The Parasite and Other Tales of Terror. Arthur Conan Doyle. 2021. Poisoned Pen Press. 223 pages. [Source: Personal copy.] Full disclosure – I only picked this book up because I really love Sherlock Holmes’ stories. If I love those so much, surely I’d feel the same about other works from the same author, Arthur Conan Doyle. I have to admit this collection of short stories wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I wasn’t upset about it. I was in the mood for scary like “I’m alone in the house and what was that sound?” “Run into the bedroom when you turn the lights off” scary. This didn’t deliver in that way for a few reasons. One, I think the sensibilities for what qualifies as scary is very different today than it would have been during Doyle’s time (late 19th/early 20th century). Two, the topics of the stories are more creepy than terror-inducing. There wasn’t anything about the stories to make my heart pound or palms sweat. My pulse never raced at all while reading this; I was just more intrigued than anything. Despite it not meeting my scare factor, this book was an enjoyable collection of stories. Taking them…

The Monsters We Defy. Leslye Penelope. 2022. Redhook. 384 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] The Monsters We Defy starts with a birth at crossroads; this is an apt foreshadowing of what’s to come for the baby born at the turn of the twentieth century. Clara Johnson was born in a caul and yet, her life comes with none of the fabled luck of being born in her “veil.” Instead, she’s had a life filled with heartbreak and strife. Where she’s unlucky, she is equally headstrong and can be a fierce advocate or enemy. Despite this strength, she’s often at odds with her gift of connecting with the spirit realm. This ends up being the key challenge in the story — Clara’s interactions with the spirits drop a burden in her lap that she can’t afford to ignore but can’t resolve on her own. In her attempt to free herself from a bad deal she made with a particularly powerful spirit, she finds other wayward souls who carry their own burdens and seek their own versions of freedom. There’s her roommate Zelda, an albino pickpocket; Aristotle, an actor whose skill overshadows…

Coveted. Christina C. Jones. 2019. 107 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] I am so pleased that Christina C. Jones is back with the second installment in the “Eternally Tethered” series, Coveted. With this book, she focuses on younger sister Ancelin and further explorers the ties between her and Nasir that were introduced in 2015’s Haunted. Ancelin is known as a bit of a wild child; her reputation for hedonism is well-known. She, like Khalida in Haunted, is loath to commit to one person for fear of getting hurt or making the wrong choice in partner. However, when a series of odd and forboding coincidences keep occurring in relation to Ancelin, she’s forced to accept Nasir as a bodyguard. As Aram’s right-hand man, Nasir is unquestionably loyal to Ancelin and will guard her life at all costs. The reasons run deeper for him, but Ancelin takes a while to get to a point of truly understanding his motivations. Along the way, though, the two have a deliciously tense chemistry that has Ancelin doing all she can to tempt Nasir. I enjoyed Coveted even more than Haunted, which I was a bit shocked to realize. I’m still not into paranormal, so these two…

Haunted. Christina C. Jones. 2015. Warm Hues Creative. 175 pages.  [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Don’t tell CCJ this, but I danced around Haunted for over a year because I could not wrap my head around how she could possibly write a paranormal romance that I would enjoy.  I devoured everything else she wrote with no question, but just couldn’t motivate myself to touch this one.  It wasn’t until she had a holiday special that I decided to give it a go … Now, I’m mad at myself. I could have enjoyed Haunted so long ago!  This is both a credit to the author for being versatile and to the story itself.  I literally could not put this down – I’m talking standing in the checkout line at the grocery store to figure out what happened next! Khalida is content with her career managing a nightclub inside a trendy hotel.  She’s successful in her role and has the enduring love of her younger sister.  But something’s been off around her, and what started as the odd reflection of a man’s eyes in her windows at night are instead the start of her journey in unveiling of the truth about her identity.  The mysterious man whose presence she…