This is a cute book! I really loved the fact that the protagonist is a little morally grey -- usually we follow someone close to perfect, and it was a breath of fresh air for her to be a con woman (with a heart of gold, natch).

This romance was a winner! I loved the dialogue between characters, the funny ghost, some of the hijinks, and the relationship building between characters 😍

This book made my heart happy, and I loved how our FMC grew in her confidence in herself and feelings of her value to the world 💕

If you love books with…
ENEMIES TO LOVERS
A HILARIOUS GHOST BESTIE
SEXUAL TENSION AND SPICE
FAMILY CURSES
BANTER
BABY GOATS
COMPLICATED FAMILY

This may be for you!

I appreciate the lack of a third act breakup but this was fine. Not overly interesting but okay. Not the spooky silly Halloween romance I was hoping for so don’t go into looking for that. Sure there’s a ghost but honestly the way Everett is described, he’s just a pale cold dude that floats. I just felt like it was super average and not overly rememberable

Happy Medium covers a window in Gretchen Acorn’s life when she is coming to terms with her true feelings about her life as a Spirit Medium, her inability to form close relationships to trust in others, as well as accepting that she is, quite possibly, not a bad person after all. At this crucial juncture, she also runs into Everett, the resident ghost at Gilded Creek farm and Charlie, the farms owner. And that’s where the story kicks off.

I don’t think I have ever read a contemporary romance novel that centers around the paranormal, without it also being a paranormal romance. So, for me, the plot of this book really felt like a breath of fresh air right from the get go! The blooming relationships that Gretchen forms with the residents of Gilded Creek Farm, both alive and not, were a delight to read. The best friend banter between her and Everett was crisp and snarky! The plot was surprising even while it was familiar. I loved how well rounded the whole book was!

I also have to add that the inner monologues does touch upon hints of loneliness and depression. However, I believe it was done well, without overwhelming the plot but providing the right impetus to move it forward. And there wasn’t a magical fix provided for it going away. I like that reality check.

Overall, loved this book and would recommend if you’re looking for a silly and light read that could, on closer inspection, make you think deeply.

I loved this book. The paranormal aspect was such a fun twist on this romance. I loved the witty banter and found myself laughing out loud throughout the entire thing. I loved the city girl meets farm life so much!

The was such a fantastic follow up to Mrs. Nash's Ashes! Sarah Adler is a must read in the contemporary romance/women's fiction space.

So fun! Perfect for folks looking for a quick, delightful read. Felt fluffy and wonderful. I would definitely recommend!

This was my first Sarah Adlrer book and oh my goodness, it was so soft and charming. It was the perfect introduction to the kind of writer she is. Happy Medium is such a wholesome and unconventional story that created a blend that I could not put down. I was transfixed by the words, and I couldn't get enough of Charlie and Gretchen. They were such a perfect pairing despite their not-so-great beginnings. This was such a quirky romance and I can't wait to read more from Sarah Adler!

Happy Medium is another delightful story with sweet elements. Paranormal romance is not normally my jam but this wasn’t really that! Everett is such a charming, friendly ghost that is trapped on his family’s farm from a generations old curse. I loved all his antics and the trouble he would get into. Charlie is a tattooed goat farmer and endearing grump and Gretchen is a fake medium turned real medium. I enjoyed much of this story but do wish the storyline with Gretchen’s dad was a bit more resolved. The ending was also convenient but worked well to wrap things up.

Recommend if you enjoy:
▫️Paranormal romances and friendly ghosts
▫️Baby goats and goat yoga
▫️Grumpy / sunshine
▫️Forced proximity
▫️Family curses

I loved Sarah’s debut novel, Mrs. Nash’s Ashes, and couldn’t wait to read this. It was such a great binge read for me, and as a fan of paranormal romance, I loved that it was paired with small town farm life. It was charming and such a delight to both read and listen along with the audiobook. I had so many laugh out loud moments while reading, and will definitely be adding more audiobooks narrated by Mara Wilson.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧
🔮enemies to lovers
⭐️con-artist spirit medium
🐐a haunted goat farm
🌾grumpy farmer
👻a friendly ghost

*many thanks to Berkley Romance, Netgalley and PRH Audio for the gifted copy for review

A con artist with a good streak and a lonely goat farmer with more than a bit of skepticism must come to an understanding if she’s to save him from a not-fake family curse with the aid of his gangster-era family ghost ancestor. Irresistible and humorous paranormal romance from a new to me author with her follow up effort.

Gretchen comes from a long line of family larceny. She doesn’t know anything else so she goes with it, but Gretchen has a Rule about just how far she’ll use her targets. She earns a livelihood in fake medium work, but doesn’t want to drain anyone dry or leave them less than satisfied so she’s making a humble living rather than a fortune.

Then her biggest client asks an eensy, weensy favor as she hands over a honking big check- help her old Bridge partner with an exorcism on his goat farm so he can sell. No biggie, right? Only… two things. The goat farmer is a young, handsome guy who doesn’t buy what she’s selling and wants her gone and that fake psychic bit just got flipped on its head because, Charlie’s distant past cousin, Everett, the family ghost is as visible and audible as can be.

Everett and his gangster slang from the Roaring 20’s means to keep Charlie from the family curse killing him and tying him to the farm like Everett. And, whew, Charlie was resistant making this an enemies to lovers trope, for sure.

Happy Medium is light and funny particularly when Everett is stealing scenes and egging on Gretchen to get through to Charlie in her city gal mucking about in the country sort of way (she’s scared of the goats). But, there are solid layers of deeper emotions as Gretchen has to come out from behind the part she is always playing and be real for herself and Charlie- tell the truth for once- to keep him safe and maybe have a chance at a romance with a great guy. Charlie is just trying to keep the family farm going at his own expense because he’s become lonely and isolated.

I found the element of her dad trying to work on Gretchen more distracting than an added layer of conflict, but his trying to work on her showed her trying to do better than her past, at least.

All in all, this was entertaining, but full of heart. I was mostly taken by Everett and he took over every scene he was in, but I was well-satisfied seeing Gretchen and Charlie find their happy. Recommend this light paranormal romance.

I had a really hard time getting into this one. I'm not sure if it was a mood thing or a book thing, but it took me many days of picking it up and reading a few pages to fully feel invested. I thought maybe this wasn't the book for me. BUT I always keep reading because I'm optimistic with my reading, and sure enough, by the end of this one, I was fully in and invested.

I LOVED Everett. I like Gretchen's growth over the book, and Charlie is just such a good guy, how could you not love him!

I thought the concept of this one was fun and the morally grey, but with a good heart, redemption arc is always going to be a plus for me. I also liked that the author can bring the ghost aspect and make it something different and fun.

This is quite a bit different from Mrs. Nash's Ashes, but I think this one is as deserving of all the love.

Gretchen Acorn is a fake medium, but one that tries to leave her clients in a happier place after each visit. She is a con artist with principles, and I did like her.

Her best client offers her a lot of money to travel to help her friend Charlie exorcise a ghost off his property so he can sell his farm. This farm has been in the family for generations. Gretchen arrives to find that Charlie doesn’t buy her schtick and doesn’t want her around. To her shock, Gretchen can actually see the ghost who is indeed trying to prevent the sale of the farm, claiming that Charlie will die if he sells and leaves because of an old family curse.

I enjoyed parts of Happy Medium, like the adorable goats, Everett the ghost, and Gretchen. I appreciated her positive character growth, but I wish we would’ve had a bit more insight into her past earlier on. I also liked Charlie, and could understand his attitude with Gretchen, but still, he was very prickly, and we didn’t get his side of things until pretty late in the book. The friendship with Yolanda seemed like an afterthought, despite supposedly having such an impact on Gretchen. The whole solution Gretchen came up with so Charlie could go seemed like a ridiculous suggestion made to fuel third act conflict. The romance between Charlie and Gretchen was hard to buy since Charlie viewed Gretchen as a charlatan for most of the story. Plus, the story just felt so long. I think it would’ve benefited by some editing down.

Sarah Adler does it again! This cozy paranormal romance took me on an emotional rollercoaster of will they/won't they and giggling at all the comedy in between. At times, their connection felt a bit whiplash-y as Gretchen and Charlie go from instant attraction to enemies-to-lovers back to instant attraction, all of which took away from spending time getting to know, develop, and enjoy their relationship. However, this book was so fun and clever that it kept me well entertained! I walked away from this book grinning ear to ear, feeling lighter, and warm at heart.

I am no clairvoyant, but I predict you'll love this book!

How can you not? There are baby goats, a friendly ghost, a hot farmer who's cursed, and a (well-meaning) charlatan that has to convince said hot farmer he can't sell his farm at the risk of immediate death. This premise is gold!

I confess that I was a little unsure on how I'd feel about Gretchen and her business of tricking people, but Sara Adler has a way with words, her characters are three-dimensional and her storytelling is like a braid where every section weaves beautifully in place, so I found myself warming up to her from the start. And to me the highlight of this story is her friendship with Ev! The funniest, sweetest ghost, and my favorite character! 👻❤️

As for the romance, it is a slow burn between Gretchen and Charlie, but I liked it that way because it felt more realistic to have this skeptical man slowly falling for the woman he distrusted. The anticipation built delicious tension and I was so here for it!

A romance between a con artist spirit medium with a giving heart and a goat farmer with a ghost problem.

Ok, I'm going to start this off by saying that I adored the ghost in this story, Everett. His unlikely friendship with the spirit medium, Gretchen was one of my absolute favorite aspects of this story. He was hilarious with his television addiction, witty insights and long standing family curse.

Gretchen has grown up a con artist. her father raised her to take advantage of others. I loved that despite her father, she still had a conscience and tried to do right by her marks. Charlie was a disbelieving grump with a heart. Despite him knowing she was a con artist, he couldn't help but feel an attraction towards Gretchen. These two had a great enemies to lovers vibe. I understood Charlie's reluctance and his gruff demeanor towards a woman he knew to be a con artist. Gretchen winning him over and showing him that she was more than what he perceived was crucial to their romance.

If you enjoy humorous books filled with romance and a touch of the paranormal you won't want to miss this one.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for a gifted earc. All thoughts are my own.

The best part of this book was definitely Everett…or the goats! 🐐 It had vibes like the tv show Ghosts and I enjoyed Sarah’s writing style a lot. This story didn’t completely work for me, but I will definitely be checking out Mrs. Nash’s Ashes ASAP!

What mainly didn't work for me was Gretchen's insistence on proving to Charlie that she was a real medium. If she'd been honest from the get-go that she has good intentions and does help people but there really is a ghost, I would've liked this a lot more. I couldn't get past the lying and lackluster chemistry. I am really bummed that this one is a miss for me.

In a word, this book was 𝐟𝐮𝐧. A fake spirit medium, a quirky ghost, and gruff hero, and a whole lotta goats. What’s not to love???

I laughed out loud so much while listening to this book. Ghost Everett supplied a nice comedic counterpoint to some of the heavier topics in this story. I loved Gretchen and Charlie’s dynamic. His grumpy exterior hid a gooey cinnamon roll center, and I gobbled it up!

There were a few heavier themes here (loneliness, dementia, loss of a loved one, parental abuse/abandonment), but they were handled with care and felt true to the characters.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:
☝️ Single POV
🐐 Goat farm setting
♥️ Opposites attract
🔥 Forced proximity
👻 A hilarious ghost
🌶️🌶️.5

Thanks to Berkley for an advanced copy of Happy Medium by Sarah Adler which comes out tomorrow - Tuesday, April 30th.

Gretchen grew up with a con-artist father and she's currently a slightly fake medium (but doesn't take advantage of her clients). She knows that her clients mostly want connection and to find peace. When her wealthiest client pays for her to help investigate the unexplained phenomena of her bridge partner's farm. Of course the bridge partner is in his 30s and sees right through Gretchen's cons, until Gretchen really sees a ghost who has been wreaking havoc. Can Gretchen convince Charlie to not sell the farm and fall under the family curse?

I loved Mrs. Nash's Ashes last year so was looking forward to this book. Everett the chatty ghost reminded me of the TV Show Ghosts and that's all I could picture reading this. It was a cute premise but I didn't really see the romance between Gretchen and Charlie, especially only in a month. It was a little too quick for me.

If you like enemies to lovers, forced proximity, found family on a goat farm with a side of ghosts you'll enjoy this book. It was cute overall and a quick fun read!

This book was sooo cute and original!!! I had never read Sarah Adler's work but after finishing this one I immediately purchased her first book. I typically struggle with 3rd person POV but the storyline was so interesting and the writing was so well done that I found myself not super bothered by it. HAPPY MEDIUM had such a sweet balance of humor and vulnerability! I wish some of the details would’ve been tied up with a little more detail and parts of it felt somewhat dragged out but aside from those two things I really really enjoyed this book! I loved the magical realism elements, the opposites attract, and the overall story arch. Highly recommend!