Thursday, 16 April 2026

✧ Book Review ✧ A Plethora of Phantoms (Spirited Encounters Book 2) by Penny Hampson





A Plethora of Phantoms 
(Spirited Encounters Book 2)
By Penny Hampson


Publication Date: 3rd February 2026
Publisher: PP&M Publishing
Print Length: 259 Pages
Genre:  Paranormal Ghost Romance / Gay Romance


Whose footsteps in the dark?

He is heir to the earldom of Batheaston and lives in an elegant, stately home, but handsome twenty-something Freddie Lanyon is not a happy man. Not only is he gay and dreading coming out to his family, but he’s also troubled by ghosts that nobody else can see.

When Freddie’s impulsive purchase of an antique dressing case triggers even more ghostly happenings with potentially catastrophic consequences, he has to take action.

Freddie contacts charismatic psychic Marcus Spender for help and feels an immediate attraction to this handsome antique dealer –– a feeling that is mutual. But the pair’s investigations unearth shocking, long-buried secrets, which prove a major challenge to their task of laying unhappy spirits to rest and to their blossoming relationship.

Being brave isn’t one of Freddie’s standout qualities, but he’ll need all the courage he can muster to rid himself of wayward phantoms and get his life on track.

A Plethora of Phantoms is an uplifting ghostly tale about love, friendship, and acceptance.

✧ Review ✧

Freddie goes back to Lanyon Park not really expecting anything to be different. If anything, it feels like he’s just slipping back into something that was already decided for him. It doesn’t feel like a choice so much as something he has to do, and that comes across straight away. It should feel familiar, but it doesn’t quite. Like something’s shifted while he’s been gone, even if he can’t really explain it.

Early on, there’s more focus on the dressing case than anything obviously strange. It kind of stands out before you really know why, like it matters in a way Freddie hasn’t figured out yet. The weird stuff comes after that.

Then the small things start happening. Nothing big or dramatic, just… off. His stuff being moved, tidied away, put somewhere he knows he didn’t leave it. At first you could probably brush it off, but it keeps happening, and that’s what makes it creepy. It starts to feel a bit deliberate, which is worse.

Freddie feels very real in how he deals with it. He doesn’t jump straight to thinking it’s haunted or anything, he tries to explain it, make it make sense, but that only works for so long before it just doesn’t anymore.

Marcus—a handsom antique dealer—shows up and changes the dynamic quite a bit. He’s one of the first people to really take an interest in the dressing case, noticing things Freddie doesn’t and kind of clocking that it’s not just some random object. And from there, things sort of grow between them. Their relationship is actually a big part of the story, and it’s done really well. It’s not rushed or overly intense, but it doesn’t feel like a side plot either. It just builds in a way that feels natural.

The mystery itself comes together pretty slowly, mostly through small bits and pieces rather than big reveals. The dressing case ends up being a key part of it, pointing back to something that’s been left unresolved for a long time. I liked that it doesn’t rush to explain everything, it just lets it unfold.

By the end, when things finally click into place, it feels deserved. There’s a kind of quiet resolution to it—not just understanding what happened, but feeling like it’s finally been settled. It doesn’t try to do anything too dramatic at the end, which honestly suits the book.

One thing is for certain—I have definitely been put off buying antiques. I mean, yeah, someone to tidy up after me would be nice but… oh. Shiver.


 ✧ Buy Link ✧ 
Universal Buy Link
Read with #KindleUnlimited

Penny Hampson


Penny Hampson writes mysteries, and because she has a passion for history, you’ll find her stories also reflect that. A Gentleman’s Promise, a traditional Regency romance, was Penny’s debut novel and the first of her Gentlemen Series. There are now four novels in the series, with the latest, An Adventurer’s Contract, released in November 2024. Penny also enjoys writing contemporary mysteries with a hint of the paranormal, because where do ghosts come from but the past? The Unquiet Spirit, a spooky mystery/romance set in Cornwall, is the first in the Spirited Encounters Series. Look out for A Plethora of Phantoms coming soon.

Penny lives with her family in Oxfordshire, and when she is not writing, she enjoys reading, walking, swimming, and the odd gin and tonic (not all at the same time).

If you’ve enjoyed any of Penny’s books please leave a review on Amazon, Bookbub, or Goodreads, and let other readers know!

Social Media Links:
Website  ✧ Instagram  ✧  Twitter / X  ✧  Facebook  ✧  Bluesky  ✧  BookBub  ✧  Goodreads


Tour Schedule







Tuesday, 7 April 2026

✧ Book Spotlight ✧ The Last Fatal Hour by Jan Matthews



The last fatal hour

By Jan Matthews


Publication Date: April 7th, 2026
Publisher: Coffee and Ink Press
Pages: 310
Genre: Historical Mystery


A budding socialite haunted by war steps into the Brooklyn Heights world of whispers, seances, and murder.


For Leona Gladney, former woman soldier of the Union Army, life goes on despite the echoes of the battlefield in her heart. Now a suffragist and budding socialite in Brooklyn Heights, she yearns for a literary life and family. But her husband’s business partner embezzles their money and disappears.


The society matrons of Brooklyn Heights turn a gimlet eye on Leona after the suspicious death of a wealthy friend. Leona will do anything to find justice for her friend and clear her own name, but she finds only secrets, seances and murder.




✧ Buy Links 

Universal Buy Link



Jan Matthews


Jan Matthews is an American expat living in the sunshine in Portugal. She is (finally) retired from HIM and writes historical mysteries from the Middle Ages to World War I. When not writing or drinking coffee and wine in nearby cafes, she knits and crochets for charity and reviews books on her blog.

Connect with Jan:




Sunday, 29 March 2026

✧ Book Review ✧ The Scald Crow (Beyond the Faerie Rath Book 1) by Hanna Park



The Scald Crow (Beyond the Faerie Rath Book 1) By Hanna Park


Publication Date: 26th May 2025 Publisher: Baisong Press Print Length: 260 Pages Genre: Fantasy / Romance

Calla left her life behind, haunted by a curse she cannot control. She seeks refuge in the land of a thousand hellos, Ireland, for a fresh start—a place where no one knows who or what she is. Colm fled from Clonmara seven long years ago, but now it’s his father’s birthday, and the clan has gathered to celebrate the ould one. Each day brings back the memories that ruined him. Saoirse dwells in the shadows of a lost love, unwilling to move on and unable to forget. The crystals say one thing, but the cold, hard truth tells another. Ciarán walked away from the woman he loved for the fun, for the craic. He didn’t realize that one rash decision would impact the lives of so many, least of all his own. Four broken hearts, brought together by the thread of love.

 ✧ Review ✧

Calla doesn’t arrive in Ireland full of hope; it feels more like she’s run out of options. Losing her job has already knocked her off balance, and inheriting a property from someone she’s never heard of merely gives her somewhere to land, not necessarily a place where she belongs. From the beginning, there’s a sense that this won’t be a clean reset. Her visions are a curse that she thas tried all her life to keep hidden, because when people find out they shun her.

Colm’s situation is almost the opposite. He is tied to his origins whether he likes it or not. Family, memory, and especially the disappearance of his brother, Ciarán, quietly but heavily loom in the background of his life. When Calla and Colm meet, there’s no slow build. It feels immediate, as if something clicks into place before either of them has time to question it.
Their relationship is swoon worthy yet also frustrating, both wanting to be together in all sense of the word but Colm holds back, wanting a longer more grounded relationship with her then one based on sex alone. Still. the scenes where they are togetther and where temptation takes hold are very sensual.

There is a secondary story running along theres, and that is of Ciarán, the brother that went missing, only he isn't missing he is just somewhere other. He is alive, but he isn't aloud to live. His partner in the human world, Saoirse, has to carry the weight of his loss, hanging onto the past almost afriad to let him go.

This book is a real treat for fans of "Romantasy" novels.

 ✧ Buy Link

Hanna Park

 `I began my writing career in the pre-dawn of a winter morning while my husband snored like a train. We could call my husband the catalyst. If it weren’t for him, I would never have gone to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, feed the cat, and sit on the loveseat in front of the fire. It was there, in those moments of wondrous quiet, that I did something I had never thought possible. I opened my laptop, and while the coffee went cold, I wrote a story. My husband had no idea that these sojourns to the loveseat in front of the fire would become a daily occurrence, that writing would become an obsession, but the cat knew. She knows everything.

I write stories that make you laugh, make you cry, and make you love. Thank you, friends, for reading!

In the beginning, there was an empty page.

I am a writer who lives in Muskoka, Canada, with a husband who snores, a hungry cat, and an almost perfect canine––he’s an adorable little shit.

Social Media Links:
Website  ✧ Instagram  ✧ Facebook  ✧ BookBub  ✧ Goodreads

 ✧ Tour Schedule  




Friday, 27 March 2026

✧ Book Spotlight ✧ The Queen’s Maid (The Anne Boleyn Chronicles #Book 2) by Rozsa Gaston


The Queen’s Maid

The Anne Boleyn Chronicles #Book 2
By Rozsa Gaston



Publication Date: February 13th, 2026
Publisher: Sapere Books
Pages: 244
Genre: Tudor Historical Fiction / Historical Saga



The Tudor series continues! For fans of Philippa Gregory, Elizabeth Chadwick, Carol McGrath and Anne O’Brien.

A new adventure begins for Anne…

France, 1514

After an enlightening period of training as a lady’s maid at Margaret of Austria’s court, Anne Boleyn has been sent to France.

She arrives at the Palace of Tournelles, home of ageing King Louis and his new English wife, Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII. As Anne speaks French, her main role is to serve as translator for Queen Mary.

Anne’s sister Mary is also at the French court, and Anne soon learns that not everyone is pleased about the union between the French king and his young queen.

The king’s cousin-in-law, Louise of Savoy, is desperate for Queen Mary not to fall pregnant, so that her son Francis will ascend the throne.

And with Louise and the English queen pulling Anne in two different directions, it will not be possible to appease everyone.

Can Anne successfully navigate the familial politics at the French royal court? Will she make her mark as one of the queen’s maids?

Or could her divided loyalties prove to be her undoing…?

THE QUEEN’S MAID is a thoroughly researched, fascinating historical novel set during the 16th century in Europe. It is the second book in the Anne Boleyn Chronicles series.

THE ANNE BOLEYN CHRONICLES SERIES:
Book One: Maid of Honour
Book Two: The Queen’s Maid
Book Three: Queen of Diamonds


 ✧ Praise 


Wonderfully detailed and entirely enjoyable. This is a young Anne in whom I absolutely believe, and who does much to explain the woman she’d become.
~ Sarah Gristwood, author of Game of Queens


... a wonderful glimpse into history and a reminder of Anne Boleyn’s enduring legacy as a woman who was ahead of her times, and paid the ultimate price. This novel is packed full of deftly-woven research. It has many standout features, but the highlight is the completely immersive nature of Gaston’s writing.
~ Historical Novel Company



✧ Buy Links 

Book 1 – Maid of Honour Universal Buy Link

Book 2 – The Queen's Maid Universal Buy Link

Book 3 – Queen of Diamonds (coming soon)


Series Buy Link Amazon UK

Series Buy Link Amazon US


Rozsa Gaston


Rozsa Gaston is a historical fiction author who writes books on women who reach for what they want out of life.


She is the author of Maid of Honour: Anne Boleyn at Margaret of Austria's Court, 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 of the 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗨𝗖𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 for Early Historical Fiction, The Queen's Maid: Anne Boleyn in France, Queen of Diamonds: The French Royal Court, Margaret of Austria, 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 of the 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗨𝗖𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 for Early Historical Fiction, the four-book Anne of Brittany Series: Anne and Charles; Anne and Louis, 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 of the 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴 𝗣𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞𝗟𝗬 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲; Anne and Louis: Rulers and Lovers; and Anne and Louis Forever Bound, 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 of the 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗨𝗖𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 for Early Historical Fiction.


Other works include Sense of Touch, Marguerite and Gaston, The Least Foolish Woman in France, Paris Adieu, and Budapest Romance.


Gaston studied European history at Yale and received her master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia. She worked at Institutional Investor, WR Capital, and as a columnist for The Westchester Guardian before becoming a novelist. 


She is currently working on Book Four of The Anne Boleyn Chronicles, covering Anne Boleyn's time at the 1520 Field of Cloth of Gold. She lives in Bronxville, New York with her family.


Her motto? History matters.


Connect with Rozsa:

Website ✧ Twitter / X  Facebook  Instagram  TikTok  BookBub 

Amazon Author Page  Goodreads




✧ Book Review ✧ A Plethora of Phantoms (Spirited Encounters Book 2) by Penny Hampson

A Plethora of Phantoms  (Spirited Encounters Book 2) By Penny Hampson Publication Date: 3rd February 2026 Publisher: PP&M Publishing Pri...