I received this book for free for an honest review from Netgalley.

Fun and exciting the whole way through. I'm really happy that I picked this one out.

I did enjoy this despite a few rough points. Didn’t realise it was a prequel but I may have to find the rest of the series now. I liked the set up and the characters although Sam’s pov grated a bit. Overall a good start though.

I enjoyed this one because of the unique details. I was a little frustrated with the heroine in the beginning, and how things just fell into place. It's short, probably because it's a prequel. But I'd still give others in the series a try.

Ghostvof a beginning by J. E. Mcdonald.
Wickwood Chronicles book 1.
You can take the girl out of Wickwood, but you can’t take Wickwood out of the girl
I really really enjoyed this book. Great story and characters. 4*.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book at about 30%.

Grace up and left her home in the States to travel in the UK after a fight with her mom. She didn't tell anyone except her best friend. Once in London, she doesn't have a place to stay as she didn't book anything. However, she finds a room for rent right away without showing any documents nor references. Her two new flatmates are a guy, Sam, and a woman, Tracy. Tracy doesn't like her right away, while Sam is swept away as soon as he sees her. We get a sense that the story is paranormal from the beginning as Grace can see people's auras and Sam is hunting ghosts, but I assume more details about this will come later in the story.

One of the reasons that made me put the book down was actually Sam. He's sexist, using phrases like "Tracy is too much woman for him" when asked if he and her were a couple, or when Grace tries to buy a flip phone to call home only to have the shop assistant not giving it to her just because he keeps trying to sell her the latest smartphone. Only when Sam speaks up with the male shop assistant, he stops trying to convince Grace about the new smartphone and sells her the flip phone she wanted. Another reason was the back and forth of the POVs for Grace and Sam. I love when an author switches POVs, however, as the narration is in third person, I don't believe it worked this time. It didn't let me immerse myself into the story.

𝟰/𝟱 ⭐️

𝖠𝗇 𝗎𝗇𝖻𝖾𝗅𝗂𝖾𝗏𝖺𝖻𝗅𝗒 𝖼𝗎𝗍𝖾 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗇𝗈𝗋𝗆𝖺𝗅 𝗋𝗈𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾! 𝖲𝖺𝗆 & 𝖦𝗋𝖺𝖼𝖾, 𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗍𝗐𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗂𝗇 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗈 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝗆𝗂𝗇𝗀. 𝖳𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗆𝗂𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗒 𝗂𝗌 𝖺𝗆𝖺𝗓𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒 𝗂𝗌 𝖺𝖽𝗈𝗋𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾.

𝖨 𝖺𝖻𝗌𝗈𝗅𝗎𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗒 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄. 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝗅𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖼𝗎𝗍𝖾, 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝗎𝗂𝗅𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗋𝖾𝗅𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗉, 𝖺𝗅𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝖿𝖺𝗌𝗍, 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝗌 𝖺𝖽𝗈𝗋𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾. 𝖨 𝖺𝗅𝗌𝗈 𝗅𝗂𝗏𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 am𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗌𝗉𝗂𝖼𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄! 𝖨𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗌𝗇’𝗍 𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝖮𝖱 𝗎𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋-𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗅𝗆𝗂𝗇𝗀. 𝖩𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝖾𝗋𝖿𝖾𝖼𝗍 𝖺𝗆𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍!

𝖮𝗎𝗋 𝗆𝖺𝗂𝗇 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖦𝗋𝖺𝖼𝖾, 𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗇 𝖫𝗈𝗇𝖽𝗈𝗇 𝗋𝗎𝗇𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗐𝖺𝗒 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖻𝗅𝖾𝗆𝗌 𝖻𝖺𝖼𝗄 𝗁𝗈𝗆𝖾. 𝖠𝗅𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝖺 𝗋𝗈𝖼𝗄𝗒 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗍, 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗎𝗉 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾. 𝖲𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗆𝖺𝗂𝗇 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋, 𝖲𝖺𝗆, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗋𝗈𝗈𝗆𝖺𝗍𝖾. 𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗌 𝗎𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝗂𝗍 𝗎𝗇fo𝗅𝖽𝗌, 𝖺𝗌𝗐𝖾𝗅𝗅 𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝖺𝖼𝖼𝖾𝗉𝗍𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗇𝗈𝗋𝗆𝖺𝗅. 𝖢𝖺𝗇’𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗂𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝖬𝖼𝖣𝗈𝗇𝖺𝗅𝖽’𝗌 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄𝗌! :)

𝖶𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗁𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗅𝗒 𝗋𝖾𝖼𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝗅𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗌 𝖺 𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾 𝗋𝗈𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾! 💕

✮𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗍𝗈 Victory Editing 𝖭𝖾𝗍𝖦𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗒 Co-op and City Owl Press 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖠𝖱𝖢! 𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝖺𝗏𝖺𝗂𝗅𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗈𝗇 𝖠𝗉𝗋𝗂𝗅 𝟣𝟫, 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟤✮

This review is available now on Goodreads and my Instagram (@booksbythebell)

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this eARC of Ghost of A Beginning

I absolutely love this series! J. E. McDonald just knows how to captivate her audience and pull them in for the ride.

Ghost Of A Beginning is a prequel to the Wickwood series and to be honest I have only read the first - Ghost of A Gamble before reading this one.
I absolutely loved it and because it features Grace and Sam the two main characters out of the four in Ghost of a Gamble it was a perfect read.

This story as I say is a prequel and is set years before the first book of the series. It sets up the background for Grace and Sam nicely.

Grace has ran away from Wickwood and arrived in London, where she meets Sam.
Sam has basically up sticks from Oxford and lives in London as an investigator.
Their lives intertwine when Grace rents a room becoming his and Tracy's flatmate. With any good run away/travel/avoiding problems story Sam and Grace fall in love - Hurray!

In Ghost of A Beginning we learn things that we don't in the first novel and learn how the paranormal investigations come about.
I loved learning it all, I loved how their characters grew and how their characters relationship became what it was.
I really feel like I'd come full circle, especially after reading the first book the other day.

J. E. McDonald and her story telling is becoming a firm favourite of mine, her world building, her characters are just perfect. I haven't read a story from her that I haven't liked. She's a fantastic story teller and I'm really looking forward to reading more.

Grace is running away from her gift. In London she ends up meeting her destiny.

Sam is her flat mate. He has come to the city to explore a new calling.

“Look, Grace, I know you don’t want to believe in any of this stuff, but I’ve had experiences before, when I was a kid.”

This is a entertaining story. I thought there would be a little more about the ghosts but I guess I’ll have to read more of the series for that. I do love a good haunting. This Series has so much potential. I look forward to reading more.