Review: Fallen Wishes (Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper #17) by J.L. Bryan

Title: Fallen Wishes

Series: Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper #17

Previous books in this series: Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper (#1) | Cold Shadows (#2) | The Crawling Darkness (#3) | Terminal (#4) | House of Whispers #5 | Maze of Souls #6 | Lullaby (#7) | The Keeper (#8) | The Tower (#9) | The Monster Museum (#10) | Fire Devil (#11) | The Necromancer's Library (#12) | The Trailwalker (#13) | Midnight Movie (#14) | The Lodge (#15) | Cabinet Jack (#16)

Author: J.L. Bryan

Genre: Adult, paranormal, horror

Publication date: October 21st 2022

Published by: J.L. Bryan

Source: eARC for review from author

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Synopsis: Canterbury Gardens is a centuries-old plantation outside Charleston, South Carolina. Its aristocratic founders once hosted lavish banquets and balls among fanciful pleasure gardens, canals, and large-scale follies resembling ancient and medieval ruins.

Over generations of neglect, the winding paths of the gardens have become overgrown, its marble statues and columned buildings abandoned to the wild.

Now a family recovering from tragedy have devoted themselves to restoring the estate, but the ghosts of the past remain strong. Shadowy figures walk the labyrinth of overgrown gardens. A strange wishing well steeped in local legend attracts trespassers who climb walls and gates in their eagerness to throw in a coin and make a wish.

Paranormal investigator Ellie Jordan travels there to study and confront the dark entities who stalk the house and grounds by night, terrifying the family who now live there. The secret history of the plantation proves as shadowy and labyrinthine as its maze of gardens. Enchanting on the surface, Canterbury Gardens was founded on the darkest of wishes, and every wish that comes true has its price.

My rating: ★★★★★

Seventeen books in and I'm still excited every time an Ellie Jordan book shows up in my inbox. I wasn't expecting another installment in the series so soon, but I'm glad it showed up when it did because it was the perfect read during spooky season!

In Fallen Wishes, Ellie and Stacey investigate a sprawling estate with multiple hauntings, but at the center of it all is a creepy well. I loved the setting of this book! The place was huge and interesting, and of course, super haunted. Lol. I really enjoyed exploring the place and its many themed areas. At the end of the book, there's a note from the author where he listed a handful of real-life places that inspired Canterbury Gardens, and let me tell you, those places are gorgeous! It was really cool how those beautiful gardens were taken and given a creepy twist! I loved it!

The history of the place was also very interesting. I'm all about the ghosts and the action, but I always love the research portion of these books. It’s always so intriguing! And this book was no different! Stacey hates the research, but I love it when they go into the history of places and discover what horrible things happened there. This one was full of legends and wishes with high prices. What happened on that land in actuality was worse than I could’ve imagined! It was horrible and I felt so bad about how this entire mess of a haunting got started. It was sad, but it was a good twist!

I love horror, but the thing about horror books is that they rarely scare me. This book, however, was CREEPY! And I loved it! 😆 There was one entity in particular that was horrifying! I don't want to give anything away, but this entity, at times, showed up as two orbs floating very close together. But that was not the scary form 😰 Oh, and the well itself was also creepy! It gave me serious The Ring vibes and I also loved it! 😆

And I, of course, loved the characters! The banter between Ellie and Stacey is one of my favorite things about the series! And the family that lives on the property was also interesting—they had their fair share of really surprising secrets. And I always love it when Michael and Jacob make an appearance! Ellie and Michael in a scene toward the end? So freaking cute! 🥰

This was SO GOOD! I loved everything about it! It was spooky and fun and the investigation was really interesting! The unraveling of the mystery was great, and it was just another enjoyable and creepy addition to the series!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊