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Saturday, March 8, 2014

Guest Post with Author Mary Behre and Giveaway

Meet Mary Behre, author of Spirited.

Mary Behre is the lone female in a house full of males and the undisputed queen of her domain. She even has the glittery tiara to prove it. She loves stories with humor, ghosts, mysteries and above all else, a good romance. When not writing, she enjoys reading, gluten-free baking, and hanging out at the beach with the most important men in her life, her family.

Her debut paranormal romance, SPIRITED (Tidewater Novel #1) was an award-winning manuscript before it sold to Berkley Sensation. The Tidewater Series is mix of humor, suspense, and a psychic love-connection. The first three stories are about three sisters separated years before in the foster care system. As they search for love, each other, and a way to live with their psychic abilities, they’re tossed into the middle of mysteries that only their unique gifts can help solve.

Mary is represented by the fabulous Nalini Akolekar of Spencerhill Associates.

Find Mary at:

Thank you for having me on Ramblings From This Chick. My name is Mary Behre and I’m here today to talk about my top five favorite ghost story movies. Yay! I love ghost stories and I love movies, so this is awesome.

Before I give you my list, Tonight Show style, I need to preface with a statement…I always figure out the big mystery within twenty minutes of a movie. So I refer to my husband, The Cool Engineer, to be the gauge for deciding if a movie was or was not predictable.

5. High Spirits—This little known gem starred Steve Guttenberg and Daryl Hannah. Unlike the rest of the stories on the list, it was a romantic comedy. The premise of the movie was that the owner of a dying castle in Ireland, decides to turn his ancestral home into a spooky hotel for American guests. The castle is supposedly haunted, not that he believes it. But when the guests arrive, the ghosts, offended at being mocked decide to show him how a haunted castle should really look. There were two love stories involving ghosts and mortals, that just made the movie-goer want everyone to get their happily ever after.

4. The Shining (1980)— No ghost story list could be complete without a Stephen King mention. This movie was scary and creepy and great. But even as a kid, I couldn’t buy the idea of a ghost becoming corporeal. They’re ghosts. Souls without bodies. They cannot just create one from nothing. And yet, I still love how Jack Nicholson became John Torrance so convincingly. How the ghosts drove him to madness. That I could believe. Years after I saw the movie, I read the book. Oh, my GOSH! A thousand times better than the movie and the story was so different. If you haven’t read the book, pick it up and it’s sequel Dr. Sleep to find out what happened to Danny, after he grew up.

3. The Others—This ghost story starred Nicole Kidman as a mother trying to care for her children who had a rare allergy to sunlight. A well-written ghost story that had an ending The Cool Engineer said wasn’t predictable. I loved her interactions with the ghosts. Her fear of them and her need to get them out of her house. And the ending—whether or not I predicted it—was powerful.

2. Ghost—What can I say, I’m a romance writer at heart. I love that he stuck around to solve his own death and to protect his lover. And hello, Whoopi Goldberg as a pseudo-medium was hilarious when she learned she really could talk to the dead.The only thing I didn’t like is the ending. The couple didn’t end up together. But, the way it was written they couldn’t. Still, the fact that there was no happily ever after is what kept this story squarely in second place on my list.

1. The Sixth Sense—This movie is my absolute favorite. What I loved most about the movie is that the ghosts are not monsters. The fear and tension created in each scene comes from the living person’s reaction to seeing a ghost. I love that the ghosts are given reasons for being there, such as unfinished business or they don’t know they’re dead. Plus, have you seen the movie? Brilliant writing and directing. I’m a cheapskate and will often wait until the movie is out on DVD or On Demand through the cable company before I’ll watch it. I saw this one twice in the theater just to make sure I hadn’t missed any clues. I had. But I had because of the brilliant writing and directing.

So that’s my list of my top five favorite ghostly movies. What do you think? Agree or disagree? Have a movie to add?

Thank you again, for hosting me on Ramblings From This Chick!



She’s running from who she is…...

All Jules Scott wants is to live a normal, quiet life—preferably one that doesn’t include ghosts. Jules’s talent for communicating with the dead has brought her nothing but trouble. Despite her best efforts, needy spirits always find her and draw her into their otherworldly drama. When one implicates her in a series of deadly crimes, she may need to entrust her secrets to the person least likely to believe her.…

He’ll do whatever it takes to catch her.

Detective Seth English can’t get distracted from the big case he’s working on, not even by his alluring new neighbor. He doesn’t believe that Jules had anything to do with the string of robberies-turned-murders that he’s investigating, but when she keeps showing up in all the wrong places, his gut tells him she knows more than she’s letting on. To solve his case, he’ll need to expose what the sexy redhead is hiding—no matter how impossible the truth may be….

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N |

Check out the Tidewater series:


Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:
  • 1 copy of Spirited

To Enter: 
  • Please answer Mary's question: What do you think? Agree or disagree? Have a movie to add?
  • US shipping ONLY,
  • Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

Good Luck! 

Special thanks to Berkley sponsoring this giveaway.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

26 comments :

  1. I don't have a movie to add. I think you've hit on one I have seen that scared me silly (The Shining) and I'm a wimp when it comes to scary movies. I adored Ghost...so romantic...and The Sixth Sense. I'm going to rent High Spirits and The Others because of your recommendations. It isn't that I'm in love with ghosts or stories about them, but I think they're a bit of a mystery and I like solving or thinking about mysteries. And there's no proof that they don't exist...right? :-) Thanks for this post. jdh2690@gmail.com

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    1. Hi Janice,

      Thanks for stopping by. And I hope you enjoy the campy HIGH SPIRITS and the creepy THE OTHERS. Have a great day!

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  2. I agree ;) But I've only seen 2 out of those movies. I'm not a big ghost movie fan... they are too scary! But I can read about ghosts... LOL... thanks for sharing!

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    1. Hi Erin,

      I'm curious, which two movies have you seen?

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  3. I agree. The only 'ghost' story movie I'd add is also a Christmas movie and a comedy - Scrooged. Love the post! :-)

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    1. I seriously considered adding that one too! It's one of my must watch movies during the holidays. :) Thanks for stopping by Glenda.

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  4. Your #1 and #2 picks are on the top of my list also.

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    1. Yay! So glad to know others share my love of GHOST and THE SIXTH SENSE. Thank you for commenting.

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  5. The Sixth Sense would be at the top of my list too. I also love Beetlejuice and Ghostbusters.

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    1. I have to agree with you Barbara. If I had made the list a top ten, GHOSTBUSTERS and BEETLEJUICE would definitely be on there.

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  6. I love, love, love The Sixth Sense. It is at the top of my list. I also liked The Shining, after I quit throwing a temper tantrum because it was nothing like the book (I had to watch it years after the first viewing - I'm such a King fan, I couldn't handle the betrayal to his art the first time). I watched part of The Others, but missed the first of it. I was very impressed by the part I saw. There are a couple more I really like, but sadly, I can never remember the names of movies unless they are my very favorites (like The Shining and Sixth Sense). My husband is my card catalog of movie names. He is also my "previewer". He watches to make I'll like something, since I despise sad, or unhappy endings. I also tend to solve things early into the movie. It drives my husband crazy.

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    1. Hi Michelle,

      That's so awesome that your husband acts as your previewer. My husband doesn't do that for me. I can usually tell by the trailer if I'm going to hate the ending and won't watch it.

      BUT...about a year into our marriage, my husband made me promise to keep it to myself when I figured out the ending. For some reason he found it frustrating when I told him ten minutes in whodunit. LOL

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. I loved The Sixth Sense; loved the twists and turns (and loved that it featured my home town of Philadelphia!)...I can't seem to think of any other movies to add, however, I am a huge fan of the tv show Supernatural. If you've never watched it before, I would advise seeing it from season 1 (It's now in season 9) to best understand why the main characters act the way they do.

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    1. Hi Sandra,

      I've been a SUPERNATURAL fan almost since the beginning. And I have to agree with your recommendation that new fans should really watch it from the beginning.

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  8. The Sixth Sense and a The Shining are definitely on my list, along with Ghostbusters and Poltergeist. Loved all those movies.
    This sounds like a really great series. I am very eager to read the book.

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    1. Ooh, Poltergeist and Ghostbusters are definitely on my top ten ghost movies. Thanks for stopping by, Steph!

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  9. I loved all of those! Thirteen Ghosts is another one that I loved.
    Thanks for the chance to win!

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    1. I saw THIRTEEN GHOSTS when I was pregnant and on bed rest with my first child. That movie had a very cool premise. Thanks for stopping by!

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  10. I don't have any to add but the Shining definitely scared me, so did the 6th sense, which I didn't see coming but my husband did.

    Thanks for the giveaway.

    Shannon
    sabai30705(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Wow! I hadn't met anyone who'd seen the ending coming to THE SIXTH SENSE, that's awesome!

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  11. Replies
    1. You know, I've been wondering if anyone would add the second one? Myself, I felt only the first one would have made the top ten. What do you think?

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  12. The orphanage is a good one too. It's semi predictable because you see the end coming but it has a little twist which makes it really good . And the others is one of my favorites too!

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    1. Hmmm...I haven't seen The Orphanage. I think now, I'll have to watch it. Thanks for the recommendation, MsAwesome. (Love the handle, by the way.) :)

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