Member Reviews
The perfect mixture of love story and suspense. Love in a haunted house was the best. I enjoyed how the house meddled and the chemistry between Lucky and Maverick. It was great!
I felt like I was reading two different books here. A fascinating paranormal investigation into the mysteriously haunted Hennessee House...and a romance. If you couldn't tell, I was much more interested in the haunted house storyline than the romance storyline. I didn't really buy into the relationship at all. I never really understood people critiquing romance books where the couples engage in "therapy speak" until now. Every serious conversation between Maverick and Lucky left my head spinning, because it seemed like they were using a ton of words to not really say anything. It felt like these conversations were serving the purpose in the narrative of explaining asexuality and how it feels to be the black sheep in the family to the reader, rather than a natural back-and-forth between romantic interests.
The haunted house, though, was siiiiiick. I loved slowly uncovering the mysteries of Hennessee House with Lucky. She was brave and bold and was willing to let this sentient house into her mind in order to get into its mind. It was an unconventional haunting, but I loved it! Just like we have cozy mysteries, I would call this a cozy haunted house book.
This book was incredibly slow. Like slow slow. At halfway, I started asking how much longer, which was a bad sign. Seems like there was just filler at that point, and nothing was leading to nothing, learning nothing, doing nothing. Nothing. If I could un-read a book, I might choose this one. Good things about this book include a person of color main character, who is also ace. Bad things include terrible character names and an extremely overprotective "love" interest who acts like a stalker from the get. If this was a horror novel, all signs would point to Maverick as the guy with the bodies in his basement. Blech.
This book is such a great spooky season read. Lucky, an ace woman with ESP is the caretaker at a seemingly haunted house for a reality television series. There is so much heart in this story. I loved all of the characters, including the cat and the house itself. Maverick is a celebrity investigator and is working on the show with her. It takes time, but they get to know each other on a deep level. His daughter is a crucial part of the story and her inquisitive charm brings a lot to the story.
Many thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I really wanted to love this book. The plot sounded interesting and the representation is incredibly important. And Iiked it fine, but it dragged at times and I found myself losing interest entirely when they left the house.
I DNFed this book at 64% because it was soooooo sloowwwwww. I liked the concept of the plot, but the random tangent subplot at the amusement park lost me and I couldn't get back into it. Despite not liking the book, I LOVED the ace representation, so adding an extra star for that!
This was a lighthearted romance that was more on the sweet than spooky side, and perfect for cozy season. Featuring themes of community, belonging, complicated family dynamics, and a haunted house that longs to be noticed. When Lucky Hart and Maverick Phillips join forces on set of the Hennessy House, their chemistry is undeniable.
WHAT TO EXPECT
-haunted house vibes
-asexuality rep
-themes of family and acceptance
*many thanks to Berkley and PRH audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review
Claire Kann has been a favourite author since college years. Ten years and she’s still delivering the same stunningly emotional, diverse, and poignant stories in unique and accessible ways. I loved everything about this book.
This book was a little too slow paced for me. I liked the idea for the story, and it was pretty light and fun, but at times it was also confusing and lacked direction. Will definitely try this author again in the future, however!
This book explored intriguing themes! However, I had a hard time connecting with the story and that is obviously on me and not the book. I recognize that it has great potential to appeal to other romcom/spooky readers and I encourage others to try it out! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.
I liked the asexuality representation in this book.
I liked the idea of finding love in a haunted house.
I love the cover.
I so wanted to love this book! I didn't hate it, but i didn't love it.
I think it just missed the mark for me. It wasn't quite cozy enough, to be a cozy romance. And it wasn't quite edgy enough to be a great romance.
Thank you @berkleypub and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I love a haunted house story and this hooked me! Lucky has not been very lucky, but she thinks she found some luck finally. She finds herself some luck in an unlucky house. She found out that every actor on a new show mysteriously leaves after spending three nights at the house and she is here to investigate why. Mix in a bit of romance this was an enjoyable one.
This is not your typical haunted house romance story. In many ways, it transcends that as it is so much more than a romance between the FMC and MMC, but about finding community, family, and acceptance of oneself and others. Claire Kann has written such a creative story that had me in tears from sadness, joy, humour, and relief.
It's hard to write a review without writing spoilers, but I hope more readers are willing to put aside their typical expectations of a romance and give this book a chance, really open their hearts and minds to what Claire is writing about, and see the many parallels in society.
Perfect book for spooky season! Very light and fluffy, I will say I was expecting a little more from this but still enjoyed it.
I had the opportunity to interview Claire on my podcast. She is so sweet and I respect that she writes kind of across genres. I love her spin on a haunted house. Her writing style is so rich and her story is so layered with such compelling characters. I will definitely read more from her!
I was a bit disappointed with this book. I didn't hate it, but I felt disappointed. It had a lot of potential. It just lacks direction, in my opinion. It can't have too many genres in the mix. It will confuse a lot of readers like myself. It should have stuck with one or two genres that work perfectly together. Not throwing everything in the mix. Honestly, I didn't know if I was supposed to care for the character or the relationships. And that kind of stinks to read.
This review has been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph on September 8th, 2024. Links provided.
Lucky Hart, a down on her luck individual with a deep connection to the supernatural, has hit rock bottom. Estranged from her family, friendless, and twice rejected from graduate school, Lucky needs to catch a break. Thankfully, her fate changes when she gets wind of an opportunity to work for a production company capturing the paranormal mysteries of Hennessee House, an infamous Victorian mansion where the previous guests keep quitting the show after just three nights. Determined to prove herself, Lucky charms her way onto the set and quickly sparks a connection with Maverick Phillips, whose presence challenges and supports her in ways no one else ever has. But as their chemistry grows, the sentient Hennessee House becomes jealous, craving all of Lucky’s attention for itself. Torn between love and ambition, Lucky must navigate the haunted house’s desires and her own dreams, risking everything to find a happily ever after for them all.
All in all, I felt mostly indifferent to Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places. I appreciated the cozy mystery vibes and I felt the writing was easy enough to enjoy. The characters were written well enough and mostly likable. Although I didn’t really care much what happened, I was still curious in finding out the truth about Hennessee House and yet I felt like the reveal was anticlimactic. Maybe that was the point - it wasn’t supposed to be some big twist because the focus of the book was the romance and the cozy vibes. So with all that said, I can’t say it was my favorite book or that it will be very memorable for me. For some reason I just could not really connect with the main characters and I didn't swoon over their romance so I really didn't have a strong opinion on what happened. I did like Rebel and Georgia and therefore wish they were more the main characters than Lucky and Maverick. While I’m glad it ended with a happy ending, I don’t believe this is a book that I would be motivated to read again nor would I necessarily recommend it. I gave it three stars because while I didn’t love it, I also didn’t hate it and I know there is a community out there that will love this story, it just wasn’t for me.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read to an ARC of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places in return for my honest review.
Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and Berkley for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.
Read this if you like: Cozy vibes, Asexual representation, reality tv
This was a good read, but it lost me many times. I wasn't quite sure where it was going. Sometimes the pace was quite slow. It did have cozy mystery vibes. I enjoyed the Ace representation. You don't see that often.
A new fav from Claire Kann! Part reality tv romance, part haunted house story, this book features Lucky, a Black, neurodivergent, paranormal investigator with ESP who is also on the Ace spectrum. When Lucky is picked to be on a show featuring a haunted house, she ends up reluctantly falling for one of the producers, Maverick, a single dad who falls hard for her first. Interesting, with a unique plot and GREAT Ace rep, this was great on audio narrated by Zenzi Williams and perfect for fans of haunted house stories. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.