Wow, this publisher is becoming one of my favorites. I enjoyed this book so much and can’t wait to read more from this author!

This thriller, due out in early October, almost pushed the reigning thriller of my heart out of first place (Winstead’s The Last Housewife). The setting felt so perfectly dark, the religious trauma depiction was spot on, and the relationship between the two main characters fleshed out perfectly.

Ruth, the shy quiet daughter of a small-town fire and brimstone style evangelical preacher, has a dark secret from her teenage years. One that bound her to her best friend and town out cast Everett. He finally escaped their terrible small religious town, but visits Ruth every summer. Now, the summer they’re both 23, a man’s body has been found in the swamp. As the town is trying to solve the mystery of the dead man, religious fervor and rumors of a Satan cult boil over and Ruth and Everett have to protect themselves and try to escape the horrible town that traumatized them.

If you loved first season True Detective, this book made me think of those vibes. I loved both characters so much and Ruth’s growth against her terrible and abusive religious parents was the perfect balance between bravery and the real guilt that goes along with bucking expectations. I wasn’t *surprised* by the revelations that popped up, but I thought they were perfectly done. AND THAT ENDING 😲😲. Put this on your TBR for the perfect spooky October thriller read!! Check the TW cause the religious violence and trauma and abuse are major

This is the second book that I have read by Ashley Winstead. I enjoy her writing style and the story was pretty interesting. I did think it would go in a paranormal direction at one point, and I kind of wish it did. I liked the depiction of religious cultism and how those dynamics play into a small town. Overall, a really interesting read.

"Midnight Is the Darkest Hour" is a humid, thoughtful, mean-spirited thriller aimed at religious hypocrisy and misogyny. It's complex - I was never quite sure I was rooting for the right person - and more interested in character work than in planting twists. The time spent getting to know the main character paid off beautifully; I was deeply invested in the choices she made along the way, even if I disagreed with them, and the vibe is something along the lines of "Thelma and Louise" meets "Dexter". This is a book I'm going to think about for a long time.

This book has all of the elements that honestly make it intriguing and immensely readable. Small town with big secrets? Obvious cult behavior? Check and check. It was great up until probably the last quarter of it and the ending was incredibly lacking, but overall it was a pretty good read

I love me some Ashley Winstead, so when this one landed in my inbox, I put the rest of my TBR aside, and she doesn't disappoint, Dark and eerie with Southern gothic vibes, this book is so much more than a thriller. This is about a woman coming into her own, learning to put aside what she's been taught and chart her own path. And that ending...bravo! Five huge, shiny, sparkling stars.

Ashley did it again with an incredibly thought out, well plotted, complex dark thriller! I have now read every book Ashley Winstead has written and to say she will continue to be a favorite author of mine is an understatement!

Her mind is incredible- to be able to deliver these layered thrillers with so much depth and meaning beyond what meets the eye via her incredibly entertaining plots, takes the utmost talent, which Winstead has proven time and again she has.

Midnight is the Darkest Hour is definitely going to be one of my favorites of the year. Her characters lived in a perpetual state of morally grey, but I loved it and found myself rooting for them endlessly! The transformation that Ruth had by the time this book concluded was so exciting to read!

Winstead also gave us an ambiguous ending which happens to be one of my favorite types of conclusions. There was a forbidden romance involved, some nostalgic Twilight parallels, and lots of undertones regarding evil and the occult. The religious theme here gets pretty dark but I love the feministic touches that her books always have especially when it comes to challenging the societal expectations of women!

This one was a little bit more of a slow burn than her previous two but I savored the writing and storytelling on each page, and let me be the first to say that once you get to the end of the book, that slow burn quickly changes into a blaze of flames! I will be recommending this one to everyone who will listen, ahead of its October release!

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for my gifted arc.

Ashley Winstead is back with another dark, haunting, and atmospheric thriller! This time make it southern gothic with serial killers vibes and uber religious zealotry undertones.

Bottom Springs, Louisiana is a small, religious town essentially ran by the preacher of Holy Fire Baptist Church. He has instilled fear into them to outsiders, God & Devil, and believe in the haunting myths. Ruth is the preacher’s daughter and years ago she found herself in a messy situation which led to her most valued friendship Everett. Now, secrets of the past are starting to reveal itself and Ruth finds herself searching to answers to what exactly has occurred in Bottom Springs.

I ended up having some pretty mixed feelings about this book. What I did enjoy was the atmosphere and the general themes of the plot. Though they are not at all easy topics to read about, the way topics such as religious fundamentalism, small town community, and more were brought up made for some intriguing thought even though at times it also made me super angry.

However, there are still a few things I struggled with. There are two timelines being told: one in the present and one in the past. The problem was, the past timeline was not linear and constantly jumped to different points where I had a bit of a hard time following. My other issue was two of our MCs, Ruth and Everett. Maybe their characters felt flat, but I just could not feel invested enough to root for them which in turn caused me to not be AS engaged in this story as I have with past books by this author.

Twilight also played a pretty significant role in this book and I am still so torn on how I liked that. On one hand, the references totally made sense and was used in a clever way. But on the other… it also became a lot.

The ending was also a little underwhelming because I didn’t feel like there were really any huge or shocking twists. The actual last page though does leave off on an ambiguous cliff hanger, which I’m sure some people will love, but for myself it was just.

In summary, I liked the build up and uniqueness of this story + plus its mysterious and haunting vibes. But sadly, the execution wasn’t quite there for me.

I have feverishly obsessed over this southern belle since the release of her debut novel, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife.

This obsession has even struck up a new found love for romcom’s having read both Fool Me Once and The Boyfriend Candidate.

But

And there is a big BUT

Then came The Last Housewife and my world literally flipped upside down. How will I ever find a book that would ignite my soul as this one had?

It was quite the year and I searched long and hard for another book that would suck on my soul and leave me with bubble guts.

Midnight is the Darkest Hour

Winstead, does it again.

Holy Hell Batman, what was that?

I am more in love with Everett Duncan than my previous book crush, Edward Cullen. I mean Edward is dead, so it’s not cheating.

This book rains down one heck of an ending and it’s left me grappling with my thoughts in a ball on my floor. I have so many questions and I demand answers!!! I’m shrieking through my tears.

Check on me, I’m not ok.



Every Saint Is A Sinner.

Teaser :

In her small hometown, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her beloved father rains fire-and-brimstone warnings from the pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist. Unfortunately for Ruth, the only things the townspeople fear more than the God and the Devil are the myths that haunt the area, like the story of the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to steal into sinners' bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar―and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town's secret underbelly in search of true evil.

Ashley Winstead continues to shine with her thrillers, and this one is no different. Her writing is just compulsively readable, and her characters and settings are just all-consuming. Even though I know they're set in the real world, they almost seem like a different time and place just because of how intricate and unique they are. This book is a somewhat True Detective (Season 1!) inspired Southern gothic mystery, with an emphasis on the possibility of supernatural forces and justice.

The contrast of biblical patriarchy with the reality of peoples' lives in these settings is so fascinating, as well as the many ways that people try to escape. Ruth's obsession with Twilight is such an interesting touch to the book. Ruth finds books to be an escape for many reasons, and she even designs her own college courses, yet somehow she keeps coming back to the idea of monsters as her saviors. This theme plays out in interesting ways throughout the book, and as with all of Winstead's books, the emphasis is less on extreme twists and turns and more on her deep grasp of human nature and the way her themes come together by the end of the book.

This was another five star read for me, and I think Winstead is an auto-buy author for me at this point!

I loved this! If you’re a twilight fan you’ll love this! I couldn’t put it down and was so sad it was over! Another win by Winstead!

Ashley Winstead continues to be on my auto-buy author list. I would read anything she writes!

After obsessing over her last two thrillers, I couldn’t believe it when “Midnight Is The Darkest Hour” showed up at my front door. I’ve never wanted to read an ARC faster.

This book is quite unlike “In My Dreams I Hold a Knife” and “The Last Housewife.” It has a completely different vibe than its predecessors. And it also seems to suit a younger audience, in my opinion.

As others have described, it’s a Southern Gothic thriller, with lots of romance and a hint of surrealism. Think of it as a mix between Netflix’s “Midnight Mass” and Twilight. It’s the perfect haunting & atmospheric thriller for fall. And I think people will have a hard time putting this story down.

3.8/5 ⭐️

Ashley Winstead is one of those drop everything you are doing and read type of authors. So as soon as I was approved for this one on NetGalley I moved everything aside and began reading.

Ruth Coriner lives in the small Bible Belt town of Bottom Springs. As the daughter of the town's beloved Pastor, Ruth has always felt like an outsider. Especially since she prefers reading fiction to her Bible studies. Her only saving grace has been her best friend and fellow black sheep Everett.

Bottom Springs is thrown into chaos when a skull is discovered in a swamp. Next to the swamp are strange symbols carved into trees. Ruth and Everett team up to uncover the truth behind the murder, before a dark secret of their own comes out.

Another five-star winner from one of my favorite authors! This Southern gothic contains so many elements that make a good thriller including a murder mystery, small-town secrets, an earth-shattering twist, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and even a bit of romance. Her portrayal of living in a small town in the Bible belt south was spot on. Especially the aspect of how even in our modern times, women and vulnerable populations are still oppressed under so-called ‘powerful’ men.

I loved how she incorporated two very different spiritual beliefs into the book- the zealot Christian fundamentalists and the occult. But my favorite was the town's spine-tingling folklore of the Low Man- a Draculaesque demon who on a moonless night will slip into your bedroom and kill you.

I love how versatile Ashley is as an author. Each thriller she releases is completely different from the next(not to mention she's also a beloved romance author). We all know and love Ashley Winstead in the online community but I see this book being huge everywhere when it publishes. Midnight is the Darkest Hour will solidify Ashley as a household name. Just like her prior thrillers, readers will absolutely love this one!

Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead will be available on October 3. A massive thanks to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the gifted copy!

This book - it was so promising. I enjoyed the dual timelines. I enjoyed the mystery and the slow unraveling of details. But I felt like threads that were hinted at were never fully explores, like when the protagonist determined she needed to find the killer only to "interview" one group of women and then essentially stopped her investigation. Also, the ending was...something else. If I referenced a movie, you'd know exactly how it ended. And it was not what I expected and too abrupt for my taste. Overall, I like the book until the last few pages.

I'm definitely comfortable saying this is an improvement from her last book (which I kind of hated a bit, really), but I'm not totally converted yet. There remains something not quite right, although whatever it is is much more manageable than it was in her previous work.

It’s the small town of nightmares. Ruth is the over protected daughter of a fire and brimstone preacher who runs the town with the fear of shunning and hell. Ruth and her best friend, Everett, are connected by a secret that has threatened to be discovered. Together they must discover if there is a killer on the loose to protect themselves and their town. This a dark tale weaving power, money, and a twisted belief of god. Overall, a great story but tended to get long.

While I love Ashley Winstead's novels to death, Midnight is the Darkest Hour ended up being too much for me to read. I felt very squeamish while reading, which means that Winstead did her job well creating an atmospheric tale! The take on Southern courting only and Twilight tie ins felt realistic and set the stage. However; I couldn't finish the novel at the forty percent mark due to the trigger warnings taking a hit.

Wow, what a ride! I had so much fun reading this. I was torn between wanting to binge read because I couldn’t put it down and wanting to savor it because I wasn’t ready for it to be over. Thank you so much Sourcebooks for making my week by blessing me with an early copy of this.

I have six major points I jotted down:
1. Fundamentalism is wild
2. Thank god I wasn’t raised by a zealot
3. Everett is a babe
4. Could we have just not included so much Twilight? Maybe I don’t get it because I’m not a Twilight girlie, but I generally don’t love excessive pop culture references in any book I read. She does explain the point of this in her ‘Conversation with the Author,’ which I did appreciate and it did make sense. But still.
5. I loved how the mystery slowly unraveled for the reader with no left-field plot twists placed simply for shock value. The reader is given all the pieces to this puzzle.
6. THAT ENDING

Ashley Winstead has delivered 3 thrillers that are all bangers and so different from each other. From dark academia to crazy cults to southern gothics… is there anything she can’t do? Plus, her morally grey characters are truly unmatched. I’m just completely enamored with her writing. Midnight in particular is incredibly atmospheric and the perfect creepy small town read.

This one is darker than In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, but not nearly as dark and disturbing as The Last Housewife. If you liked her other two thrillers, you’ll enjoy this one. If you haven’t picked up a book by her, what the heck are you waiting for? Already looking forward to what she writes next!

Welcome to Ashley Winstead's dark, sinister, complex, mind-bending, and bleak universe. It's an eerie small community with cultish, witchery, and demonic vibes, and it features a heart-wrenching love story between two outsiders: the preacher's daughter and the devil's son. This book draws reminiscences of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" mixed with the thrilling elements of "Bonnie & Clyde."

Pietism, blind faith, and narrow-mindedness permeate the core of Bottom Springs, where Pastor James Cornier's opinions hold more power than any law enforcement. He is curtsied and worshipped by the entire town, and his words are listened to with awe.

Ruth Cornier, the preacher's daughter, has always been an outsider and has never fulfilled her father's high expectations of becoming an exemplary Christian. Trapped in this town for a long time, she hides behind the facade of a shy, obedient, and naive librarian. However, instead of losing herself in the various universes of books, the only thing that liberates her from becoming a sheep in the town's flock is her sacred friendship with Everett Duncan, the Devil's son. Everett, dressed in ratty clothes and bearing an intense stare, follows in the footsteps of his father, one of the town's chief church-shirkers.

Their shared interest in getting lost in fictional worlds by burying their heads in books is not the only thing that makes them inseparable. They also share a dangerous secret: something very bad happened on the day Ruth dreamt of getting her first kiss during her first date. The night turned out to be far more unexpected and traumatic than she had anticipated.

Now Sheriff Thomas Theriot and his deputies have discovered a skull in Starry Swamp, belonging to a male aged twenty-five to fifty. The fracturing on the bone indicates blunt-force trauma. This earth-shattering news isn't the only shock the townies receive; satanic symbols are also found carved around the area where the skull was discovered.

Luckily, Everett, Ruth's secret keeper and best friend (and perhaps more than that), returns to town as if he has sensed trouble brewing. Their first thought is that they might get caught for the accidental murder they committed. However, as the victim's identity is revealed and another skull is found, they realize that things are far more complex than they had imagined. They find themselves in the middle of an investigation that may lead them to face the most frightening urban legend of all: Low Man, a nightmarish creature that takes the form of a beautiful man. Low Man is a trap for sinners, capable of seeing into their hearts and revealing their true wickedness. He slips in through their windows, sinking his fangs into their necks to take not only their lives but also their souls.

As Ruth and Everett delve into the mysteries of the town, the ugly face of Bottom Springs, created by its distorted "good" citizens, slaps them in the face as yet another layer of hidden truth is revealed.

The twists in this book are well executed, unpredictable, and leave readers feeling as if the rug has been pulled out from under them.

The conclusion of the story and that ending... Dear Ashley Winstead knows how to write an impactful and epic ending that takes readers' breath away. She literally left me breathless!

She is one of those brilliant authors who can play with the strings of our hearts by writing addictive romance books. Yet, she can effortlessly delve into the dark side and deliver twisty, dark, and shocking psychological thrillers like this one. This book has earned my full five stars, and I highly recommend reading it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sharing this thrilling read's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

The perfect southern gothic, thriller with alot of heart break. I loved loved loved the setting, characters, and twilight references!!! The ending had me screaming! Would be the perfect read for fall.