Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

“The Other Side of Forestlands Lake” is a paranormal mystery with a dash of romance. There was also a bit of humor thrown in that helped balance some of the spooky.
Willa Dunn and Lee Chandler are childhood best friends that spend their summers together at a lake house community. The community happens to be across the lake from a summer camp where a girl has gone missing. A year later, when they’re 15, their relationship is just starting to move into a romantic one when a tragedy occurs and they are forced to go their separate ways.
25 years later, Willa, a YA author of paranormal books, is looking for a writer’s retreat with her angsty teenage sister, Nicole. She heads back to the lake house thinking it would be a good place to bond with her sister and to finish her fifth novel.
Lee now lives on the campgrounds year-round with her 17-year-old daughter, Maggie. She’s never forgotten Willa, or the tragedy that forced them to never see each other again.
However, almost as soon as Willa and Nicole arrive in town weird things start happening. This is when the paranormal/mystery part of the book starts happening. There is a ghost on the lake that’s been around for 25 years. And while Willa writes about paranormal activity, she’s not prepared to see and deal with it on her own. Willa and Lee are reunited and along with Nicole and Maggie they must figure out what is happening with the ghost. Willa and Lee are also dealing with their feelings from long ago that have never gone away.

“The Other Side of Forestlands Lake” is a paranormal mystery with a dash of romance. There was also a bit of humor thrown in that helped balance some of the spooky.
Willa Dunn and Lee Chandler are childhood best friends that spend their summers together at a lake house community. The community happens to be across the lake from a summer camp where a girl has gone missing. A year later, when they’re 15, their relationship is just starting to move into a romantic one when a tragedy occurs and they are forced to go their separate ways.
25 years later, Willa, a YA author of paranormal books, is looking for a writer’s retreat with her angsty teenage sister, Nicole. She heads back to the lake house thinking it would be a good place to bond with her sister and to finish her fifth novel.
Lee now lives on the campgrounds year-round with her 17-year-old daughter, Maggie. She’s never forgotten Willa, or the tragedy that forced them to never see each other again.
However, almost as soon as Willa and Nicole arrive in town weird things start happening. This is when the paranormal/mystery part of the book starts happening. There is a ghost on the lake that’s been around for 25 years. And while Willa writes about paranormal activity, she’s not prepared to see and deal with it on her own. Willa and Lee are reunited and along with Nicole and Maggie they must figure out what is happening with the ghost. Willa and Lee are also dealing with their feelings from long ago that have never gone away.

Love this author's books, so I was happy to see a new one for me to read. This one still had they mystery of an unsolved case, but in a totally different way. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but it definitely was more...spooky?

What I particularly liked about this book is that the two main characters were both ready to date. There wasn't so much baggage, or another person, or anything else holding them back. They just met up again, got to know each other as adults, and moved into dating. It was really lovely to read a book without unnecessary dating drama.

What made this book so much more than just that "simple" love story was all the extra background about the lake, Willa's relationship with her sister, and Nicole and Maggie's growing friendship. The author is so great at drawing you into worlds that I was engrossed throughout the whole thing. So many great side characters and backstories.

Overall, solid book to read and different enough that I'll remember it.

A dead sister, a creepy summer camp, and a second chance at love - all the ingredients for a great read! My two favorite genres are lesbian romance and horror, and it's not every day you see the two combined. Honestly, I was more interested in reading this for the spooky aspects, but it turned out to be a good book all around.

I read some other reviews mentioning that the teenage sister was annoying and I have to agree with that. I feel like she took away from the story.

All in all, nice job. This is the perfect read (or re-read) for a summer vacation.

Gaaaaah, this would have been a five-star book for me had it not been for the unbearably annoying/terrible teenage character(s). The author just went a little too far for me with this girl's personality to make her redeemable or even likable in the end. The ghost story is decently creepy, but unfortunately not very scary. This book really belongs to Lee and Willa; I wish there was far more of them and much less or none at all of the teenage sister

I was doing good until I came to the part where the MC was trying to connect with the dead. So I did what I usually do in this situation. A encourage you to check out other reviews. The first few chapters were fine but. Never a fan of books that come across as spooky.
ARC via Netgalley/ Bella Books

If you enjoy reading ghost stories or stories that revolve around ghosts, this is the book for you. Willa and Lee are best friends whose families spend the summers at Forestlands Lake. Ghost stories have been told about a girl that disappeared there and was never found. Willa finds the story interesting considering she loves reading about ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Willa and Lee are beginning to realize that there is more than friendship between them. Before they can actually realize this, a horrible accident claims the life of Willa's sister. The family is devastated and leaves quickly before Willa can let Lee know they are leaving.
25 years pass and Willa goes back to Forestlands Lake as a celebrity. She writes ghost stories. She brings her younger half-sister there to try to reconnect with her. Willa and Lee accidently meet and realize that the connection is still there.
Lesbian romance and ghost stories make for a wonderful book!
I would recommend.
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t want to read this novel. Lesfic paranormal books aren’t my cup of tea and they have to come highly recommended for me to read them. However, this author is one of my favourites so I decided to read it anyway. And I’m glad I did.

Teenagers Willa Dunn and Lee Chandler used to spend every summer together in Forestlands Lake in upstate NY, until one day a tragic event for Willa’s family separated them. Twenty-five years later, Willa returns to Forestlands Lake as a famous YA author of ghost stories in search of a writing retreat and a chance of a reconnection with her sister Nicole. There she meets Lee again and together they will have to deal with ghosts – metaphorical and literal – from their past and present…

I was fearing that this book would creep me out with the story about ghosts but, luckily for me, this is not a horror book. As a matter of fact, it’s quite light on the paranormal side and as it favours more suspense/intrigue/mystery which will keep you turning pages and trying to guess the direction it’s going.

Forestlands Lake is a small town but a few of its inhabitants are important to the story and part of the mystery to be solved. I loved the way the author weaves the web of relationships among them and how she slowly brings connections between past and present. The mystery and intrigue parts were very well done and the great reveal unexpected.

Even though this isn’t a romance book, there are two types of love stories, YA and adult. Ms. Elizabeth writes both of them very well. I was especially surprised by the YA romance as it sounded authentic by highlighting the characters’ insecurities and innocence. The adult romance is also well written with lots of chemistry between the mains. However, as I said before, this is not a romance book so don’t expect much in that department because the mystery/intrigue steals the show.

The setting of this novel, exclusively in the small town of Forestlands Lake, creates a perfect background for the story. The small town with its history of old conflicts and feuds between their inhabitants bring the perfect opportunity to highlight the intrigue part of the plot. The woods surrounding it, and the lake dividing it from ‘the other side’ provides the story with a mysterious and even claustrophobic landscape in which the truth can be hidden in plain sight or in the deep dark of the night.

Overall, a superb paranormal / mystery book that won’t disappoint the fans of the genre. 5 stars.

ARC provided by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by Carolyn Elizabeth and holy moly I was blown away - it was amazing!

Lee and Willa were childhood friends that got together every summer at Forestlands Lake. But tragedy hits Willa's family and she leaves without saying goodbye and the two women don't see or hear from each other for 25 years. Now, Willa is a successful author, and Lee runs a summer camp on the shores of Forestland Lake. Willa brings her half-sister Nicole back to the lake for the summer, bringing up pain from their family past...and something... or someone else? She reunites with Lee and together with Nicole and Lee's daughter Maggie as they work to solve the mystery and uncover the secrets that have haunted Forestlands Lake for decades.

This was the perfect spooky story with a little mystery and perfectly balanced with a most perfect romance. I really connected with Lee and Willa's story both as it started as they were young and then the author continued to develop their connection as adults. You could feel that their connection was still strong after all those years but still fresh and exciting for the reader. One of my favourite parts was the setting and all of the various characters in the background of the community, it was so vibrant and real, I felt like I was living every moment along with the characters.

Looking forward to what comes next from this author and I will definitely have to go back and read the other books by this author.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Put The Other Side of Forestlands Lake written by Carolyn Elizabeth on your Halloween reading list! Let’s put the spooky stuff aside for a minute and talk about the tea here...holy sugar I never knew so much tea happens at the Lake! There is an awesome popcorn moment or two that Elizabeth throws in...it is sooooo good.

Plus there is a second chance romance, a possible romance, and some eyebrow raising hanky panky going on... this is where the tea comes in rainbows. Elizabeth writes a diverse story here and it is welcome - to this reader anyway. You have to read the story, people!!!

Now let’s get down to the paranormal feature and Elizabeth nails it with a mix of logic and the supernatural. We have old town gossip and of course what really happened. This story is so good.

This book has two running storylines for the adult audience and for the teen fans. The gore is not too bad as this is more of a psychological spookfest versus a slashfest. There is some action in here too. Some screams. Oh...some do come from sex (laugh).

Like I said earlier, add this to your Halloween reading list. You will not regret it.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

I have to say this wasn’t what I was expecting. I really enjoy Carolyn Elizabeth’s Curtis and Reynolds series - but I enjoyed this in a completely different way. Whilst the book is a little bit spooky - and I really shouldn’t have insisted on reading it past midnight - it’s essentially at heart quite a sweet book.

Starting with a prologue and approximately 25% of the book set 25 years ago, we meet Lee and Willa as teenagers, where they are staying at Forestlands Lake for the summer with their parents. They get up to the usual things teenagers do, but it’s the sweet exploration of what their friendship means to each other, and whether it is possibly anything more that really stands out at this point. Tragedy strikes and they are split apart.

25 years later we meet the two again, back at Forestlands Lake in very different circumstances. Lee now runs the summer camp - though it’s a very different one to the one they encountered in the past. She also has a daughter, Maggie. Willa has a her half-sister Nicole in tow and is returning to the lake for the first time since the tragedy.

This part of the book deals with Lee and Willa picking up where they left off - which might feel a little instant love to some - but I actually liked. It also deals with the difficulties of Willa’s return. Nicole and Maggie really shine as characters here as well.

I found I actually enjoyed the paranormal aspects of the story, which I thought would be a sticking point for me. I love the way it’s discussed through Willa’s books, Maggie and Nicole, rather than it all being about some phantom camp gossip and whispers. It made it more real and understandable to me.

Early death and how it impacts those left behind is never an easy topic, but I thought Elizabeth did a great job of covering the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters, whilst still giving both the paranormal aspects and romance parts equal footing.

I’d recommend this to romance fans and paranormal fans.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As with the other novels by this talented author, I knew I would likely enjoy this book. And I most certainly did!

The main characters were as endearing as teenagers trying to figure life out, as they were adults a little beat-up by life. I loved almost all the characters, except for a couple of memorable secondary characters that had LOTS of eyebrow-raising qualities. (I don't want to say too much about them and ruin the surprise). The cover is just as engaging as the story within, and I could almost hear that little girl step-splashing in the water. Lee, Willa, Nicole and Maggie all had complete arcs, which really boosts my enjoyment of a story. There is a sub-plot as well, and a couple of surprises.

All in all, a little spooky with just a hint of complexity to make things interesting. Great characters, wonderful writing, terrific editing and an attention-grabbing cover.
Another winner from Carolyn Elizabeth and Bella Books!

With every book I’ve read by Carolyn Elizabeth, I’ve fallen more in love with her writing, and that continues to be true after reading The Other Side of Forestlands Lake.

This is a rather dark tale; perfect for this time of year, since it is not only a second chance at love/reunion romance, but has elements of the paranormal as well. The book begins twenty-five years ago when the main characters, Willa Dunn and Lee Chandler were teenagers. This is necessary so the reader will know the trauma that happened to these two and their families. Then the story returns to the present as the two meet again in Forestlands Lake, the site of that earlier trauma.

Ms. Elizabeth did a wonderful job with the setting and the eerie mood of this tale. The characters, both main and secondary, are well developed and fit their roles in the story perfectly. Some of the secondary characters really add to the gloomy darkness of the setting. The story itself and the mystery of the tale is intriguing and spine-tingling in all the right places.

I thoroughly enjoyed this paranormal/mystery/romance and have added it to my favorites list. I can see myself reading this one over and over. It has my highest recommendation.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

Happy pub day to this spooky, little book. Look at me. Getting a review up on time. It can be done, at least once, in the year of our pandemic 2020.

Willa Dunn and Lee Chandler spent every summer as kids together at Forestlands Lake. Just as the two begin exploring what more there may be between them, Willa’s sister dies mysteriously on the lake, and her family packs up and heads out. Lee hasn’t heard from Willa in twenty-five years, but she’s back at the lake, the famous horror writer she always wanted to be and with her troubled, half-sister in two. Willa hopes this summer will give her a little bit of closure and the chance to mend fences with Nicole who has turned into quite the bitter, cynical teen in Willa’s recent absence. Willa dare not hope she’d be able to rekindle anything with Lee, but Lee’s daughter, Maggie, is obsessed with Willa’s books, and when rumors of a ghost circulate through the community, Willa and Lee will have to team up to save Nicole and whatever spark there once was between them.

This book was the perfect read for this month. A little spooky and creepy, a little romantic, and an intriguing story. Though I am lothe to admit it, the weather here has complimented my reading as well. North Carolina can’t quite decide to be fall, so the spooky vibes are good for October, and the weather was good for the setting.

I enjoyed Willa and Lee’s relationship, their learning each other again, and the added complication of sisters and daughters. Nicole got on my nerves a little, but let’s be honest, most teenagers do. That’s what they are for, and Maggie’s curiosity, kindness, and enthusiasm served as a perfect compliment to Nicole’s grumpy and cynical nature.

There’s a sex scene or two, it is a lesbian romance after all, but if you’re looking for a straight up erotica with little plot and even fewer characters, keep on looking. There’s a lot going on here that takes twenty-five years to figure out, so hope you’re looking for an interesting story.

If you’re looking for something atmospheric to sneak in before Halloween without the horror and gore, check this one out!

It took only one book by Carolyn Elizabeth for me to decide that she was a must-read author. This is her third (I also read a very short story) and it proves true again.

Twenty-six years ago, stuff happened and a child disappeared. Twenty-five years ago, more stuff happened, Willa and Lee had their first kiss and a child died. When Willa comes back for the first time in twenty-five years, a pretty successful YA paranormal writer, with her half-sister Nicole, a sullen seventeen-year-old, all that stuff and more still hovers over Forestlands Lake and its community. I’m aware this sounds vague but there are so many layers that going deeper would get spoilery really fast.

Willa and Lee have huge chemistry at fifteen, when they don’t really yet know what to do with it. It only gets huger when they meet again as adults, and the way the author wrote them as teenagers makes their reunion feel organic. They don’t know who the other has become but what they had as teens was so deep that it’s the perfect foundation for their relationship to build on.

This book made me feel so many things… One of them was sad, not only because of all the untimely deaths, but for lost opportunities, lost time, all Willa and Lee were robbed of, and Nicole too in a different way. And you know, I don’t do regrets. Regrets hold you back. They don’t help with anything. I’m a carpe diem and look ahead kind of person. Yet halfway through this book, my heart was full of regrets and unshed tears. Huge and cold. Ugh. I blame Elizabeth for how lovable she writes her characters. Lee’s longing and regret seeped into me. I felt Nicole’s anger and sorrow too, a lot.

None of what I just wrote is bad. It’s painful but it’s not bad. That’s what I read books for, why I read books. To feel. To root for characters. To want them to be happy or, at least, safe. To believe things get better. Because, you know, they do.

So yeah, I love the stories Elizabeth comes up with, but it’s the characters who make me look forward to each new book. So how lucky am I that this one counts four MCs? Or rather, two main and two almost main. And a whole slew of secondary characters, all substantial. And even more layers. Nothing stays only on the surface. Like for example, there’s not one but two mysteries in this novel. Well-thought, complex and thrilling mysteries. Everything came as a surprise yet still made complete sense (in a paranormal way). The atmosphere is wonderful too, both spooky and real, dark and warm.

And though there are elements of sadness or melancholy, The Other Side of Forestlands Lake is not the kind of book that will bring you down, however. The stories it tells are of closure on one side and of a brighter future on the other. What remains after reading isn’t the sensation of lost time. Watching relatable characters open themselves to love and forgiveness, take responsibility while shedding unfounded guilt, allow themselves to have a life, any life, after tragedy or a bad start, is energizing, it’s powerful and it brings hope and the possibility of growth.

With each new story, Carolyn Elizabeth shows that she could write any genre and I’d want to read it.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Lee Chandler and Willa Dunn spend their summers together as neighbors at a campground of family owned cabins. They’re teenagers and every year, they hang out with the same young people hiking, swimming, and sneaking a few beers. But Willa and Lee are the kind of best friends who know deep down that their relationship is meant for a lifetime. But then tragedy strikes and it’s 25 years before they see each other again.

Present day, Lee runs a LGBTQ camp for youth on the old grounds and Willa, a well known author of paranormal books, decides to return to her family’s old cabin at the same site. She’s here at Forestlands Lake to find out the truth about what really happened on that long ago night and also desperately wants to know if Lee might still have feelings for her.

This is indeed a perfect October read. All of it’s here, the ambience of dark woods and campfires crackling, lonely paths, old ghost lore permeating every incident plus a fantastic mix of bizarre acting locals and wispy figures hiding in every shadow. There’s just the right amount of spookies, mystery, and romance. Lee and Willa fire up the pages every time they are in the same space and I appreciate the way these two 40 year old women are very sexy in every possible way. I also liked the bits involving the past teens as well as Lee’s daughter and Willa’s sister. These passages are genuinely engaging and if the author ever decides to do it, I think she could write some excellent YA.

For the scaredy-cats, this is not too heavy but there’s just enough to have you wondering what was that funny noise you just heard in the attic.

Awesome book. Finished it in one day. A second-chance romance with murder-mystery and supernatural haunting on the side. Not really my genre, but I love Carolyn Elizabeth's other books so jumped at this one and did not regret it!

After years of hanging out at Forestlands Lake for the summers, teenagers Willa and Lee are finally admitting they not only like girls but like each other. But the drowning death of Willa's younger sister and Lee's mother's cancer diagnosis end the summer tradition for both families.

Decades later, Willa returns to Forestlands Lake with her youngest sister in tow to find both opportunity and despair. Lee has returned as the head of a summer camp for LGBTQ kids, and the two women look to recapture their childhood love. But there persists an undercurrent of animosity and death... hauntings, possession and revelations ensue.

I enjoy watching a movie with some light paranormal things going on, I usually struggle with books in the genre, but not this time.

Willa and Lee are childhood summer friends. They see each other every summer while their families vacation on the lake. The last summer they are together there is a tragic accident, an accident that has a huge impact on the lake community. Willa never returns to the lake again, until she inherits the cabin from her dad 25 years later. Willa takes her sister Nicole to the lake. Nicole is struggling to find herself and Willa is in need of writer's retreat and bonding with her much younger sibling. When Willa sees Lee again after a couple of decades they realise they have been waiting for each other. Over the past 25 years lots have changed in their lives, Lee became a parent, Willa a successful YA-author, break-ups, illnesses, and deaths. What bonds them again is the connection they shared all those years ago and Maggie, Lee's daughter, being a massive fan of Willa's. The foursome has to deal with old ghosts and new bigots.

I like how the author pulls every character into this story, sure Lee and Willa are the mains, but Nicole and Maggie have a pretty big part as well and all characters go through some development. Even the ones you didn't see coming. Ghost stories aren't really my preferred reading genre, but I enjoyed this one. It feels like a "natural" part of the story instead of an overly fabricated ghost/ haunting story. I feel like this book has a two-part ending and it suits it well, one is the resolution to the ghost story and the other the HEA for Lee and Willa and what a sweet ending it is. I enjoyed this read more than I thought up front!

This was a perfect October read. It was a mix of paranormal, mystery, and romance.

Willa Dunn was a successful author of YA ghost stories. Lee Chandler was a single mom to her geeky teenage daughter who absorbed Willa’s books and was the ultimate fan. Lee was also the director of Camp Prism, an overnight summer camp for LGBTQ kids ages 8-14. Both women knew each other when they summered together with their families at Forestlands Lake. They even shared a few kisses. When the girls were almost sixteen, a heartbreaking event took place and the girls never saw each other again…until twenty-five years later. Willa returned to the lake to work on her new book. She took her 17 year old rebellious sister with her in the hope that they returned to the close bond they once had. Willa also hoped to reestablish that closeness she shared with Lee. But a series of ghostly events continually disrupted their lives.

Aside from the paranormal storyline, there were other interesting elements that made this story engaging. The characters were very likable with a history that accelerated their romance. It was instant love type of relationship. Even though they weren’t in each other’s lives for so many years, they were always in their thoughts. Willa’s sister was a bit rebellious at times, but you felt for her because of her backstory. She was also quite funny with her sarcasm directed mostly at her sister. I think she actually made the story more interesting because of her troubled ways. The secondary characters added a good mix to their diverse community neighbors. For example, there were the friendly supportive gay dads and in direct opposition were the fanatical neighbors condemning LGBTQ people as sinners. These and others added depth to the story.

I also liked the mother- daughter relationship and how they handled the artificial insemination topic when explaining it to others. It was nice to see these children represented in a story. It was different and welcoming.

I enjoyed this author’s writing style. The ghostly/mystery storyline was entertaining while other parts were both heartbreaking and heartfelt. But everything balanced out nicely.

An ARC was given for an honest review.