Happy Medium
Ratings9
Average rating4.2
15
Ratings9
Average rating4.2
"The perfect alchemy of romance, humor and quirky originality."—Sophie Cousens, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Next Year and The Good Part "A sincere and sincerely funny romance."—Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House A clever con woman must convince a skeptical, sexy farmer of his property's resident real-life ghost if she's to save them all from a fate worse than death, in this delightful new novel from the author of Mrs. Nash's Ashes. Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn is happy to help when her best (read: wealthiest) client hires her to investigate the unexplained phenomena preventing the sale of her bridge partner’s struggling goat farm. Gretchen may be a fraud, but she'd like to think she’s a beneficent one. So if "cleansing" the property will help a nice old man finally retire and put some much-needed cash in her pockets at the same time, who's she to say no? Of course, it turns out said bridge partner isn't the kindly AARP member Gretchen imagined—Charlie Waybill is young, hot as hell, and extremely unconvinced that Gretchen can communicate with the dead. (Which, fair.) Except, to her surprise, Gretchen finds herself face-to-face with Everett: the very real, very chatty ghost that’s been wreaking havoc during every open house. And he wants her to help ensure Charlie avoids the same family curse that's had Everett haunting Gilded Creek since the 1920s. Now, Gretchen has one month to convince Charlie he can’t sell the property. Unfortunately, hard work and honesty seem to be the way to win over the stubborn farmer—not exactly Gretchen's strengths. But trust isn’t the only thing growing between them, and the risk of losing Charlie to the spirit realm looms over Gretchen almost as annoyingly as Everett himself. To save the goat farm, its friendly phantom, and the man she's beginning to love, Gretchen will need to pull off the greatest con of her life: being fully, genuinely herself. “Sarah Adler nails the ultimate rom-com alchemy.”—Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake
Reviews with the most likes.
Happy medium was the perfect mix of funny, heartwarming, and enchanting, all wrapped up with an original plot for the seamless rom-com recipe.
Grenchem was raised to be a con artist and earns her living pretending to speak with ghosts. In an surprising turn of events, she ends up in haunted farm speaking with a real ghost, trying to convince a sceptic tattooed farmed that this time she is telling the true.
I was utterly charmed by Gretchen and Charlie! Their banter was great, and their chemistry was off the charts. I must admit that at some point I was a bit worried with Charlie's behaviour, but he does have a wonderful heart that won me over completely.
Everett was the best character and absolutely steals the show!
I would like to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest an honest review.
P.S: As a former big4 consultant, I feel obliged to defend their honour and tell you that absolutely no one working in Deloitte, PwC, EY or KPMG would ever go to a bar wearing clothes with the company's logo, much less bet $1,000 on whichever... everyone is usually too overworked, and value their hard-earned salary too much.
4.5 stars rounded up ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
If you love small-town romances and don't mind some paranormal aspects, this book is perfect for you! It's about a fake spirit medium named Gretchen, who is tasked with helping a friend of a client sell their house by exorcising the ghost who haunts it. However, the owner of the house doesn't believe in the supernatural, and Gretchen finds herself trying to convince him that this time, it's not a con, and there truly is a ghost named Everett haunting the house.
The ghost, Everett, is hilarious and unhinged, and the main couple, Gretchen and Charlie, are both quite relatable. I couldn't help but devour the book in a single day! The spicy parts of the book are very well-written, and I was hooked from the very first chapter. The only reason I didn't give it a 5-star rating was that I felt we could have had a more thorough development of the main couple's relationship. While the book is not short by any means, I felt that the pacing of the relationship was a bit rushed at times.
A charismatic con-woman, a gruff but tender-hearted goat farmer, and a sassy ghost with a TV obsession come together because of a decades long curse.
The story is cute, the farm setting is charming, and the characters are mostly likeable but I found myself wanting just a little bit more.
I think part of that is just the nature of how the plot moves forward. Gretchen is simultaneously building a romantic relationship with Charlie and a friendship with Everett (the ghost), and I think that meant potential romantic development gave way to ghost bonding.
I'd still recommend reading it if the plot interests you. I enjoyed it enough to shed a tear or two towards the end but it's not something I'm going to revisit or think much about now that I'm done with it.
