JB's Bookworms with Brandy Mulder

The Darkest Vampire by Juliana Haygert (Rite World: Vampire Wars, #1) Publication date: October 29th 2021 Genres: New Adult, Urban Fantasy Supernaturals around Portland are turning up dead. I’m next … if the vampire I just made a powerful bond with doesn’t kill me first. Magic is in a short supply for a half-witch like me, which makes things very difficult when I’m bound by a blood promise to avenge my parents. With no leads left to follow, I make a bargain with a demon for help. Bad decision. The quest the demon sends me on binds me to a vampire named Killian, a half-mad, half-naked monster who hates my guts almost as much as he longs to drink my blood. Killian swore to kill all witches on sight, but we agree to work together to solve the murders ravaging the city. He despises me, and I can’t stand him… but there’s an unexpected connection between us, something I can’t help but be curious about. No, I can’t let anything distract me. Not even a hot and enraging vampire who presses al...

Untamed Isles: The Path Awakens Untamed Isles  Book One by Aaron Hodges Genre: Epic Fantasy Publisher: Aaron Hodges Date of Publication: 26th October ISBN: 978-1-99-101803-8 Number of pages: 400 Word Count: 105,000 Cover Artist: Nikko Marie  On a still and peaceful night, the world shook, and light split the sky asunder. The seas parted, an island rose. And beneath the earth, an ancient power stirred. Zachary Sicario thought he’d finally turned his back on the underworld. For ten years he was content with his cottage in the highlands of Riogachd. But a master thief never truly retires. When Zach is struck down by a wasting illness, he is left with two options: accept his fate, or return to his criminal past in search of a cure. It isn’t a difficult decision. With rumours of a mysterious island circulating the kingdom, Zach goes in search of old contacts. They speak of strange lights and disappearing ships, of treasure and riches promised for the first to reach its distant shor...

5 Things NOT to Do While Ghost Hunting By Louisa Bacio Yes, I’ve done it – actually hunted for ghosts. I have no idea why it’s a thing when ghosts usually come to me. I’ve done tours in California, Savannah, San Antonio, Texas, and New Orleans.  One hotspot that never fails to bring some spectral what-was-that moments is the Queen Mary in Long Beach. From slamming doors to words appearing on the mirror (yeah, I know it could have been the previous guest, but it’s still freaky) to that absolutely creepy empty pool below decks, the floating historical landmark is filled with potential for haunting. So how about a what not to do while ghost hunting? Here’s my list: 5) Wear Holy Water like eau de perfume, dabbed behind the ears. You are looking for ghosts, right? You don’t want to scare them away. 4) Sit in a darkened room, and inform the ghosts they’re allowed to “touch you” to let you know they’re there. (No joke! I went to an event with Amy from Ghost Hunters, and she actually call...

Smoke and Mirrors: A Vampire Romance by Elise Nelson  Genres: PNR, Gothic Romance, Vampire Romance Publisher: Shattered Glass Press Date of Publication: May 25, 2021  ISBN: 1777632935  ASIN: B08ZT1JTF9  Number of pages: 409 pages Word Count: 120,857 words Cover Artist: Covers and Cupcakes  In the shadows, nothing is ever what it seems Caroline Blake is a young reporter with a past almost as cryptic as her future. She never put much stock into her late aunt’s eerie tales of monsters and demons until she takes an assignment to cover the elusive Ashdown family’s Harvest Festival. As part of her assignment, she must live at the family’s mansion for six weeks and help prepare for the event. No one has seen the family since the tragedy that occurred at the last festival almost thirty years prior. As the only female reporter on-site, Caroline must hold her own while uncovering why the family closed their doors all those years ago. Perhaps the most challenging part of h...

Dead Man Walking The Ivyverse  Book One  by Zach Adams Genre: Contemporary fantasy, mystery, horror Publisher: Adams/Valentine Date of Publication: September 19th, 2021 ISBN Print: 978-1-7370775-0-3 ISBN Kindle: 978-1-7370775-3-4  ISBN PDF: 978-1-7370775-2-7 ASIN:B094CD2HYR Number of pages: 288 Word Count: 78,098 Cover Artist: Touqeer Shahid “Unlocking the door to the dead” Dead Man Walking by Zach Adams is a compelling contemporary fantasy novel full of twists and turns that will leave readers captivated until the last page. Focusing on Isaac Falcone, a young library assistant, this novel follows the man as he realizes that his life is becoming infested with otherworldly creatures, many of whom mean to do him harm. After discovering a magic book, Isaac is attacked by a swarm of the undead, but is rescued by an elven man named L’æon. The elf suddenly appears in Isaac’s life more and more, allegedly protecting him from the malicious forces that mean to do him harm. But not...

The Ghosts We Carry and How to Banish Them Have you ever noticed how in haunted house stories or an occult detective tale, there’s always an object that keeps a spirit anchored to a place?  It could be a keepsake from when the ghost was a living being or a terrible artifact use to summon darker entities.  Sometimes it’s a whole room or house, the energy of the people who have lived in it soaking into the very walls.  Other times it’s the memory of a horrific incident that has bled into the earth. In order to banish the ghost, of course, we have to destroy the object—set it on fire, break it, or, to be less dramatic, let it go or move on from it.  Move out of the haunted house.   Contain the dark occult artifact that can’t be destroyed so that no one will find it (until the inevitable sequel, of course….this is dramatic fiction after all!).  These stories remind us, in one way or another, that the things we carry with us absorb the energy of our experie...