Lots of changes in the small kingdom of Bulvania.  The former King has passed, and they are looking for a replacement. Young Raymond is not sure he is the right choice.  He has already lived a life of seclusion.

Logan, being tugged along by his father, is not sure he wants to even see Bulvania.  He thinks spending any time there will mean being less himself. His appreciation for fine looking things may help him change his mind.

I found the book started out pretty well.  The explanations, while a bit weak, at least caught my interest enough to stick around to find out more.  Then it just got weird with no warning.  I am not a spoiler type of person so I will just leave it there.  I will say I had hoped to have more story base.  I felt like it was getting rushed and absolutely struggled to get to the end.  I would not really recommend this one to my readers.  I know that is rare, but we cannot love them all.  I give this one a 3/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***This copy was given by Netgalley and its publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Probst grabbed me at hello. Carter and Avery are the sweetest mix of chaos and forever that I've ever encountered. He's the Grinch with a hero's heart. She's the dreamer with a romantic soul. Never quite perfect, yet hopelessly drawn together. Love on Beach Avenue is a melody that lures your heart into the tune. Probst constructs a beautiful kind of heartache that proves itself to be a breathtaking experience.

I love this book! I always expect cheesy and predictable storylines when I read romance but, although still fairly predictable (come on, we read these books because we do want a happy ending), I wasn't bored one bit as I read this. I found myself smiling along a lot, which is always a good thing. As a protagonist, Naomi is a good blend of strong and vulnerable, something I don't find in a lot of books in the same genre. I'm definitely filing the next books in the series in my TBR folder.

Well after that downer of a story this was better. And yes, it's actually horror. I think Reeds did a good job with a haunted house story with some teeth to it. It made me think a little bit of Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House". The ending was a nice surprise (in a bad way) so I liked that too.

Newcomer Ana moves back to her husband's hometown into a ramshackle Victorian home. Ana loves to restore homes, but the old house seems dark and something seems to be taking over her husband. With her toddler daughter to care for, Ana tries to find help with the local populace, but it seems as if deaf ears and eyes are turned away.

I liked Ana and felt for her. You get how increasingly alone she feels with no job and nothing to do but focus on her daughter and the home. Her husband changes slightly as soon as they move in and then you get to see the bigger ways. And you get the vibe the in-laws don't like her at all. 

I could picture the home and the little town that wanted nothing to do with her. A solid ending to this collection which was honestly 90 percent a miss with me. 

When I began reading this novella, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy the experience. It begins with Helen O'Neill, a widow of Irish American stock, who had been recommended for a prestigious position working in the library of the great and powerful financier J.P Morgan by its librarian Belle da Costa Greene, being locked in a room of the library after being found in Morgan's private study. The time is December 1912, shortly before Christmas.

But as I went on to read further into the book, the author did subtly reveal, by degrees, to the reader the nature of Helen's life with her family in their home in the Bronx (where she had gone to live after her husband had died from fever in 1898 as a soldier in the Spanish American War). Helen is a very sensitive soul with a kind of sixth sense, which the Irish call 'aes sidhe.'.  One wintry night after leaving the library to return home to the Bronx, she makes the acquaintance one night of a young woman dressed in clothes long out of fashion and unsuitable for the time of year. Helen is troubled by the experience and at first is at a loss as to how to make sense of it. She would encounter this woman a few more times, including once in the library itself!  This is 'the ghost of Madison Avenue', a ghost with an interesting connection with one of the main characters which I won't reveal here.  Indeed, there is so much more to this book that evokes mystery and wonder not unlike that one would find in Wilkie Collins' novel, 'The Woman in White.'

I was surprised - and amazed - by what I found from reading "THE GHOST OF MADISON AVENUE." It left me with a palpable feel for the New York City of 1912, as well as for the lives of some of the Irish Americans who resided and worked there. Thank you, Nancy Bilyeau.