Driftless Spirits ~ Great Escapes Book Tours Spotlight & Giveaway!

DRIFTLESS SPIRITS

(Secrets in Casten's Horn, Book One)

By KAREN RINGEL

Cozy Mystery / Ghosts / Suspense

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Casten House Books

Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 30, 2025

Print length ‏ : ‎ 280 pages

SCROLL DOWN FOR A GIVEAWAY

About Driftless Spirits

Charlotte Burke can’t shake her recurring dream.

Over and over again she dreams of finding a mysterious journal on a candlelit desk while wandering through a strange house in the middle of the night. Every dream has shown her a framed picture of an old woman sitting at the same desk, except the latest version. Last night, the woman stood and offered Charlotte a keyring. In the morning, Charlotte woke up with her car keys in her hand.

Her best friend is worried but skeptical when Charlotte insists the house is real. The dream is metaphorical, Ivy says, reflecting Charlotte’s restless state. Ivy gifts her a journal and urges her to take the trip her subconscious is demanding before she wakes up behind the wheel. A roadtrip of self-discovery will help Charlotte figure out what she really wants.

Charlotte agrees to the roadtrip but not for Ivy’s reasons. To her, the house, the journal and the woman in her dream are all too real. She sets off to do the impossible. If she can find the house and uncover its secrets in time, she might save far more than her driftless life.

BUY THE BOOK

Universal Link ** Amazon Kindle ** Amazon Print

Apple ** B&N (ebook and print) ** Kobo

About the Author

In 2020, Karen Ringel retired from an engineering career to settle in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin with her husband. After taking some time to adapt to the rural lifestyle, she started creating the fictional Casten’s Horn, imagining how a small town might have been founded in the secluded valley she lives in. Always a researcher at heart, her books include references to real bits of history and traditions in an effort to enhance her stories. She writes what she likes to read: small-town mysteries with a cozy feel.

Visit Karen's author website, where she blogs about writing and the Driftless area of Wisconsin and her Goodreads author page, where "Ask the Author" is enabled, and she's happy to answer questions!

GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

One winner receives a paperback copy of Driftless Spirits (Secrets in Casten's Horn) by Karen Ringel + a $25 Amazon gift card!

(US only; ends 4/6/26)

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

March 23 – Jody's Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT 

March 23 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT 

March 24 – Christy's Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST 

March 25 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST

March 26 – Sarandipity's – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 27 – Hall Ways Blog – SPOTLIGHT

March 28 – Boys' Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT

March 29 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

March 30 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST

March 31 - Salty Inspirations – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

April 1 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

April 2 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT

April 3 – Because I said so - adventures in parenting. - REVIEW

April 4 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT

April 5 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today!

Want to Book a Tour? Click Here

A Madness Unmade ~ Book Review

A MADNESS UNMADE

The Deathly Inheritance Duology, Book One

By E.K. Larson-Burnett

Young Adult / Gaslamp Fantasy / Coming of Age 

March 3, 2024

271 pages

HALL WAYS REVIEW: Initially drawn to the cover, then intrigued by the premise, by page five I was immersed in the magic of A MADNESS UNMADE: THE DEATHLY INHERITANCE DUOLOGY, BOOK ONE. Though there are elements reminiscent of books by authors like J.K. Rowling, V.E. Schwab, T.J. Klune, Ransom Riggs, plus some Haunted Mansion vibe, none of this story felt copy-cat-ish. Author E.K. Larson-Burnett managed to mix all the best magical morsels together and put her own inventive mark on A MADNESS UNMADE, creating a style all her own.

Laurel was “feeling as though she had been dunked in a goblet of champagne, dizzy and buzzing and alive.”

There are many subplots happening in A MADNESS UNMADE, but the teacher in me noted and enjoyed the underlying message of different people having different learning styles. While main-character Laurel’s first tutor is impatient and intolerant of Laurel’s struggles to learn what she must as Guardian of the Underhallow, when he gives up on her, it’s a gift. Laurel’s second tutor recognizes her challenges  and adjusts his lessons accordingly. And she blooms! Seeing Laurel grow in her self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-acceptance is wonderful to watch unfold. The icing on the cake is that she has love and support from a group of caring ghosts!

The undead in A MADNESS UNMADE are, ironically, fully fleshed out characters. Add-in that because of Laurel’s magic, she can experience their touch and fully engage with them makes the storyline even more robust, and unique among most ghost stories. There is a wide cast of ghosts (Revenants), but at start of the book, there’s a helpful section titled, “The Rumbroom Family Ancestry” that helps keep Laurel’s family straight. (Though I think a family tree visual would have been easier for my learning style. Some relationships are unclear, and I wonder about Genevieve, Laurel’s great-great aunt, who’s never mentioned again. Hmmmm.)   

“He towered before her, which would have been intimidating if not for his eyebrows lurching up and down with each word like waltzing black worms.”

In A MADNESS UNMADE,  Larson-Burnett provides readers excellent world building and explanations about the mechanics of how the Revenant world operates. The writing and language are often humorous, and always delightful with cleverly crafted turns of phrase to immerse readers in the time period and tone of the setting. The illustrations sprinkled throughout the story are a welcome addition, too.

“She could no longer pansy-foot in the penumbral presence of its terror.”

Since this is the first book in a duology, I suspected there would be many questions left unanswered, and I wasn’t wrong. Tension ramps up considerably in the last quarter of the book, and readers are left alongside Laurel to puzzle out a whole lot of mysteries. And with the specter of the League for Revenant Reformation and Dissipators looming about, along with their ever-changing Revenant Accords, it feels like the clock is ticking on how much time is left for Laurel and her house full of ghosts to keep their peaceful existence.

“She was a blister rubbed raw, an exposed nerve in a storm of sharp things.”

*BRACE YOURSELF* I have no complaints about the editing. I read an ARC copy and it was pert near perfect. Anyone who follows my reviews knows it is a rare thing when I don’t find editing issues. My only grievance with A MADNESS UNMADE is that the second book isn’t ready NOW.   Meanwhile, I’ll be buying a paperback copy so I can enjoy that cover and maybe revisit Laurel and her ghostly friends while I eagerly anticipate the next installment.

GET YOUR COPY

Storms of Malhado ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Author Video & Giveaway!

STORMS OF MALHADO
by

MARIA ELENA SANDOVICI

Genre: Historical Fiction / Ghosts
Publisher: Independently Published
Date of Publication: March 26, 2020

Number of Pages: 252

Scroll down for the giveaway!

 

Galveston Island, Texas, September 2008 Katie doesn’t believe in ghosts. And she certainly doesn’t believe the rumors that her family’s home is haunted, despite its tragic history: two young women who lived there in different eras died in hurricanes—one during Hurricane Carla in 1961, one during the Great Storm of 1900, the greatest natural disaster to befall the United States. But that was the past, a fact Katie reminds herself of when she returns to Galveston to await Hurricane Ike with her parents and boyfriend in her family’s Broadway mansion, hoping to rekindle her flailing relationship.

While Katie is not afraid of the ghost stories she’s heard, she is afraid of the monster storm approaching. As even die-hard Islanders evacuate, her fears grow—fear of the looming hurricane, fear that she’s talentless as a painter, fear that her relationship with her boyfriend is already over. As Katie struggles against her fears, the past whispers to her of the women who died there and the haunting similarities they share with Katie’s own life. 

Through three different timelines, Storms of Malhado weaves a story of Galveston’s past, underscoring its danger and isolation, as well as its remarkable resilience, and its capacity for both nostalgia and reinvention. Full of contradictions, at once insular and open to the world, Galveston Island is as much a character of the novel as Katie, Suzanne, Betty, their lovers, and their confidantes.

PRAISE FOR STORMS OF MALHADO:

"Taking place entirely on a beautifully moody Galveston Island, Ms. Sandovici weaves three simultaneous stories with ease. With a timeless tale, ethereal language, and complicated characters, readers will be entranced by this modern ghost story. How many times can the past repeat itself? How do we recognize people through generations? The author tackles this topic amid a backdrop of violent nature and intangible dreamscapes." 
—Courtney Brandt, author of The Queen of England: Coronation, Grand Tour, Ascension

"Three women, three great storms, and one house, haunted by forbidden love and frustrated ambition. Get ready to be swept away by Sandovici’s foray into Galveston Island’s tempestuous history in this tale of lives intertwined across time.”
—Donna Dechen Birdwell, author of Not Knowing

CLICK TO PURCHASE

Amazon

“Storm Survivor – The Story of a Painting"

Author and artist Maria Elena Sandovici was inspired by her book,

Storms of Malhado, to create Storm Survivor, a 36x48" acrylic

painting created with the book's cover in mind.

Maria Elena Sandovici is a full-time writer, artist, and gallery owner living in Houston, Texas. After obtaining a Ph.D. in political science from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 2005, her curiosity led her to Texas, where she taught at Lamar University for fourteen years. She felt attracted to Galveston Island from her first visit and lived there part-time for three years before her artistic career took her to Houston. 

Sandovici is a 2008 graduate of John Ross Palmer's Escapist Mentorship Program, a program that teaches artists business skills. She resigned from her tenured academic position in December 2018 and opened her own private gallery space. Her previous works of fiction are Dogs with Bagels, Stray Dogs and Lonely Beaches, Lost Path to Solitude, The Adventures of Miss Vulpe, and Lone Wolf. She is also the author of Stop and Smell the Garbage, a volume of poetry in the voice of her dog, Holly Golightly. You can follow her daily adventures on her blog HaveWatercolorsWillTravel.blog.

WEBSITE ║ FACEBOOK ║ TWITTER ║ INSTAGRAM ║ YOUTUBE

PINTEREST ║AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE║ GOODREADS ║ BOOKBUB

-----------------------

GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!

ONE WINNER receives a signed copy of Storms of Malhado

MAY 21-31, 2020

(US ONLY)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE

FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY. 
Or, visit the blogs directly:

5/21/20	Notable Quotable	The Page Unbound
5/21/20	Review	Forgotten Winds
5/22/20	Author Video	Hall Ways Blog
5/22/20	Review	The Clueless Gent
5/23/20	Playlist	That's What She's Reading
5/24/20	Excerpt	Chapter Break Book Blog
5/25/20	Character Interview	Texas Book Lover
5/25/20	Review	Rainy Days with Amanda
5/26/20	Review	Reading by Moonlight
5/27/20	Excerpt	Sybrina's Book Blog
5/27/20	BONUS Post	Sybrina Publishing
5/28/20	Guest Post	StoreyBook Reviews
5/28/20	Review	All the Ups and Downs
5/29/20	Scrapbook	Tangled in Text
5/30/20	Review	Missus Gonzo
5/30/20	Review	KayBee's Book Shelf

   blog tour services provided by

  

Paranormal Texas ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Review & Giveaway

PARANORMAL TEXAS
Your Travel Guide
to Haunted Places
Near Dallas & Fort Worth
2ND EDITION

by

TUI SNIDER

  Genre: Travel / Haunted Places / Texas History

Publisher: Castle Azle Press

Date of Publication: September 19, 2019

Number of Pages: 210 with 100+ black & white images

Scroll down for Giveaway!

More Haunted Places and True Ghost Stories!

Tui Snider's popular travel guide to haunted places in North Texas is back with a fully updated 2nd Edition featuring more haunted places and true ghost stories!

What's new in Paranormal Texas, 2nd Edition?

Just like the original travel guide, Paranormal Texas 2nd Edition gives readers haunted history and directions to sites where paranormal activity is reported in the Dallas - Fort Worth Metroplex.

The 2nd edition now includes:

• Photos: Readers asked for photos of haunted places. Paranormal Texas, 2nd edition has over 50 photos of haunted towns, haunted hotels, and more.

• Ghost hunting tips: Tui Snider explains what she has learned since she began attending paranormal investigations with Texas ghost hunters.

• More haunted places: Several new venues (including a haunted doll museum!) with fascinating haunted history were added to Paranormal Texas, 2nd edition.

• Firsthand accounts: Readers asked for more true ghost stories and hauntings. (She even shares personal experiences with paranormal activity, including a strange encounter with her doppelganger at a haunted hotel!)

All the above, PLUS a paranormal activity evidence database:

See the paranormal activity for yourself: Readers can access an online database with links to EVPs, ghost photos, videos, and other evidence gathered by paranormal investigators who have visited the haunted sites in her book.

•Continually updated: This database will be continually updated with EVPs, anomalous photos, videos, and other data gathered at haunted places featured in Paranormal Texas, 2nd edition.

•Add your paranormal activity: Readers can contact the author if they have paranormal evidence to add!

Is Paranormal Texas, 2nd edition for YOU?
1. Ghost Hunters - If you want to plan a fun road trip to haunted places (with or without ghost hunting equipment) Paranormal Texas, 2nd edition can help.

2. Armchair Travelers - If you prefer reading about haunted history, Paranormal Texas, 2nd edition can take you on an exciting armchair tour through haunted towns of North Texas.

"Tui's 2nd edition is spot on fun and thrilling for everyone 

to read as only Tui can tell it!"  

- Greg Stephens, Paranormal Investigator (RIP)

CLICK TO PURCHASE!

The Tragic Truth about Smiley's Grave at Mills Cemetery in Garland, Texas

HALL WAYS REVIEW: What a breath of fresh air it is to read Paranormal Texas: Your Travel Guide to HAUNTED PLACES near Dallas & Fort Worth, 2^nd Edition. From the book’s subject matter to its author’s style of writing, Paranormal Texas is a fun and informative step outside the box from any travel guide I’ve read before.

“If there’s one thing I learned while researching places to include in Paranormal Texas, it’s that where there’s history, there will be hauntings!”

Author Tui Snider’s guide takes readers to twenty-five cities in and around Dallas-Fort Worth and shares the histories of the places within each town in order to set the stage for why any of them might be or are haunted. Snider even pulls in some urban myths popular to some areas to further entertain and amuse readers.  The author has personal experiences in many of the places mentioned in the book, which again puts it into a different category of travel guide.  Oh, and there are the ghost stories!

Snider’s writing style is informal and feels like reading a series of letters from a girlfriend. She’s not trying to convince anyone of anything; rather, Snider encourages readers to explore, experience, and draw their own conclusions. Readers can even take things to the next level by the opportunities for interaction on Snider’s Paranormal Texas Evidence Database, a bare-bones work-in-progress for examples of paranormal evidence to be shared. (I went down that rabbit hole. FASCINATING!)  

I was amazed at how much local history I learned despite having lived most of my fifty plus years in the DFW area. How had I missed the haunted bookstores and libraries? And the horrifying mass lynchings of 1862 in Gainesville? Had no idea. Of course, I have to let Tui know about another haunted location in Fort Worth that needs exploring -- the Fort Worth Club Hotel -- and I can connect her to a person with the first-hand experience. No FOAF (friend-of-a-friend) account here.

Whether you are a non-believer, a paranormal skeptic, or all-in, Paranormal Texas is a book that has much to offer anyone interested in seeing Texas from an off-beat angle. There is no doubt in my mind that if I were to visit every town and every place in the book, that even if I never experienced a single cold chill or saw a single floating orb, I’d have a blast because these places are what help define Texas, historical warts and all.

Thank you to Lone Star Book Blog Tours and the author for providing a handy print copy to take along on my adventures in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give. 

Tui Snider is an award-winning writer, speaker, photographer, and musician specializing in offbeat sites, overlooked history, cemetery symbolism, and haunted lore. As she puts it, “I used to write fiction, but then I moved to Texas!”

Tui lectures frequently at universities, libraries, conferences, and bookstores.This fall, she will speak about the Great Airship Mystery of 1897 at this year’s UFO Congress and teach a course on Understanding Cemetery Symbols at Texas Christian University. She also shares weekly info-videos based on her research at her YouTube channel.

Snider’s writing and photography have been featured in a variety of media outlets, including WFAA TV, Coast to Coast AM, LifeHack, Langdon Review, the City of Plano, Wild Woman Waking, Shades of Angels and many more. She has several more books in progress.

◆  WEBSITE  ◆  FACEBOOK  ◆  TWITTER  ◆

◆  AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE  ◆

◆  INSTAGRAM  ◆   YOUTUBE  ◆
GRAVE HOUR ON INSTAGRAM

 --------------------------------------- 

GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!

 GRAND PRIZE (US only): 
Signed Paperback + Handmade Cemetery Angel Pendant
+$10 Amazon Gift Card

2^ND PRIZE (US only): Signed Copy

3^RD PRIZE (International): Kindle eBook

(US ONLY)

  October 1-October 11, 2019

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CHECK OUT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:

10/1/19	Reading by Moonlight
10/2/19	Bibliotica
10/2/19	Book Fidelity
10/3/19	StoreyBook Reviews
10/4/19	Nerd Narration
10/4/19	Hall Ways Blog
10/5/19	Carpe Diem Chronicles
10/6/19	Forgotten Winds
10/6/19	Books and Broomsticks
10/7/19	The Page Unbound
10/8/19	The Book Review
10/8/19	Chapter Break Book Blog
10/9/19	Missus Gonzo
10/10/19	All the Ups and Downs
10/11/19	That's What She's Reading

blog tour services provided by