Karen Brooks aka The Tx Lit Chic

Follow Me
~Rachel Graham

Follow Me by Rachel Graham is a trip to the house of mirrors at the local carnival, except this one is built inside a psych ward. Every reflection looks like the truth until you reach out to touch it and run smack-dab into the mirror. Graham hands you a flashlight, points you down a hallway lined with voices, needles, and scripture, and says, “Follow me.” And you will. Just don't expect her to show you the direct path out.

Lena has lived in the mental hospital long enough to know the rules: take the meds, smile at the doctors, and don't mention the voices. She's heard them her entire life, and all that's left of her family is her brother, Aidan. Each day mirrors the one before it: drugs, the fog they bring, nurses who couldn't care less, and doctors who treat freedom like a prize dangled just out of reach.

Then a stranger shows up with a religious group and a very tempting idea: Lena isn't sick. She's gifted. The voices aren't symptoms. They're divine.

For a girl who has prayed for a way out, this sounds like the answer she's been searching for. But sometimes something that sounds too good to be true really is. Lena's road to freedom leads her to a family that looks at her with worship in their eyes, and suddenly the question isn't whether she'll ever get out. It's what the heck did she just get herself into?

Graham makes this book Lena. She writes her with the steady hand of someone who knows these hallways. Lena is stubborn, desperate, humorous when she needs to be, and heartbreaking when she doesn't intend to be. She's plagued by the pain of a childhood filled with voices, a life run by locked doors and needles, and the slow erosion of her sense of identity. Then a promise of being “chosen” lands, and does it land!

Aidan is her one anchor to the outside world, and his dedication to his sister gives the story some much-needed warmth. I would have loved more of him and a deeper look at their relationship because that connection had plenty of emotional potential. As for the strange woman and her religious group...well, you'll have to read it to find out more.

Honestly, being dropped so deeply into Lena's psyche makes you start questioning your own grip on reality. The supporting cast is there to serve Lena's story, and for the most part, they do that well. Still, I wanted more from Aidan simply because I wanted to feel that bond as strongly as Lena does.

The setup hits the mark. Imagine a roller coaster slowly dragging you up the first incline, building the scene with trauma, routine, and an ever-present sense that something isn't quite right. Then comes the descent, arms flapping, screams disappearing into the wind. Graham creates a mood that is sad and tense without allowing it to become overwhelmingly heavy, sprinkling in just enough humor to give you a breath between the darker moments.

I spit my tea when I hit the Chapter 39 nod. IYKYK.

And just when you think you've figured out which reflection is real, Graham pulls the rug out from under you again. And again. Reality remains just out of reach, and every time you think you've got your footing, the floor shifts.

Then comes the twist.

Can I just say...my jaw is still collecting dog hair as it sits on the floor refusing to be picked up.

Follow Me by Rachel Graham is a bold, thought-provoking psychological thriller that explores faith, mental illness, manipulation, and the thin line between miracle and madness. Released June 4, 2024, and available on Amazon, Audible, and Kindle.

As always, all opinions and reviews are of my own volition, Karen Brooks aka The Tx Lit Chic. I have not been promised any compensation, current or future, by the author or publisher for a fair and honest review of Follow Me.

The Curse Before Christmas: A Paranormal Winter Romance

Curses and Kisses: A Holiday Collection, Book 1

~Larissa Antonioni

The Curse Before Christmas by Larissa Antonioni opens like a snow globe on a cold December night, one with a hairline crack running through the glass. Glitter still swirls among the snowflakes as they drift to the ground, but underneath all that sparkle sits a dullness just waiting to be polished back to a shine.

Sugar built a life out of loss. Her mother drowned in a tragic car accident when black ice sent their car off a bridge and into the water below, her seatbelt jammed and leaving her trapped. Sugar has carried the weight of that night ever since, convinced her mother only died because she had driven out to pick her up from a party.

Then a letter and check from her late mother hand Sugar a lifeline: chase the dream.

So she does.

An old building becomes a bookstore with a loft above it, and eventually Sugar takes that dream one step further with an old VW van converted into a mobile bookshop. But after the town's Bookmas event, Christmas magic comes barging into her life in the form of Klaus, a seven-hundred-year-old, curse-ridden, self-proclaimed Santa Claus who's as bitter as burnt cocoa.

Klaus has spent centuries hunting for the Christmas Witch who can break the curse placed on him by her ancestor. But the woman he's looking for turns out to be Sugar, who has never even lit a magic candle and certainly doesn't believe in magic.

Sugar tells him exactly what she thinks of his story and to get lost, while wielding a giant candy cane as her weapon of choice.

Because apparently even Santa needs a little sugar with his spice.

When Klaus proves that magic is very real, the quest to break his curse begins.

Antonioni shines as brightly as the star atop the Christmas tree when it comes to her characters. Sugar loves hard and wears every emotion on her sleeve. She's a guilt-ridden woman who adores Christmas even though the season continues to salt one of her deepest wounds. Even her mobile bookshop becomes a perfect metaphor for a life she's still learning how to navigate: always moving, always carrying pieces of home with her, and never quite sure where she'll land next.

Klaus is her perfect foil. He's a figure the whole world associates with joy, yet seven centuries of carrying a curse and calling it duty have hollowed him out. Their wounds mirror each other, bringing two people together who aren't healing despite their scars, but through them.

Their journey becomes one of self-discovery, healing, love, and growth, and the results feel earned rather than magically gifted.

The pacing is brisk, with emotional beats that hit quick and clean, leaving little room to catch your breath between chapters. You turn one page and the next has already grabbed you by the scarf and pulled you along.

And the atmosphere? Impeccable.

A bookshop that smells of paper and cinnamon. A curse ticking against the Christmas calendar. Magic that hunts you down instead of waiting to be summoned. It's an immersive holiday recipe just waiting to be devoured.

This is a spicy twist on the Santa myth, and Antonioni delivers it with a wink, a warm mug of cocoa, and just enough heat to melt the snow.

The Curse Before Christmas is a warm, moody, emotionally loaded treat for readers who want their holiday romance served with a little bite and a kiss under the mistletoe in equal measure.

Releasing on Kindle November 1, 2026. Be sure to add this one to your holiday-season must-read list.

Thank you to Inside Story and author Larissa Antonioni for allowing me to preview The Curse Before Christmas. As always, all opinions and reviews are my own volition, Karen Brooks, aka The Tx Lit Chic. I have not been promised any compensation, current or future, by the author or publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review of The Curse Before Christmas.