Spooky Season Recommendations for All Ages

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Spooky Season has officially started! Do you like spooky stories? Are you looking for new books for the kids in your life? Books make great back to school gifts. Here's a book for each age group to enjoy this season including some new releases I can't stop talking about.

If you're planning on buying any of these books through Amazon I'd appreciate it if you use my affiliate link. All books below have click through links in the title.

Age: Baby-4yrs

My Baby Loves Halloween by Jabari Asim

Age: 4yrs-8yrs

Looking For a Jumbie

I’m looking for a jumbie, I’m going to find a scary one.

But Mama says jumbies exist only in stories. So Naya sets out on a nighttime adventure to find out for herself.

No such thing, say the friends she makes along the way. 

But Naya is sure that jumbies are real. Some have big mouths. Or thick fur. Or glowing skin. Or sharp teeth. Kind of like her new friends.…

Age: 8yrs-12yrs

 

Ghost Squad by Claribel Ortega

Shortly before Halloween, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, cast a spell that accidentally awakens malicious spirits, wreaking havoc throughout St. Augustine. Together, they must join forces with Syd's witch grandmother, Babette, and her tubby tabby, Chunk, to fight the haunting head-on and reverse the curse to save the town and Lucely's firefly spirits before it's too late.

The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away by Ronald L. Smith

Twelve-year-old Simon is obsessed with aliens. The ones who take people and do experiments. When he’s too worried about them to sleep, he listens to the owls hoot outside. Owls that have the same eyes as aliens—dark and foreboding.

Then something strange happens on a camping trip, and Simon begins to suspect he’s been abducted. But is it real, or just the overactive imagination of a kid who loves fantasy and role-playing games and is the target of bullies and his father’s scorn?

Age: 12yrs-14yrs

Artie and the Wolf Moon by Olivia Stephens

After sneaking out against her mother's wishes, Artie Irvin spots a massive wolf―then watches it don a bathrobe and transform into her mom. Thrilled to discover she comes from a line of werewolves, Artie asks her mom to share everything―including the story of Artie's late father. Her mom reluctantly agrees. And to help Artie figure out her own wolflike abilities, her mom recruits some old family friends.

Artie thrives in her new community and even develops a crush on her new friend Maya. But as she learns the history of werewolves and her own parents' past, she'll find that wolves aren't the scariest thing in the woods―vampires are.

Age: 14yrs-17yrs

 

The Taking of Jake Livingston

Sixteen-year-old Jake Livingston sees dead people everywhere. But he can't decide what's worse: being a medium forced to watch the dead play out their last moments on a loop or being at the mercy of racist teachers as one of the few Black students at St. Clair Prep. Both are a living nightmare he wishes he could wake up from. But things at St. Clair start looking up with the arrival of another Black student—the handsome Allister—and for the first time, romance is on the horizon for Jake.

 

Unfortunately, life as a medium is getting worse. Though most ghosts are harmless and Jake is always happy to help them move on to the next place, Sawyer Doon wants much more from Jake. In life, Sawyer was a troubled teen who shot and killed six kids at a local high school before taking his own life. Now he's a powerful, vengeful ghost and he has plans for Jake. Suddenly, everything Jake knows about dead world goes out the window as Sawyer begins to haunt him. High school soon becomes a different kind of survival game—one Jake is not sure he can win.

Adult 

No God's No Monsters

One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother was shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it.

As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend's trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters.

At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark?

The world will soon find out.

A Tiara Under the Tree by Carolyn Hector

 

Welcome Back Booklovers! With Christmas fast approaching I wanted to read a holiday romance specifically a Black romance. And this one just had such a pretty cover and sounded promising so I couldn't resist. 

Unfortunately this book was like a rollercoaster for me. It started off really patchy and it often felt like there were paragraphs missing. This story follows a beauty queen named Waverly who has just been dethroned from her local pageant after going off on a reporter. She has moved to a new town and is laying low right now. After a mix of with a pizza that was delivered to the wrong address she is convinced by a handsome business owner, Dominic, to enter the local pageant and get back on track to becoming Miss Georgia. 

And things just kind of rush along from there with most of the story being told off page. It was hard to get invested because despite their instant attraction to each other I don't feel they had enough time together on page. Dominic leaves town for three months which should've given way to a slow burn romance. Instead we don't really get to see how Waverly or Dominic cope during that time. Instead the story is fast forwarded to his return and they immediately jump into a full blown relationship.

And then Dominic just had this overbearing personality I couldn't stand. He really wasn't supportive of Waverly's pageant dreams. He lost his temper more than once and physically assaulted a man he saw as a threat. He was angry that Waverly would have to compete in a swimsuit competition because he didn't want other men ogling her.  I felt like much of his persona was written off as a being a bad boy but he was just a jerk. The bare bones were there but the plot never fully formed for me and there wasn't enough chemistry outside of the bedroom for me to overlook the random time jumps. I wanted a fleshed out story about a beauty queen with real conflict not just cheap glimpses from outside.

Second Chance on Cypress Lane by Reese Ryan

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! If you follow me you know I've kept my eyes open this year for good Black contemporary romance. And this one that I received courtesy of Forever Publishing in exchange for an honest review helped satisfy my craving. There's just something so likable about a small town romance and we tend not to see many of these with Black leads. 

I wish they would've released this in June vs December because it's a solid summer romance. It starts around the beginning of July when Dakota Jones run's back to her quiet beachside home town of Holly Grove Island after a bad breakup and scandal leaves her jobless. She ends up reconnecting with her old friends and her ex boyfriend Dexter Roberts who has made a career for himself in the hospitality business and helps her secure a job marketing a new resort in town.

So if you like small town romance this book has all those cute things you'll enjoy. It's a small beach side town, there's a big Forth of July festival everyone attentions, cozy local eateries, homestyle food, small town gossip, cute dates, and neighbor's who know each other so well. 

Dexter and Dakota work together trying to help their town accept the new resort and figuring out ways to build up the town as a more touristy place but without compromising everything that makes it unique.

Dakota has to rediscover her passions and realize that maybe her dreams of being a big journalist weren't her dreams at all but her deceased mother's. And I think having her tackle her issues with her mother and cope with moving on after her death only added more depth to this story.

I wanted a little more from Dexter and his family because like Dakota has also has had to deal with a parent projecting their hopes and dreams onto their children. We did meet his mother and sister but I wanted a little more of them.

This book can be a little lengthy at times particularly in the middle but it does a great job developing the characters and sets up story for follow up books too. It was slow burn for most of it but then it goes into steamy territory and those scenes didn't disappoint. And the end result is a satisfying romance to help you chase away those winter blues. 

The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I feel like it's been a long time since I've read a YA book like this. And it's a collaboration between two authors with Kass Morgan writing for Vivi and Danielle Paige writing for Scarlett.  I have read stories from both of them I read The 100 by Kass Morgan and a short story by Danielle Paige also about witches called The Actress. This one was very reminiscent to the witches in media during the 1990s and early 2000s.  I felt a lot of Charmed vibes when it came to this magic system.

If you haven't heard of The Ravens it's a story about sorority which is actually a secret coven. The story follows two sorority sisters Vivi Deveraux, a freshman and Scarlett Winters, a junior.  While Vivi has come to Westerly to escape her mother and find stability she stumbles upon something much greater when she discovers powers she never knew she possessed.  Scarlett comes from a legacy of witches having been raised her whole life to be a Raven like her mother and older sister. This year her biggest goal is to become the sorority president like her family members before her. 

The story is set on a Southern college campus but I'll be honest and say I didn't feel much Southern vibes and it could've been set elsewhere and felt more realistic. I get what they were going for setting it in Savannah because it's America's most haunted city but some things felt off to me. Outside of the few mentions of gothic architecture here and there it could've easily been set at a college up north or on the west coast and had the same vibes. Or it could've even been set at an elite boarding school since at times I got more high school than college vibes.

At times I felt like it was a little too politically correct. Granted I never went to college in The South but even here in the north there is a little racial tension between the different races at times. They really went out of their way to point out how diverse this predominantly white institution (PWI) is by always mentioning people around campus of different races. And in the sorority of itself you have Scarlett who is Black and who has family history rooted in Kappa Rho Nu. With Greek life being notoriously exclusive and other races having had to create their own sororities to have a place on campus it was a little hard to believe so many girls of different races were legacies. And in this book kind of side steps race while trying to show diversity. I understand not wanting to lean into oppression all the time but let's not pretend racism exists especially in an environment where it's known for being present.  The diversity felt very forced at times when we were learning the race of even characters who had no lines and only appeared in once scene.

The magic system is easy to understand. There are four types of witches which include Cups, Wands, Pentacles, and Swords. Each have their own element they are strongest working with. Swords are the air sign, Cups are the water sign, Pentacles are the earth sign, and Wands are the fire sign. Each sign is aligned with it's own deck of tarot cards which can be used to cast spells. Though the tarot cards are more of a pretty prop as when a witch has control of her powers she doesn't need to draw on them. 

Let's talk about what sparks a rivalry between Vivi and Scarlett. It's not just the rich girl/poor girl dynamic that causes tension. Scarlett being the queen of campus is dating the hottest guy from a popular fraternity. Of how I disliked Mason and his summer growth. Yes, people change as they get older and realize things they thought they cared about before really don't interest them at all anymore. He went away for one summer and started acting brand new. All of a sudden he's so above all the shallowness of everyone around him after his privileged summer of backpacking through Europe without a care in the world. So he returns to campus and moves in on the impressionable freshman girl and continues to pursue her despite knowing she's joining a sorority with the girl he's still dating. Not sure why either girl wanted him because he was rather bland. 

All in all The Ravens is  entertaining in a guilty pleasure/nostalgic kind of way with some red herrings thrown in that are easy to see past.  It starts off slow setting up the world around the girls but the mystery really kicks off in the last half and we get to see the girls in action. The magic gives me Charmed vibes with rhyming spells, gathering herbs and other ingredients, scrying to find things, etc. I thought the tarot card aspect was cool and liked that it was explained early on but then it became pointless as their powers weren't really based on those signs.  I wanted to see if go deeper and explore their specific powers outside of them tapping into their powers together as a whole. I found Scarlett to be more fleshed out than Vivi though Vivi got more interesting to me after the 60% mark. I would watch a movie or series based on this book. And this being an Alloy Entertainment production I'm sure a series or movie is already in the works. I'll probably read book 2 just to see how it ends. This was marketed as YA crossover but I just don't see it appealing to the adult fantasy readers. It reads closer to what I would've read in middle school.

Intercepted by Alexa Martin

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! This multicultural romance read has been on my TBR for 2 years and has been sitting on my Kindle for over a year. It ended up being exactly what I needed after a week where I DNFd 2 books. I partially listened on audiobook and though January LaVoy was spot on and very easy to listen to and I finished the book over the course of two days.

Overuse of hashtags aside, I really enjoyed Marlee's voice.  She's witty and sarcastic and I love how she's not one for confrontation but will let it rip when necessary. Her sharp tongue was one of the things I enjoyed about this story. 

If those housewives shows are your guilty pleasure then you'll really enjoy this look into the world of football wives and girlfriends. I was reminded watching early seasons of The Game except Marlee is more seasoned than girl Melanie. The Lady Mustangs are exactly what comes to mind when you think of bitchy wags who've centered their lives around their husband's careers. They hold meetings as an excuse to drink ample amounts of wine, they all visit the same surgeon, they avoid carbs like the plague, and turn their noses up on the ringless girlfriends like Marlee.

Marlee is a biracial woman in her late 20s who has a bit of a wakeup call after finally being fed up enough with her cheating football player boyfriend to leave him for good. And once she decides to leave she and takes the Prius he gifted her away she realizes she can no longer live on her freelance gigs alone. So she gets a job working at a restaurant, rents a small apartment, and starts taking public transportation.

And just while she's ending one relationship an old fling comes back into her life in the form of quarterback Gavin Pope. Gavin Pope is a genuine nice guy often coming to Marlee's rescue and soon neither can deny the attraction between them. And the chemistry was really there between them.

And there was plenty of fast paced drama to keep me entertained throughout.

Now 50 Cent and Lala Anthony are supposed to be turning this into a series with Lala playing the lead and they need to pass the role of Marlee to someone else cuz Lala is too old to pass for 20 and her immaturity and youth is what helps make the story. She's an adult woman finally coming into her own after years of being reliant on a man.

Daughters of Jubiliation by Kara Lee Corthron

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I switched gears from romance back to fantasy to read this book which has intrigued me since I saw the cover months ago.  So I reached out to Simon Schuster for an advanced review copy.

Now some people might read the synopsis and see Jim Crow and be intimidated. White supremacy may be ever present but that doesn't mean there's an absence of Black joy. I love the refreshing approach to 60s South Carolina summer filled with summer love and family. Our main character Evalene speaks in a Southern dialect that flows naturally. 

Evvie is navigating first love and growing into her own as a woman all while trying to understand her ever growing magical abilities. Her mother sees their gift of jubilation as a curse on their bloodline but Evvie just wants to understand their powers. Evvie is at times impulsive and when it comes to protecting her family and friends she's ready to leap into action. But why does she have trouble using her powers of jube around her new boyfriend Clay? 

Her mother takes her to see her grandmother tell help her control her abilities. Now Grammie Atti is seen as the town crazy woman who is rumored to have killed her husband. Her sharp tongue holds nothing back and she's determined to whip her granddaughter into shape. She's strict but loving and supportive all the same.

I loved the uniqueness of the magic too. Who wouldn't try and use their magic to prevent pregnancy or speed up their period? Not that magic is 100% effective in either situation which is a lesson for Evvie to learn. As as her momma tells her jube can't keep the clap away.

I feel like when we talk about Black people in the 1960s images come to mind about us fighting for our rights during the Civil Rights Movement. But this wasn't just a time of marching. Black people were tearing up the music charts with Motown Records cranking out your favorite classics. And I love that those vibes could be included in this story as well. One of my favorite scenes was the Juneteenth cook out scene. 

Evvie has twin kid sisters who are bright lights and balance out the family dynamic. Typical little sisters they're annoying one minute and too cute the next. 

And she has dreams too. She loves reading and she loves watching the stars. Secretly she dreams of being an astronomer even though the thought she so far fetched. 

There is some darkness in this book which includes violence from white supremists, racist slurs, physical abuse, and sexual assault. Evvie is battling an old foe who has made a return and threatens to spoil her happiness. Though a survival story it never felt draining or completely hopeless. 

This was truly a beautiful book that felt like a book teens could read that wasn't actively trying just for the adult audience like many YA fantasies. And the dark realities in this story are written in a way that is easy to comprehend without being overly traumatizing. Evvie is relatable, unfortunately the struggles she and her family go through are familiar, and there's a persistent theme of hope. 

And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall

 

Welcome Back Booklovers! I'm back in the office and busier than ever lately which hasn't left a lot of time for reading. I wanted to read a mystery by a Black author and this mystery was different from the usual cozy mysteries I pick up. This reads more like a procedural too and it's been a few months since I've read one.

This one was a hard for me to get into. It's full of flashbacks and metaphors which sometimes caused me to miss what I read and I had to go back and re-read. The pacing was also slow and I was expecting something more fast paced. Plus I found myself detached from most of the characters. I don't necessarily need to relate anyone in a story but I do need to find them entertaining enough to spend several pages with.

This story follows PI Grayson(Gray) Sykes who is a PI on her first solo case. She's already stumbling through it when she finds herself relating to the missing woman Isabel Lincoln in several ways. This case brings up many horrible haunting memories for her that she's been trying to escape ever since rebuilding her life after leaving an abusive relationship. The threat of her ex is always looming over her as he still tries to She early on projects much of herself onto Isabel. And she's not the most prepared PI since she meets with her client without being ready to take notes, where's very bright colors on stakeouts, and makes careless mistakes. Just when you think you understand how this book is going to go it takes an unexpected twist.

I wish this book would've cut down on some of the descriptions of everything Gray ate and drank. She also suffers from chronic pain and at times feels like her body will shut down. This is depicted with several mentions of  her popping pills followed by her downing alcohol to try and dull her internal pain. I know authors do that to build up atmosphere but it tends to be repetitive after the umpteenth time it happens. At times the plot was too slow moving and contained some filler which I'm not a fan of in mysteries. 

For me the book didn't start to really pick up until after the 60% mark. After that I found the pacing to be steady and the action was continuous. Though that manic anxious feeling present throughout the story still remained. 

Holding Myself Accountable: A September ARC TBR

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers!

It's about to be a very BLACK September. Your girl may have gone a tad bit overboard with the arc requesting and accepting for the September books. But best believe when I put my mind to something I do it. And I plan on reading and reviewing all of these books so get ready for a content heavy September. I'm reading Black books across the spectrum!  I've got YA Fantasy, YA Contemporary, Fantasy, Mystery, MG Horror, MG Contemporary, and MG Fantasy. 

Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston

 

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn 

 

Never Look Back by Lilliam Rivera

Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon

 

And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall

 

Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron

 

 Everybody Looking by Candice Iloh

Ties that Tether by Jane Igharo

Sweet Talkin' Lover by Tracey Livesay

Since today is the release day I wanted to boost this contemporary romance. I was very luckily to receive an arc from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Sweet Talkin' Lover: A Girls Trip Novel is the first in a new series about a group of girlfriends who each find their own love story.

I do want to point out that despite the series name of Girls Trip the trip was at the very beginning of the story and didn't play a significant part of the plot. It was just a quick introduction of the women you will be seeing in future novels. So if you're expecting something similar to the movies Girl's Trip complete with drunken shenanigans this is not that story. However this is still a great romance. I'm hoping the annual trips will have a larger role in future stories.

The cover though gorgeous is a little misleading because it makes you believe this is a spring or summer romance. The fireworks actually give me 4th of July feels. This is a fall romance.

That being said this was a good story. Once I got into it I devoured it like candy.  You know those  movies that you see on Hallmark and sometimes Netflix where the big city workaholic woman ends up on assignment in a small town? This is like one of those except with a black women as the lead and plenty of sexy scenes.

Our story opens with Caila experiencing a loss and then struggling to overcome it. She's so concerned with hiding her emotions and covering up her feelings that it starts to affect her work. She is sent to a small town named Bradleton to evaluate a plant that has been producing cosmetics for one of the brands her company recently acquired. I liked that we didn't just hear about what a hard worker Caila is, we were shown. She spends most of the trip with her friends working and is very clear about her career goals.

Bradleton is a small Southern town that's all about family, tradition, and football. The entire town is automatically against her since her mission is to shut down the plant which employs many of the citizens. Caila meets Mayor Wyatt Bradley aka Mayor McHottie who is determined to get her to appreciate what the town has to offer. Cue the friday night lights, pumpkin cheesecake bars, and hayrides.