Review – Beautiful Brutal Bodies by Linda Cheng #lindacheng #beautiful brutal bodies #netgalley

Posted on November 4, 2025 by fundinmental

MY REVIEW

I saw the title and cover for Beautiful Brutal Bodies and was drawn into this fairy tale that walks on the dark side. I’m not sure what I was expected, but I was curious enough to read until the story finally woke me up the last quarter of the book.

The character, Tian, had me curious, with her being a singer/songwriter with an online following. It seems influencer novels are popping up here and there and I want to see what authors are doing with the subject and characters. Tian is isolated in a mansion with her friend and protector, Liya.

When several fans suffer injuries while listening to her online, she is packed up and shipped off, along with Liya, to an island in the South China Seas.

Tian finds Shenyu, her musical collaborator, is on the island too. That adds another piece to the puzzle that includes bizarre rituals and haunted forests. Could there be some romance in their future?

I didn’t read the first book, Gorgeous Gruesome Faces, so I don’t know if that is why the book seemed to drag a bit in the beginning. But once the story picks up, secrets, curses and danger threaten their survival.

My thanks go out to Roaring Book Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Beautiful Brutal Bodies.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Full of skin-crawling folk horror and sapphic romance, this feral fairytale and standalone follow-up to GORGEOUS GRUESOME FACES follows a reclusive songstress and her bodyguard who must unravel the occult mysteries of their past to escape from a cursed island.

Tian is a singer-songwriter with a massive online following, known for her hypnotic vocals and ethereal looks. But behind the glamorous façade is a disturbing reality: raised in an isolated mansion, Tian is a prisoner in her own life.

Liya is Tian’s childhood friend and her only close companion, tasked with protecting Tian at all costs. But hidden beneath Liya’s beautiful human exterior is a beastly secret: her teeth are far too sharp, and her appetite much too ferocious.

When several fans mysteriously suffer fatal injuries while watching her livestream, Tian, along with Liya, are sent to a spiritual healing retreat on a remote island in the South China Seas. They are joined by Tian’s musical collaborator Shenyu, a troubled idol whose recent brush with the law and string of bad boyfriends has him seeking his own new start. But the trio soon discovers that the island is no peaceful getaway. There is constant surveillance, bizzare rituals, and something terrifying lurking in the forest. Something not quite human.

In order to escape with her loved ones, Tian must uncover her connection to the island’s blood-drenched legend — and the truth behind Liya’s monstrous identity — before the island claims them all as its final sacrifice.

Genre: Fiction, Horror, LGBTQ, Young Adult
336 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication November 4, 2025 by Roaring Book Press

ABOUT LINDA CHENG

Linda Cheng was born in Taiwan and spent her childhood moving between cultures and continents. She received her BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and worked as an art director across South Carolina and Georgia where she developed a deep love for sweet tea, grits, and Southern Gothic stories. She currently resides in Vancouver, Canada with her family.

Website

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Dexterish Damien – Review – Watch Me Break by V E Huntley #VEHuntley #watchmebreak

Posted on November 3, 2025 by fundinmental

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

BEWARE: There are many triggers in Watch Me Break by V E Huntley, so check the book out good if you are squeamish. She has a list of warnings on her website.

Myself, I love walking the dark side, and Watch Me Break definitely has all kinds of darkness. There are many moments of lightness and laughter added to the mix of erotica, stalker, serial killer and vigilante justice. Like Luna’s best friend, Maren, and Ricky the raccoon with a boob fetish. You may wonder how a raccoon could come in to play. Well, Luna runs Sage & Summit Wildlife Sanctuary.

Now that we’ve met Luna, let me introduce you to Damien Wolfe, a billionaire who bought an isolated mansion with a shady history and becomes her nearest neighbor. Once he bumps into her, he lays his claim, keeping his true identity camouflaged. Does he knock on her door? Hell no, he just walks right in.

As soon as I met Damien, I thought of Dexter. He metes out justice to those who manage to evade the law…But there’s more. He’s a stalker who can’t stay away from Luna, but also can’t let her know his true identity. He wants to totally dominate her and is brutal about it. I did flinch a time or two, before I came to accept that their sexual life is not one I would want, but they are consenting adults.

Maren is the wacky best friend that had me laughing out loud with the dialogue that V E Huntley supplied. Maren has a big personality, but will lay her life on the line for her bestie. They both feel an affinity with the animals that come to the wildlife sanctuary.

Watch Me Break had me squirming at times, but I loved every minute of it. Whether Damien was punishing those he feels deserve it, or punishing Luna. I love dark novels, especially when there are serial killers and vigilante justice. Quirky characters, laughable moments and unexpected animals add extra elements to an already great story.

Watch Me Break is the first book in the Watched In Darkness series, with Book II, Watch Me Burn up for preorder and due to be published on December 3, 2025. I can hardly wait to find out what happens next.

My thanks go out to V E Huntley for the chance to read Watch Me Break.

GOODREADS BLURB

He’s always watching. She’s starting to want him to.

What do you do if you have an injured raccoon with a boob fetish, dead bodies being dropped in your driveway, and a masked stalker who watches you, breaks into your bedroom at night, and takes your body to heights you didn’t know were possible?

If you’re Dr. Luna Foster, owner of Sage & Summit Wildlife Sanctuary, you seek out your new neighbor, Damien Wolfe, billionaire security mogul, and ask him to wire your property with security cameras.

But little do you know… He might just be the most dangerous predator of them all.

Damien
I have three rules: stay hidden, leave no traces, never let the target know. But Dr. Luna Foster’s smile shatters every rule I’ve lived by. Now I want her to see me, to know what kind of monster is watching her. I’ve spent years in the dark, perfecting the art of hunting those who deserve death. Now I’ve found someone who makes me want to step into the light—even if it means she’ll see the blood on his hands.

Luna
The first time I feel someone watching, I’m terrified. The second time, I’m curious. By the third, I’m leaving my curtains open on purpose. But when I realize my stalker isn’t the nightmare—he’s the one who hunts them—I find myself craving his deadly attention. Slowly, the weight of his gaze starts to feel less like terror and more like a deadly promise I want him to keep.

Fans of H.D. Carlton’s Haunting Adeline, Navessa Allen’s Lights Out, and Sheridan Anne’s Pretty Monster will devour this unforgettable series where love and violence dance hand in hand.

This is a dark romance containing mature themes, graphic violence, and morally ambiguous characters. Intended for adult readers who enjoy psychologically complex relationships and anti-hero love interests. Please see full content warnings on the author’s website.

Genre: Dark Romance, Erotica, Fiction, Serial Killer, Vigilante Justice, Suspense, Thriller
476 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication November 3, 2025

ABOUT V E HUNTLEY

V.E. Huntley is a retired producer who has spent her life telling stories in one way or another. Just ask her cats. They had to endure a lifetime of her endlessly reciting entire dialogue scenes to them, even though all they desperately wanted to do was nap.

Her childhood fear of Dracula was so intense that she couldn’t sleep without the lights on and her mother guarding her bedroom door. Over time, this fear evolved into a lifelong obsession with the dark and twisted world of vampires and the concept of immortality. So, after more than two decades in the film and television industry, she ultimately chose to pursue her true passion—writing dark and sexy paranormal romance.

Besides writing, her hobbies include reading, watching movies, traveling, and keeping her husband busy with an endless honey-do list.

Website

MY V E HUNTLEY REVIEWS

Damnation (The Bloodstone Legacy)
Atonement (The Bloodstone Legacy)

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Review – Evil by Kevin Bachar @KevinPangolin #evil

Posted on October 30, 2025 by fundinmental

Amazon / KindleUnlimited / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Can a place be evil?

How about Play Time Burgers: I know I won’t be jumping into any ball pits.

Bored: Sometimes being bored is a good thing.

Still Waters Run Deep: The lake is hungry and it demands to be fed.

Bus Load Of Trouble: Have you ever played the game where you are trying to guess what the person’s occupation? You never know who you’ll meet.

The Plan: Not every plan is a good plan.

I Dream Of Death: Is it a dream….or is it real?

The Shut In: Who tossed the mannequin onto the front porch?

The Cabin: Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Hello: Is a drabble, a one hundred word story.

Breezy: A Novella: I had an idea of what was going to happen and I know I would never want to be so isolated.

Evil is an anthology that contains nine short stories and one novella. Kevin Bachar can spin a terrifying tale and make you think twice about your preconceived ideas. Sometimes I laughed and sometimes I thought WT….

GOODREADS BLURB

Ten-year-old Cassie is playing in the ball pit at the local rundown fast-food palace when she feels something bite her leg and doesn’t want to let go.

The passengers on a cross-country bus trip make a stop that will change the lives of everyone on it, and reveal that one of the riders is hiding a horrific secret.

The locals in a remote mountain town know about the wind that supposedly can kill people; they avoid it at all costs. But when a young college meteorologist comes to study it, will he heed their warnings?

From the writer who brought you the best-selling short story collections DREAD, CREEP, and CURSED, comes a new set of tales that will force you to lock the doors and turn on the lights. EVIL forces you to confront the most terrifying element in our world – EVIL. In each story, we see how it manifests and then consumes those who dare to think they can battle it. In this book, GOOD doesn’t triumph over EVIL, it runs away and cowers under the bed and hopes and prays it goes away and never comes back. Can you handle something that is filled with pure EVIL?

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Novella, Short Stories
232 pages, Paperback
Published September 22, 2025

ABOUT KEVIN BACHAR

Kevin Bachar is a national EMMY award-winning natural history documentary filmmaker and WGA writer. The elevated horror film he wrote – The Inhabitant – https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/the-inh… – was released through Lionsgate and is available on most streaming services.

If you’ve watched National Geographic, PBS, or The Discovery Channel over the years you’ve seen his work. He’s the idiot in the water filming sharks or crawling into caves to photograph vampire bats. You can see Kevin at work filming sharks here – https://www.imdb.com/video/vi2703407897/…

The natural world has always captured his imagination and the supernatural world inspires his stories. Through his journeys, he’s interviewed scientists who’ve enlightened him, heard folk tales that have frightened him, and seen quite a few things that have challenged his skeptical mind.

His collection of short stories that weaves together the natural world and the supernatural world entitled, DREAD, is available on Amazon. He’s currently working on his second collection entitled – CREEP.

Complimenting his writing, Kevin has lectured and given presentations at prestigious institutions such as Rutgers University, American University, and the Rubin Museum of Art.
To keep up to date with Kevin’s movies, documentaries, and books –
www.kevinbachar.com
https://twitter.com/KevinPangolin
https://www.instagram.com/kevinbachar/
https://www.tiktok.com/@kevinbachar?l…
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjEKM_m…
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1423190/

MY KEVIN BACHAR REVIEWS

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Millionaires Day by Kit Power #millionairesday #kitpower

Posted on October 29, 2025 by fundinmental

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it…and who knows the repercussions that come along with it. With the holiday season approaching, people awoke with a million pounds in cash under them, where they lay sleeping. I love how Kit Power shows how the threads are woven, connecting so many characters together. AND, Kit sure isn’t shy about killing off his characters. He did manage to piss me off a time or two, but other times, I was happy with the result.

Millionaires Day by Kit Power is a quick read. I found the concept intriguing and I wasn’t disappointed. As the bodies fell, I wondered how Kit would wrap up the ending. I feel good about it.

GOODREADS BLURB

On Sunday, 22nd December, 2019, everyone in the United Kingdom woke up with one million pounds in cash under their beds.

The miracle – or catastrophe – was never adequately explained. In the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic the event was largely forgotten or treated as an urban legend.

Until now.

In this explosive volume, investigative journalist/historian Kit Power finally blows the lid off that surreal, impossible morning. Focussing on a few residents of Milton Keynes, a uniquely diverse city northwest of London, Power lays

– the wonder of waking up to a found fortune through the eyes of a neglected child

– the madness and panic of an unprepared public from the perspective of an overworked police officer

– the graphic terror inflicted by a band of reprobate gangsters for whom too much is never enough

– the strangeness of it all through the outlook of man’s best friend

for legal purposes, this book is marketed as fiction. But no one who lived through it could deny the profound impact of…

Genre: Fiction, Horror
247 pages, Paperback
Published September 23, 2024

ABOUT KIT POWER

Kit Power is an author of horror and dark crime fiction novels, novellas, and short stories; also a reviewer, essayist, and podcaster. The Finite, A Song For The End (BFA finalist, 2021), and Millionaire’s Day (BFA Finalist, 2025) are his most recent fiction works; three novellas with interconnected elements that bring the apocalypse to his home town of Milton Keynes in three very different ways. He encourages you not to read too much into that.

When he’s not gleefully visiting (fictional) destruction on his hometown, Kit writes non-fiction, much of which is collected in My Life In Horror Volumes I and II (BFA Finalist, 2023), reviews, blogs, and podcasts on subjects as diverse as Sherlock Holmes, Bruce Springsteen, and short horror fiction (as one half of The Ultimate Horror Anthology with Jasper Bark). Check out his Patreon for the free newsletter.

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Sickening – Bugged by Alan Barysh #bugged #alanbarysh

Posted on October 27, 2025 by fundinmental

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The Bugged cover caught my eye, but when I read the novella, it wasn’t what I was expecting. Once I finished reading it, I had second thoughts. Bugs do crawl out from under rocks, and in our current climate, I think that is where you may find many of the people who could represent the characters in Alan Barysh’s novella. The vomit spewed on the pages sickened me, but it happens every day in real life. In fact, I think it represents our current climate. I grew up in the Vietnam era, and what Alan shares with us is truly frightening…and some of it really happened. I don’t understand people that are so bigoted, racist, and down right hateful.

I won a copy of Bugged a long time ago (probably in 2016, when it was published). Sorry it took me so long to get to it Alan. 🙂

GOODREADS BLURB

Bugged is the first part of a trilogy called A Book of Struggles (In the Form of Fables and Parables for Modern Times). In Bugged, we meet William Tell, a radical/revolutionary book publisher, and his nemesis Vincent Seita. Mr. Seita confronts Mr. Tell with an extortion threat and the reader is left wondering what William Tell would do. The rest of this book deals with Vincent Seita and his early childhood up to when he returns from the Vietnam War. Throughout this book, many sub-plots weave in and out that make this book a stream of conscious story in the style of the television series Lost. Although it was written before Lost made its debut.

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Review – Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni @robertdugoni #herdeadlygame

Posted on October 21, 2025 by fundinmental

Amazon / KindleUnlimited / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I love a good start to a book, and Robert Dugoni’s Prologue for Her Deadly Game had me hooked from the opening page.

Keera Duggan is a prime example of why you don’t cross professional boundries in the workplace. Because her romantic relationship with a senior colleague ended badly, she was pushed out of her job as a Seattle prosecutor. She feels she has no choice, but to return to the family criminal defense law firm.

Keera was a professional chess player, and it will take all her moves to save her client from a life sentence. I do like the push pull of whether what she is doing is right or wrong. Her father, Patsy, an esteemed defense lawyer until alcohol took over his life, keeps stressing to her that it is her job to give the client the best defense possible and it is the prosecutor’s job to convict him.

This was going to be the game of her life.

I had a feeling about what happened, I just couldn’t figure out the how of it. Guess you can find most anything on Google.

It didn’t take me long to get involved in Keera’s world. The characters and scenarios are realistic and the book was impossible to put down. The mystery and suspense kept the story flowing at a rapid pace. The deeper into the story I got, the more I was determined to find out the ending before going to bed…and I made it.

In the acknowledgments, Robert Dugoni shares that he likes to give each novel a challenge. In Her Deadly Game he creates a dysfunctional family, and a character, Keera, who escaped a future of alcoholism by becoming a chess prodigy. He knows that some lawyers are very good chess players and I think he wove the game throughout the story with panache.

I want to thank Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni.

GOODREADS BLURB

A defense attorney is prepared to play. But is she a pawn in a master’s deadly match? A twisting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

Keera Duggan was building a solid reputation as a Seattle prosecutor, until her romantic relationship with a senior colleague ended badly. For the competitive former chess prodigy, returning to her family’s failing criminal defense law firm to work for her father is the best shot she has. With the right moves, she hopes to restore the family’s reputation, her relationship with her father, and her career.

Keera’s chance to play in the big leagues comes when she’s retained by Vince LaRussa, an investment adviser accused of murdering his wealthy wife. There’s little hard evidence against him, but considering the couple’s impending and potentially nasty divorce, LaRussa faces life in prison. The prosecutor is equally challenging: Miller Ambrose, Keera’s former lover, who’s eager to destroy her in court on her first homicide defense.

As Keera and her team follow the evidence, they uncover a complicated and deadly game that’s more than Keera bargained for. When shocking information turns the case upside down, Keera must decide between her duty to her client, her family’s legacy, and her own future.

Genre: Fiction, Legal, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Format: 396 pages, Hardcover
Published: March 28, 2023 by Thomas & Mercer
Series: Keera Duggan #1

ABOUT ROBERT DUGONI

Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle, which has sold more than 11 million books worldwide. He is also the author of The Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and The Keera Duggan legal thriller series. He has written several stand-alone novels including the historical novels A Killing on the Hill and Hold Strong, as well as the suspense novel The 7th Canon, and Damage Control. He has written the literary novels, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell – one of Newsweek Magazine’s Best Books of All-Time and Suspense Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year, for which Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award. He has also written the critically acclaimed novel, The World Played Chess; as well as the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. His novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and a four-time winner of the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. He has also been a finalist for many other awards including the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award.

Robert Dugoni’s books are sold in more than thirty-five countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages.

Visit his website at www.robertdugoni.com, and follow him on twitter @robertdugoni and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorRobertDugoni

MY ROBERT DUGONI REVIEWS

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Giveaway & Review – One Foot In The Ether by Kayleigh Kavanagh @ireadbooktours

Posted on October 17, 2025 by fundinmental

Book Details:

Book Title: ONE FOOT IN THE ETHER: Whispers of the Pendle Witches by Kayleigh Kavanagh
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 400 pages
Genre: Historical paranormal fantasy
Publisher: Oriana Neoma
Publication Date: September 29, 2025.
Content Rating: PG-13 +M: Things are alluded to, not directly shown. one of the fmc is a midwife so these themes come up

MY REVIEW

Labeling One Foot In The Ether by Kayleigh Kavanagh as a historical paranormal fantasy hits the nail on the head. It is definitely heavy on the historical. Shows the woman’s place in the 1800s, but these characters are headstrong, knowing how to accomplish their goals with finesse and cunning.

There are a lot of details about midwifery and the care of pregnant women during the 1800s.

A small group of women and men will be called upon to save those in Pendle from an angry god. A sacrifice will be made.

From reading the blurb, I expected something else. I was a little disappointed, because I wanted to love One Foot In The Ether. It was worth the read, but I was missing a lot of the action I expected. The characters were interesting and I did have my favorites. I love that there was an Epilogue. It wrapped up the story and left me feeling good about the book.

Book Description:

Death wasn’t the end.

More than two hundred and fifty years after the infamous Pendle Witch Trials, the spirits of rival witches Demdike and Chattox remain tethered to their bloodlines—watching, waiting, and bound by unfinished business.

Now, in the late eighteen hundreds, a pragmatic midwife and a troubled young psychic—descendants of the two witches—are drawn into a haunting legacy. An ancient being is stirring—an angry god of the old world, hungry for vengeance and ready to consume the future.

To stop it, the living and the dead must unite, recovering the lost knowledge of their craft. Whilst facing age-old problems and new foes. Some spirits don’t rest easy, and in Pendle, they’re clawing their way back from the past.

BUY THE BOOK:
AMAZON
add to goodreads

Meet the Author:

Kayleigh Kavanagh is a disabled writer from the North-West of England. Growing up in the area, she learnt a lot about the Pendle Witches and launched her debut novel around their life story. Her main writing genres are fantasy and romance, but she loves stories in all formats. Kayleigh hopes to one day be able to share the many ideas dancing around in her head with the world.

connect with the authors: website ~facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads

Enter the Giveaway:

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Review – The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens #netgalley #thehitchhikers @ChevyStevens

Posted on October 15, 2025 by fundinmental

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens sounded like Tom and Alice bit off more than they could chew. I felt like very bad things were headed their way, I wasn’t sure what twisty turns they would have to travel and whether or not they would come out of the experience whole.

Alice and Tom have hit a rough patch in their marriage and Alice has a lot of baggage she struggles to get past, as she tries to navigate her way back to Tom. She felt Tom was making a mistake when he offered Ocean and Blue a ride to the next town. She should have paid attention to her instincts. I felt a sense of anticipation, an eerie feeling that there was a shit load of bad that was going to come down on them.

Up in the front, Alice spun the radio dial. Jenny’s thoughts flipped into new fears. She hadn’t thought about the radio. Would they be on the news?

Wondering who Jenny is? Think about it. Who names their children Ocean and Blue? It had me wondering what they did. What are they running from?

Tom…well, he spends most of the trip in serious straits. As they move from town to town, things only become worse, more frightening for Alice. How many bodies will drop? How can anything end well for Ocean and Blue? I felt empathy for Blue, but…

The ending, I thought something like that would come about, but I wasn’t sure how we would get there. I loved it. And when the facts for their life on the run are fully explained, well, I didn’t see that coming. I was surprised, but it also made perfect sense. A cornered animal will be forced to defend itself.

I want to thank NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens.

GOODREADS BLURB

On the remote Canadian highways in 1976, Tom and Alice set out to heal their fractured marriage.
An RV, a new beginning, and the hope of recovery after a devastating tragedy.
Then they meet two young hitchhikers,
Ocean and Blue—a seemingly innocent couple who aren’t who they seem. . . .
They are Jenny and Simon.
And they have left a trail of blood, destruction, and madness behind them.
Now Tom and Alice are trapped—prisoners in a deadly game, with nowhere to turn.
But as the tension builds and the lines blur,
the question becomes, In whose heart does evil truly lie?

A chilling, twist-laden ride to the final page—THE HITCHHIKERS is a master class in suspense and shock.

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 7, 2025 by St Martin’s Press

ABOUT CHEVY STEVENS

CHEVY STEVENS lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and daughter. When she’s not working on her next book, she’s spending time with her family and their two dogs. Chevy’s debut novel, STILL MISSING, was a New York Times bestseller and won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel. Her books, including THOSE GIRLS which Stephen King called “incredibly scary” have been published in more than thirty countries. Her seventh novel, DARK ROADS, is now available. Please visit her at www.ChevyStevens.com.

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Review – Samhain Sacrifice by Kat Ensmore @KatyaEnsmore #samhainsacrifice

Posted on October 14, 2025 by fundinmental

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Cora died on Devil’s night – sacrificed by the man she loved.

A picnic. In the darkness. I know that can’t be a good thing.

With a start like that I felt I was going to love to ride the revenge train with Cora. She is going to make Chad pay…does she ever. Her desire to strip Chad of everything he traded her life for, knows no bounds. I love books that deal with a woman ‘scorned’.

The crossroads demon that brought her back, wants her. I didn’t see that coming and I wonder…with the demon get the girl?

We alternate between three points of view: Chad, Cora, and the Crossroads Demon.

Kat Ensmore got the idea for Samhain Sacrifice from a meme. I wonder if you will search for it like I did.

Him: aww babe look at you, getting all romantic with all of these candle.

Me: First of all, I’m about to sacrifice you.

An author never knows where inspiration will come from.

Looking for a Halloween book to get in the proper mood? Look no further. Samhain Sacrifice has all the gruesome and demonic moments that I require in a horror story. Want a good haunting to entertain you? You will find it here. Samhain Sacrifice by Kat Ensmore may be a quick read, but it was chock full of horrorlicious moments sure to entertain those that are not faint at heart.

Soooo, why don’t you join me?

GOODREADS BLURB

Cora died on Devil’s night—sacrificed by the man she loved.

Ten years later, she’s back, resurrected by a seductive demon and bound to a ticking clock. With just days before the veil between worlds seals shut, Cora has one chance to make Chad pay for what he did.

But revenge has a price.

The demon who brought her back wants more than blood—he wants her. And as their twisted connection deepens, Cora finds herself torn between the fury that fuels her and the fire that consumes her every time he’s near.

She was born to burn him to the ground.
But if she’s not careful… she’ll go up in flames with him.

Samhain Sacrifice is a dark Halloween themed novella written for mature audiences and is recommended for readers 18+ for adult content, situations and language.

Genre: Fiction, Halloween, Horror, Novella, Paranormal, Supernatural, Vampires
Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 3, 2025

ABOUT KAT ENSMORE

Katya Ensmore resides in rural Saskatchewan with her #writingbuddy a Great Dane aptly named Khaos. When she is not spending time with Khaos, she can be found writing or hiding behind her iPad buried in the digital pages of a book.

When it comes to literature and film, she enjoys all things supernatural. She has been writing since she was a child. She currently has several works in progress with hopes to publish more in the near future.

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MY KAT ENSMORE REVIEWS

One Night With A Vampire

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Review – The Sleepy Hollow Incident #2 by P D Alleva @PdallevaAuthor #thesleepyhollowincident

Posted on October 8, 2025 by fundinmental

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

And the pendulum dipped closer,the blade swiping empty air, ready to strike.

That is only the beginning of the diabolically, horrifically, grotesque tortures that will be heaped upon the captives and let loose on humanity, if evil wins.

John, a bright, young boy, lives near the abandoned house, but he insists it is no longer abandoned and there is a vampire burning dead bodies. Captain Carver is convinced that he saw something, so he investigates. Lori feels Marc needs her help and is returning to Sleepy Hollow. As they draw together, Wren and The Man In Black are making plans of their own. Marc is caught between good and evil, and I wonder if he can survive. I mean, look at the cover. He looks pretty bad to me. LOL

Book II picks up where Book I left off. The series needs to be read in order. Each book delves deeper into the evil that surrounds Sleepy Hollow. Can good conquer evil? The anticipation levels rise as I get deeper and deeper into the series.

The portal is opening and the demon horde feels the veil between worlds thinning.

How far will you go to save the one you love?

On to Book III of The Sleepy Hollow Incident by P D Alleva.

GOODREADS BLURB

In the dead of winter, Sleepy Hollow becomes a crucible of blood, desire, and damnation.

Marc Saduj thought surrendering his soul would save Lori Francon. Instead, it delivered him into the hands of the Man in Black—a demon whose torture chamber fuels a cosmic gateway to hell itself. Trapped between waking nightmares and the cemetery ether, Marc drifts further from the man he once was, his heart chained to darkness.

Far from the blood-soaked snow, Lori tries to rebuild her shattered life on Long Island. But grief is a relentless phantom. Haunted by Marc’s memory, manipulated by her mother, and entangled in uneasy alliances, Lori cannot shake the feeling that her fate remains tethered to his. Even in comfort and privilege, shadows press closer, hinting that the past is not done with her.

As medieval tortures erupt beneath the snow-drenched woods, Detective Carver races to untangle the blood-soaked trail. A young boy haunted by visions of his dead mother glimpses horrors no child should see. And each new sacrifice brings the celestial alignment closer, thinning the veil between this world and Xibalba.

The portal is opening. The demon’s army is stirring.

Equal parts gothic romance and unflinching horror, The Sleepy Hollow Book Two is a fever dream of forbidden love, infernal bargains, and cosmic terror. Perfect for fans of Anne Rice, Shirley Jackson, and The Haunting of Hill House, this haunting continuation how far will you go to save the one you love—when their soul may already belong to hell?

Genre: Angels and Demons, Dark Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural
Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 28, 2025 by Chamber Door Publishing, LLC
Series: The Sleepy Hollow Incident #2

ABOUT P D ALLEVA

I write books, that’s what I do. Horror, scifi, thrillers, fantasy, and sometimes a literary gem. Good ones, crazy ones, fun books, entertaining books, terrifying books that are absolutely insane, books with depth and thrills, and stories that rip out the heart of humanity and tosses it on a slab to be feasted on. Yeah, that’s what I do, I write books. Any questions?

My current projects include: the Pulp Fiction, Sci-Fi/Fantasy series, The Dark Veil: The Rose Vol. III; the horror thriller novella series, Girl on a Mission; the supernatural thriller series, The Hypnotist; and a follow up to Jigglyspot and the Zero Intellect, tentatively titled The Sleepy Hollow Incident.

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