "She danced the way she loved; steadfast, gracious, wildly, and slightly aggressive."     The story follows Zarela Zalvidar who is a talented flamenco dancer who follows in her mother's footsteps, her father is also the most famous Dragonador in Hispalia. When disaster strikes during a momentous anniversary performance, there is death, and a terrible injury inflicted to Zarela's own father. In the wake of this disaster Zarela has to make drastic decisions in order to save her ancestral home and the family's good name. With the help of Arturo  Díaz de Montserrat, she turns to becoming the next Dragonador to step into the arena. While trying to save her home, friends, and self...she is also trying to solve the problem of who is out to ruin the Zalvidar family.     You immediately fall in love with all the characters in this book, within the first three chapters. The opening of this book also hits harder than any book I've read in a long time. With fierce indep

  "Don't you love fall?" Stacey asked. "All the little festivals, the changing leaves, kids in Halloween costumes, the dead spewing up out of the graves to haunt the living..."      This case leads us to Pine Hollow Farm, an old time family farm that has all the fall activities one could want, including a 'haunted' hayride through the woods past an eighteenth-century cemetery and a corn maze. A local legend, the ghost of a horseman that has ridden through the same dirt road through the woods, along with other ghosts who are threatening visitors and the family. Ellie and Stacey travel to the farm to discover the truth behind these spirits and are racing against time as Halloween approaches.      I absolutely love this series so any new addition to it just makes my day! The danger and the spook factor of this book was off the charts. Between the ghosts, the ones in the woods and the one who crawls up the stairs in a pool of her own blood just blew me away.

  ""I've never heard of ghosts driving ghost trucks" "Says the girl who recently jumped onboard a ghost train." "That was a psychokinetic visual and tactile apparition pooling energy and traumatic memories from several entities-" "Uh-huh. Ghost train,""      This is hands down the scariest book in the entire series so far! It takes place in the Lathrop Grand Hotel in Savannah, a hotel that has been open for more than a century and a half. Knowingly haunted, it's a local favorite for drawing tourists. Being so old this hotel is known for all the hidden entrances and passageways, allowing staff to be invisible to the guests in attendance. Ellie and her team are called into the hotel because the spirits have turned violent, killing a construction worker who was working on the third floor. In this, they uncover nineteenth century murders that were turned into legends and the powerful spirits that don't want to leave without a fi

  "Who said being in love would ruin a friendship? What better way to fall in love than to do it with the person you already care about the most in the world?     Have to say this book was very enjoyable and a good book to read in one sitting! Thought it was a great take on a zombie apocalypse movie and what happens if it could be controlled. Feel like there were a lot of good parts and pieces of this book, but some things were missing. All the female characters were so complex and wonderfully written while the men were sort of bland characters with one dimension. It felt like the main antagonist was poorly written and the plot for revenge was honestly, dumb. Other than that the relationship built up was very natural and lovely and the entire relationship between the friend group was very real. The banter was exactly what you'd expect and find within most friend groups nowadays.      Antidote for the freshly turned is incredible and a lovely twist, that all the baddies got wha

  ""So why were we all summoned here today?" Jacob asked. "Is there a murder mystery involved? Someone in this restaurant is the killer? I'm guessing it was the chef, in the kitchen, with the sausage gravy. Did the victim die of rapid-onset heart disease?""     Ellie and Stacey are on to another case in an extravagant community that never got off the ground because of bankruptcy. It's a ghost town, with only a few residents-including the clients. In this house there's a Banshee that thrives off the misery and sadness of everyone that it comes into contact with. Though it seems like an open shut case, as usual, there is more underneath the initial haunting. While surveying the community they came across a defunct railroad that acts like a conduit for ANY lost souls near by, including the dark ones. Between the severity of case, turmoil with Calvin- the owner of the company, and the budding romance between Ellie and Michael. It is easy to get los

 "An interesting thing about kitchens: while ghosts are most drawn to the dark, deserted areas of the house, typically the attic or basement-or closet, in the case of our current boogeyman-the kitchen, in my experience, tends to be the least haunted area. Maybe it's the fact that kitchens are well-lit, but they're also the center of the activity for the living, the emotional energy constantly churned and refreshed. They're the heart of the home, and I think something about that keeps the restless spirits at bay, hiding in the shadows. There are plenty of exceptions, of course"      Ellie Jordan and her team face a dangerous shape-shifting entity that she and her mentor Calvin has once encountered before-the one that led him to being paralyzed. The spirit has the power to reach into the mind of the living and transform into their deepest fears. Unbeknownst to everyone involved, there is even more evil and darkness in the home than anyone imagined...and it's tar

  "To every child who needs a way into Underland. Befriend the Beasts, children, and follow them down."      One of the better books that I have read so far in 2024, it was a hit among the entire group! Set in the small dying town of Eden, Kentucky, which is only known for its reclusive authose from the nineteenth century who left behind a single novel and a gothic estate called Starling House. The story follows a young orphaned woman who has been given the shit end of the stick from the beginning. She forgoes any further personal advancement in order to take care of her younger brother. Giving him the life that she never recieved herself.      Through a series of strange events and literal nightmares, Opal finds herself accepting a job at Starling House that seems to good to be true. It's also the perfect opportunity to hawk some antique items that get to know the owner of the estate, Arthur Starling. He's prickly, isolated, and trying his absolute best to get rid of

      In this case Ellie Jordan and her team are called to a family home that seems to be occupied by several ghosts. Shortly into investigating, it seems that the seven-year-olds invisible friends may not be so invisible after all, but rather the spirits of the children that previously lived there. Upon further research into the homes' previous owners, it seems that she must help them move on before they take it upon themselves to make the living join them.      The horror factor in this book is an upgrade from the last, and I have a feeling it will only keep increasing as we go on! What I love though is for every scary moment there is a humorous one not far behind. Truly, I love this little misfit family that is growing closer together with every case. I'm going to be so sad whenever this series comes to an end. 

  ""You don't understand, Mercy," I said. "You're dead, you died--"  A howling shriek hit me right in the brain. The ghost charged me, her misty face distorted and distending as she put on speed, her empty eye sockets and mouth hole stretching to inhumane shapes."     Set in Savannah, Georgia, Ellie Jordan's job is anything but normal. Her job is to catch and remove unwanted ghosts, but also act as a private detective. Delving into the past of the family, house, property, and even items inside the home. Ellie surveys every family that contacts her to see if there is a true haunting. In this story Ellie surveys a family that contacted her to deal with a restless presence in their historical mansion that is undergoing construction. Ellie is joined by her unwanted coworkers- Stacey and Jacob, a psychic. The team manages to get one ghost out of the house, the one that was targeting the young daughter, only to discover there were many many more dang

       This book is a fun detective story that is set in Hertfordshire, England. It follows Finn Wright, a suspended FBI agent who goes to England to reconnect with a college friend Rob after a heartbreak. Finn is thrown into a consulting position with the local police force to work on a high-profile case alongside his friend Rob and Detective Amelia Winters. After a connection is made between Rob and the deceased, he has extra motivation to protect his friend from being fired from his position.     Finn is teamed up with Amelia Winters, an absolute bombshell, that immediately has Finn forgetting about his broken heart. Even though there is relationship drama and mistrust on each side, you can tell there is some tension.      The story was fun and enjoyable, but it felt like it was thrown together at times. Especially at the end where the murderer is revealed, and the confession is given. It makes sense and works for the details given in the story up to that point, but it also felt lik

  "There were always monsters in the heart of mazes...but this maze was on Derek's side."     We can only thank 2020 for bringing us once again inside the world of Litenvarld. We are met with its most dazzling employee, Derek. His life revolves around Litenvarld. From waking up in its parking lot inside a Litenvarld shipping container, hyping himself up using the company's mottos and greetings, to never calling out sick...not even once. Being the most reliable and eager employee never made him any friends, instead they mostly steered clear of him. Derek is just happy making his superiors, especially Trisha, happy and chugging along in his little routine just fitting into the mold he has made of himself.          This book takes place the same day as its predecessor, Finna. Even with a little cameo from Jules who is one of the main protagonists in the first novel. Derek is talked into calling out after coughing up blood and missed the entire multiverse wormhole that op