Book Review: 14 Nights in February
14 Nights in February
Authors:
KH Johnakin
Ben Farthing
Published: January 25, 2026
Kindle: 206 pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: February 24- March 24, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 2 stars
Book Description:
14 chapters. 14 nights. 1 terrifying love story.
Years ago, a ghost hunt shattered Elizabeth’s life and took away the man she loved.
Now, she’s put her past behind her.
But then her old partner calls to ask a favor. His brother, Fitz, is insistent on documenting the strange activity at the Route 14 Motel. Elizabeth reluctantly agrees to help him.
The motel has a reputation: Each February, one room becomes active per night…
Fourteen rooms. Fourteen nights.
All leading to Valentine’s Day.
The hauntings are very real—restless spirits trapped in unfinished stories. Elizabeth and Fitz decide to help each ghost move on, one room at a time.
But a murderer’s ghost still stalks the motel—dangerous, powerful, and furious that someone is freeing his victims.
Amid cursed hotel rooms, vengeful ex-lovers, and rooms with only one bed, Elizabeth and Fitz will have to decide how much they’re willing to risk for love.
14 Nights in February is a horror/romcom designed to be read one chapter per day, from February 1st through Valentine’s Day—written by two authors living their own real-life love story, Ben Farthing and KH Johnakin.
Jessica’s Review:
14 Nights in February had an appealing premise and it is also an ‘advent’ book: Read a chapter a day from February 1- February 14th in time for Valentine’s Day. I enjoyed Farthing’s advent book for Halloween, The 31st Trick or Treater, so I was looking forward to this one. I wanted to see how a horror advent book for Valentine’s was going to go. We have fourteen chapters with a haunted hotel room and ghost in each: It sounds great! Knowing the co-author KH Johnakin is also his wife, I was thinking we were in for some horror and maybe some romance added in. After all, you are supposed to read it for Valentine’s Day.
I did not get it started until after Valentine’s Day, and was hoping to read a chapter a day as the authors intended, but time-wise I was not able to. The story also just did not work for me: I wasn’t intrigued. I did finish it but maybe should have just DNF’d it. For me the best part was the epilogue.
I think it might have just been the wring time for me to read the book and might at some point in the future give it another try. Just not anytime soon.
Book Review: The 31st Trick-or-Treater by Ben Farthing
The 31st Trick-or-Treater
Author: Ben Farthing
Published: September 24, 2025
Paperback: 324 pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: October 1-31, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
Thirty-one nights. Thirty-one chapters. One final nightmare.
Last Halloween, thirty trick-or-treaters vanished into the night.
This October, they’re coming back—one by one, each day of the month. But every child carries the same chilling warning: something is returning on the 31st.
Bob has never stopped searching for his daughter. Now, as the shadows of Halloween grow longer, he must face the darkness that stole her—before it takes everything again.
The 31st Trick-or-Treater is a Halloween advent novel: thirty-one nights, thirty-one chapters, and one final nightmare waiting on Halloween.
Jessica’s Review:
Ben Farthing got the inspiration for The 31st Trick-or-Treater from Per Jacobsen’s 25 Days which I read last Christmas. He even spoke to Jacobsen. Finding out about this connection and the advent style which I enjoyed with 25 Days, I decided to read this one from Farthing. And the premise was intriguing: Last Halloween 30 trick-or-treaters disappeared and now this year one is coming back every night in October. What will happen on October 31st this year!?!?!
And I enjoyed it. This year October was a super busy month with me working on average 10 hours a day 5 days a week. Needless to say, I did fall behind, but was able to get caught up. After working those long hours, I would get home, have a quick bite to eat, shower and maybe just a little free time before bed, which was mentally and physically exhausting.
Some of the chapters were longer and some were shorter. When a chapter was shorter it was hard to not read further. The book seemed to have been written and put together very quickly so it is far from perfect. Earlier print versions (such as mine) have errors that were caught after the fact, which were corrected for the kindle versions and later print versions. With some more work and planning it could be a really good novel!
I love the concept of kids going missing for one year and then returning the next year one night at a time. And just what is going to happen on the 31st. The reader goes on the journey with Bob to find out what will happen.
There are unanswered questions left at the end and I would love to see a sequel to find out what might happen next! I do plan to read it again next Halloween, just not advent style.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
