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Coco Man
Palmer's world is a tangled web of forgotten memories and ghostly apparitions. After waking from unconsciousness she finds herself with no recollection of the past twelve years. The last thing she remembers is being 19 and hopelessly in love with her boyfriend, Calum Murphy. But now at 31, Palmer is married to Hartman Roth, a man she doesn’t recognize.
After being discovered badly injured in an abandoned house deep in the woods Palmer must navigate a new reality where nothing makes sense. Haunted by a ghostly figure that has followed her since childhood, she is tormented by visions and whispers from the past. The lines between reality and folklore blur as Palmer dives into the mystery of her amnesia.
While she pieces together fragments of her lost years, Palmer must confront the eerie presence that shadows her every step. Who is the specter that haunts her? What dark secrets lie hidden in her forgotten past? And how did she go from loving Calum to marrying Hartman?
Embark on a mesmerizing journey through the shadows of memory and myth in this gripping tale of love, loss, and the supernatural. COCO MAN will leave you breathless, questioning the very fabric of reality.
After being discovered badly injured in an abandoned house deep in the woods Palmer must navigate a new reality where nothing makes sense. Haunted by a ghostly figure that has followed her since childhood, she is tormented by visions and whispers from the past. The lines between reality and folklore blur as Palmer dives into the mystery of her amnesia.
While she pieces together fragments of her lost years, Palmer must confront the eerie presence that shadows her every step. Who is the specter that haunts her? What dark secrets lie hidden in her forgotten past? And how did she go from loving Calum to marrying Hartman?
Embark on a mesmerizing journey through the shadows of memory and myth in this gripping tale of love, loss, and the supernatural. COCO MAN will leave you breathless, questioning the very fabric of reality.
393 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 31, 2024
4 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Laken Hyson Schmalz
3 books7 followersLaken Hyson Schmalz is a Hispanic-American author raised in the small mountain town of Durango Colorado. Her debut novel COCO MAN, a thriller romance, explores the line between oral legends and reality. Laken has a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration and over a decade of experience working in the healthcare industry. She now lives in Derby Kansas with her Dentist husband, their daughter, and their two small dogs. When Laken isn’t writing romantic thrillers she can be found crocheting, gardening, watching horror movies, and laughing with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 28, 2024
This book was a page turner!!! I loved the alternating timelines, and the flashbacks to the development of Palmer and Calum were so real and gut wrenching. I love a book with quick, cliffhanger chapters. I am paying for it today because I stayed up way too late to finish - I had to know!!
Side note - I loved the names in this book. Palmer, Calum, Hartman - this twisty love triangle reminded me of Twilight! And it had so many millennial pop references! Mixed in with the creepy horror bits sprinkled throughout - this would be a good October read!
CW there are some spicy bits but they are easy to skip if that’s not your thing and they aren’t the main story.
Side note - I loved the names in this book. Palmer, Calum, Hartman - this twisty love triangle reminded me of Twilight! And it had so many millennial pop references! Mixed in with the creepy horror bits sprinkled throughout - this would be a good October read!
CW there are some spicy bits but they are easy to skip if that’s not your thing and they aren’t the main story.
September 8, 2024
I am not a thriller, scary book girl. But I can say I throughly enjoyed this book. I love Palmer, she was everything I like in a main female character! Her relationship with her Abeula was one of my favorite parts of the book. The twist was just perfect and had me on the edge of my seat until the end!
September 8, 2024
Wow! This was a definite page-turner!
August 25, 2024
The mysteries of Palmer’s haunting and her lost memories slowly unravels with short chapters going back and forth between current day and the past, which really kept the pace steady and dynamic. The paranormal foreshadowing is immediately apparent and really well done - every chapter ends on a cliffhanger!
There’s also a tortured love triangle and initially, I couldn’t figure out which guy I was cheering for: Hartman is dreamy and protective, and I loved his banter with Palmer, while young Palmer’s connection with Calum was undeniable and despite being messy, he sounded devoted to her! 😩
Not to pigeon-hold this book to a certain generation, but I think millennials will love the late 2000s and 2010s pop culture references in this book. I too religiously watched Pretty Little Liars, belted out Adele in the car, stole songs off Limewire, and anxiously waited for each release of the Harry Potter movies!
Along with all the nostalgia , Palmer’s teen years were heartwrenching and raw and made me remember my own naivety and that potent first love. In general Palmer is such a lovable MC; she’s witty and kind and cemented in who she is, it was refreshing reading about someone who loves herself. I felt very attached to her, like she was a friend that I wanted to comfort and hug through the bad times. 🥺
Later on, the love triangle threw me for a loop - suffice it to say, things are not what they may seem! The ending is badass and tender, and felt like a homecoming for Palmer. Her connection with Abuela and her late aunt were so special and anchored this story.
I’m also such a sucker for a good ghost story, and the Coco Man lore did not disappoint. I only wish we’d gotten more of the Coco Man weaved in throughout this tale, although I understand why the particular ghost haunting Palmer had a bigger role to play.
There’s also a tortured love triangle and initially, I couldn’t figure out which guy I was cheering for: Hartman is dreamy and protective, and I loved his banter with Palmer, while young Palmer’s connection with Calum was undeniable and despite being messy, he sounded devoted to her! 😩
Not to pigeon-hold this book to a certain generation, but I think millennials will love the late 2000s and 2010s pop culture references in this book. I too religiously watched Pretty Little Liars, belted out Adele in the car, stole songs off Limewire, and anxiously waited for each release of the Harry Potter movies!
Along with all the nostalgia , Palmer’s teen years were heartwrenching and raw and made me remember my own naivety and that potent first love. In general Palmer is such a lovable MC; she’s witty and kind and cemented in who she is, it was refreshing reading about someone who loves herself. I felt very attached to her, like she was a friend that I wanted to comfort and hug through the bad times. 🥺
Later on, the love triangle threw me for a loop - suffice it to say, things are not what they may seem! The ending is badass and tender, and felt like a homecoming for Palmer. Her connection with Abuela and her late aunt were so special and anchored this story.
I’m also such a sucker for a good ghost story, and the Coco Man lore did not disappoint. I only wish we’d gotten more of the Coco Man weaved in throughout this tale, although I understand why the particular ghost haunting Palmer had a bigger role to play.
August 30, 2024
Just a well written book. The details through the whole story and the flashbacks that helped organize thoughts. And memories. I couldn’t figure out who I wanted Palmer to end up with in the end. Laken made you fall in love with both relationships!
August 26, 2024
Man I read this fast! I never read books in 1 day! I was traveling and I couldn’t put it down. I love romance books, but add mystery/ thriller to it and I was hooked. I was on the edge of my seat each chapter ready to move on to the next. So so good!
August 17, 2024
Wow! I didn't have "loving a romantic thriller with folk horror elements" on my 2024 bingo card but here I am haha.
Seriously, this book works with both a thriller and a romance genre-type plot and delivers on both fronts. Adding in a really consistent thread of folk horror and it was a really fun ride.
Seriously, this book works with both a thriller and a romance genre-type plot and delivers on both fronts. Adding in a really consistent thread of folk horror and it was a really fun ride.
January 26, 2025
I listened to the audiobook.
The copy doesn't reeeally match the actual story. There's less horror and more horrifyingly unhealthy romance. The ghostly apparition barely factored in, and the titular Coco Man almost not at all.
Also, the 'spicy' scenes (of which there were a fair few) seemed like they were written by a precocious 15 year-old and they were very... uncomfortable. A lot of talk of her "core."
It was overly descriptive, focussing on physical appearances and clothing, and repeated mentions of the size of someone's pecs or their pale, unfreckled skin. Which always makes me think of books written for tweens and early teens. I mean, minus the pecs, probably, but like, the focus on describing what everyone is wearing. Which is fine, but it also feels like filler?
Actually , that's the other thing. This could have used another serious edit. There was a lot of needless repetition.
And the protagonist, a self-proclaimed horror buff, makes all the mistakes that people in horror movies do. She has no excuse. She knows she's making dangerously stupid decisions, but she just keeps going. And she has no friends! Her high school bestie lives in another state, but she literally has no one else in her life she can call to say "hey, do you want to come check out an old cabin with me?" or even to talk about things with. Itcqas established that she has a big family, but she doesn't have one cousin she could confide in? Or go on stupid adventures with?
But yes, spoilers!
Protagonist had an intense and unhealthy relationship with her high school boyfriend, the presumably neglected only child of a rich couple, who became reliant on substances and the protagonist to keep him going. He becomes increasingly unreliable, and eventually sells the protagonist's brother the drugs that land him in the hospital and set him on the path to addiction. He comes off as charming but with a cold streak. The protagonist's abuela is highly suspicious of him. And rightly so, because (spoiler), even though he actually isn't a violent sociopath, he's still a selfish dick.
Cut to present day, protagonist has married a guy maybe ten years her senior, a big, jacked doctor with daddy issues and a GPA tracker on her phone. Everyone thinks he is wonderful. Spoiler- he is not wonderful.
All the while, high-school boyfriend has been secretly keeping tabs on the protagonist. He discovered that her husband is actually the one who is the violent sociopath!
And his aforementioned daddy? Yeah, he killed the protagonist's great aunt. And when she got too close to the truth, he pushed her down the stairs of an abandoned shack (near where his dad buried her great aunt), leading to her amnesia which forms the basis of the plot.
High school boyfriend swoops in and saves the day, now 12 years sober and working as a bounty hunter.
And yeah, that's it, mystery -such as it is- solved.
I feel cheated.
Also, the narrator mispronounced enough words for it to be distracting. She tried, but...
The copy doesn't reeeally match the actual story. There's less horror and more horrifyingly unhealthy romance. The ghostly apparition barely factored in, and the titular Coco Man almost not at all.
Also, the 'spicy' scenes (of which there were a fair few) seemed like they were written by a precocious 15 year-old and they were very... uncomfortable. A lot of talk of her "core."
It was overly descriptive, focussing on physical appearances and clothing, and repeated mentions of the size of someone's pecs or their pale, unfreckled skin. Which always makes me think of books written for tweens and early teens. I mean, minus the pecs, probably, but like, the focus on describing what everyone is wearing. Which is fine, but it also feels like filler?
Actually , that's the other thing. This could have used another serious edit. There was a lot of needless repetition.
And the protagonist, a self-proclaimed horror buff, makes all the mistakes that people in horror movies do. She has no excuse. She knows she's making dangerously stupid decisions, but she just keeps going. And she has no friends! Her high school bestie lives in another state, but she literally has no one else in her life she can call to say "hey, do you want to come check out an old cabin with me?" or even to talk about things with. Itcqas established that she has a big family, but she doesn't have one cousin she could confide in? Or go on stupid adventures with?
But yes, spoilers!
Protagonist had an intense and unhealthy relationship with her high school boyfriend, the presumably neglected only child of a rich couple, who became reliant on substances and the protagonist to keep him going. He becomes increasingly unreliable, and eventually sells the protagonist's brother the drugs that land him in the hospital and set him on the path to addiction. He comes off as charming but with a cold streak. The protagonist's abuela is highly suspicious of him. And rightly so, because (spoiler), even though he actually isn't a violent sociopath, he's still a selfish dick.
Cut to present day, protagonist has married a guy maybe ten years her senior, a big, jacked doctor with daddy issues and a GPA tracker on her phone. Everyone thinks he is wonderful. Spoiler- he is not wonderful.
All the while, high-school boyfriend has been secretly keeping tabs on the protagonist. He discovered that her husband is actually the one who is the violent sociopath!
And his aforementioned daddy? Yeah, he killed the protagonist's great aunt. And when she got too close to the truth, he pushed her down the stairs of an abandoned shack (near where his dad buried her great aunt), leading to her amnesia which forms the basis of the plot.
High school boyfriend swoops in and saves the day, now 12 years sober and working as a bounty hunter.
And yeah, that's it, mystery -such as it is- solved.
I feel cheated.
Also, the narrator mispronounced enough words for it to be distracting. She tried, but...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2024
Not a book to sit on the TBR, just read it!
Great plot. Great writing. Good pace. And always keeps you guessing. Just a great read all the way around. It's a new favorite and one I will be recommending to my friends looking for their next good read.
Great plot. Great writing. Good pace. And always keeps you guessing. Just a great read all the way around. It's a new favorite and one I will be recommending to my friends looking for their next good read.
October 16, 2024
Ahhh this book! It's been days, and I seriously can't stop thinking about it. I loved the alternating timelines and that every chapter ended on a cliffhanger. I enjoyed getting to know Palmer as she grew up and see her relationship with Cal, and later her relationship with Hartman. Also, can I just say I'm such a sucker for a bad boy underdog? Needless to say, I was rooting for Cal the entire time.
I also loved the atmosphere and creepy moments. Speaking of creepy moments - there were multiple scenes in this book that made me shudder. And that ending! Omg! I'm still reeling over how things ended. I did not expect it at all, but loved every second of it.
If you're a fan of horror romance, creepy moments, amnesia, and a solid love triangle, then you will love Coco Man.
I also loved the atmosphere and creepy moments. Speaking of creepy moments - there were multiple scenes in this book that made me shudder. And that ending! Omg! I'm still reeling over how things ended. I did not expect it at all, but loved every second of it.
If you're a fan of horror romance, creepy moments, amnesia, and a solid love triangle, then you will love Coco Man.
March 16, 2025
Perfect spooky story for fall, or anytime!
A little underwhelmed with the abrupt climax of the story, but overall enjoyed the pacing and slow build.
A little underwhelmed with the abrupt climax of the story, but overall enjoyed the pacing and slow build.
September 30, 2024
This was fantastically done! I have to admit that I am a wimp with horror/thriller books, movies, anything. So this was my first suspense read and I loved it. I liked learning about the Spanish history of Coco Man stories. I suspected there would be a twist but I never saw this one coming. It was wonderful!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews