The Well was a fun mix of horror and mystery/thriller that kept me turning pages. Throughout the book, we're uncertain of which characters are "good" and which are "bad" - most of them are fingered as a suspect in Elise's disappearance at one point. We're also made to question what is "real" and not: was the seance real, or one of Elise's tricks? How *did* she know about the well? Was there someone helping Haven, Pierce and Jordan at the end? The Well never explicitly answers these questions so the reader is left to wonder, which adds to the magic and mystery of the story.

When I was younger, I remember going with my friends to the local cemetery with a Ouija board and trying to summon the spirits.......this book reminded me of that in some way.

The beginning starts with a bunch of teenagers who are convinced by Elise to go to the old Gustafson home which is allegedly haunted by a girl who was killed there. She wants to hold a séance. Elise is a prankster. She loves to scare everyone, especially her cousin, Haven, so he is skeptical and wary of everything she says and does. And then she disappears. I was a little hesitant at first with the age of the main characters, but then we jump ahead 12 years. The book continues between the past and present and the mystery of it all.

Jordan and Pierce are determined to get answers of what happened that fateful night 12 years ago, and since they are now somewhat famous with their own "paranormal hunting" reality show, they've got the crew and gadgets to hopefully get to the truth.

I loved the book, and I vividly remember one line towards the end which definitely gave me the literal chills!

If you are looking for a quick read or a change-up in genre, I recommend this book!

When I read the blurb of this book, I got immediately excited. I mean paranormal investigators..ghosts....sounds all kinds of creepy and mysterious.

Which is exactly what I got. Mystery, suspense and ghosts. What I didn't get however was a romance story. There is a couple in this book, but that's not what this book is about. Now it doesn't say so in the blurb, that it is a romance and I myself am a sucker for mystery and suspense...but still. I want everyone to be aware of this fact before going in.

Now....I did enjoy this little mysterious story. I would have liked it better with a bit more romance, ...not gonna lie. But still it was very enjoyable.

This books skips between present and past which tends to annoy me, but in this case it didn't. It realy added to the mystery.

12 Years ago, a couple of teenagers, including Pierce and Haven, held a seance in a haunted house. The next day, one of them dissapeared. Now, 12 years later they are together again (Pierce now being a paranormal investigator), reenacting that night and trying to figure out what exactly happend.

I can't say too much about the plot, without spoilering the story, so I won't. I read and have read a lot of different genres in my life. Thrillers and mystery/suspence being one of them. I don't mind if a book lacks in the romance department. That said, I would have liked this one better I think if there wasn't any romance/pairing at all. Now I felt a bit bereft, since that part of the story never really developed.

I think readers who enjoy mystery and suspense with a hint of paranormal will definitely like this one. Readers who are into romance and mm....maybe not so much.

An arc was kindly provided to me via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book well enough although I didn't find it truly spectacular or captivating. It's just an easy little ghost story and murder mystery to get lost in. There is also an element of romance to the story although it certainly isn't the focus only a small added bonus (it's M/M too).

For the most part, as I mentioned, I did like the story. The author mixes a ghost story in with a murder mystery and readers will be stumped when it comes to the killer. Is it really a ghost? Or is it a person? You'll have to read to find out. I also like how the author weaves between the past (when the murder/disappearance takes place) and the present (where they are hosting a paranormal investigation as adults to figure out what happened to their missing friend). This is the perfect way to tell this type of story because it adds to the overall creepiness to the story as well as gives us readers some background information so that we can find clues for ourselves.

The ending of the book is satisfying enough, although I was hoping for something with a bit more of a bang especially considering the atmosphere of the whole story. But it works fine the way it is and doesn't leave anything open for interpretation for us readers. Its packaged in a tight little bow which is how many prefer their endings.

All in all, I think this story would work well for both young adult AND adult readers. Personally I feel like it is geared towards the younger crowed but adults can enjoy it just as much. This book would also be perfect for those who like a short and haunting read with added creepiness (it has a seance and it scared me a bit), and those who like a quick little mystery.

Okay, I've never read Marie Sexton before. Having read this, I've read a bit more about her and looked at the genres of books she writes and it finally all makes sense.

What I expected was a paranormal mystery. What I got was a paranormal mystery with a romance that was (oddly) either too much or too little for the book. You see, the book struggles. Is it a romance? Or is it a paranormal?

The romance itself is sweet, though the one scene of M/M sex is jarring in tone considering the rest of the book. I liked our romantic couple. The problem was that I just wanted them to shut up and kiss and finally let us get back to the paranormal mystery. In addition, Pierce was kind of a non-entity. Truly, you could have replaced him with just about any other character in the book and you would have the same story.

As for that paranormal mystery, it was solid, though nothing new. I definitely wanted to know if there were truly any paranormal things going on and I wanted to know the truth behind the missing women.

Would I read Sexton again? I'm not sure. If she writes a paranormal, I would want there to me more...I don't know...paranormal? And if she writes a romance, I'd want characters who live and breathe.

This just left me wanting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller. It had me guessing who the killer was, which I like! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to be scarred and on the edge of their seat!

Even when you experience something first hand, you're left with more questions than answers and no proof whatsoever.
You know there's moment in your life that bridge before and after, where the after turned your life upside down and changed everything. The Well brought that sort of scenario to life; a prank went awry, so to speak. A night that would change the life of three young men.

Told in alternate flashback and present time chapters from a seventeen and twenty nine year old Haven Sage's POV, that showed the gap between youth's ingenuousness and later their better grasp on reality. I felt for Haven and his guilt, the mystery of his cousin's disappearance. In not so many words, I felt his loneliness as Elise's disappearance robbed him many things including chance at a budding love.

While not necessarily a sleuthing story - more like the character gripped by twelve long years grief and curiosity, trying to find answer - The Well gripped me from first page to the last. The paranormal aspect in it is enough for the characters to question things but not fully answered them. It's a pretty grounded paranormal mystery with likable characters that blend conflicting emotions. The romance side of the story was a nice bonus. :)


Advanced copy of this book is kindly provided by the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A well written ghost, mystery story. I felt there was a lack of character development though and the ending was a let down.

The lack of romance was a little off putting. The ghost story was delightful.

The Blurb is pretty much accurate. I would probably classify this one as a Ghost Story.

It isn't a long read at all and we don't have a lot of information on the characters. I would have liked more depth there. There was some romance of the M/M variety. Which was also a little shallow.

A nice little ghost story, murder mystery, just not enough to feel like I knew any of these people better after finishing the book.

This book is self published and is available on Amazon!

Review of THE WELL
by Marie Sexton

Oh wow! When I first read the blurb, I knew I was going to enjoy this novel. I more than enjoyed it, I love it. The author, Marie Sexton, does a special job of delineating the fine line of tension between skepticism and belief in the supernatural/paranormal/otherworldly. For some of us, one perception or the other is constant; for others, skepticism can change to belief, and belief to skepticism, and all that is well demonstrated in this book. Ms. Sexton also does a superb job of keeping the “real facts” in abeyance until she is ready to expose them, so we read the story without “knowing” everything, just as the characters have to muddle through, try to do their best, investigate, ponder, and put together the pieces.

Two events, twelve years apart, are interwoven, and combined as well are events from twenty years before the first story event. A murder, a suicide, disappearances; a séance, another disappearance; a breakup, another breakup; a television paranormal investigative series and a chance at reunion. There's not a moment's letdown in this story, which I read in one sitting because I couldn't step away.

Read the blurb carefully. It's not misleading in the slightest. The Well is a mystery/suspense novel with a paranormal twist. The story alternates between the past in 2003 and the present twelve years later.

When Haven and Pierce were 17 and 18 respectively, they broke into a house rumored to be haunted with their friends Linsey and Elise (sisters and Haven's cousins), Jordan (Pierce's twin), and Craig (Linsey's boyfriend).

Elise, who loved to tell spooky stories and scare people, was the oldest and the ringleader. She wanted to hold a seance and spend the night at the house. The others went along with her plan.

The next morning, Elise was gone and their lives lay in tatters.

This is partly a ghost story, but more than that, it's a story of the evil that lurks around us. I was never properly creeped out, but I was interested in the investigation and didn't figure out the mystery (there's actually more than one, all knotted together) until the very end. Sexton does a good job subtly revealing bits and pieces of the puzzle and keeping the tension amped up.

Pierce and Haven kissed for the first time that fateful night Elise disappeared. I didn't expect much steam (there's none), but having the sweetness of a first kiss happen off page was just sad.

"Well," Pierce said at last. "I can't kiss you if you're all the way over there."

Luckily, Pierce had no problem leaning across that chasm.

Sometime later, when they were both breathless and wonderfully tangled in each other's limbs, their clothes still on, but not quite the way they were supposed to be, Pierce whispered in Haven's ear.

When the MCs reconnect in the present (Pierce and his brother are paranormal investigators with their own show), the focus is very much on unraveling the mystery by recreating the night at the house and interviewing those involved.

There's absolutely no relationship building. The ending is a HFN. The mystery comes together, but the romance never takes off.

This isn't a long book, and it's well written (it's Marie Sexton after all). I liked the way the paranormal aspect was handled. I'm not a believer per se, but I don't discount anything either.

I actually think I would have enjoyed this book more had the romance not been included at all. As a mystery, this book gets 4 stars; as a romance, it fails spectacularly.