A fake medium who claims to speak with dead people meets a spirited spirit who helps her to break a family’s curse in this hilarious and tender paranormal romance. Con artist Gretchen Acorn has a string of wealthy clients that pay her to reconnect with dead loved ones. When a regular widowed client pays her $10,000 to visit her friend Charlie Waybill to exorcise the ghost on his goat farm that is sabotaging the potential sales on his ancestral home, Gretchen isn’t expecting a hot, young farmer; nor is she expecting Charlie to call her out as a fraud immediately–and THEN she meets the ghost that is actually haunting the property. Everett is a wanna-be actor and television sitcom addict who fancies himself a ladies man and a matchmaker; he informs Gretchen that his lingering is a curse that will pass to Charlie if he sells the farm and leaves. The only way to break it is to take the farm off the market and stay put because there must always be a Waybill on the property. Gretchen offers to stay and help through the kidding season and spend a month convincing Charlie she’s legit. During her stay, she learns new skills, comes up with money making ideas, gets on Charlie’s nerves (and under his skin)

The worldbuilding is tight, from the charming farm to Everett’s existence. He poofing to the Nowhere if he overexerts himself to impose his will in the corporeal world, his loss of time in that dimension. The character study is equally strong, with details like Gretchen’s ability to cry on demand–in fact, all of her con tricks learned from her slimy dear old dad–revealed in small doses that juxtapose her childhood with the life Charlie’s known: homecooked meals, homemade sweaters, and Grandma’s lemon meringue pie versus hole in the walls on the run and on the road. Charlie is a soft-hearted man who sports whimsical tattoos under crazily colored handknit sweaters, who takes pity on a lady covered in mud even when he suspects she threw herself into a giant mud-puddle to buy some time and talk to him. And it’s only Charlie who starts to make Gretchen feel regret for her lies, pangs of vulnerability at being honest, and fear at the idea she might not be able to save him and prevent an untimely death and eternal haunting.

A reader’s guide for book groups is appended, along with an excellent author’s note that speaks to the combination of lightheartedness and depth , how the novel started as a bit of joke, and evolved to something loneliness and belonging.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #HappyMedium via #NetGalley, courtesy of Berkley Publishing Group.

I was so excited to get into this after being obsessed with Mrs. Nash's Ashes! I was not disappointed!

Gretchen, our MC, is a fake spirit medium and her number one rule is to always to leave people better off then when she met them, so as to not get lost in the morality of it all. Her biggest elderly woman client offers her a grandiose chunk of change she cannot refuse to go and help a seemingly old man sell his goat farm by performing an exorcism and clearing out the bad energy to get the place good to go, what she did not expect to find was that she actually could see and talk to this ghost, and that it is not an old man there after all, but a strapping young farmer who is equal parts grumpy and soft and not falling for any of her BS.

What I loved most about this story was our characters and our backdrop in which we got to see them progress within themselves. I thought that Gretchen and Charlie were both very complex and I enjoyed watching them develop. Everett was hilarious and achingly vulnerable and probably my favorite part of this whole story. He and Gretchen really got to the root of their emotional problems together by becoming the friends they did and that, in turn, helped her open up to Charlie even more.

I found the writing to be very tender and clever, and I am always so delighted with all of the quips and jokes and descriptives that Sarah Adler uses and how her characters speak. It just is my favorite.

Something that I struggled with a little bit was the journey of Gretchen getting Charlie to trust her. It felt very hard earned and a little times frustrating, but I understand that this was definitely needed for the story to work the way it did, so that is not a negative thing by any means. But I just found myself being like !!!! THERES A GHOST GODDAMNITTTTTT!!!!!! I felt a little wrung out by the time he finally believed her.

The romantic and spicy scenes were really well done imo- I think that they teeter tottered on the line of both intimate and hot hot, so there was a good balance there.

Overall, I really liked this story!! I loved the setting and our characters and their personalities and just the aesthetic and it all. There were some great highlights in here and I am excited for others to get to read it as well! 4.5/5 round up to 5!!!!

gretchen is a fake spirit medium who channels really good research and genuine empathy for her clients into her work, guided by a rule that she only will share what helps them. she gets hired to go to a farm and figure out what’s been haunting it, and she’s surprised to find that not only is the owner NOT an elderly man but a hottie farmer, and that there in fact IS a ghost and she CAN see him. maybe she’s not a fake after all?!

shenanigans ensue, of course, and gretchen has to convince hottie farmer charlie to stay or the curse that’s kept ghost everett haunting for the farm for nearly 100 years will befall him too.

DON’T WORRY— she has a few weeks and naturally, that’s enough time for her to become bff with the ghost and to fall in love with the farmer!!! oh, and also help birth some bebe goats and sell soap at the farmer’s market and totally become a new person at the same time. because of course.

but in all seriousness, this is a cutie read and it’s charming and fun and sarah adler writes delightfully earnest and tender stories that i will read every time!

Playful one minute and heart-wrenching the next, this strikes the perfect balance for an entertaining yet powerful read. It reminded me a little bit of The Dead Romantics with the humor and heat cranked up several notches, though this love story is truly one of a kind. I loved the chemistry between the characters, the slow-building romance, the forced proximity and the flawed heroine. It’s rare that I read about a morally grey heroine, and I loved how she was able to grow and change throughout the course of the book. Our hero was also immensely appealing, the softest grump ever. Absolutely loved him. He’s a genuinely kind and loving man who sees right through our heroine, pushing her to acknowledge some uncomfortable truths about herself. His distrust of the whole situation creates some interesting friction, so I couldn’t wait to see how it all played out. I loved it!

The story follows Gretchen, a woman who was raised to be a con artist. Her father taught her to spin every situation to her advantage, so she’s been working as a medium for the last several years – convincing her clients that she can communicate with spirits, and making a great living doing it. So when Gretchen’s best client pays her to help out a friend with a ghost problem, she doesn’t see it as anything other than a new kind of con. But one step on Charlie’s property makes her realize that this situation is different. Charlie immediately knows that Gretchen is a fraud, and her usual tactics fail her. There’s also the unfortunate fact that the place is actually haunted… and Gretchen truly can communicate with this ghost. A family curse complicates matters even further, and suddenly Gretchen finds herself grappling with a situation that is entirely out of her control.

After loving Mrs. Nash’s Ashes, I was so excited to dig into Adler’s sophomore effort. Her debut was tender and funny in the best of ways, making me smile, laugh, swoon, and shed a few tears. I really didn’t know what to expect going into this one, but I can honestly say that it put me through my paces emotionally in much the same way. It’s such a fun and interesting premise, but there are heavier, impactful moments sprinkled throughout the book. Yes, I loved the absurdity of Gretchen arguing with a TV-addicted ghost while trying to win over her grumpy new roommate, but I also loved the journey of self-reflection and the many, many tender moments. Both Charlie and Gretchen have some healing to do, working on themselves in ways that only draw them closer. The love story shines front and center, but it’s the kind that develops in tiny steps that slowly build momentum. There was definitely some heat and spice, but the intimacy bled from the pages more than anything. It’s truly Gretchen’s story – we only get her perspective – but I was hooked on Charlie from the very beginning. I even liked the ghost. My love for this one grew with every chapter, and it ended up being such a dynamic, memorable read.

Happy Medium is a paranormal rom-com that's anything but average. Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn is ready to hustle her way to some quick cash by "cleansing" a goat farm haunted by a chatty ghost named Everett. Little does she know, the farm's owner, Charlie Waybill, is no AARP member, but a hot and skeptical farmer who challenges her supernatural act. As the ghostly shenanigans escalate, Gretchen finds herself caught between love, a farm, and a very persistent specter. I didn't love Gretchen right off the bat but she definitely grew on me over the course of the story! With wit and charm, this book proves that sometimes, being yourself is the greatest con of all. Four stars for a delightful blend of romance, humor, and ghostly capers – who knew the afterlife could be so entertaining?
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Happy Medium follows Gretchen Acorn, a con woman masquerading as a spirit medium. When one of her regular clients hires her to perform an exorcism for her bridge partner so he can sell his goat farm, she’s reluctant to go. Despite all her lies, she does have an underlying rule — She can’t cause harm. But when she’s made an offer she can’t refuse, she packs up her bags, and heads off to the goat farm. Once she reaches the farm, she soon realizes that it’s not what she expected. For one, Charlie isn’t a decrepit old man, but rather, a young man who is incredibly skeptical of her abilities, and rightfully so. Not to mention, there’s a chatty ghost by the name of Everett, that Gretchen can see, and is the reason why the goat farm hasn’t been able to sell. It’s not that Everett wants to keep the goat farm in the family — rather, there’s a curse that requires the goat farm to remain in the family. If Charlie’s to sell the farm, terrible things will happen — which is how Gretchen is convinced to offer her help on the farm for a month as she attempts to convince Charlie not to sell the farm for his own good. When we first meet Gretchen, she’s the definition of someone who has all their walls up. She’s hesitant to let anyone in — including her roommate, who desperately just wants to be her friend. Her first real friend is Everett, a ghost who is trapped on a farm. While Happy Medium is a romance, the most pure form of love in the story, for me, was the dynamic between Gretchen and Everett. I loved how Everett truly annoyed Gretchen into accepting his friendship and his meddling behavior, and how through that, Gretchen learned to trust the people around her. Charlie is equally distrusting, although in this case, rightfully so. Gretchen and Charlie are two sides of the same coin; both distrusting, incredibly independent, and struggling to let other people help. While I wouldn’t call Happy Medium grumpy sunshine, I did love reading about Gretchen melting Charlie’s gruff exterior and earning his trust. The two of them truly made each other better, and helped each other grow. I couldn't help but root for them! I just absolutely adored Happy Medium.

Thank you Berkley for my copy! All thoughts are my own!

I’m just gonna say this: I LOVED this book. Sarah Adler is an author who just vibes with my reading taste. Her stories are unique with a quirk, but still grounded in reality. Both of her books had everything I look for in a romance: a believable connection, a great setting, and good conflict. I thought the premise of this book was so unique yet familiar, I need it to be a movie NOW! I want to watch this story play out over and over. There’s a quietness to her writing that makes me feel so good as a reader. I just loved it.

Synopsis:

“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.” —NetGalley

What I Liked:

The “Paranormal Light”: I loved Meg Cabot’s Mediator Series and it was so fun to read a contemporary romance with a paranormal element. It was unique and fun! I think this would be such a fun movie.

The Setting: Small town farm life is the complete opposite of my life, and yet I can’t get enough of it in my books. The setting was so clear and I just loved.

The Characters: I loved them all, including the animals on the farm! Charlie is dreamy and I became very attached to Everett.

The Romance: A perfect enemies to lovers. The tension was great!

What Didn’t Work for Me:

I want this to be like 4.9 stars because there was one aspect that I felt like we kept waiting for, and that was if Gretchen’s father would make an appearance. I felt like it needed to happen for her journey to be complete so I almost wonder if there had been a better way to achieve it. Just food for thought!

Character Authenticity: 4/5 Spice Rating: 1/5 Overall Rating: 5/5

Content Warnings:

dementia/alzheimer’s, death, grief, animals giving birth

Sarah Adler's debut, Mrs. Nash's Ashes, was one of my favorite books of last year, so I was both excited and apprehensive going into this. I think it was really smart of Adler to go in a really different direction here - we have a sort of morally gray female main character named Gretchen Acorn (she describes herself as a bullshit artist, and she makes her living as a fake psychic, but she also definitely has a code of ethics and she's very committed to helping her clients, even as she is lying to them) who gets talked into going to help basically "exorcise" a goat farm outside of DC for a friend of one of her wealthy clients who is trying to sell the property. The client's friend, Charlie, is unexpectedly young and super handsome, and he and Gretchen share a spark of attraction until he realizes that she's the one conning his elderly friend. Gretchen is ready to say oh well and head back into the city when she's stopped by an actual ghost named Everett - not one of the ones she claims to see/speak to in her day job - and he convinces her to stay by explaining that he's been scaring potential buyers off because Charlie has to stay on the property or else he'll die from an old curse that was placed on him (Everett) and all future male relatives on the farm. This was really quirky and inventive but also sad and sweet and really well balanced. Very different vibes overall from Mrs. Nash's Ashes, but I still loved it.

Gretchen makes her living as a medium, knowing its a con and she's faking it. It turns out she may really be a medium when her highest paying client asks her to travel to a neighboring farm because she's worried about its owner. Turns out there really is a ghost and a curse. Add in that the farmer is not an older man as she assumed but a really attractive man who clearly thinks she's a problem. Fun dialogue, some magic, and fun characters combine in a highly enjoyable rom-com.

Thank you to Sarah Adler, Berkley Romance, and NetGalley for this digital ARC. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt reading about a fake medium traveling to the countryside to rid of a ‘ghost’ in a farmhouse that’s going on the market to sell. I really wasn’t sure how this storyline was going to go, but it worked! I didn’t read Mr. Nashes Ashes by Sarah Adler, but I think after this read I’ll be pushing it up on my list to take a look. I think I did truly fall in love with Everett, the ghost. I really liked the fun personality and the fun comical relief was needed between the two tense MCs. I think I would recommend it to future readers, as long as I understood with where they stand in relation to mediums and ghosts.

I read this book a couple months ago, and thinking about it still brings a smile to my face. Gretchen is a fascinating character. The author deftly handles the ethics of her protagonist's work as a fake spirit medium, and Gretchen's relationship with real ghost Everett is one of my favorite parts of the book. Everett has a big personality and hilarious taste in television, and I couldn't get enough of him. I also couldn't get enough of Gretchen's love interest, Charlie--a skeptic and a genuinely good guy. Super fun and heartwarming at the same time!

This was so stinking CUTE!!!!! It was my first foray into Sarah Adler's work and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be coming back for more.

This book has everything:
- enemies to lovers
- forced proximity
- farmer/city girl
- hurt comfort
- a very loveable ghost!!

Honestly I was not expecting there to be an actual ghost given the fact that Gretchen is, as Charlie so nicely put it, a "charlatan." But low-key Everett made this story so much fun! I loved watching his friendship with Gretchen develop, how much they grow to love each other (platonically) by the end. Charlie & Gretchen definitely started off on the wrong foot but make their way forward together as they slowly build trust. I loved how well they could see each other and truly know one another, and how that made their bond even more special.

Highly recommend!

Thank you very much to Berkley Publishing (and NetGalley) for sending me a widget of this book. All opinions are my own. I was very excited to read this book as I loved “Mrs. Nash’s Ashes” by Sarah Adler that was published last year.
While I’m not a huge fan of paranormal I do love quirky characters (Gretchen was definitely quirky). I also wouldn’t classify this book as “scary”. It was actually very adorable, happy and lovely. This book will put a smile on your face. As much as I loved Mrs Nash’s Ashes, I think this is my new favorite of Sarah Adler’s and I’m definitely going to be buying the book to add to my collection. I loved the relationship between Gretchen and Charlie and I think Everett also provided a good comic relief. I can’t wait to read Sarah Adler’s next book and I’m sure it will be as delightful and charming as this one. If you love Emily Henry, Tessa Bailey or Abby Jimenez, you will love this book. I highly recommend this book!

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ // 🌶️🌶️

I adored Mrs. Nash’s Ashes and have been dying for more from Sarah Adler and Happy Medium exceeded my expectations.

The book starts off with a bang and the action never dissipates. I was utterly captivated the entire time and never thought I would be wanting my own goat farm 🤭

Gretchen and Charlie have the perf enemies to lovers vibes. Charlie may despise Gretchen (but we all know he cares for her so much) but takes care of her and just 🥹. Charlie and Gretchen were perfect but then add our (mostly) friendly ghost, Everett into the mix and you’ll be laughing non-stop.

Happy Medium is tension filled, cozy, funny and full of heart with some dashes of spice - which is everything I want from a rom com!

DNF

You kind of have to suspend belief for this one (besides the obvious ghost character). Interesting premise. Loved the author's previous book, but this one drags a bit with pacing issues and I didn't feel as connected or emotional about this one as I did her previous one.

There is so much story in this story!! A delightful take on the modern rom com with a paranormal twist. Gretchen was both vulnerable and confident, she contains multitudes. It was wonderful to watch her grow and let her walls down with Charlie. And oh, Charlie. What a man. So many excellent micro-tropes in this story including "reaching for dishes too high in the cabinet," "teaching how to play pool," and of course "raising baby goats."

I was anxious throughout basically the whole story on what would happen when/if Gretchen told the truth. First of all, it did NOT happen how I expected (*mega blush*) and secondly, I absolutely LOVE that Charlie only wants to know the truth so that he can know Gretchen, not so he can judge and shame her. UGH.

There were many parts of this story that made me laugh out loud and also made my heart squeeze, an impressive feat by Ms Adler to write a love story with deep heart and sharp humor. This story took many turns I did not anticipate and I loved every single one of them. Looking forward to bringing in HAPPY MEDIUM and featuring on our SUMMER READS shelf.

I really enjoyed this latest from Sarah Adler and was so grateful to receive an ARC, thank you Berkley and NetGalley!

I picked up Mrs. Nash's Ashes on a whim last year and absolutely inhaled it! I was surprised at how much I loved it considering how little I'd been hearing about it, and it's one that I love to recommend now (for fan's of women's fiction/romance). When I saw this one available on NetGalley, I knew I had to get my hands on it to see if Adler could create the same spark that I saw in Nash's Ashes, and I'm happy to say that, yes! I absolutely loved Happy Medium as well.
I'm not really into ghost or paranormal stories, but I loved that this one begins with a fake-psychic and makes it clear that she doesn't actually believe in ghosts. When the actual ghost appears, he is silly and charming and not at all spooky, which helped because I am a big ole weenie! Anyway, there's not much to say because it's a pretty straightforward romance. It's not like...life-changing or anything, but it also didn't fall into the overly-cheesy-unreadable-romance category for me.
Sarah Adler is now one of my must-read authors, and I am so excited to see what she writes next!

A solid rom com set in DC which we don’t see enough!! I loved the supernatural element and the ghost Everett was my favorite part. Just a meddling goof who loves to watch TV! I enjoyed this  grumpy sunshine romance but they are both a little bit of each. Not all of the plotlines were tied up by the end and the middle drags a little bit, but I still enjoyed and would recommend to anyone looking for forced proximity, paranormal romance, and a  slow burn.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sending me an ARC of Happy Medium in exchange for an honest review. The NetGalley description of the book tells you everything you need to know about the setup (which the story gets through pretty quickly), so I’ll move straight to my thoughts.

Happy Medium works because of the charming dynamics of the three main characters. Gretchen is the con artist with a heart of gold, twisted by her father into a petty criminal herself, but living by a code that she’ll only take people’s money “if she’s certain she can leave them better off than she found them.” But it’s a life that’s left her afraid to get close to anyone, even just as friends, because she’s always eventually been exposed and forced to leave. Charlie is the struggling hot farmer with a heart of gold, failing under the weight of family expectations but determined to get Gretchen to admit she’s a fraud so she’ll refund his friend’s money. And then there’s scene-stealing Everett, the 1920s ghost with a heart of gold who’s obsessed with watching television, can’t believe he’s finally being seen, and hopeful that he can protect Charlie from an untimely death and an eternity haunting Gilded Creek. Everett brings a hilarious prohibition-era energy to the story, saying things like “being dead is a real snore,” calling Gretchen a “flimflam artist” and her legs “getaway sticks.” His tv buddy cop relationship with Gretchen—who he comes to think of as his “hot sister”—is the sweetest and probably the best part of the story.

Happy Medium was apparently inspired as a twist on Whoopi Goldberg’s fake medium in the movie Ghost, which makes sense in retrospect. (I’ll admit I didn’t realize the connection. I haven’t seen that movie in probably 30 years). There were a few of parts of the story I was a bit underwhelmed by. Gretchen comes up with a plan late in the story that I think would have caused Charlie to become suspicious of her all over again but didn’t. There’s a late twist that I enjoyed but I thought was a bit too convenient. And I thought the whole subplot involving Gretchen’s father was mishandled—it either needed to be a good bit bigger or smaller. But on the whole, I liked the way the three characters grew and grew together, helping each other heal old wounds. And the story is often quite funny, especially Everett. Happy Medium is a charming, entertaining read. Recommended. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

I thought the premise of this was so wild and fun and different - a con artist pretends to commune with the dead to get money out of rich baddies but when she’s hired to perform an exorcism for a goat farm with an actual ghost that she and interact with, all the bets are off. Especially because the hot farmer sees right through her and there’s a curse? Sounds like the perfect not realistic rom com and sign me up.

I didn’t love it but I did like it! The surprising friendship between Gretchen and the ghost was heartwarming and hilarious. I loved how much the FMC leaned into farm life and Charlie’s character. A man who took over the farm after his grandparents could no longer do the work, who can cook and knit, can hustle at pool and get a little rough, and is incredibly loving? Yes pls.

As wonky and fun as it was, I had a hard time with the FMCs back and forth mentality. She wants to prove she’s good and better than her past but then easily falls back into lying no problem. The ups and downs of the budding romance really left me with whiplash and after the second hot and cold moment I was kinda over it, but it all eventually came together. There was also some side plot with her dad that I felt was under developed.

Overall I think people will like it for the light heartened fun, portrayal of farm life, and the raw romance between the characters.

Thanks to Berkley publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review