Ghostly Howls by Stephanie Hansen is a Summertime Books Event pick #pnr #paranormalthriller #summer
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  • N. N. Light
    • Jun 20, 2023
    • 5 min read

Ghostly Howls by Stephanie Hansen is a Summertime Books Event pick #pnr #paranormalthriller #summer



Title: Ghostly Howls


Author: Stephanie Hansen


Genre: Paranormal Romance Thriller


Book Blurb:


Irish folklore meets small town USA


A heartbroken half banshee, a cockle selling soul possessor, and a town haunted by mysteries…if they don't find the killer, Orla and Molly might die before finding their soulmates.


Orla and Dave's love has been unrequited for as long as they can remember. Cormac and Molly are used to drawing outside the lines. None of them are prepared for the new ghostly neighbors.


In a town that's always ostracized them, can Molly and Orla finally use their powers openly in order to save the citizens?


*Contains mature themes, open door sex scenes, and mature language.


*Don't miss the YA series also by Stephanie Hansen - Altered Helix & Replaced Parts


Excerpt:


Walking along the sidewalk at night gives the town of Ethel a new look. Streetlamps and the moonlight provide enough glow to add shadows. The wind blows through a batch of trees and the branch shadows look like old, skinny, arthritis riddled fingers reaching for me from the pavement. I follow my familiar path and soon come to iron gates complete with strategically placed metal vines. It’s after hours but that’s never stopped me before. I enter and find my usual bench near the smaller gravestones and the lone firepit. There’s firewood and dry kindling already set up. I light it and use a fire poker to move things around and allow the flame to build. Lying back on the bench, staring up at the stars I can pretend I’m across the ocean, on a land I’ve never been to. This is the place I allow myself to connect with a thousand souls who have looked at the sky. I imagine I’m someone stronger who lets my magic be free and unhindered. For a second I pretend I’m fully accepted that way. Just for one millisecond everything can be fine.


Clouds block my view of the stars reminding me we have bigger obstacles right now. Who was the body? Anyone could wear jeans and a green shirt. I dig deeper into my memory. There’d been a hat and waterproof boots nearby. No one around here is rich enough to be murdered for their money…not that any amount of money is worth it. Sure we’ve had our disagreements and even scuffles now and then but I can’t fathom any of them progressing to murder. Lover’s quarrels are often overheard or expected and called in or watched. The kinds of crime we tend to see is teenage vandalism. They’re just at that age where anyone grapples with how to communicate the ferocious hormones and emotions raging in oneself. And, we also have some minor theft and burglary but it’s usually individuals that are so famished, forgiveness and assistance are often ordered over charges and penalties.


I wonder if the detective has any leads. Would my asking cause them to suspect me? I should go visit Kyle. I’m sure he’s picked up some gossip by now. Deciphering what to believe can be the hard part but after living here so long I think I’ve got the hang of it. I sit up and brush off my jacket and hair. A branch cracks to my right and behind me as if a boot stepped on it. Boomer growls. My breath freezes and I reach for the poker, tip still hot from sitting in the firepit. I hear another crunch as if leaves were stepped on this time instead of a branch and move to place the firepit between myself and whatever’s approaching. Boomer’s at my heels ready to pounce but I have ahold of his leash in my other hand.


I spot movement and follow it with my eyes. There’s not much to make out but then I see the firelight glint off long, blonde hair. Boomer barks.


“Hey, who are you?”


“Orla?”


“Cormac?” No wonder I couldn’t make out much. She’s in all black, like usual.


“I thought I’d find you here.”


“What are you doing?”


“Do you mind if I join you?”


“No.” I point to the bench next to mine. “Boomer, quiet.”


I return to my bench as she takes the one to my right.


“What’d you do to Molly? She came home all spooked.”


“She’s the one who spooked me. Kept talking about how she’s seeing visions of me dying.”


That actually makes sense but I don’t want to give her the satisfaction. She is the one who ghosted my best friend after all. “Why are you looking for me?”


“You seem to be a bit more accepting of the supernatural than others.”


She’s saying this right after disclosing that she ended a conversation with Molly because it was about visions. How does she not see how hypocritical she’s being? “Okay.”


“I need to put together a séance.”


“Why?”


“I want to find out who the body was.”


Okay, I’ll have to give it to her. She’s piqued my interest.


“What do you need from me?”


“Sitting around this fire is perfect.” She pulls an incense stick and board out of the black satchel slung over her shoulder. Then she tilts the stick into the fire until it lights and sets it in the board on the bench next to her. When she pulls the exact same hat I’d just seen in my memory out of her satchel I gasp.


“Where’d you get that?”


She shrugs her shoulders. “We need it.”


She sets the hat between the incense and the fire and then reaches her hands out to me.


“Can we do it without holding hands?”


“Wow, I knew you were protective of Molly but I didn’t know you detested me.”


I huff. “I just have an aversion to touch.” If she only knew just how much weight one carries with real power.


“Fine.”


She uses her hands to sit crossed legged, then places them in her lap, and begins to chant an incantation.


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Giveaway –


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Open Internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US or Amazon Canada account to win. Runs June 20 – June 28, 2023. Winner will be drawn on June 29, 2023.



Author Biography:


Stephanie Hansen is a PenCraft and Global Book Award Winning Author as well as an Imadjinn finalist. Her debut novella series, Altered Helix, released in 2020. It hit the #1 New Release, #1 Best Seller, and other top 100 lists on Amazon. It is now being adapted to an animated story for Tales. Her debut novel, Replaced Parts, released in 2021 through Fire & Ice YA and Tantor Audio. It has been in a Forbes article, hit Amazon bestseller lists, and made the Apple young adult coming soon bestsellers list. The second book in the Transformed Nexus series, Omitted Pieces, releases in 2022. She is a member of the deaf and hard of hearing community, so she tries to incorporate that into her fiction.


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