Book Review for Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell

 

Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell

Published:  July 29, 2025 by Berkley

Genre:  Paranormal, Mystery Thriller

Taken from Goodreads:  When a mysterious figure shows up in the photograph an architect takes of the derelict Seabrink Hotel, ghostly encounters and murder are unleashed.

Aubrey Spencer loves photographing classic old buildings and abandoned places that hold old secrets. The Hotel Seabrink, perched overlooking the sea, is one such place. Currently abandoned but scheduled for a major renovation, it has a torrid history. Back in the 1920s it hosted A-list celebrity clientele, and now the locals insist it is haunted by the ghosts of two young women who died there. When Aubrey goes to photograph the site before the renovation begins, she bumps into a man named Dimitri Petroff, a minor online celebrity who shares her fascination with old buildings, the Hotel Seabrink in particular.

When he is found dead the next day at the base of a cliff, the police are quick to close the investigation. But Aubrey feels unsettled by locals who claim he was murdered and that it’s not the first time someone interested in the hotel was killed. As she digs deeper into the property’s dark history (and its origins as an asylum) as well as Dimitri’s professional rivalries, she becomes mired in an unsolved murder case from several decades earlier, one with eerie parallels to the contemporary case.  But someone is determined to keep her from discovering the truth—at any cost.

My Thoughts:  Wow!  This book is marvelous.  I am already a Juliet Blackwell fan but this book cemented her as a must-read author.  From the very beginning I was pulled into the story and unable to put the book down.   I love the setting of the abandoned building, Hotel Seabrink, and learning all the history that went along with that building.   There is more history to this building than meets the eye.  I was intrigued to see what else Aubrey would learn. 

There is a lot happening in this book.   Characters are murdered, ghosts are seen and heard, friendships are built.   I enjoyed it all and will recommend this book to any of my thriller reading friends. 

Thank you Berkley for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon

Meet the Author  (taken from her website):  Juliet Blackwell was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, the youngest child of a jet pilot from New York and an editor from Texas. She graduated with a degree in Latin American Studies from University of California, Santa Cruz, and went on to earn Masters degrees in Anthropology and Social Work from the State University of New York, Albany.

While in graduate school she published several articles based on her research with immigrant families from Mexico and Viet Nam, as well as one full-length translation: Miguel León-Portilla’s seminal work, Endangered Cultures. Juliet taught Medical Anthropology at SUNY-Albany, was producer for a BBC documentary about Vietnamese children left behind by US soldiers, and worked as an elementary school social worker in rural New York. Upon her return to California she became a professional artist and ran her own decorative painting, historical renovation, and domestic design studio for more than a decade.

In addition to mainstream novels, Juliet pens the New York Times Bestselling Witchcraft Mysteries and the Haunted Home Renovation series. As Hailey Lind she wrote the Agatha Award-nominated Art Lover’s Mystery series. She is past president of Northern California Sisters in Crime and former board member of Mystery Writers of America.

Juliet lives in a hundred-year-old house with extensive botanical gardens in Northern California, but spends as much time as possible in Europe and Latin America. She believes in the magic of language, travel, and cultural exchange to open hearts, minds, and souls.

  

Book Blitz for The Road to Gretna by Suleena Bibra with a GIVEAWAY

 

The Road to Gretna
Suleena Bibra
(Road to Romance, #1)
Publication date: June 3rd 2025
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

What better way to escape reality than going on a reality show that combines The Amazing Race, Love Island, and Pride and Prejudice?

Naomi Richmond is hoping an ocean is far enough away from her overbearing father. She’s chosen London and built a life there with a job she only dislikes about a quarter of the time.

Nate Williams is perfectly happy where he is, and his dissatisfaction with his job is so low it can’t be quantified numerically. Unfortunately, his boss (and Naomi’s father) is asking him to do something that might make him start to hate Mondays: convince Naomi to come home.

Nate arrives in London at the same time Naomi receives an offer that intrigues her as much as Nate does: be on a reality dating show, where the contestants will pretend to be Regency aristocrats eloping to the famed Gretna Green. Nate is sure it’s his job to stop this, but instead, he ends up on the show with her. Now Naomi is trying to make a name for herself while Nate is trying to make sure she doesn’t do anything to embarrass her father, and they’re both trying to fight the attraction they feel for each other. On camera.

Tune in whenever you find this book and watch Nate and Naomi find themselves and each other, on The Road to Gretna!

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

“You’re ruined now!” a voice screeches.

I lift my head at the inane comment. “What?” My lips are still wet from the kiss, and I still have a painful erection. I don’t appreciate the interruption.

I see Diane, the chaperone, looking incensed in front of us, with a cameraperson and producer standing behind her.

“Right, we’re on a reality show,” I whisper to Naomi.

“Ruined! After all my hard work keeping you virtuous, now you’re ruined!” Diane carries on, adding some dramatic hand gestures and maybe some tears.

Naomi starts giggling next to me, first demurely behind her hand, but then louder as Diane keeps ranting. She sets me off and now we’re both laughing in the face of…whatever this is.

“Why is no one concerned about my virtue, though?” I ask Naomi, sending her into more fits of laughter.

“You’re a man.” Diane pauses the rant to educate me. “And you’ve ruined Naomi!”

I try to defend the lady next to me. And myself. “Ruined seems like a bit of an overreaction for a kiss.”

“A kiss.” Diane sounds as scandalized as if I told her I was getting a hummer on this bench instead of a hot, but still tame, kiss. “Ruined!”

These might be the only words Diane knows now, too shocked at the (fully clothed) debauchery that allegedly happened here.

“All right then. Maybe we should go back to the ball?” I have no idea what it supposed to happen now that I’ve “ruined” a woman, never having done it before. I look at Naomi, hoping she has any idea what we’re supposed to do, but she’s still laughing too hard at the situation to be any help.

I stand up, not worried about my penis, which started softening at the first screech of “ruin.” I extend my arm out to Naomi, who manages to stop laughing enough to take it.

The producer standing next to the camerawoman gives us a thumbs-up and Diane immediately stops crying. Terrifying.

“Great. We’ve got that. We can go back inside, but we’re going to put you two in a sitting room for a few hours. Part of the ruin consequences. We’ll bring you out when it’s time to get in a couple.” The producer indicates we should follow her. “I’m Aiko, by the way. I’ll be producing the both of you.”

“Hi. Nice to meet you,” I say to the East Asian-British woman in front of me. “I don’t usually ruin women in gardens.”

That sets Naomi off again, and I have to half drag her laughing body back inside the house.

Author Bio:

Suleena Bibra has read romance in one form or another since she could pick her own books. She occasionally branches out to other genres, but really, what’s the point if there’s no kissing? She also loves to laugh, which probably has to do with her dad putting Monty Python on whenever her mom wasn’t looking.

Suleena studied art history in college and loves to travel every opportunity she gets. A bit indecisive, she has worked as a museum intern, lawyer, workers’ compensation adjuster, and private investigator. Author is best, though, so she can continue living out a bunch of other careers without changing out of her pajamas.

Suleena writes RomComs heavy on banter, shenanigans, and aggressive whimsy. She spends the rest of her time annoying her stubborn, but adorable, bulldog (who also doubles as her particularly lazy writing assistant) with her love.

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Audiobook Review for The Next Breath: An Angsty and Uplifting Love Story by Laurel Osterkamp

 

The Next Breath: An Angsty and Uplifting Love Story by Laurel Osterkamp

Published:   November 18, 2024 by Drama, Drama

What does it mean to truly move on when part of your heart is still tethered to the past?

Robin once believed in forever. Jed was brilliant, frustrating, and unforgettable—and even though he swore “permanent doesn’t exist,” she gave him everything. Then he died, leaving Robin to pick up the pieces of her life and carry an ache she never fully healed. A decade later, Nick enters her life: steady, sweet, and genuinely good. He makes her believe in love again. But before she met Nick, Robin agreed to star in the play Jed wrote for her before he died. As rehearsals begin, memories intensify and dreams blur into reality, with Jed reappearing in her subconscious and pulling her back into a past she hasn’t finished processing.

Now Robin stands at an emotional crossroads—can she open her heart to Nick without dishonoring her love for Jed? Or is she still writing the ending to a story that never truly ended?

My Thoughts:  I listened to this book while working.  Usually when I do that I am partially listening and mostly working.   With The Next Breath I realized that I wanted to only listen to the book so I changed the plan and listened to this while NOT working so that I could hear the story.  I connected with the characters and was invested fully into the story.  I cared what was going to happen with Robin, could she move on after losing Jed.   Would Nick understand the connection Robin has with Jed?  

This is the first book I have read/listened to by Laurel Osterkamp.  She writes with deep emotions, a true understanding of her characters and their feelings, and a great style to keep the storyline moving at a steady pace.   The story is not easy to read, there is death, long term illness, and the need to move on.  The topics are not talked about freely, most of the time, but it was written with care and respect.  

Thank you Author Marketing Experts for a copy of the book via Audible in exchange for my honest review.

Amazon: http://bit.ly/3GeVJqO

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212336698-the-next-breath

 

Meet the Author:  Laurel Osterkamp is a Minneapolis-based author whose stories dig deep into life’s emotional crossroads. Her fiction explores love, grief, personal reinvention, and the quiet strength it takes to rebuild. With titles like Beautiful Little Furies, The Side Project, and Favorite Daughters, Laurel’s work has earned praise from fans of Jo Jo Moyes and Carley Fortune. When not writing, she’s teaching ESL, parenting teens, and rewatching classic ‘90s TV. Connect at laurellit.com or follow her on Instagram.  

Release Blitz for This Love of Ours by Sydney Skye

 

This Love of Ours by Sydney Skye is now live!

Killian Morgan

Years ago, Kingsley Ursa stole the title of Alpha and left my house drowning in blood. Now the predators rule, prey cower, and fear grips Shifter Row. Prey shifters vanish in the night -- and no one does a damn thing. But I've built a new family out of broken pieces, and I will protect what's mine. Even if it means carving through Kingsley's empire with my bare hands.

Then I scented her.

A bunny shifter. Soft. Sweet. Forbidden.

The one thing I should never touch ... and the only thing I crave. Clover Davis.

Wolf Creek runs on rules. Prey don't mingle with predators. Power stays in the hands of those who abuse it. And girls like me? We're expected to settle down and play it safe.

But I'm tired of being good.

A midnight party. A chase through the woods. A predator with teeth bared and eyes that burn only for me. He should terrify me. Instead I let him catch me.

One taste, and I know I'm already his.

Even if the laws say our bond is a crime.

Even if loving him means becoming hunted.

  Download today!

Amazon: https://bit.ly/4l9O1wC      

Goodreads: https://tinyurl.com/TLOOgoodreads 

 

Meet Sydney Skye

Sydney Skye is a Florida based author who enjoys reading, spending time with her pets, and thinking of ways she can emotionally destroy her readers. When she is not authoring she loves to paint, plot the demise of her enemies, and crochet. She has a soft spot for quiet dominant male characters heavy on the touch her and die.

Keep an eye on her instagram account @squidney_skye for updates on works in progress and titles coming soon.

 

Connect with Sydney

Website | www.thebookishsquid.com   

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Amazon | https://bit.ly/3HUG7ZZ 

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/Squidneyskye/      

Instagram |  www.instagram.com/squidney_skye        

Newsletter |  www.thebookishsquid.com  

Book Mail

 

JFK  Public, Private, Secret by J. Randy Taraborrelli

From the New York Times bestselling Kennedy historian and author of Public, Private, Secret comes the other side of the story—her husband’ Public, Private, Secret.

P.S. You're the Worst by Chloe Seager

An effervescent millennial coming-of-age novel about a woman who spirals after she pulls the death card during a tarot reading and writes cringe-worthy confessional letters to her closest friends and family in anticipation of her imminent demise…only she doesn’t die.

The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai 

Inception meets Indiana Jones in this propulsive fungal science fantasy following a headstrong academic and her equally stubborn bodyguard as they unearth an ancient secret that rocks the foundations of their society—and challenges their unspoken love for one another.

Book Review for That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White

 

That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White

Published: July 22, 2025 by Park Row

Genre:  Mystery Thriller, Family Drama

Taken from Goodreads:  Beloved New York Times bestselling author Karen White returns with a brand-new contemporary stand-alone novel about sisterhood, secrets and one woman’s reckoning with the past

As a child, Phoebe Manigault developed the gift of premonition after she was struck by lightning in the creeks near her Charleston home. Plagued throughout her life by mysterious dreams, and always living in the shadow of her beautiful sister, Addie, Phoebe eventually moves to the West Coast, as far from her family as possible. Now, years later, she is summoned back to South Carolina, to help Addie care for their ailing mother.

As Phoebe’s return lures her back into deep-rooted tensions and conflicts, she is drawn toward Celeste, whose granddaughter went missing years ago. Their connection, woven through shared losses and hope, brings comfort to Phoebe, while Celeste’s adult grandson Liam resurrects complicated emotions tied to Phoebe’s past.

But the longer Phoebe spends in her childhood home, the more her recurring nightmares intensify—bringing her closer to the shocking truth that will irrevocably change everything. Unfolding against the lush backdrop of the South Carolina Lowcountry, That Last Carolina Summer is an unforgettable family drama and mystery about the unbreakable bonds of family and the gift of second chances.

My Thoughts:  I love a good family drama and this book is full of drama.   The drama in this book surrounds Phoebe’s return to her hometown to figure out what is happening with her mother.   She returns to her sister not taking care of her daughter or her mom, the neurologist being more than her mother’s doctor, and the same doctor’s mother stepping in to help take care of her mother.    There is a lot happening in Phoebe’s family and life.

The romance of this book is great.  The attraction happens from the beginning but there is more happening than meets the eye.  Karen White wrote wonderful twists and turns into the story.   The biggest twist is one that I saw coming but enjoyed the build up to it.   

Thank you Park Row for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon

Meet the Author (taken from her website):  With almost two million books in print in fifteen different languages, Karen White is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 36 novels. Her latest releases include The Author’s Guide to Murder (November 2024), a collaboration with bestselling authors Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig, and the soon-to-be-released That Last Carolina Summer (July 2025) and The Lady on Esplanade (November 2025), the third book in her New Orleans-set mystery series. She grew up in London but now lives with her husband near Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Release Blitz for Falling Stars by Lex Martin

 

Falling Stars by Lex Martin is now live!

Falling for the guy who broke my heart years ago wasn’t on my to-do list when I snuck into his condo. 

Maverick Walker was my best friend, my safe place—the boy I trusted with my whole heart—until one reckless kiss in high school ruined everything. Now, he’s an NFL football player, and I’m a struggling small-town hair stylist, newly single and expecting a baby. With my ex gone and someone vandalizing my business, my life feels like it’s crumbling beneath me. 

When my best friend Paige suggests hiding out in Maverick’s swanky condo to regroup while he’s recovering from an injury in New York, it seems like a lifeline.

Except he comes home. Unexpectedly. When I’m half-dressed.

Now I’m stuck in his orbit again, unprepared for the way he still makes my heart race. Maverick is charming, ridiculously hot, and as off-limits as ever. But I have bigger problems than his smoldering smile—like figuring out who’s targeting me and why they won’t stop. 

As the threats escalate, so do Maverick’s protective instincts. But with his life in New York and mine in Texas, our worlds couldn’t be further apart. And yet, with danger closing in, his arms are the only safe haven I have left.

But how do I let him protect me without risking my heart again—when loving him feels as out of reach as a falling star? 

Falling Stars is a single mom, forced proximity, friends to lovers romance with second chance vibes. If you enjoy charming cowboys, sassy heroines, or secretive small towns, this book is for you!

 Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://bit.ly/4kSxAVJ  

Amazon Worldwide: https://amzn.to/3YWmjek     

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4kb0n7T 

 

Meet Lex Martin

Lex Martin is the USA Today bestselling author of Varsity Dads, Texas Nights, and the Dearest series. She writes contemporary romance novels, the steamy kind she hopes readers love but her parents avoid.

She's always been obsessed with writing, starting in elementary school when she would pen short stories and make her father read them. (Afterward, he'd have to take her tests, but he was a good sport and did them without complaint.) In high school, when she wasn't playing basketball, she wrote emo poetry and worked on the school newspaper.

She later became a nationally-certified high school English teacher and freelance journalist but decided she'd rather write romance novels than tests or city hall articles.

Lex loves coffee, rom coms, pen hoarding, planners, and college football.
She married her almost college sweetheart (they met right after graduation), and she's still obsessed with him, especially when he writes her songs.

She currently resides in her hometown of San Antonio with her husband, twin daughters, and their bunny. Drop her a line. She loves hearing from readers.

 

Connect with Lex

Website | www.lexmartinwrites.com   

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