4/5 stars

Meet Ivy May - a divorcee who's recently escaped her toxic ex, thereafter referred to as the 'cockraoch in khaki', who's first action as a free woman is to buy an old house with the intention of fixing it up. She has a vision of new life as a Hallmark Movie, but instead finds herself in a Southern Gothic. 

I would hesitate to classify this purely as horror, and prefer to think of it more as a Southern Gothic. Its' references to molasses, beans, cornbread, biscuits and critters immediately transported me to the small town alongside Ivy, her new contractor bestie Izzie and the infamous wailing woman. The plot was very well built for the first 70% of the story but I found the ending a bit weak and forgettable. Didn't think that Cole's character was anything special. 
There was some awkward wording ("Knowing that gossip spread like melted shortening on a hot pan in a small town...") and continuity issues (diary vs. journal) which did detract a bit. 

Overall, I found the story fascinating and enjoyed the read.

I really enjoyed this quick read. It was mysterious & fun & super easy to get through. I will be looking forward to reading The Tragedy of Myrtle Stewart.

The Haunting of Ivy May Overview

👻 Classified as scary, not scary though
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 3 Stars
🫑 No Spice

Visual Appearance

The cover was pretty typical for a horror or haunting type story. Just a spooky looking house. It isn’t really anything special though.

Expectations

I was hopeful that this was going to be a scary story. Horror is one of my favorite genres. The story fell flat though. There were maybe three scenes that were intended to be scary. However they weren’t.

The Haunting of Ivy May Plot

Ivy May leaves her arrogant wealthy husband to start a fresh life. She purchases a cottage in a small town sight unseen, only to find out it is a bigger disaster than she imagined. Ivy's first night in the house she realizes she’s not alone.

Unfortunately the plot was lacking for me. There were aspects that were interesting. The history of the house, the friendships but things didn’t fully connect and I was often bored. I don’t think I would have finished this book if I hadn’t planned to review it.

However if you like books set in small towns with an older MC this might be for you. There is a found family that makes the story heartwarming.

The Haunting of Ivy May Characters

The characters were all likable, besides the ex. However I did not feel attached to anyone. Everyone felt very surface level.




Spoilers




The ex-husband plot point didn’t really make sense to me. He had been hiding away tens of thousands of dollars, she said. So he wasn’t broke. I guess it was supposed to be that he was just so controlling he wanted that last grab. But he also liked to keep up appearances and a wealthy man from a high profile family suing his ex wife for money would have made him look weak and pathetic to anyone who found out.

I honestly did not expect this book to be so fascinating, capturing I instantly hooked for this. This was such a cute but creepy story! There’s ghosts, small-town vibes, woman discovering a new side to herself, a little mystery and a little love.

Ivy May just escaped her horrible ex-husband Hayden Preen and moves to a town far from him and buys a Victorian era house and that house needs a lot more fixing than she expected and it comes with a horrifying skeletal ghost who keeps trying to attack her. Along the way there’s a whole cast of quirky characters who come into her life. I really liked the side characters;Izzy and Cole and Jaelyn even pastor Booker.

I really enjoyed the plot. There was so many different elements to this one but they all came together seamlessly. I was so involved in this character’s creepy ghost story but I also loved that she was slowly becoming part of this small town. The only thing that felt off for me was the romance vibe with a character who seemed a bit rude. But the rest of the story makes up for this small flaw.

Don’t let the low amount of reviews turn you away from this one because it’s worth the read! Especially for fans of small town mysteries with a hint of paranormal.

This is a fun, paranormal mystery. I wasn’t sure what to expect after reading other reviews, but was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the story. The characters are engaging and the plot intriguing. Quick paced and easy to figure out most twists, but doesn’t spoil the atmosphere of the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley and Nancy Basile for hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

Thank you to Media Medusa LLC for the opportunity to read, rate and review this arc. It was published Jan 19, 2023.

It’s a ghost haunting, weird town, divorcee book with twists and turns. Some are predictable. Others were a surprise. It was formulaic but a fun little read. I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed reading this book, it was a cozy one. i like that this gives that small town mystery vibe with a splash of ghost. I will say that out of everything I loved the plot the most, i never know how things will play out.

The Haunting of Ivy May
by Nancy Basile

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book to review!

Love the genre but this felt like the same story I've read many time but with different characters. The abusive husband, the haunted house, the weird neighbor. The story was ok but didn't feel very original.

I honestly did not expect this book to capture me like it did. This was such a cute - and creepy story! There’s something for everyone in this book for sure - ghosts, small-town vibes, woman discovering a new side to herself, a little mystery and a little love.

The MC Ivy just escaped her horrible ex-husband and moves to a town far from him and buys a fixer-upper. Well that house needs a LOT more fixing than she expected and it comes with a horrifying skeletal ghost who keeps trying to attack her. Along the way there’s a whole cast of quirky characters who come into her life.

I really, really enjoyed the plot to this one. There was so many different elements to this one but they all came together seamlessly. I was so involved in this characters creepy ghost story but I also loved that she was slowly becoming part of this small town. It was simultaneously creepy and funny.

The only thing that felt off for me was the romance vibe with a character who seemed a bit rude. But the rest of the story makes up for this small flaw.

Don’t let the low amount of reviews turn you away from this one because it’s worth the read! Especially for fans of small town mysteries with a paranormal aspect.

I really enjoyed this what people would describe as a cozy book. I loved how descriptive and captivating the story was, it had me not wanting to put it down!

I had very mixed feelings about this book.

The descriptive writing was phenomenal. It was so easy to picture what was going on.

I personally hated Ivy and Cole together. It felt like Ivy moved on from one asshole (her ex husband ) and found another one. Cole was one of the worst written characters I have read in a while. Nothing about their chemistry felt authentic, it felt very forced.

I also wish there was more creepy ghost stuff. There were only like 4 small scenes.

Some minor continuity issues. Like about 19% through with the first mention of the diary it says it has "diary" in gold lettering on the front. But later about 56% through it says it has "journal" in gold lettering.

Fun cozy with just enough of an edge to keep it from tipping over into cloying territory

ThNks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

This is so cute I could just die! What a wholesome and sweet book.
I initially picked it up because she calls her ex husband and cockroach and I liked her moxie but the entire book is amazing.
It has all my favorite things: People hating on an ex husband, an old house, a lesbian bestie, small town charm, a mystery, and references to good food.