🐐Favorite Quote: “I haven’t been this excited since Charles accidentally left the TV on the entire weekend.” Everett smiles wistfully. “It was just the Weather Channel, but it sure beat sticking my head into the creek and making up soap opera plots for the tadpoles. Though I am rather proud of some of their character arcs.”

🪴Contemporary Romance
🪴Haunted Goat Farm
🪴Cursed Ghost
🪴Slow Burn
🪴Morally Grey FMC

💭My Thoughts:
I absolutely loved this book! It was cute and quirky while still touching on real feelings. Gretchen is just doing her best to survive with the skills she was taught. She is a total city girl meets farm boy and the attraction is instant! She is determined to help Charlie even if he doesn’t want her help. And he wants nothing to do with her when he finds out who she is 😂 I 100% recommend this book for Everett alone! His shenanigans were everything! Charlie was the quintessential cinnamon roll main character who stole my heart and is totally book boyfriend material 😍
I definitely loved the praise kink that happened when they finally got together! The slow burn was everything! Everett was just the icing on the cake!

This book was so fun! I adore Sarah Adler’s writing and this is a story that will stay with me. She writes such entertaining characters, great banter, and unique plots.

I loved that Gretchen, being a fake spirit medium/con woman, gets an offer from a client that she respects and can’t refuse - $10,000 to exorcise a “ghost” from a farm property that is keeping the owner from selling. What Gretchen doesn’t expect is for the farm owner to be a young, handsome goat farmer or for there to be an actual real ghost on the property. With the latter realization comes a new assignment - keep Charlie from selling the farm.

Gretchen was such a relatable character, just wanting to prove herself and find her own way in the world. And Charlie had such a wonderful grumpy exterior, while being caring and gooey inside. The grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers romance made me so happy - these two characters were just so good together!

I do think,though, that Everett - the ghost haunting the property - might have taken the cake! He had me cracking up so many times!

Gretchen Acorn is a fake spirit medium who tells her clients what they want to hear. She has one rule: she will only "con" or "help" someone if it will help them be better off. When one of her loyal clients offers her money to help "exorcise" the family farm that her friend is trying to sell, Gretchen immediately takes the cash and heads to the country. When she arrives, she's surprised to find out that her client's "friend" Charlie is actually her age, very very easy on the eyes and not so willing to believe her usual cons. Unconvinced she can speak to the dead or has any real medium skills, Charlie sends Gretchen on her way, but in a surprising turn of events Gretchen runs into the ghost haunting the farm. Gretchen who has never seen or spoken to a ghost in her life. Everett Waybill, Charlie's very great (somehow related) cousin tells her Charlie can not sell the Waybill family farm or he will be cursed and forced to live at the farm as a ghost just like him.

I really enjoyed this book! The scenario or plot in and of itself is very interesting. I'll admit when I originally dived into this title, I was hoping that Gretchen would be falling for the ghost... However, having Gretchen try to convince her later on love interest that there was a ghost was pretty entertaining. By far my favorite character with the best back and forth was Everett the ghost. He was just so entertaining.

The major issue that I felt this book had was the pacing and the aspects of the story that it decided to focus on. For example, I would have loved to know more about Gretchen's background rather than what was just shared in a specific little section of the book. As well as that, I felt as though the book was longer than what it needed to be.

One sentence summary: A fake medium ventures to a goat farm to find a very real ghost (who wants her to stay) and a very hot farmer (who wants her gone).

My thoughts: Ok I think this is one where I liked the premise better than the execution. I did enjoy reading this one, but I never really felt the romance. I did laugh quite a bit while reading this one and absolutely loved Everett. How could you not love a hundred year old meddling ghost?!

I think I would still recommend this one and I will definitely be checking out this author’s other work, but it’s not a new fave.

This cover is 10/10 though!

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes was one of my favorite books last year so I was really excited to read Happy Medium. I really enjoyed this unique take on a paranormal romance. I haven’t read a paranormal romcom with a ghost in it before, and it’s now something I want to read more of, especially if the ghost is like Everett! He was so funny, and I loved all of his references to TV shows. Everett was my favorite character for sure!

I liked both Gretchen and Charlie, and I thought their romance made sense. He was skeptic about her intentions, and I liked that she was honest about being able to see and talk to Everett. The scenes where they were farming were some of my favorites especially the first time Gretchen meets the goats. Note to self, don’t have almonds in your pocket if you’re around goats!

Overall, I found this romcom unique and refreshing. I like that Adler thinks outside the box and writes books that are different from your typical romance tropes. I look forwardto reading whatever she comes out with next!

Thank you Berkley and for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed Sarah Adler's debut, Mrs. Nash's Ashes, however, Happy Medium was just a little too out there for me. I was interested in the fraudulent psychic component but the ghosts were just too quirky for my taste.

I'll chalk this up to a mismatch in taste and look forward to what Adler write next!

I breezed through Happy Medium, Sarah Adler’s newest paranormal romcom. The rural farm setting made the perfect backdrop for this story about a fraudulent spirit medium assigned to exorcise a grumpy goat farmers abode, only to find out that her “powers” might not be as fake as she thought.

Gretchen, Charlie, and the farm’s resident ghost Everett made up the trio of quirky characters at the heart of this book. Gretchen and Everett’s banter was beyond funny and was a true highlight of the novel. The way their friendship progressed was just as captivating as Gretchen and Charlies growing romantic relationship.

The enemies to lovers aspect between Charlie and Gretchen worked well due to Charlie’s innate skepticism and ability to see Gretchen to her core. This ends up being the basis of their romantic connection and watching Gretchen break down her walls and lay her truth bare was both vulnerable and lovely. I also thought Gretchen’s business savvy nature complimented Charlie well. I loved watching all the changes they implemented to keep Charlie’s family farm thriving. I do wish we had a little more backstory and resolution in regards to Gretchen’s relationship with her father but all in all, this was an adorable and fast-paced read!

What I loved:
Reformed con woman FMC
Hot goat farmer MMC
A sassy undead spirit
Peaceful rural setting
Adorable animal appearances
Enemies to lovers tension
The mysterious family curse

Thank you Berkley Romance and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What to Expect:
👻lots of pop culture references
👻he’s only grumpy with her
👻haunted farm
👻fake medium
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🫶🏽What I enjoyed
This book gave me ALL the feels! I laughed out loud, felt the tension/chemistry between Gretchen & Charlie, and Everette the ghost was my absolute favorite! He was hilarious and kept me thoroughly entertained. The ending was perfection and tugged at my heart. I loved Mrs. Nash’s Ashes, but this book became an instant fave and @sarahadlerwrites is now on my auto buy list
Happy Pub day Sarah!
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This book brought me nothing but pure joy ❤️
If anything, I’ve been in a mood for supernatural rom coms since reading it!

A fake medium
A grumpy farmer
A ghost
Baby goats
Saving family business

Gretchen Acorn is a con woman who pretends to be a medium able to communicate with the deceased. When one of her best and wealthiest clients asks Gretchen to help her friend and goat farmer Charlie Waybill investigate possible paranormal activity on the farm that prevents the sale of the farm, she is happy to say yes. But Charlie doesn't want Cretchen's help because he sees her for a fraud she is. Regardless, he agrees for Gretchen to stay on the farm in exchange for her help around the said farm. To Gretchen's surprise, there is an actual resident ghost, Everett, whom she can see and communicate with. There is also a good reason why Everett is trying to jeopardize the sale of the farm.

Happy Medium is a sweet, slow-burn romance with lots of humor and a dash of angst. I enjoyed how Gretchen and Charlie's relationship progressed from mistrust on Charlie's part to friendship and then romance. But for me, Everett stole the show. He was the best and the funniest character. I haven't read Sarah Adler's previous book, Mr. Nash's Ashes, but after reading Happy Medium, I will be adding it to my TBR.

Gretchen Acorn is a con woman. She pretends to be a psychic medium and must be pretty convincing because one of her elderly clients offers to pay her $10,000 to go check out her bridge partner’s goat farm. He’s trying to sell it but unexplained things keep happening when buyers are there, scaring them off. Gretchen knows she’s a fraud, but hey, she’s got to pay her bills, right? And if she can help an old man sell the place and retire, even better.

Gretchen is shocked by two things when she arrives at the farm: 1) Charlie Waybill, the old goat farmer she’s expecting to meet, is actually a gorgeous grump her own age, and 2) there is actually a ghost named Everett there and, fraud or not, she can somehow both see and talk to him.

Everett fills her in on why he’s trying so hard to keep Charlie from selling the place, to save Charlie from the family curse. Gretchen finds herself drawn to both Charlie and Everett and decides to help him save the farm if he can’t sell it, having no idea what a life changing decision this will be for her.

I was nervous about whether I would like Gretchen since she’s a fraud but she quickly won me over. She especially endeared herself to me once she gets to the farm and starts interacting with both Charlie and Everett. She and Everett become besties and some of their banter is truly laugh out loud hilarious, especially some of their battles that revolve around Ev’s TV addiction. I also loved the chemistry that blossoms between Gretchen and Charlie after their rocky start. They’re actually a great team as they work to save the farm, and I loved how the more Gretchen gets to know Charlie, the more she wants to save him from the curse. Adler does a great job using the curse to create a wonderful redemption arc for Gretchen.

If you like enemies to lovers, forced proximity, ghosts & goats, check out this book!

4.5 stars
This was such a cute cozy read! The premise itself was so fun - a con artist pretending to be able to communicate with the afterlife does a favor for her best client and discovers that she's actually able to communicate with the ghost haunting a goat farm. The back and forth between Charlie and Gretchen was so good, and I loved how much the grew to understand and truly see each other over the course of the book. Especially those last few chapters, it had me swooning over their relationship and romance. BUT, Everett was absolutely what made this book for me. He was just so absurd and hilarious, but also could be so tender and the perfect friend for Gretchen while she was trying to convince Charlie not to sell. There were so many times Everett had me chuckling, and his subplot absolutely had me tearing up by the end.
Bonus that it takes place in Maryland, and more specifically referenced so many places that I've called home! I was far too excited to catch all the mentions

2.5 Stars
This was a super cute read (though I found I enjoyed Mrs. Nash's Ashes by this author more) with interesting characters and a fun setting. I loved seeing Gretchen's growth in character and her friendship with Everett - he was such an entertaining character. Gretchen and Charlie came off a bit insta-love to me though but I was rooting for them nonetheless. A lot of this felt like it could've been edited down as it seemed a bit lengthy though I did also feel that the ending was a bit rushed.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC!

My favorite parts about this book was Everett and the goats. I think that both MCs needed to communicate better and I would have loved to se meroe on how development of their relationship for me to fully believe how quickly they fell for each other.

I loved the twist that she was a con artist that turned out could actually see at least one ghost.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this one! I wasn't expecting some of the ways things played out in the book mostly due to the fact that I didn't read the back copy before starting it – but it was actually a fun surprise I got to experience since I wasn't aware of one of the big plot points.

The concept was cute and fun and I don't think I've really read something like it before (but if you're a paranormal reader, perhaps you will have!). This is definitely a rom-com with just a touch of paranormal to it – but like lighthearted paranormal.

Gretchen took me a minute to warm up to, but I loved Charlie. I feel like we could have gotten to know him a bit better. But it was only told from Gretchen's POV, so it does make some sense we wouldn't get as much character development with Charlie because of that.

I do feel like there was one loose end with Charlie's grandpa, I just wanted to know in the end how he was doing! Also, the little minor side story of Gretchen's dad didn't feel that well-developed and felt a bit unnecessary in my opinion. I think the story would have still been great without it.

Overall an enjoyable read and a great follow-up to the author's debut.

Gretchen is a con artist, but she's a con artist with morals. While she is definitely pretending to be a psychic and happily taking money from the wealthy older women of Washington, DC, she always promises to leave her clients better off than she met them, typically gaining closure and overcoming the grief of losing a loved one. She's about to let one client go when she's offered $10k to "perform an exorcism" on her friend's farm. Unable to turn down that kind of cash, Gretchen accepts, hoping to comfort an old man so he can prepare his property to sale. But when she arrives at the farm, she not only meets a handsome young land owner, Charlie, who wants nothing to do with her fraudster ways, but also a real, (una)live, actual ghost, Everett, who only she seems to be able to communicate with.

I loved this book so much. I was impressed by Adler's first novel, and this one was equally as fun. Psychics (real or fake) are such a fun trait/job for a protagonist and Gretchen filled that role well. Thrown in a hilarious, flirty, and downright annoying ghost BFF and I'm sold. I almost liked watching the friendship between Gretchen and Everett develop more than the romance between Gretchen and Charlie! But this was also sweet and spicy in all the right places, ultimately checking all the rom com boxes. I can't wait to see what Adler does next.

Thanks to Berkley for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 10/10

Happy Medium is such a fun, heartwarming, and original rom-com. I was looking forward to this one after hearing so many wonderful things about the author's debut novel Mrs. Nash's Ashes. Adler has a unique voice that's perfect for sexy and heartfelt rom-coms, and I plan on going back now and reading Adler's first book. I love the author's writing style and humor, the layered characters, and the love story!

Gretchen is a fake medium swindling many of the older people in town, but she's in for a surprise when she goes to Charlie's farm at the behest of one of her best clients. She expects an old farmer, but instead she meets the incredibly good-looking Charlie. After learning Charlie doesn't believe in her and being ushered off the property, Gretchen encounters a real-life ghost with a warning about a curse and what will happen to Charlie if he sells the farm.

A con artist with a heart of gold, Gretchen shows so much growth throughout the story, and she's a layered character - snarky and sharp with a quick wit. Gretchen goes through a lot as she tries to convince Charlie the curse is real when she knows most of her life is built on lies. It's an interesting juxtaposition, and it, as well as some of her relationships, makes her take a hard look at her life. She and Charlie have so much chemistry, and their enemies-to-lovers vibes are fantastic. Their banter - so fantastic! Charlie shows a ton of growth too as he struggles to maintain the family farm. He's such a grump and a total skeptic when it comes to Gretchen, but he is also really caring and good, and I liked seeing him heal and change over the course of the story.

Then, there's Everett, the ghostly sidekick who often stole the scenes he was in. His friendship with Gretchen had the best banter. They are so comical together, and there were times when their scenes were really emotional. I love how the author seamlessly weaves humor and lightness with more serious and emotional subjects.

I really enjoyed this read. It's fun and funny, emotional and charming, and the characters are great. And the goats! I have to mention how much I loved the goats! lol Special thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! This book was a slow burn for me. I love Adler’s writing style - Mrs. Nash’s Ashes (Adler’s debut) is one of my favorite romances of all time. This book is different, and that’s okay, and it was very sweet and poignant. But sometimes the balance between a ghost and a sweet love story building out of past trauma and loneliness was jarring. The ghost part, the only paranormal thing in a pretty realistic novel, was hard to get past for me, but saying that, this book was super sweet and nice and I definitely recommend it. I think Adler has a skill set for really showing how love is knowing someone and loving them for all of the parts of them, and for that, she’s great and this book was mostly great. Overall I recommend this book for fans of Adler, the movie Ghost (lol), and well written contemporary romance.

𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗬 𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗨𝗠 is a fun enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, slow burn, spicy romcom. Gretchen pretends she's a medium but when she's hired to rid a goat farm of ghosts, it turns out she can actually communicate with the one "haunting" it. The challenge becomes how to convince sceptic hot farmer Charlie that his ancestor Everett (the aforementioned ghost) is real in order to keep him out of danger.

The conversations between Gretchen and Everett (who would be over 100 years old but is stuck in his 20s) were hysterical and I loved all of the pop culture references (he's obsessed with watching TV). I had a harder time with Gretchen and Charlie. 𝘔𝘳𝘴. 𝘕𝘢𝘴𝘩'𝘴 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 was one of my favorite books of 2023 so I came into this with really high expectations, especially around the depth of the characters. Millie and Hollis had so many layers, and I didn't find the same with Gretchen and Charlie. She has unresolved issues with her dad that I thought would play out more, and Charlie's relationships with his grandfather and father felt superficial. The pacing also threw me a bit. The book also takes place over the course of a month and a lot happens; I felt like the first half took too long to get to where we knew it was going.

That being said, the dialogue, the humor and all things Everett make this worth a read. Do not miss the author's note where Adler explains how the concept came about (the original title is epic!).

3.5 stars rounded up

Thanks to Berkley for the copy to review.

Charlie decides he is in need of a medium to convince a ghost to leave his goat farm. He hires Gretchen who happens to be a fake medium, but his real-life bridge partner who he has never met in person. When Gretchen arrives at Charlie's farm, she realizes he's not only young, but very attractive. Unfortunately, Gretchen has to come to terms and figure out how to be her honest, genuine self around Charlie, and not the con artist she is to the rest of the world.

If I’ve ever read about two characters with the most baggage to unpack, it's these two. I honestly did not expect this book to have as many cute and cozy moments as it did l, so that was a nice surprise. The ghost, Everett, turns out to be a pretty cool dude, so that was also unexpected. I also did not expect this book to fly by as quick as it did. Even with all these unexpected things, I did find the book very enjoyable. It was a fun break from my normal contemporary romance reads.

After seeing so many great reviews on Sarah's first book, Mrs. Nash's Ashes, even though that is still on my TBR, I was excited to see the ARC of this book pop up! This is my first paranormal romance and I'm glad I dipped my toes into this trope with this book. It is light enough to still have plenty of “regular” romcom vibes, but still gives you a little bit of the “spooky” element. I'd definitely recommend this book if you're looking to get your feet wet with some paranormal vibes.

A big thank you to Berkley Romance and the author for letting me review this advanced copy! All thoughts are my own.

THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU IF: You enjoy fast-paced romance with some paranormal touches and lots of grumpiness.

Gretchen Acorn makes her living as a (fake) spirit medium. When her richest client asks her to investigate paranormal activity keeping her bridge partner, Charlie Waybill, from being able to sell his goat farm, Gretchen is excited for the big paycheck. But she has a few surprises coming. The first is she actually sees a ghost, Everett Waybill, who’s been haunting the farm since the 1920s. He tells her that there’s a curse on the farm and that if Charlie sells, he’ll meet his doom and have to haunt the farm as well. Second surprise is Charlie himself who is not the old bridge-playing man Gretchen expected, but a young, handsome farmer who thinks Gretchen is a con artist and doesn’t believe a word she’s saying. How can Gretchen convince him not to sell if he won’t listen to her?

This was a fun story that reminded me a bit of the show Ghosts (which I love) with Everett chatting to Gretchen constantly, thrilled to have someone who can actually hear him, and a bit of the movie Ghost with a fake medium who can suddenly see an actual ghost. The romance in the book doesn’t really pick up until about halfway through, but I enjoyed Gretchen and Charlie’s relationship once it started. While this was not a love triangle, the character of Everett has a lot of page time which might explain the slow burn.

This book didn’t feel like Mrs. Nash’s Ashes, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t hoping for a repeat of everything I loved about that book. If you can go in without comparing it to her first book, I think that will make for a better reading experience.

Mara Wilson narrates. She’s a fabulous performer and I love her voice, but at times I thought her delivery was a little too serious. There are serious elements of the book for sure—Gretchen’s back story is very sad and Charlie is dealing with grief—but there is a lot of fun banter too and I think the narration would have benefited from a little levity.