Release Blitz & Giveaway: In Her Own Backyard by Ashley Hanna-Morgan

In Her Own Backyard

by

Ashley Hanna-Morgan

Thriller
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Date Published: March 26, 2026
Page count: 440 pages

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SYNOPSIS:

Every street holds a secret . . . 

New to the neighborhood and reeling from the traumatic birth of her second child, Marlowe Moore is barely holding it together. Battling postpartum depression and anxiety, she’s desperate for stability.

But when she learns that a woman who once lived in her family’s new home vanished without a trace, Marlowe becomes obsessed. As strange things happen and neighborly smiles feel like veiled threats, Marlowe can’t shake the feeling that someone is hiding something.

She spirals further into paranoia, fixated on the abandoned case and determined to seek justice. But how can a woman who feels lost find a missing person?

Juggling the demands of her beloved family and her harrowing mental illness, Marlowe doesn’t realize she is caught in a cat-and-mouse game that could cost her everything … including her life.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ashley Hanna-Morgan is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) certified in perinatal mental health (PMH-C). In addition to her work as a psychotherapist, she writes about mental health to advocate for change and inspire hope. In 2016, she wrote The Afterglow, a mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy curriculum that supports parents with postpartum depression and anxiety. In 2017, she published I Gave Birth to My Heart, a collection of poems about the secret anguishes and innumerable joys of reinventing oneself after postpartum depression.

When she isn’t counseling clients or volunteering with Postpartum Support International, Ashley loves to experiment in the kitchen and spend as much time outside as possible in San Diego, where she resides with her family. In Her Own Backyard is her first novel.

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Book Review: A Madness Unmade (Deathly Inheritance Duology, #1) by E.K. Larson-Burnett

A Madness Unmade by Erin K. Larson-Burnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Gothically-vibed coming-of-age fantasy story.

A Madness Unmade is the first book in author E.K. Larson-Burnett’s compelling gothically-vibed Deathly Inheritance Duology, the tale of Laurel Persephone Rumbroom, the last Guardian of Underhallow, the only remaining sanctuary for ghosts who have yet to move on to their next situation. Orphaned as a young teen and left in the care of the ghosts who inhabit her home, Laurel’s 18th birthday arrives, and along with it, so do her dormant, untapped magical abilities and the responsibility to safeguard the ghostly residents of Underhallow, a duty she knew nothing about up to this point.

Laurel is an engaging and sympathetic character right from the start as one learns of her tragic and lonely backstory: her mother was gone from her life at an early age, orphaned upon the death of her father when she was only 13 and left in the care of the other residents (all of whom are dead) in her stately but crumbling home, Underhallow. Ghosts have been raising this child.

Besides not leaving the house for the past five years (when her father passed), Laurel initially appears to be doing pretty well until you realize she’s not the child she seems to be, but going on 18 years old. Her birthday brings with it the revelation that the ghosts ultimately depend upon her for their continued existence, and she has absolutely no clue how to go about fulfilling her responsibilities to them as a Guardian and preventing the dissolution of Underhallow as the last Earthly sanctuary left for these revenant spirits to go.

The story opens as Laurel comes to realize that her difficulties in learning and retaining the information her tutor, Master Godwin, has been trying to impart for the past five years are due to more than her disinterest. The author’s descriptions and handling of Laurel’s issues with ADD, anxiety, and grief are well done, and those facing similar struggles will relate. The added impact of her burgeoning magical abilities is dramatic and frightening. Thankfully, she finds support from an unexpected ally.

Laurel interacts with her ghostly caretakers as if they are human, as they can talk, touch, and move physical objects, unlike traditionally portrayed spirits. A number play critical roles in her life and fulfill duties similar to those they performed when living. There are some big personalities among the unalive who guide and assist Laurel, and their antics also serve to lighten the building tension. Laurel, too, displays a lot of empathy for the feelings of the undeparted, many of whom carry the circumstances of their death with them into this afterlife.

There are questions about Laurel’s father’s death and the regular delivery of small mysterious packages to puzzle out as well as becoming the Guardian, so Laurel turns to the only sources she has to solve them, the ghosts. Still, this first book of the duology concludes with some things yet unanswered, and I look forward to the answers in the next book.

I recommend A MADNESS UNMADE to readers of young adult fantasy and coming-of-age stories, especially those with an interest in characters struggling with mental health issues.

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Children's Book Review:Cookie Monsters (Valentine Middle School, #2) by Erika J. Kendrick

Cookie Monsters by Erika J. Kendrick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Within its exciting cookie sales campaign plot, Cookie Monsters also delivers a warm and wonderful story of recovery after the loss of a loved one.

It’s World Scout cookie season again, and Brooklyn Ace, Valentine Middle School’s leading cookie seller last year, has big plans to win the top spot this time around. Last year, she came in a close second to a high school senior who has since graduated and no longer poses a threat. However, this year’s campaign is going to be fundamentally different anyway; Brooklyn’s biggest supporter in her quest for sales domination was her mother, whom she recently lost to cancer. Brooklyn wants to honor her mother by dedicating the campaign to her memory.

But right away, there’s an unforeseen hitch in her successful campaign when the new girl at school, Piper Parker, announces her intention to take the cookie queen crown for herself. Soon, it becomes apparent that Piper will do whatever it takes, and no matter what, so she can win!

Cookie Monsters is a warm and poignant story about a twelve-year-old’s struggle with grief and its toll on her mental well-being, as well as an exciting and tense battle to sell the most cookies. Brooklyn is cool, popular, wholesome, and very much a regular pre-teen. From the outside, she appears to be coping well with her mother’s death but inside, she is drowning in pent-up emotions. She is surrounded by a supportive circle of girlfriends and has a loving father and grandmother at home, who are also dealing with their own grief. But as the results of Brooklyn’s loss visibly begin to affect her ability to function, she reaches out and accepts professional help and makes progress on dealing with her feelings. The story also reveals that her friends are dealing with their own difficulties, and Brooklyn is able to share her experiences and help get them on a path to communicating their needs with their own families.

The story is also about a very competitive race to sell the most cookies. Brooklyn’s nemesis, Piper Parker, pulls a couple of rabbits out of her hat, using her father’s business resources and wealth and promising incentives (bribes) to their fellow students to buy her cookies rather than Brooklyn’s. Although Brooklyn cries foul at all of Piper’s strategies, and some were definitely shady moves, frankly, Piper just had a better sales plan and executed it better than Brooklyn did (which Brooklyn slowly comes to recognize.)

Brooklyn’s scout squad is a wonderful mix of different personalities, each with their own strengths that they bring to their friendship and the campaign. Young readers will surely relate to one or more of these great characters and the individual issues they are facing in their lives. I enjoyed this group of girls so much.

The writing and pace of the story are absolutely flawless. I was completely drawn into the story and emotionally invested; I teared up a couple of times while reading, especially when she was making a breakthrough with her therapist. I know I’ll be thinking about Brooklyn’s tale for quite a while; I was that affected. Cookie Monsters would make an excellent read-aloud selection.

With its important messages nestled within an exciting cookie campaign plot, I recommend COOKIE MONSTERS to young readers who have experienced their own loss of someone close to them.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author or publisher through TBR and Beyond Book Tours.


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