Bethany's Book Nook

  "This is a place built to store books, by people who wanted to preserve books, and used by people who want to read those books. I am not alone"      Librarian-spy Irene is undercover in an alternative London when her assistant Kai is abducted. Having been kidnapped by the fae faction and that the repercussions could be fatal for all worlds, including the one she and her friends are currently residing in. Kai having dragon heritage means that his family is unable to get involved in finding him depending on the universe he's been brought to. If they went to retrieve Kai it would start a war between the fae and dragons, the forces of order and chaos. Irene's mission to save Kai and avoid the pending Armageddon it would take her to a new universe, an alternate Venice where Carnival is always in full swing.      This series is amazing and it really is one of a kind, a fun and quick read. Easily could be read in one sitting if that's what you're into. The ...

"If you leave a door half open, soon you'll hear the whispers spoken. If you play outside alone, soon you won't be going home. If your window's left unlatched, you'll hear him tapping at the glass. If you're lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you."     After the sudden death of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his son Jake get a fresh start in a Featherbank by purchasing a new home. Unbeknownst to him, Featherbank has a terrible past. A serial killer abducted and murdered five local children, nicknamed "The Whisper Man", because he was luring children out of their homes by whispering at their windows and doors at night. As soon as they moved into their new home, another young boy was abducted in a way very similar to the whisper man and Jake begins hearing whispers at his window. Detectives Pete Willis and Amanda Beck are trying their best to find the boy before it's too late. Even visiting Frank Carter, the original whisper man, i...

      Elin Warner is on vacation with her brother Isaac in a nation park in Portugal, the last place a missing woman has been seen. It's a time for the siblings to reconnect and strengthen their bond, but when the final map of the missing woman, Kier, is found, it seems that the clues are falling into place the deeper they get into the forest. After a huge discovery, Elin finds out that the disappearance is more personal to her. Always seeking the truth, she is trying to find out what else the wilderness is hiding.      Kier Templer lives life on the road simply trying to outrun her mother's infamous crimes. Kier has left her home and twin brother behind. Even with him behind she has always designed and drawn distinctive maps of everywhere she has been. When the maps stop, her brother Penn, knows something seriously must be wrong.      This book knocked the absolute wind out of me. Once again Sarah Pearse did it again, the third installment o...

      Carys Hilgaard has grown over the years, having escaped her past as a prejudiced rich fae who was perpetually drunk to a powerful fae warrior. When the Eastern Court trials to become the new King/Queen, Carys is ready to win the crown and become her peoples queen in order to protect the ones she loves as well as improving the lives of humans and witches. When her  estranged fated mate appears as a competitor, Carys struggles to balance the competition, the threat looming on the horizon, and the possibility of reclaiming her lost love.       Was the absolute perfect finale to the series with the final character of the group finding love and her place in the world. It was really refreshing to see a character deal with depression and PTSD in such a real way, having everything she's felt be validated by those around her. All of the characters in the novels are so relatable and all have such a path of growth through the entire series. It definite...

      "Lost is not a hopeless place to be. It is a place of patience, of waiting. Lost does not mean gone for ever. Lost is a bridge between worlds, where the pain of our past can be transformed into power. You have always held the key to this special place, but now you are ready to unlock the door."         Opaline, Martha, and Henry have been side character in their own lives but when a vanishings/magical bookshop intervenes they discover they are more of main characters of an extraordinary story. Unlocking and discovering more about themselves they also uncover the truth of the bookstore and how it came to be.  Dual storyline between the past and the present which is always a favorite of mine! Opaline. who narrates the past, escapes her arranged marriage by fleeing to Paris and gets work in a bookstore as a bookseller of rare books. Martha of the future is escaping an abusive marriage and takes work as a housekeeper in the same timeline He...

  "Trouble is brewing for cousins Yale and Celine Yee after a hot pot dinner gets overheated and ends in murder in this second novel of the L.A Night Market series by Jennifer J. Chow."      Yale and Celine's food stall business is still going well, so well that they were invited to join a dinner meeting with the local restaurant owners' association. Everyone gathers for a relaxing hot pot dinner, until the president of the group, Jeffery Vue is electrocuted and dies  abruptly. Everyone at the meeting is a suspect but one person, Ai Ho, is the main suspect. Especially because she is the owner of the restaurant where he was killed. Yale and Celine step up to investigate when everything gets too close to home. It's up to the two of them to figure out exactly what has happened before their friends and family have to close their businesses for good.        It definitely picks up right where Death by Bubble Tea leaves off, give or take a...

      During the gold rush, prospectors came to Miracle Mountain in northern Georgia, looking for their fortune in the local waterways. Legend tells of a mysterious event, of a girl falling to her death from the local waterfall and miraculously coming back to life the next day. Tourists now come to this legendary location looking for a miracle of their own. Nearby is a rustic historical inn that welcomes visitors looking for their own miracle and a glimpse of the local ghost Freija. Ellie and her team are called in to help the owners get rid of the malevolent spirits that are scaring away business.      I love this entire book; I swear every time it gets scarier as the series goes on! Ellie and Jordan come to the Highwater Inn to help rid of the malevolent ghosts but are told to steer clear of the friendly welcoming ones. The owner Willow, who claims to be a spiritualist, is trying to contact the dead and even goes as far as to welcome them into the inn. Wi...

  "Come here, children, play with me, I'm the friend in your TV..."      The Calvert family's new home used to belong to a deceased creator of a forgotten puppet children's program. The younger children are fond and fascinated by the basement, where the stage still stands and rooms are full of the sets, props, puppets, and costumes. The parents are happy and thrilled to see the children using imagination instead of being focused on screens, but their experiences throughout the house become more and more haunting. Reruns are happening in all aspects of this house and Ellie and team must protect the family, especially the children, before they're drawn and become part of the show.      This was the CREEPIEST one of the series. I am literally haunted by the thought of the family being strung up like marionette puppets. There is so much history and lore in this book that it completely immerses you into it. Absolutely nightmare fuel. Possessions, puppets, a...

  "Family is all you have, but it isn't found only in a blood connection. Family shows itself in the unlikeliest of moments: the split-second glances, a gesture, the hand next to yours when you need it the most."     A minimal eco-wellness retreat opened on a remote island off the English coast, that promises beautiful views, nature, and relaxation. The island itself has a different reputation, being known as Reaper's Rock, it was the home of a serial killer and now said to be cursed. Detective Elin Warner is called to the island when a woman's body is found on the rocks below the yoga pavilion, it seems foul play is at hand, especially because the woman wasn't a guest on the island. When body after body begin to appear one after another, it is made clear that nothing happening is an accident. Elin is hot on the case, making sure that the island's history won't repeat itself.      Once again Pearse knocks it out of the park with this novel, it is the p...

      An old mansion overlooks a derelict small town that has seen better days. Having had many lives, the mansion is clinging to life by being the Sunshine House, a retirement home full of locals that have fond memories of their hometown. A new resident finds herself being tormented by a violent reminder of her past and the team is called in to get to the bottom of it. The spirit is careful and capable of transforming into what every resident either fears or feels deeply for, making it extremely dangerous and nearly impossible to trap. Ellie has to find a way to remove this ghost before it causes more harm or even death.      Once again hit a home run with this book, it was perfect and has a wonderful balance of fun and scare. The new characters fit in with the team and are more than willing to lend a hand, being more interested at first than realizing they are possibly in danger. The plot is full of twists and turns but in the best way. Full of ghosts, do...

    Canterbury Gardens is a plantation outside Charleston, South Carolina that once hosted lavish banquets and balls. The gardens being full of sculptures, canals, and large scale follies that resembled ancient medieval ruins. Due to years of neglect, the gardens have become overgrown and nature once again reclaiming the grounds. The new owners, who is recovering from tragedy, devoted themselves and their money to restoring the estate to its former glory. Unfortunately, due to the construction, the ghosts and spirits left behind are more active than ever. Shadow figures walk the gardens, throughout the house, crying ghosts throwing themselves off buildings, and so so much more. Including a decrepit wishing well is a local legend. That you only get one wish and that it will always come true-but at a cost. Ellie and the team travel to the gardens and are forced to stay on property due to the distance from Savannah and due to cost. The dark history is dying to make itself known a...

  "Grief is like a series of bombs exploding, one after another. Every house, a new detonation. Shock after shock after shock."           Le Sommet is a horrible place, surrounded by local legends and rumors, the once abandoned tuberculosis sanatorium has found its second life as a five-star hotel. It is as imposing as it is beautiful, and being high up in the Swiss Alps makes it a remote get away. It's also the last place Elin Warner wants to be stuck, having taken a leave of absence from her work as a detective, decides to brave the journey. Especially when her estranged brother and his fiancée reach out and invite her to celebrate their engagement. She arranges in the middle of a terrible storm with her boyfriend, already on edge when they wake the following morning to discover her brothers fiancée has gone missing. Elin is thrust into the case when everyone gets stormed in and the police aren't able to access the hotel, making the guests panic even...

 "Close your doors and cabinets tight, or Jack will climb out to see you tonight."      This investigation leads to the team to a former railroad stop in Timbermill, Georgia. Having fallen into disrepair after its boom era faded, it is coming into its second life. Unfortunately, with all the new businesses and families moving in, they aren't privy to the urban legend of past generations. These legends focus on a supernatural figure who emerges through doors, cabinets, and cabinets that are left open at night. Once a couple relocated to a local antique home, restoring it in this hopefully up and coming town, this urban legend is stalking them and their children. They turn to the team to help defeat this evil and finally rid it of the area.     This has to be hands down the scariest book so far in this series. It was extremely unique and had my skin absolutely crawling by the end of it. Not only does it include a powerful supernatural urban legend that is in ...

  ""The only clear pattern I've seen is that, whether the hunting party is led by a pagan god, a demon, or a ghost, it's always bad luck to see it. Some say it's an omen of death." "Oh, I'm so glad we saw it then." Stacey shook her head and went back to work."      A secret client hires Ellie Jordan to investigate an island getaway that was once home to an Industrial Age aristocrat, solely used to escape the harsh winters of the upper northeast. These once grand mansions were slowly abandoned, and the weather and wilderness took over once again. One such island, that is temporarily home to Ellie Jordan for this investigation, was modeled after a royal hunting lodge, complete with weapons, artifacts, hunting trophies, and exotic taxidermied predators from around the world. The secretive client is trying to bring the island back to life as a grand gesture to his fiancée whose family used to own the island. Unfortunately, while trying to fix t...

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a book."      Yale Yee discovers her cousin Celine is visiting from Hong Kong, she is roped into playing tour guide, even though she hasn't seen her in twenty years. Her restaurant owner/chef father goes one step further and thinks it would be a good idea for them to run a food stall together at the Eastwood Village Night Market. Feeling that she's been left with no other option, Yale agrees even though she hasn't cooked in years, but with the help of Celine's social media career it might be worth a shot. They spend the night serving drinks in a catchy design and small food dishes and are shocked when their one drink is a favorite amongst the crowd. Unfortunately, this drink is also found beside the body of a dead patron, and Celine and Yale are the main suspects. Even as opposites, Celine and Yale work together to prove their innocence and to get t...

      A refurbished drive in has found a new life after being dormant for years. With help of a young family, it gives it it's much needed facelift and modern vision moving forward. Unfortunately, not everything has been left in past as it's been haunting the projection room, screen tower, and parked customers. Ellie Jordan and her team are on the case, especially when she realizes it is impacting Daisy, the daughter of the owners. Between no obvious murders or agendas, they have to figure out what is causing these hauntings and get down to the bottom of it before the show begins.      With every new installment I feel myself absolutely loving the characters more and more. The new places, faces, and haunts that are so sight specific and thought provoking. This one was no exception! There was a whole lore and in-depth storyline that truly felt like it could have been something that happened in Hollywood long ago. It truly felt like a story within a story, if...

  "Why would teenage boys go out on a boat in a storm" Stacey wondered. "Well, now that I say it aloud, it kinda answers itself"           The team is brough to an old campground that is full of local legend. It is next to the mysterious mounds of a vanished people and once a summer camp for children before it was abruptly shut down due to mysterious deaths. The Conner family moved from the city, to create a space for children in need. They're on a deadline and the construction in the camp is stirring up the spirits of the grounds and woods. Between the deaths within the camp, Josh Conner's inability to accept the paranormal, and an old Indigenous legend of the Trailwalker, there is no shortage of possibilities. One thing remains the same though, t hese spirits are mainly targeting the Conner kids. Ellie and the team have to dig into this campground's rich history and determine what or who is threatening the family. Or else they may be forced to give u...

  "It's people like your brother and me, being handed a weapon and told to kill someone we don't even know, who we'd probably get along with in everyday life. And all because someone in a gilded throne or behind a big desk decides that's what we have to do."          On the brink of World War One, a forbidden romance is blooming between debutante Cordelia and the landscape architect Issac. Cordelia finds herself intrigued with learning how to cultivate the garden in preparation for when the men are called away to war. Issac, of course, teaches her in private and their forbidden love story began. Cordelia's parents find out and her mother is absolutely horrified to find her daughter digging in dirt, but reluctantly agree to let her continue her work. Even going as far as coming up with the idea to expand their garden to aid the estate and surrounding areas. Issac continues to teach her  through letters when he is on the battlefield, but their correspond...

"We all have our little gardens of dead dreams, don't we? And sometimes we still try to water and tend those gardens, long after we should know nothing will ever grow there."        In this installment of the Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper series, the team is sent to investigate a potential haunting at an antebellum mansion in the middle of the countryside. A pair of sisters currently reside there because the previous owner, a deceased reclusive professor, hired someone to transform his massive collection into some semblance of organization. The oldest sister Cherise is a university student who is cataloguing the entire collection. The issue is, it's a collection of ancient and medieval manuscripts and items. The library and mansion are filled with terribly haunting spirits-both helpful, lost, and frightening. Even when exploring the grounds they come across an eerie family cemetery in the overgrown woods and run into a figure trying to communicate something seriou...

  "Find us a hotel. Something NOT HAUNTED. Can't emphasize this enough"       Ellie and her team are in pursuit of a possessed friend and the demon who killed her parents, along with countless others, across the United States. We come across a dramatic backdrop of ghost towns, highways, and haunted hotels all leading up to a final horrific location. A town that was completely demolished and destroyed by fire that is not haunted by hundreds of spirits. Ellie is prepared to fight for her life along with her team and a quirky exorcist from Texas. Here her past and present collide in the final confrontation that gives her the chance to finally get rid of her own personal demon. Hopefully it doesn't kill her or the people she's closest with first.      This story was the perfect climax to Ellie's personal growth story and how Anton Clay really was her own personal demon, having been obsessed with her since she was a child. It was time for him to finall...