This book is witty, fun, unique and a quick read. This paranormal, enemies to lovers romance was hilarious! Sarah Adler is amazing!

3.5 stars rounded up. I had extremely high expectations for Happy Medium because of just how much I loved Mrs. Nash’s Ashes. Adler’s sophomore album doesn’t disappoint, but I didn’t relate to it in the way that I did MNA. I wasn’t really strongly connected to Gretchen, Charlie or Everett. Again, fun characters and great story but one I didn’t find myself getting lost in. I think that’s because it’s not like every other romance and that’s a good thing.

The story was fun and a great read for spooky season (I’m lucky it was an ARC!). I was very busy and got COVID while reading it, so it took me a lot longer than reading usually does.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Cute, charming, delightful. Our cynical fake ghost medium is coasting through life, trying to make the world slightly better (by lying) without making any true connections. She gets roped into an unlikely job by an old lady with a lot of money to throw around, only to find an actual real life ghost, a handsome goat farmer who might be doomed without her help, and an actual life she might truly enjoy - if she can let her guard down and make it happen. Just adorable.

Thank you so much to everyone at Berkley Publishing and Net Galley for my e-ARC! I'm so grateful for the chance to read anything Sarah Adler.

Now, onto my honest — although, considering how much I loved Mrs' Nash's Ashes, a little biased — review:

Look, it's Sarah Adler.

You had me at "the author of Mrs' Nash's Ashes.

BUT

My gosh, was I kicking my feet and giggling with this book.

If you loved Mrs' Nash's as much as I did, then trust me. You'll love Everett, Charlie, and yes, even our con-woman Gretchen, so much by the end of this that you'll be excited to start it over again.

I ain't afraid of no goats, Sarah. That is true.

But I am afraid of how much I'm gonna be talking about this book to anyone who will listen, come April 2024.

I really loved this book! I think this is such a great read for the fall and upcoming halloween season. Both Gretchen and Charlie are the most lovable MC's and Sarah Adler is just an incredible author. I'm really excited to continue to read all of her releases to come. I am a huge fan of enemies to lo9vers so I've read many of them - most of which follow a similar outline but I really loved Charlie's banter with Gretchen and thats what really made this one stand apart from the others.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Sarah Adler for the oppourtunity to read this upcoming release. I cannot wait to pick up a physical copyh for myseld on April 30th!

This book was delightful! Gretchen Acorn is a “bullshit artist,” a fake spirit medium to Washington, D.C.’s wealthiest residents. When a longtime client tells her about a friend who’s trying to sell his haunted rural farmhouse and asks Gretchen to go there to perform an exorcism, Gretchen agrees. The client is offering her $10,000 she could really use, and all she has to do is pretend to perform an exorcism.

Only when she arrives at the farm, she finds an actual ghost — and is surprised that the farm’s owner isn’t the elderly man she expected. He’s a hot guy in his early thirties named Charlie, and he absolutely does not want her there. As the two get to know each other, Gretchen starts to think Charlie might be the first person she can be honest with, but she’s not sure if it’s worth the risk.

The himbo ghost is really funny (he enjoys watching The Golden Girls and soap operas), and the goats are adorable. I had a lot of fun reading this one.

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC.

Are you ready for an entertaining paranormal farm romance where a con artist fake spirit medium gets beaten at her own game when she stumbles upon a real ghost? She's trying everything to convince the hot-as-hell property owner not to sell the goat farm he's inherited, unless he wants to get cursed and remain a haunted ghost on the property forever, just like his big cousin Everett Waybill has been doing for nearly a century!

I can automatically read anything the author of "Mrs. Nash's Ashes" writes without even reading a blurb. A paranormal, hilarious, and heartfelt romance with the enemies-to-lovers trope, especially when the hero is a sweet cinnamon bun under his tough facade, is an amazing combination I always crave without further thought.

Gretchen Acorn (yes, even her name is fake) becomes estranged from her conman father after she decides to come clean to him about their drifting relationship. This ends up with her father's distasteful insults, pushing Gretchen to choose another way of making a living. She's still a fake artist, insisting that she can connect with spirits, but she has a rule: she never harms her clients who are already in deep pain from their loss. She helps them move on with their lives by saying the words they need to hear. She's scamming for money, but she's doing it for a good cause, and she's not swimming in a pool of money. She's trapped in an attic, fearing her roommate and coworker, who researches the history of their potential clients to help Gretchen know more about their problems beforehand.

When her richest client, who recently lost her daughter, offers her handsomely compensated help that may keep her financially afloat, Gretchen accepts the offer. The only thing she has to do is an exorcism at a goat farm located in Gilded Creek, where her client's bridge friend, who might be in his seventies and is a war veteran, cannot sell the place because it's haunted by a ghost. She will exorcise the so-called ghost, have a short trip to the farmland, and return as soon as things settle down. Easy peasy!

But she didn't consider many things before accepting this offer. Firstly, the owner of the property, Charlie Waybill, is the grandson of the man she's supposed to meet. This charming guy despises everything she's built her life around and threatens to call the cops on her as soon as she mentions exorcism. There's also a real ghost in the place, trapped there for nearly a century, named Everett Waybill, whom she can actually see. Everett has no intention of letting her go without getting help. According to Everett, if Charlie sells the place, he'll be cursed just like he was, and he may die as a result of a long-time family curse. Everett needs Gretchen's help to convince Charlie not to sell the place.

Gretchen realizes she's accepted the toughest job she can hardly achieve, as Charlie hates her guts and is too stubborn to believe that she's talking to his big cousin's ghost. She has to find a way to earn his trust and save his life from a proper curse. It's a tricky task, as she gets volunteered to help him on a farm surrounded by goats she's afraid of. Let's not forget the attraction she feels for him, which can break the rules she's established in her new life, where she doesn't let anybody get close to her to avoid heartbreak and abandonment. But earning his trust also means she has to come clean about her past. Can she be honest with him when she's been lying to herself her whole life?

This is a poignant, entertaining, heartwarming read about love, friendship, family, and trust that I truly enjoyed. Sarah Adler knows how to play the strings of our hearts, as always.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this wonderful book's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Welllll, I hope Sarah is prepared to write 100+ more books, because I WANT THEM ALL

I absolutely *LOVED* MRS. NASH'S ASHES and was so grateful that Sarah included me on a list of early readers for her upcoming HAPPY MEDIUM. As I expected, it's another stunning, unforgettable and unputdownable story that's equal parts hilarious, sexy, and smart.

HAPPY MEDIUM centers Gretchen Acorn, a fake spirit medium who makes her living by conning wealthy clients into believing they're communicating with deceased loved ones. When one of her best clients hires her to investigate the unexplained phenomena preventing the sale of her bridge partner’s struggling goat farm, Gretchen goes toe-to-toe against the farm's current owner: a skeptical (and HOT) Charlie Waybill. He doesn't believe in Gretchen's abilities, but begrudgingly lets her stay. Gretchen must convince Charlie, while (oop!) helping the farm's resident chatty ghost Everett (the true star of this book, imo) break a generational family curse. To save the Waybill 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.

Sarah masterfully crafts delicious tension in this story, while also building a charming setting that is delightfully its own memorable character. And speaking of characters, I love this cast. HAPPY MEDIUM's characters are dynamic and flawed, and coming along for their journeys is incredibly satisfying (and enjoyable!) The writing again hits that perfect medium (see what I did there?) of incredibly smart, humorous, and meaningful. I deeply (and weirdly) respect Sarah's use of simile and metaphor. She does it so well?? And let's not forget: his book is hot. Like, so hot. Sizzling chemistry, five stars.

I am in awe of -- and so grateful for -- Sarah's unique and utterly readable brand of storytelling.

Read if you like:

-GOATS! Cute goats! Goats! Goats!
-Alexis Rose gone goth aka "Little Miss Fraud" aka bullshit artist (who is afraid of said goats)
-a sassy prohibition-era himbo ghost who loves TV, esp Golden Girls, details Days of Our Lives plotlines, and uses generational slang and Guy Fieri phrases
-a grumpy (hot) farmer who wants to be a librarian and will do anything for the people he loves. see also: has a "rakishly" crooked smile
-a lil' MNA easter egg ;-)
-FOREARM YEARNING (v important)
-"I'm going to work you so hard..."
-Leesburg references! (my hometown *sobs*)
-homey farmers markets (with a side of jealousy)
-a man who buys his woman underwear and a million little toiletries bc he doesn't know what she likes (okay romance!!)
-"Attempted murderers don't get to watch Bridgerton."
-haphazardly knitted sweaters
-characters who *SEE* each other

Loved, loved, loved this story.

A big thank you to Sarah, Berkley, and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. HAPPY MEDIUM is out 4/30/24.

(in the meantime, if anyone else who reads this book needs someone to screech about it with, i am: available)

Delightfully cozy, sweet and entertaining romance with great dialogue all woven seamlessly into the developing the story. Also the trope opposite attracts was done quite well too. Loved it.

Gretchen makes her living by pretending to be a medium who contacts spirits. She doesn’t believe in it but has become good at conning people. She has a rule that she can’t make anyone worse off than they were before seeing her, and generally thinks that she helps people in their grief. When a wealthy client asks her to help her bridge partner with a haunted goat farm, Gretchen can’t say no to the big payday. Imagine her surprise to discover not only a hot, young farmer named Charlie but also a ghost named Everett at the farm!

I absolutely adored the author’s previous novel, Mrs. Nash’s Ashes, and I was so excited to have the opportunity to read an early copy of this one. This was such a unique concept for a rom com, and I ate it up! I loved Everett the ghost and his friendship with Gretchen. I really appreciated Charlie’s skepticism and banter with Gretchen. It was a fun twist on the typical enemies to lovers trope. The goat farm is a great setting for the story, and baby goats are irresistibly adorable. I definitely recommend reading the author’s note for insight as to where the story came from- it made me chuckle! If you are in the mood for a banter-filled, heartwarming read with a paranormal twist, you should definitely read this book.

Thank you to Sarah Adler, Berkley Romance, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

There is so much unnecessary exposition in chapter 1, and there are parenthesis of useless information to add in even more exposition on top of what is already there. This is far too much for me. I stopped after chapter 1 (6%).

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.