{I've Been Reading} The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel

 The House on the Covr of a Horror Novel by EV Knight

This short horror novel had me absolutely enraged at times. Miles is a clueless husband who buys a dilapidated old house after seeing his wife's many sketches of it. He thinks she's in love with the property, while in reality she's been comissioned to paint a cover for a horror novel. I couldn't stand Miles and over the course of the book began to realize that he's a very realistic description of a personality type I wouldn't get along with. The childless couple unexpectedly find themselves with a baby on the way. They're  absolutely horrible at communicating with each other, which makes every situation worse than it has to be. 

What's really going on in the old house surpasses anything that Emily dreamed up while she was painting it. There are graves in the swamp at the edge of the property, a horrific family history, and creepy old toys that keep turning up in the worst places. It's standard haunted house stuff...until it's not. Every plot element I hated while I was reading the book actually had a reason for being there and comes together in a very effective ending. I'm honestly not sure if I likes this one or not. 

French Quarter Fright Night by Ellen Byron

This is an absolutely delightful Halloween themed cozy that provides readers with a vicarious chance to enjoy the spooky holiday fun in New Orleans and also to find out more about Ricki's life before she opened her vintage cookbook shop in the historic Bon Vee museum. I can't decide if this was my favorite book in the series so far -- all three have been great reads! The setting and characters are fantastic and so is the mystery.

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with advance review copies. 

{I've Been Reading} We Came to Welcome You

 

We Came to Welcome You by Vincent Tirado

Sol and Alice feel lucky to have found a house in Maneless Grove, a perfect gated community. All of the houses are a little too similar, but membership in the HOA is voluntary and in the current housing market, they were having trouble finding anything at all within their budget. I loved this book. It reminded me of The Stepford Wives, but went in a completely different direction. Sol was already struggling, suspended from her university job amid accusations of plagarism.  She wants nothing to do with her overbearing neighbors. Alice is losing patience and doesn't see any of the things that raise Sol's suspicions.  Instead, the blames Sol's drinking. Watching the two of them forced apart by their circumstances was one of the most horrifying parts of the book.  

A Swarm of Butterflies by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

A summer fete at a historic estate quickly turns fatal and a popular online personality realizes that the situation with his stalker is much more serious than he ever thought. It took me a while to warm up to this one. Rav and Nell are partners, rewilding the Finchmere estate. The book begins with Nell escaping a housefire, so the plot jumps into action with very little backstory about the characters or their rewilding efforts. If you're not already familiar with the concept, or the names of some of the small animals in their region, you may be just as lost as I was. (I imagine that if I'd started the series with the first book, I would've learned as I read, but I jumped in mid-series.) There are a lot of characters, with a lot of conflict between them. It's far more complex than your average cozy mystery plot. I'm definitely curious about what's going to happen with these characters, so I'll be watching for the next book. 

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance review copy.