Book Spotlight: You're The One That I Haunt by Katie Jung

 

You're The One That I Haunt by Katie Jung

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Publication Date: September 22, 2026

Format: Hardcover - 373 pages

               Paperback - 385 pages

               Audiobook - 11 Hours 1 Minute

               Kindle - 380 pages

               Nook - 384 pages

ISBN (Hardcover): 979-8904371180

ISBN (Paperback): 978-0143139324

ASIN (Audiobook): B0GKM2M3TD

ASIN (Kindle): B0GFB78FPV

BNID (Nook): 978-0593513415

Genre: Romance 

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Book Description:

A debut speculative romcom for fans of MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING and THE DEAD ROMANTICS, in which a woman must team up with a distractingly handsome ghost to save her childhood crush (and love of her life) from a generational curse.

Libby Lakoski has two major problems. First, she’s secretly in love with her best friend, Carter Coldwell, and second, he’s marrying someone else. For fifteen years, Carter’s affluent life on the Upper East Side has been the definition of “home” for Libby, a stark contrast to her shoebox apartment and absent mother. Carter’s the only person who has ever made Libby feel chosen, and she’s not ready to give up on him. Sure, his fiancée is a British diamond heiress, but Carter and Libby have years of history filled with runs in Central Park and late-night pizza. Not to mention, she’s the only one who knows his family is cursed.

But then a third problem presents itself—or, himself. Trip Coldwell is Carter’s handsome, smart, flirtatious cousin who also happens to be a ghost. Trip’s “unfinished business” is to break the Coldwell curse, but the solution hinges on Carter getting married. Unfortunately, Libby is the only living person who can see him, and her objective is the exact opposite.

Appealing to Libby’s unrequited crush, Trip enlists her help to break the curse before Carter is affected. As they follow a trail of clues across New York City, Libby learns more about Trip and the complicated dynamics of the Coldwell family. She finds herself questioning just how much Carter reciprocated her friendship, feeling perplexed by a growing attraction to Trip, and worse, fantasizing about actually touching him. With the countdown to the wedding in full swing, Libby must choose between breaking the curse and holding tight to her best friend forever.

About The Author

Katie Jung lives in Syracuse, New York with her husband and three children. By day, she works in climate change communications but spends her evenings writing stories with happier endings. Her debut novel, YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I HAUNT was selected for the 2024 SmoochPit Mentorship Program and was recently published on September 22, 2026. When she's not daydreaming about her characters, you can find Katie walking the golf course near her house (often listening to an audiobook), having solo dance parties in her car, or chasing after her kids with a cup of coffee that's most likely gone cold.

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When The Night Comes Knocking by Katherine Daniel (Book Review)

 

 

When The Night Comes Knocking by Katherine Daniel

Publisher: Berkley Publishing / Penguin Random House

Publication Date: October 20, 2026

Format: Hardcover - 304 pages

               Audiobook - 9 Hours 14 Minutes

               Kindle - 302 pages

               Nook - 304 pages

ISBN (Hardcover): 979-8217191338

ASIN (Audiobook): B0GM4TDYVJ

ASIN (Kindle): B0GHVB81HL

BNID (Nook): 979-8217191352

Genre: Horror

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Disclaimer: I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased a hardcover edition from my Book Of The Month (BOTM) monthly subscription.

Book Description:

In this Appalachian horror novel, two estranged siblings become trapped in a convenience store under attack by a monster from the mountains who feasts on guilty hearts.

Rattle, rattle in the dark…

The mountain’s bones seek out a heart.

Jane has not spoken to her brother Thomas since the accident that nearly killed them both. Their drive from college through the North Georgia mountains is uncomfortably silent, until they stop at a roadside convenience store, where a man stumbles in with a mutilated body, claiming to have been attacked by a monster.

At first, no one believes the man’s ravings, but when the next person to leave the store is brutally killed, they fear that local legend might be

There’s a beast in these mountains who feasts on guilty hearts… and someone among them has lured it out of hiding.

Jane and Thomas each harbor secrets, but so do the other patrons, and as the monster claims more hearts, the survivors turn on each other, desperate to save themselves by uncovering the guiltiest among them.

If the siblings can’t overcome the rift between them, they’ll surely become the monster’s next victims…or worse, become monsters themselves.

My Book Review:

In the debut novel, When The Night Comes Knocking, author Katherine Daniel weaves a riveting horror story that easily draws the reader into a dark storyline that follows a group of people who are trapped in an Appalachian roadside convenience store by a monster who seeks to feast on people's guilty hearts. 

Set in the North Georgia Appalachian Mountains, local folklore tells of a spirit who was trapped inside Blood Mountain and has become cursed and seeks out the scent of people and feasts on their guilty hearts. 

Estranged siblings Jane and Thomas Wilson were travelling to their family's rented cabin on Blood Mountain for Thanksgiving. They stop along the way at a roadside convenience store and unsuspectingly the customers come under attack by an eerie monster who has been lured to the store by one of their guilty hearts. As the night plays out and the monster claims it's victims, the local folklore is retold and all of them wonder if the guilt they hold inside is what lured the monster to their door. How will the attack on their lives unfold When The Night Comes Knocking?

When The Night Comes Knocking is an intense and eerie horror tale that is rich in detail and vivid descriptions. The dark intensity of the storyline and the complexity of the monster that seeks out guilty hearts to feast on kept me thoroughly riveted, engrossed, and shocked as each of the people wonder if it's their own guilty pasts that have lured the bloody heart seeking monster to the store's door. I am not one who usually likes horror books or movies, but the intensity of this dark tale had me holding my breath and my pulse quickening as the night played out. This is a scary-good story that is just right for the month of October, so don't pass it by! 

The author does a phenomenal job of transporting the reader into this fast-paced white-knuckle storyline with her creative interweaving of a psychological cat-n-mouse game that keeps the reader turning the pages until the shocking ending. 

When The Night Comes Knocking is an eerie horror story that will captivate the reader, it doesn't get any better than that!


RATING: 4 STARS 

About The Author

Katherine Daniel is a fiction writer based in Atlanta, Georgia, where she loves to explore the dark and twisty parts of what it means to be human through storytelling. She received a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing from Georgia State University and is represented by Cheyenne Faircloth of Handspun Literary Agency. Her debut horror novel When the Night Comes Knocking is being published by Penguin Random House on October 20th, 2026.

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Thursday TBR: 10/22/2026

 

Welcome to Thursday TBR! 

Every Thursday I will be sharing my current top TBR books that I want to read. Of course, the TBR list will change from week to week as I read the books, or if new books pique my interest more! My ever-increasing TBR list is just another way of sharing my passion for reading books.