Book Review: Stillwell: A Haunting on Long Island by Michael Philip Cash

Title: Stillwell: A Haunting on Long Island
Author: Michael Philip Cash
Publisher: Red Feather Publishing
Date of Publication: 2013
Source: received from author for my honest opinion



Goodreads Summary:

Paul Russo’s wife just died. While trying to get his family’s life back in order, Paul is being tormented by a demon who is holding his wife's spirit hostage on the other side. His fate is intertwined with an old haunted mansion on the north shore of Long Island called Stillwell Manor. Paul must find clues dating back hundreds of years to set his wife's soul free.

My Thoughts:

I'm not one for ghost stories.  Never have been.  In fact, whenever I see any movie trailers for those really terrifying movies, like "Paranormal Activity", I yell for the kids to close their eyes as I wrap my fingers around my face like steel.  

But with Stillwell, I found I didn't feel any of the apprehension I usually get with your typical ghost story book.  Yes, there were eerie parts but at the basis of the plot it is really just a love story.   I found there were some very strong emotions in the story that really cling to you.  The grief I felt for Paul was intense but there was also another emotion that seemed to stay just in the background: hope.  
I found myself really relating to the story from the small details to even the major ones.  Just as Paul and his wife had a hard time conceiving and then having twins, my family went through the exact same thing.  I also experienced the pain and despair you go through having a family member go through the ordeal of a brain tumor.    The intensity that Mr. Cash puts in his writing with the experiences that Paul and his family go through was very touching.  The story was fictional but the emotional pain seemed so real.  
Not only did I feel the pain so strong, but I also felt like Stillwell had this "realness" to it like it should have said Based on true events instead of fiction.  That is some really good storytelling to make it seem so real.  
Another concept I really liked in the story, even though it was such a small detail, was how the chapters were divided.  Each chapter was a day and the main story was told over a week's time.  This added a scary touch to the story.  And helped add to the realness I felt from reading it.  

But the "monkey wrench" idea really threw me for a loop.  I really felt that wording seemed to take away from the suspense or thrill of the story.  I would have liked a more serious explanation than that.  
The ending was so-so for me too.  It wasn't terrible and I understand why the author went that direction but I felt like there was so much of a build up with the crime scene, the legend surrounding the Stillwell history, and even the terrifying dreams that I would have liked a more supernatural twist to the ending. 

However, even with my disagreements I still felt that Stillwell: A Haunting on Long Island was a enjoyable read.  It has some great elements in it, including ghosts and romance, that really pulled me in the story until I just had to finish it in one day.  I would recommend Michael Philip Cash to anyone who wants a ghost story without all the gore as well as a paranormal romance that will make you feel right along with the characters.  

Connect with Michael Philip Cash:
Goodreads |Website | Twitter |

Get your own copy:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble |


Note: I don't do halves here but I found myself wanting to do 3 and half for this book.  So this book was definitely between 3 and 4 hearts.

Audio Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Title: Girl of Nightmares
Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Anna Book #2
Publisher: Tor Teen
Audio Publisher: AudioGo
Audio Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Format: mp3, 10hr 4 min,
Source: received from AudioGo for my honest opinion of it.
Get Your Own: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Synopsis: It’s been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can’t move on.
His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they’re right, but in Cas’s eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.
Now he’s seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he’s asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong... these aren’t just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.
Cas doesn’t know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn’t deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it’s time for him to return the favor

-goodreads blurb 

 My Thoughts:
I would like to say thank you to AudioGo for sending me Girl of Nightmares on mp3 for review.

I absolutely loved the audio version of Girl of Nightmares!  I wasn't too keen on the narrator, August Ross, while he read the first book, but he came back in full stride and really changed my opinion of his skills in this one.  As soon as I turned it on, I just leaned back, closed my eyes and found myself swept away with Ross' chilling narration.
Character Development- Cas is this crude, gritty, tough hero that has a soft side hidden deep within himself that he finds surprising when it surfaces out.  He tells people how things are and doesn't really care if it puts him in another light.  He is brutally honest and I love him for it.  Cas really grows throughout this series and learns a lot about himself, his friends, and his ability to love.
Thomas is a darling.  I have to admit, besides the main protagonists, Thomas is one of my favorites.  The voice August Ross gives him is part hippie, part surfer dude.  And it fits his personality.  Thomas is so laid back, hardly getting too worked up over situations.  He always tries to find the silver lining, even when there is darkness everywhere.  The scene where Cas and Thomas go visit Thomas' Finnish aunt is extremely spooky and extremely funny.  I had to gag a little thinking about the cookies Thomas sucked down.  (Not giving anything else away-just read it! :) )
I have always liked Ana.  She is this cursed soul that has been put through so much, never being able to really live, and still has this spunk to her that makes me smile.  She is definitely a good match to Cas' attitude.
We have a lot of the same characters here, including Carmel, and we also meet a lot of new characters.  These new people help Cas reach his goal and help tie everything together in the end.
Plot-  Girl of Nightmares is so, so , so good!  It is a dark story but it does have these snarky comments thrown in, to help lessen the stress, if you will.  I really enjoyed the fact that Blake could write a scene to scare the hell out of me, but even then, still throw in a joke to let me laugh the fright off a little.

He smiles at me like he is Yoda and I'm just a dumbass without the force,"

There is action in this book but Girl of Nightmares is more of an emotionally charged book, showing Cas so broken and sad to seeing him realize the power he has within himself.  Kendare Blake did an exceptional job of painting such imagery that the reader can feel Cas' heartbreak, Ana's pain, Thomas' power, and Carmel's insecurity.
Blake also does a really wonderful job of world building, especially in Girl of Nightmares, when our "ghostbuster" team has to travel to many different places.  The Suicide Forest was the scariest thing I have ever heard (and dummy me, I listened to it at night, with all the lights off, and everyone else asleep).
The pacing was just right. I didn't find myself bored with it at all.  I liked learning more about the athame's past and why it does the things it does.  Yes, it is much more than just a knife.
Blake's interpretation of Hell was so interesting and very scary and breathtaking.  It was a different take, yet based on a lot of classic examples.

"This place exists in the wake of a scream..."

The best part about this novel or series, is that the point of view is from our male protagonist, Cas.  I feel like we don't have enough YA books from a male p.o.v and it is refreshing to get a book that can pull it off this well.  He is gritty, curses when the need arises, sarcastic as hell, and doesn't question his feelings for Ana.  He embraces the love he has for her and it shows with the very depth he is willing to take to save his beloved Ana.
Narration-August Ross has really stepped his game up in narrating Girl of Nightmares.  I wasn't really impressed with his style in the first book, but he has totally turned my opinion around in this second book.  This guy has so many great accents hidden up his sleeves; southern, Scottish, Finnish, English, and of course, Carmel's voice.  Sorry that is the only one I had a tough time with.  Other than that one, Ross sounds like a completely different person.  He is also superb at conveying the intensity of the situation, capturing you with the fullness of his voice.
I had to give Girl of Nightmares five hearts, more if I could!

Contact Kendare Blake:

Facebook | website | Twitter

Book Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater {Book 1 in Wolves of Mercy Falls}

Title: Shiver
Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls book 1
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date of Publication: August 1, 2009
Source: borrowed from Leigh Ann at Silver Wings Reviews
Format: hardcover, 392 pages
Get your copy: Amazon/ Barnes and Noble

Goodreads Summary:
Grace and Sam share a kinship so close they could be lovers or siblings. But they also share a problem. When the temperature slips towards freezing, Sam reverts to his wolf identity and must retreat into the woods to protect his pack. He worries that eventually his human side will fade away and he will be left howling alone at the lonely moon. A stirring supernatural teen romance



My Feelings:

So this is one of those books that left me gasping for air from the way the story was crafted so breathlessly.  Ms. Stiefvater is a true storyteller in every sense of the word.  
I first fell in love with this book on the cover alone a while back.  I love how we are gazing into the forest, through the brambles and wispy branches, to find a solitary wolf staring back at us.  I love love love the blue tints and it automatically makes me think of winter.  And of course, the only other color is the spot of red which looks closely similar to a drop of blood.  

Alright, I know you guys are telling me to get on with it but I just really loved this cover as well as the others in the series.  
The theme is a well known element: werewolf, but Stiefvater takes this and puts a very unique twist on it creating something completely different and very compelling.  
Our wolves in this story are more dependent upon the seasons and temperatures than the moon.  

Ms. Stiefvater crafts a wonderful tale full of emotion that just spills out everywhere.  And then we have poetry...ahh poetry.  I love poetry and I love how much research she did to find poems that fit Sam and Grace so well.  You can really tell that our author went all the way out with the research on wolves as far as pack structure.  I just cannot get enough of the whole "Alpha-beta-omega" tier that goes with these pristine creatures.
Shiver is a slow paced novel that doesn't rush into anything. It takes its time but that is the beauty in the story.  When I was reading it, I didn't want to rush through the story (even though I only took 2 days reading it) but instead I wanted to enjoy each and every descriptive scene.  I have never been a fan of snow and winter but after reading this novel, I wanted to go wander in a snow filled forest just to hear the crunch of the packed snow under my feet!  

The characters in Shiver are complex in every sense of the word. Sam is so hurt, so fragile and yet I can't help but feeling he is more than what he seems.  I love the fact that Sam doesn't take anything for granted.  He looks at life in a very special sweet way that will make you appreciate the simple things that surround us.  
His HEA, Grace, is the opposite of Sam but his perfect match too.  I guess it is true that opposites attract because these two seem like they were meant for each other.  She is the realist in the relationship and operates on the facts that are presented to her.   This makes it even more interesting for us to see how she processes the fact that Sam is the wolf that saved her so long ago too.  She feels connected to the pack of wolves that live in the woods behind her home.  My most favorite trait of Grace?  Her loyalty to those she cares about.  She will be loyal to the very end, even if it is a losing battle.  

I really liked the other characters in this book too.  I loved Beck, even though I wasn't sure how to feel about him through some of his more questionable acts.
I really enjoyed getting to know the other pack members through Sam's memories.  That made me feel even worse for Sam.  Bless his heart!
  Grace's friends are okay but I couldn't really feel any kind of relation to them.
Her parents actually just ticked me off!  As a mom myself, I felt like her parents were just out of everything.  I am not sure if this lack of parenting is a foreshadowing of events coming up or more of an explanation as to why Grace becomes such a strong female at a very young age.  
The antagonists will definitely surprise you.  Sometimes the ones that start out as "the bad guy" will make you stand up and applaud.  

Was there parts that I felt were a little to emo-isque even for me?  Yeah there was times I thought Sam did wallow in self pity but after you figure out what he went through; hey I can understand why he has so much doubt.  

All in all, Shiver brought a lot of emotion out of me and there were times I couldn't help but cry and gasp at the situations these troubled characters have to go through in their life.  Yeah there is parts that tend to drag a little but the climax is so strong my heart still flutters thinking about it.  

I gave Shiver four hearts!

Just finished Lover Reborn! Can we say AWESOME!

So two weeks ago, our very special signed copy of Lover Reborn came in the mail.  As my husband and I unwrapped it like it was Christmas, we found it was wrapped in gold and black tissue paper with a sticker that said "inspected by Vishous".  That was pretty cool, I have to admit.
I tried to wait so my husband could read it first, since it was his anniversary present.  I really tried, but in the end, I devoured the book!

I am a huge fan of Black Dagger Brotherhood; you know the series J.R. Ward created for all of us crazy fans that love vampires that are really tough and really GOOD to their women.  These guys are the true alphas of their world and you can't help but fall in love with them.  Whew, just thinking of these guys gets me a little hot and bothered.  And that makes some really creative writing that can bring such emotions to us.

I found myself laughing at the dialogue, especially when it concerns Lassiter, our fallen angel who loves T.V. .
But I also found myself crying, yes actual tears, falling down my face at the true grief our characters go through.

If you are on the verge of reading J.R. Ward but aren't sure if you would like it, please give it a go.  They are very adult novels, though, with a good amount of erotica so these are definitely for the 18 and up crowd.


Here is my small review at Goodreads too:


Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I first came into the Black Dagger Brotherhood fan club, I read Rev's book first.  I was enthralled and slightly in love with these group of men who were dangerous but extremely loyal to their women and each other.  So I put the first few books on my Christmas wish, and boom I was hooked!  The first book, Wrath's book, is my favorite, but this book is a close second.

It is filled with love, loyalty, forgiveness, and understanding.  There is so much that happens in this book and it just left me breathless! If you are just coming in, you might want to get up to speed with the other books, because you might get a little lost reading this book first.  But it is still a really great story.  I actually came away appreciating my husband even more.


View all my reviews