Hereafter by LeeAnne Hansen - Book Review

I am really excited to be revealing my review for Hereafter (A Southern Haunting Book 2) by LeeAnne Hansen today as I read it a few weeks ago and I have been busting to talk about it, but I couldn't share until after it had been released.

Hereafter

Forced to live and run a business with a woman who shattered his heart years ago, and without his father's help, Charles' life is far from ideal. Renown as a ladies' man, Charles now finds himself coming up short on women, charm and even dead bodies for his mortuary. He knows who is to blame for all this, even if he hasn't the slightest idea why she is causing him so much torment ... 

Samantha has been given a second chance even though she knows that she does not deserve one. Now haunted by her past, she fled from a life she was desperate to escape, only to collide with the man who once held her heart but now wishes nothing but to crush it. Has she just run from a smouldering fire to an even deadlier one? 

As the night grows darker and storms brew on the horizon, both Charles and Samantha realise that the past is not an easy ghost to shake and the future is rarely predictable.

My Review

When ever I review one of LeeAnne's novels, I always end up gushing because I just love them so much (See my reviews of Yonder and Ghost Light). I don't know how to put into words just how much I enjoy her books and that means that I end up waffling so apologies in advance for this one! 

Hereafter follows the same time line as Yonder and starts by going through each of Isabelle's birthdays, except they are from the point of view of Samantha and Charles instead. Having read Yonder and already knowing each scene, it was incredibly interesting to see the exact same thing from a different perspective and it shows just how much things can be missed or misunderstood when you only know one side of a story. 

When the story kicks into the present day (1940's) it then follows Charles and Samantha as they struggle with the situation they have been forced into. As I learnt more about both of them I came to love them the same way I did with Isabel and Benjamin in Yonder. I honestly never thought I would change my opinion of Charles, I thought he was pompous and a bit of an ass, but I did change my mind after getting to know him better. Another lesson learnt there, that you shouldn't judge someone until you get to know them. 

They are some really beautiful moments throughout the book, some quieter moments which are so important but that can be over looked. The talks that Charles and Samantha have over the years about the stars and Peter Pan are just so sweet. Samantha also has some moments with a girl called Wendy and they were so touching and poignant, that they have stayed with me log after I finished the book. 

The haunting in Hereafter is a lot more subtle than in Yonder, and I liked how it was incorporated into the story. I enjoyed the subtlety and I thought it worked very well with being a "lighter" haunting as there is a bit more darkness in the main story line. 

Overall an absolutely excellent story and another love for me, I can already tell you a spoiler for my twelve days of Christmas, that this book will be on my list of the twelve top books of the year. I am also incredibly excited for the next instalment of A Southern Haunting and finding out what happened between Eve and Doug. 

I gave Hereafter ALL THE STARS! 

About The Author

If you'd like to know more about LeeAnne, I interviewed her last year as part of my review for the audio book release of Yonder, you check that out here.

LeeAnne Hansen was born in Paris, grew up in Oklahoma and now lives in sunny southern California with her husband and cats. She enjoys writing, acting and playing bass guitar. She can be seen gracing the stage in various theatres or even directing. She is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and has studied art and astronomy. She also thoroughly enjoys long walks on the beach.

Connect With The Author

Twitter - @LeeAnne_Hansen_

Facebook - LeeAnne Hansen

Website - https://www.leeannehansenbooks.com/

Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas - Day 12

It took me a while to decide how best to deal with my stand out book from December as there is still over a week left and maybe my stand out book would be read during this next week, also I'm currently part way trough a couple of books so maybe my stand out book could be one of those. So what I've decided to do is to show case my stand out book from last December and that's what I'll do each year. I think this makes it as fair as I can make it. 

Before I get into it though I just want to say thank you to everyone who has joined me through my Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas, it has been a lot of fun for me and it has made me remember so many good books, not just the ones that I have mentioned. It's been a lot of work and the word twelve no longer means anything as I've typed it out that many times, but it's been worth it! I really hope you have all enjoyed this as much as me. 

Day 12 - December Book - Ghost Light by LeeAnne Hansen

Fiona Corrigan and her troupe of actors are mysteriously summoned to a remote Scottish Highlands village in the dead of winter. Fiona is all too happy to be stranded with Patrick, her brooding co-star in this strange village, until his caddish brother enters the picture and complicates everything. Set in the 1920’s, this chilling romance is entangled with twisted family secrets, murder and one, very persistent ghost.

My Thoughts

Even though I read this book almost exactly twelve months ago I can still remember the story and the characters clearly. I absolutely and utterly fell in love with this book and I have mentioned it more than once throughout the past year. 

Ghost Light had me hooked from the opening which was a scene from a play as it was so well written and I wanted to find out what it was foreshadowing in the book. I continued to enjoy the scenes throughout the book and how they echoed the main story, also I got a bonus story within a story. Who wouldn't like that! 

I can still feel the atmosphere that LeeAnne created even now as it was just so well done and so intense. The small sleepy village in the middle of nowhere and the cold - I remember wrapping myself in my blanket while reading this I was so involved. 

If you want to read my full quite rambling review of Ghost Light, you'll find it here. 

About The Author

I was lucky enough to interview LeeAnne back in July so for more information about her, please check out my blog post here. 

LeeAnne Hansen was born in Paris, grew up in Oklahoma and now lives in sunny southern California with her husband and cats. She enjoys writing, acting and playing bass guitar. She can be seen gracing the stage in various theatres or even directing. She is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and has studied art and astronomy. She also thoroughly enjoys long walks on the beach.

If you've missed any of the days and would like to take a look, I've linked them all down below 

Day 1 - Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Day 2 - Sinking by Sarah Armstrong-Garner

Day 3 - Attack On Titan: Volume 1 by Hajime Isayama

Day 4 - The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen

Day 5 - Whispers Of Bedlam Asylum by Mark C. King

Day 6 - Deadly Harvest by Michael Stanley

Day 7 - A Single Drop Of Perfect & Other Stories by Jessikah Hope-Stenson

Day 8 - Beetlebrow by Ben Parker

Day 9 - The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Day 10 - They Move Below by Karl Drinkwater

Day 11 - For The Love Of Shakespeare by Beth Miller

Yonder by LeeAnne Hansen - Audiobook Review and Author Q&A

Back in November 2015 I was lucky enough to read Yonder: A Southern Haunting, Book One by LeeAnne Hansen and I absolutely fell in love with LeeAnne's writing and the story of Isabel (if you want to check out my review, it's over here). I've been patiently *ahem* waiting for book two since, so when LeeAnne contacted me to see if I would like to try out the audio version of Yonder, I jumped at the chance. 

This was my first experience with an audio book so I wasn't sure what to expect. I've been putting off using audio books for a long time now as I wasn't sure if I'd pay enough attention if I was only listening rather than reading as it's very easy to tune out of things if you're busy doing something else. 

With having read Yonder before and knowing how much I loved it, I knew that I would be paying attention, though once I started listening I don't know what I was ever worried about as I couldn't do anything else as I was enjoying listening to the story so much. LeeAnne narrates Yonder herself and in my opinion she does an amazing job. He voice fits the story perfectly and she doesn't quite put on different voices for each character but there is enough difference to know exactly who is speaking every time. 

I felt like I was "reading" Yonder again for the first time, it was like discovering it all over again and I loved it. Having someone else read it to me meant being able to just get totally lost in the story and concentrate on the conversations between characters. 

I cannot recommend this book and audio book enough to you! 

As LeeAnne is such a lovely person, she agreed to take some time out to answer some questions for me and I'm extremely grateful. Here's my q&a with her:

Did you always know that you wanted to be a writer?

Kind-a. I was always writing but I was drawn in a lot of directions from acting to directing to singing to playing in a band (bass guitar). But no matter what I was doing, I was always writing.

Your books combine romance and hauntings, what drew you to this combination? Have you always been a fan of the two? 

I love romance (complete sucker for love stories) and I am a super fan of things like the Twilight Zone and history. I like stories where people are just trying to lead their lives and something they didn't expect pops up. I wanted a kind-of- Hitchcock feel – He loves to throw a normal Joe into a life he had no idea was possible or even existed.

Yonder, the audio book is narrated by yourself (beautifully I may add), can you tell me anything about the process? 

First off, Thank you! That was quite a undertaking. I had never done anything like that before in my life! Luckily, I married my own Hollywood sound profession who bought me a mic for my birthday and helped set me up. I went to school for musical theatre and acting but I never thought of doing something like this, but the idea that someone besides myself would read Isabel had me ready to kill, so I knew I had to do it. It was a huge discovery into myself- I recently had half my thyroid removed due a growth (nothing serious) and it had taken awhile for my voice to make a come back- if anything, this project taught me that I really hadn't lost anything: It gave me the confidence I had been lacking. I really owe it a lot.

Now that Yonder is an audio book, will Ghost Light and your future books come out in audio book form too? 

You had to ask. LOL- I need to learn a Scottish accent first. I am working on it. It's tough! But I hope to do all of what I write.

Do you have a writing routine or a favourite place to write?

Not so much a place but an atmosphere. I love to write when it is raining so I moved to the wrong place since living in Southern California, rainy days are rare.

Do you have a favourite character that you have written so far?

I would have to say Sean Berenger in Ghost Light. He is such a wonderful ass! In reality, I based him on a drunken Scottish version of Han Solo. Who doesn't love Han Solo?

What is your favourite thing about being an author? 

The feedback! Having people love my characters as much as I do is just the best part!

When you're not writing, what do you like to get up to?

I like to read and go to plays. Love live music concerts. I'm a huge fan of YouTube and watching Gifs with Sound, they make me smile.

Do you have a favourite author? 

I adore Christopher Moore, Ray Bradbury and Eve Silver - Moore is hilarious and strikes that human chord, Bradbury paints complex worlds with very few words and Silver makes me think I will never write Romance as good as her.

I know you're currently writing A Southern Haunting #2, do you have a rough idea of when we can expect it to be released? 

In a few months. Currently, I have been hired out to write a couple of spooky screenplays for a production company and record some audio books for Warren Adler (author of War of the Roses. First audio book is already out called American Sextet- I did it under the name Lillian Yves.) As soon as these projects are completed (soon!) I'll return to spending all my focus on the sequel.

Thank you again to LeeAnne so much, both for giving me the opportunity to try out the audio book of Yonder, but also for answering all my questions, it's been an absolute pleasure. 

My A - Z of Books

I first saw this post over at Shelley Wilson and I thought this would be a lot of fun to do. (I have tried to find the original post but haven't yet, I will post a link when I find it). It's basically a get to know you through your a - z of books. Hopefully you think it's as fun as I did and if you fancy doing this too, please tag me or link me to your answers so I can check them out.

Author you've read the most books from

That will be either Terry Pratchett or Richard Laymon. I adore Terry Pratchett's work and Richard Laymon was my husband's favourite author when we first met so I read through all the books he owned.

Best sequel ever

I think this has to be Half Wild by Sally Green (I haven't read Half Lost yet as I know it will give me all the feels).

Currently reading

I'm currently reading a few books. Half Truths: A Half Bad Story by Sally Green, City Of Glass by Cassandra Clare, The Warren Commission Report: The Official Report On The Assassination Of President John F. Kennedy by the President's Commission and I'm buddy reading the Iliad by Homer with two lovely ladies.

Drink of choice while reading

You can't beat a good cup of tea. It's pretty much the only thing I drink except water. Fun bonus fact -  I only drink coffee on train stations.

E - reader or physical book

100% Physical books. I did finally cave and get a Kindle towards the end of last year, but though it is useful, it will never feel quite the same as having a real book in my hands and being able to turn pages and use a bookmark.

Fictional Character you would probably have dated in high school

Jace Wayland, he's a complete jerk  but good looking and sadly I know on more than one occasion I chose the "bad boy" over the far better choice.

Glad you gave this book a chance

I am definitely glad that I gave Saga a chance, I was put off by the hype and I really didn't think it would be for me at all, but I absolutely love it.

Hidden Gem book

The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch. I read this book years ago and I still think about it now, I definitely think I'll need to re read it at some point very soon.

Important moment in your reading life

I can't really think of something too specific, but I guess discovering the online book world such as booktube, book blogging, Goodreads etc. I found people to share my love of books with.

Just finished

The last three books I finished were The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett, Anything For Her by Jack Jordan and City Of Ashes by Cassandra Clare.

Kind of books you will not read

I'm really not a fan of contemporary (unless its a crime novel, that kind of contemporary is fine), when I read I use it to escape into another world and so I don't want to read about every day things,

Longest book you've read

So far it's War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy at 1444 pages.

Major book hangover

When I finished the Divergent series (Including Four) I didn't know what to do with myself for days as I'd binge read the books and I'd never done that before.

Number of bookcases you own

At the moment we have seven bookcases, but we are in urgent need of more as we have books piling up waiting to be shelved.

One book you've read multiple times

There's very few books that I have re read because I always want to read something new, but one of the ones I have re read is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Preferred place to read

Either curled up on the sofa or tucked up in bed.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you've read

"There's nothing like the smell of old books. They smell like memories" - Yonder (A Southern Haunting #1) by LeeAnne Hansen

Reading regret

I really regret that I haven't got a record of all the books I have read in my life from being a child. Even if I'd started a book journal as a teenager or something like that; I would be better, but I only really thought about it when I discovered Goodreads. I have already set up Goodreads accounts for both Nerdlings so that they don't have that regret (If it's not something they want when they're old enough to choose that would be absolutely fine by me, but at least this gives them the option).

Series you started and need to finish!

The Throne of Glass Series, The Mortal Instruments, The Lunar Chronicles...it goes on, I need to work on that.

Three of your all-time favourite books

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub and The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis.

Unapologetic fangirl for

The Half Bad trilogy by Sally Green!

Very excited for this release more than all others

The follow up to the Six Of Crows, Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. I have no words for how excited I am!

Worst bookish habit

I cannot give up on a book, I really need to learn how to stop when I'm not enjoying a book as there are just so many books I want to read.

X marks the spot - Start on the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book

The Animals Of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann (I picked the bookshelf closest to me so I didn't have to get up).

Your latest purchase

My most recent purchase was an Amazon order and I got The 10th Anniversary Life and Death edition of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and 6 of the penguin little black books, The Communist Manifesto, Sinbad The Sailor, The Figure In The Carpet, The Old Man Of The Moon, The Terrors Of The Night and Goblin Market.

Zzzzz snatcher book - Last book that kept you up way too late

It was Anything For Her by Jack Jordan (watch out for a review coming soon as part of the blog tour), I just needed to know what happened.

So there you have all my answers, what do you think? Have you read any of the books I mentioned?

Ghost Light - LeeAnne Hansen

When I finished Yonder by LeeAnne Hansen, I definitely wanted to read more of her work and am excited for her next novel, so I was incredibly lucky in that LeeAnne sent me an e-book copy of her debut novel Ghost Light in exchange for an honest review.

Ghost Light starts off with a scene from a play and it really sets the tone for the rest of the book. I really felt it sucked you in and made you want to find out more about what the scene was foreshadowing. I also thought the scenes throughout the book really added to the atmosphere and mirrored the goings on in "real life", it was a story within a story.

The plot follows Fiona and a troupe of  stage actors,writers, directors in the 1920's and what happens when they receive a summons to an extremely remote village in Scotland. I really don't want to give away too much about the story as everyone needs to go out and read this book so you can find out yourself what happens.

Ghost Light has to be one of my absolute top books that I read in 2015, I've been thinking about it for days after I finished it as the story has really stuck with me. It is beautifully written and the haunting is subtle but poignant and with purpose. I did guess who the ghost was quite early on, but this took away absolutely nothing from the goings on and I did not know what was going to happen.

There is a love triangle which is done incredibly well as I was really routing against one of the leading men in Fiona's life, but by the end I was hoping against hope that she chose him. This surprised me as I normally choose who I like and then I stick with them through thick and thin, so to have my mind changed was a nice touch.

The atmosphere is thick throughout and you really feel that you are there in both time and space and I needed my blanket to curl up under it while reading it. I can honestly say I loved this book (I may have already said this more than once!) and I stayed up extra late on Christmas day just to finish it as I needed to find out how it ended.

Hopefully you can see the review through my gushing and that it makes you want to pick up Ghost Light so that you can let me know what you think.

I started reading this book on the 22nd of December 2015 and finished it on the 26th of December 2015.
I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads.

November 2015 Book Round Up

November has been a very funny month for me and reading. Everything seems to have taken me ages to get through and I've just had no motivation at all. As you can tell from my list most of what I've read has been very short too. This isn't to say that I haven't enjoyed what I have managed to read, in particular I'll give a mention to Yonder (A Southern Haunting #1) by LeeAnne Hansen as I'm still thinking about it now and I can't wait for the next book. I've also been behind on my reviews and blogs but I'm hoping to catch up on them all in the next few days.

The books I read in November are as follows, though I am also still working my way through War and Peace (slowly, though far quicker now I have a buddy!) and Showcase: World's Finest which I will hopefully finish in the next couple of days.
Book 1 - Seriously Mum, Where's That Donkey? The Photos! by Alan Parks - 3 Stars
Book 2 - Yonder (A Southern Haunting #1) by LeeAnne Hansen - 5 Stars
Book 3 - Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle by J.A. Lang - 4 Stars
Book 4 - Yogscast: The Diggy Diggy Book by the Yogscast - 5 Stars
Book 5 - Death of a Dapper Snowman by Angela Pepper - 5 Stars
Book 6 - Death Comes eCalling by Leslie O'Kane - 4 Stars
Book 7 - The Girl With The Blue Umbrella by Heather Awad - 4 Stars

Now onto the future, I have actually been planning blogs that I want to do and having ideas that I'm excited about sharing! I am going to try and be a lot more organised about when I blog so it is more regular and I may even try some sort of loose schedule, but we'll see how that goes. One thing that you can look forward to, is once I've finished cataloguing and organising my book shelves I will be letting you take a peek at them, possibly even in video form!

That's all from me this month, I hope to bring you a far bigger round up at the end of December. If you don't already you can follow me @NerdishMum on Twitter so you can tell me what you're currently reading or if you've read any of the books that I've read this month.

Yonder (A Southern Haunting #1) - LeeAnne Hansen

I was lucky enough to receive an e-book copy of Yonder (A Southern Haunting #1) direct from the author LeeAnne Hansen in exchange for an honest review.

Before I get into my review proper, I would just like to say that I think I have found one of my favourite quotes ever, on page 45 the main character Isabel says "There's nothing like the smell of old books. They smell like memories" This is just such a true statement, I think I'm actually going to make myself a bookmark with this on it.

The book is set in the 40's and is about Isabel who is called home from New York due to the death of her father and then becomes intertwined in amorous advances from two of her brothers childhood friends, Benjamin and Charles. All the while she is haunted by a young boy, but why?

The book is rich in details about the time period from the war to the coming out balls. You get the feeling of it being a simpler time right on the cusp of change. It all sets the tone nicely for the story about Isabel.

I really liked Isabel, she's a strong female character who for the most part knows what she wants. She does frustrate me at points with how young she seems, but if you look at the kind of childhood she had and how women were seen in this time, it does make sense. Charles is just awful and pompous and I didn't like him right from the beginning! He is just far too smarmy for my taste, Benjamin however seems to be a southern gentleman who makes the occasional goof. I really liked Benjamin and as you can imagine I was rooting for him throughout the story. The romance is done really well and it didn't feel tacky which is the reason I very rarely read romance books, the romance in Yonder felt real to me. I also have to point out that the love scene is beautifully done, very sensual and I didn't feel embarrassed reading it.

The haunting starts off subtle almost and then it becomes more intense and blatant as time passes. I loved how you could be enjoying a nice simple scene and then all of a sudden the child - Eli, appears and something happens. Isabel is the only one who can see him and she needs to figure out what he wants or what she can do to help him. When you find out who he is (I'm not saying as I don't want to give any spoilers because you need to go read this yourself!) and his story, my heart broke. It was so well written and so well thought out, it takes you by surprise and rips your heart out at the same time.

My only "complaints" - are slightly spoilery but nothing too much, stop reading now though if you want to know nothing and start again on the next paragraph - are that I wanted to find out what Charles and Isabel's fathers had done to Samantha (I can guess to a point but would like to know the details) and I wanted to know the reason that Isabel's father had disowned her brother Doug. I really would like to know the answers to these questions, but I may get lucky and they get answered in the next book.

I thoroughly loved this and I am looking forward to the second book already. If you haven't read this yet, you need to go and try it. Thank you to LeeAnne for allowing me the pleasure of reading her book.

I started reading Yonder on the 31st of October 2015 and finished it on the 9th of November 2015
I gave Yonder 5 stars on Goodreads