The Audiobooks are here!

I'm very excited to announce that audiobooks are available! All links open in a new window. 

Rumours From The Attic is the first book in my Spirits of Beckton series!

On the surface, Beckton is an insignificant farming town in Yorkshire, England. Looks aren’t everything. The coven once ruled, but they weren't invincible. After a witch's ritual went wrong, two sisters died within the walls of North Troy Hill. The twins knew about the house's history when they moved in, but Kim and Kevin can't afford to be picky. They have Annie to think about. 

Kim notes the family cat’s behaviour changed, too. It’s not like Toby to pace round doors and hiss at shadows. The landlord warned them about pests, but birds are always crashing into windows, and Toby was never a hunter. Now he drops mice at her feet.

Kevin may not believe in ghosts, but when his little sister uncovers a diary dating back to the Victorian Era, he can't deny it's strange. Both approach Trevor. He's an old friend of Kevin’s with a keen knowledge of the paranormal, tarot, and the occult. When things turn deadly, Trevor is Kim's last hope. Will his knowledge save the family from blood magic, or will they suffer the same fate as the sisters who came before?

The Audiobook is on Audible and iTunes

This is a collaboration with my friend, Heather! If you've read RFTA, you'll notice two familiar Yorkshire Lads!  

Beware. Anything can happen at a carnival…

…especially in a town full of witches, vampires, and werewolves.

Dove has spent her life feeling like an outsider, not knowing her place in the world. Being the only human and self-taught witch in her coven, she must work twice as hard to fit in and accept the customs of her magical society. Still, she’s a young girl determined to follow the rules and make her troubles a thing of the past.

It’s not all bad, her boyfriend Damon loves her and makes her feel less alone.

There’s just one problem…he’s a vampire. And after a dark history of massacring witches, their relationship goes against all the rules.

They want a night of fun, but Dove is afraid to risk her good standing with her adoptive family and the coven, or worse, getting exiled and having them take away her powers and memories. Nothing, not even and adventure with Damon, would be worth changing her way of life. Without magic or friends, she’d never survive long enough to find happiness at a new school or fill the hole in her heart.

But the annual Halloween carnival has returned to Dewhurst; and for the first time in a year, it seems like a secret meet-up away from adults may be possible. After all, her tarot cards never lie.

Can they enjoy a night out and feel like every other couple for once? Or will their forbidden romance destroy them?

If you want to find out what happens in this clean & wholesome paranormal romance book for teens and young adults, you’ll need to tap buy!

*This is not a paranormal academy book.

You can find the Audiobook on Audible

See you soon

B.L. Koller x

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Home Before Dark by Riley Sager Review

 Spoiler review: I mark where I discuss the ending, so if you haven't read just look for the bold text!

 

I finished Home Before Dark about a week ago, and the book still lingers in my mind. Which I can assure is good. This means that the pages left an impact! 

If you've already read Home Before Dark, you'll know all about the twists and turns! In case it's been awhile, the basic premise is Maggie Holt has inherited a home made infamous by her father's best selling novel. A detailed account of the twenty days the family lived within the manor walls. Why only twenty? Snakes, and ghosts drove them away!

As with Final Girls, Sager has returned to multi-point of view. This time, however, we read both Mr Holt's bestseller, and a much older Maggie's perspective.

Maggie's intent was to put her profession to use, and flip the house. Those plans unfurred when Maggie and the groundskeeper's son find bones in the ceiling. From that point on, Sager puts the reader right on an emotinial rollercoaster. 

Thoughts on the writing:

As I mentioned in my Goodreads Review, Riley Sager uses adverbs. To some extent, we all do. I believe this is a stylistic choice because by using them; he creates fast pacing. According to Stephin King, the road to hell is paved with adverbs. Though is sager's case we could make the argument that by using them, the writing goes faster. In a fast-paced book like this, it needs such prose. 

That being said, there were a lot. Some adverbs could have been cut, and I don't fault Sager. His editor could have made suggestions to cut them. 

Though, I don't know their relationship. Perhaps Sager insisted that they remained. 

I don't think the critique above makes Sager a bad writer, or his editor poor. Once readers are given time to adjust, the Adverb abundance fades into the background. Kind of like how 'said' does when used in dialogue tags. 

Another critique I would offer is that Sager seems to struggle with character voice. Maggie doesn't read differently from any of the girls in his debut. Nor does Ewan's writing throughout the book, which for me was disappointing, Not enough to stop me from reading! No, far from it. Sager has made me a fan despite my critiques. I plan on picking up all his books because I find the stories themselves engaging, exciting, and he's mastered the art of the plot twist. 

A last word of caution. This review will spoil the entire book. So if you haven't read the book and continue reading now is your chance to look away.

 

Spoiler related thoughts

This is not so much a criticism, as it is a personal disappointment. Which, in Riley's defense, the reader knows. I hoped for this to be one of those rare instances of an unreliable narrator, or a character misdirection. The house wasn't haunted. Most of what Ewan wrote was a lie. A lie to cover a lie. Which did end up being a red herring! Maggie didn't murder Elsa. Though I understand why Ewan made the choice. He thought by keeping people away, he was protecting his daughter from prison. A parent's love out shined his honesty. 

Should he have done it? Not from a moral or ethical standpoint. Ewan didn't just save his daughter from a lifetime jail sentence, because he believed the lie. He gained quite a fortune by writing the book. All throughout the book, Maggie expresses deep resentment of the book. An opinion shared by the town. 

Elsa's mother suffered from Alzheimers, and Elsa's older sister had suspicions herself. It's a shame for them because it took them so long to get the closer they needed. 

I kept wishing that those paintings described in Ewan's book would appear on the walls. Sager gives readers the gift of interpretation, though. Maggie believes Elsa's ghost saves her from a terrible fate. I can forgive him.

But enough about what I thought! I want to hear yours!

-B.L. Koller x