Get Your Goat Ewe’ve Pulled

Happy Medium
Sarah Adler
Published by Berkley (An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC)
Release date: 30th April 2024

Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn isn’t rich by any means, but earns a decent grift ‘connecting to the spirit world’ and giving advice to her clients. Her one rule is to leave them in a better place emotionally than they were before she got involved.
Using the internet for research and her roomie Yolanda who works at a local nail salon and a boutique, she gets titbits and insider info.
Her biggest client, Deborah Van Alst, also provides her biggest income and lots of referrals.
In fact Deborah – who lost her thirty-three year old daughter recently – seems to be doing remarkably well and getting out socially again, so much so, Gretchen plans to reduce their sessions.
She’s done her job.
Now the next one; Deborah has paid her to “exorcize” a presence at a goat farm, Gilded Creek, owned by her bridge partner Charlie Waybill.
Gretchen expects a doddery old fella based on her research. What she gets, is a lumberlicious flannelled farmer who’s taken over the farm now his granddad is in assisted living. Except he’s dressed in a “right travesty of a sweater” which we find out is one of the many knitted by his departed Gran. The ones he knitted look like the drawings a child might make of animals ... Far too many limbs.
Inspired by the 1990 film ‘Ghost’, the novel heads into paranormal territory when Gretchen is approached by a guy called Everett. He’s the farm’s resident ghost and wants her to help save Charlie his family’s curse.
Charlie is trying to sell the farm to help fund his granddad’s care, but if he leaves the property permanently he dies then pops back up as a ghost at Gilded Creek.
She knows it’s a hard sell, but Gretchen makes a bargain with Charlie, she’ll stay a month at the farm as in intern if he gives her a chance to persuade him of the curse.
There’s a simmering chemistry between them and Charlie gets adorably flustered around her. But he’s also a grouch, because he knows Gretchen is a fraud.
And he’s intent on proving it.
Despite the antagonism, Gretchen has solid ideas on how to improve income. Especially at the Farmers Market.
I liked that we had more than one LGBTQIA+ character in the book. There’s Yolanda and Penny for starters, plus the male couple with babies at the market, who are so sweet.
Amidst the main story arc, we learn about Gretchen’s vulnerabilities, and why she holds people at arm’s length.
“Her usefulness is the only thing she has to offer anyone, and there’s little reason to keep her otherwise.”
They leave her, or she’s forced to leave them, and she has no reason to believe Charlie will be any different.
The hi-light of the novel is the relationship between Everett and Gretchen. From reluctant allies to BFFs. He’s a prohibition‑era ghost, a cousin/ancestor of Charlie and is hilarious; from his outdated slang and ‘dude bro’ swagger to his whiny teen-like attitude when his TV is turned off.
Yet somehow, they become best friends.
There’s romance, drama, emotional moments, the tragedy of dealing with elder relatives suffering from dementia, abandonment issues, intimacy and lots of laughter.
I adored this book on every way and it will linger in my heart like the echo of a ghost who has just left the room.

This novel was super fun and kept me hooked. The main character is a spirit medium con artist who’s supposed to exorcise a ghost on a farm. When she gets there, she meets a super sweet and good-looking goat farmer who totally knows she’s a fraud. But then, surprise! There’s actually a real ghost who spills the beans about a family curse on the property. Im short, such a fun and distinct new read!

Overall, it was a cute read and a perfect break from heavier stuff. My only gripe is that their relationship felt a bit rushed, and I would have liked to see more of them. It went from instant attraction to enemies to lovers, and back to instant attraction before we finally got some deeper development, which was kind of weird and made me not connect as much with their relationship as I thought I would..

"Loving you . . . loving you will always be worth it. And I do love you, Gretchen Acorn. I do."

Rating: 3.5/5

- Con artist FMC x farmer MMC
- Magical realism (she talks to a ghost)
- Goat farm setting
- Forced proximity
- Single POV (third person)
- Narrated by Mara Wilson

Premise: She's a con artist who gets paid too much money to exorcise a ghost from a client's friend's farmhouse because it's scaring away potential buyers. But things get complicated when she actually meets the ghost and has to work with him to get the hot owner not to sell his farmhouse. Kind of a switched Ghost, ya know?

I personally didn't love this one as much as Mrs Nash's Ashes. I struggle with third-person POV at the best of times, but third-person AND single POV is double the trouble 😅. Gretchen and Charlie had some cute moments, but I didn't feel they had a strong/soulmate level of connection. I would've loved getting inside Charlie's head!

On the flip side, Gretchen had excellent character growth, Mara Wilson nailed the audio, and I liked the friendship between Everett and Gretchen. Sarah injects a lot of humour and heartfelt moments into her books. This one just left me wanting more.

But if you go into it expecting women's fiction with a side of rom-com, you probably won't be disappointed.

4 ☆
It was so cute and funny!
I love paranormal rom com and this one was perfect!

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with this ARC!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It’s cute and heartwarming in the end and a fun light read with a bit of the paranormal. The ridiculous part though isn’t the ghost, it’s that so much of the plot hinges on adults being completely unable to communicate and making decisions based on wild assumptions. Plus, Charlie is supposed to be sweet, but is unnecessarily rude to Gretchen for most of the book.

I enjoyed reading it, but I definitely did some grumbling while doing so.

A lovely light hearted paranormal Rom com. A great read to cosy up with and devour.

Really enjoyed the characters and cannot wait to read more from this author.

I didn’t know what to expect of a book about a ghost. I don’t venture into paranormal romances a lot, and when I do it’s usually werewolves and vampires. I don’t think I had ever read a medium / ghost story before, and I was so enchanted by this book. The story is very strong, it builds slowly but surely and it’s just the nicest read. Gretchen is the sweetest, I was so glad to see her finally learns to let people in thanks to Charlie (and Everett). They deserved (and they got) the cutest happy ending.

This was a nice light-hearted rom com.

Gretchen is a medium but she is a con artist she hasn’t got many friends. One of her clients hires her to exorcise a ghost at her friend’s farm which he is trying to sell. Gretchen meets Charlie the owner of the farm you can see the sparks flying between them. Charlie does not quite trust Gretchen.

It was a very enjoyable book and it was funny, sad and happy in places.

The characters worked well together.

This book was such a fun lighthearted read! I really loved the character development Gretchen went through and absolutely adored Everett!

I enjoyed this quite a lot! Gretchen is an interesting character; she runs a questionable business, but her intentions are right. Charlie is very grumpy, but luckily never mean. I enjoyed seeing them both learn to open up to others and trust other people. I also love the irony of a fake medium discovering ghosts actually exist. A fun read!

I have heard nothing but great things about Adler's previous book, Mrs. Nash's Ashes, but I am yet to read it, so when I saw this newest book from her, I jumped at the chance to read it. However, I didn't love the deception behind Gretchen's apparent ability to commune with the dead, and although there was a level of kindness behind her intent, the fact that she did it as a living before moving on to the farm did rub me the wrong way slightly, and didn't set the book off in good stead to impress me. I enjoyed the interactions between Gretchen and the farm's resident ghost, Everett, but didn't find Charlie's sudden belief in him to be too believable. The chemistry between them was good, but the whole 'marry me so you can leave' felt a bit ridiculous, and their reunion in the end didn't fill me with as much joy for the characters as I would've liked it to.

3.75
Happy medium it was a funny romcom about a con artist and a grumpy farmer. I feel like in the middle Wednesday begin to open up to each other it was maybe too instant and not really thought it through, but Everett (the ghost who turns up to be true) was always there to save today up until the end.
Thanks to Netgalley and Quercus for sending me this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Medium is so wonderful and funny and tender and I just love it so much. It is pure escapist fiction that manages to deal with universal, sometimes painful, human themes without losing any of the joy.

The premise of Happy Medium is utterly and brilliantly absurd: Gretchen, a fake spirit medium, is hired to exorcise a ghost from Charlie’s farm (against his will), but discovers a real ghost only she can see who is warning of a curse putting Charlie’s life at risk.

Everett (the ghost) really grew on me. His character arc is masterfully written and such a perfect accompaniment to the romance story. Adler’s books are infused with love and humour despite rough circumstances, summed up perfectly in the rocky friendship between Gretchen and Everett.

It’s a cliché to say you couldn’t put a book down but Happy Medium was absolutely that. It left me sobbing and yet uncontrollably smiling at the same time. Just as I plan to read Mrs Nash’s Ashes every summer, Adler’s second book is definitely going into yearly rotation for me. This is what romantic comedy as a genre is all about.

When I heard about this book, it transported me to my teenage years when I was obsessed with The Mediator by Meg Cabot the main girl could talk to ghosts, so I had high expectations for this book. It took me a while to connect with the story, mainly because I didn’t like that she isn’t a “mediator” or in this case, a medium, but she is a con artist. This part is on the back of the book, but I tend not to read the synopsis right when I’m about to start a book. So, I was feeling a bit underwhelmed about a story in which the FMC lies about seeing dead people.
However, around 50 pages in, the story has a twist that picks my interest immediately (I’m not going to mention it so I don’t spoil anyone who will read this book). From then on, I was pleasantly surprised because I didn’t know where the story took me. Sarah Adler’s storytelling is very visual and compelling (this is her second book that I have read), she took me right into farming and I was very interested in farm life and all the business of a goat farm. I like the plot, and some parts took me to my favourite books, which was much appreciated. But the romance wasn’t the best part for me. I didn’t dislike it, I liked how it was very slow burn but sometimes I thought the MMC’s grumpiness was just mean to her, and once they got together, he went from “you are a liar and a con artist” to “you were just helping people”.

Overall, it was fun and great entertainment and I think the author’s writing and creativity are amazing.

Thanks to Netgalley UK and Quercus for sending me this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing! I love everything about this book! Romance with a hint of ‘supernatural’ is one of my favourite things!

This was a fun rom com, I really enjoyed the premise - con woman suddenly finding herself trapped on a goat farm by her own inconvenient conscience is just funny.

This book felt genuine in that the relationship truly took work to build, and wasn't easily undone when it was built! I love books where the trust takes a long time to build, they resulting relationships just feel like they have a stronger foundation. Gretchen's character development was great, too, I totally bought in to her epiphanies.

Everrett felt quite young to me at the beginning of the book, but he did grow on me. I do slightly wish we got a bit more from his character other than TV or his romantic escapades.

Overall, a fun, light-hearted, romantic read.

Gretchen is a spirit medium. Sure, it's a bit of scam, as she can't actually talk to ghosts, but a lot of people feel much better after they come and talk to her, and her one rule is to never leave anyone worse off than they came to her.

One day one of her loyal customers offers her a large sum of money to help a friend whose house won't sell as it appears to be haunted. When Gretchen arrives, to her great surprise, it would turn out she's not quite as unable to speak to ghosts as she thought she was when she encounters the local house ghost! She immediately clashes with the young, hot goat farmer who wants rid of this scam artist as soon as possible, but when she finds out that there is a curse on him that will kill him if he does sell the house, she decides to stay.

This is a pretty cute, cozy romance story, involving goats, idyllic farm life stories etc. It's an easy read and I had a fun with this.

I think there's probably a few rough edges that could be smoothed off her, Gretchen's conversations with herself are sometimes a bit disconnected and her romance with Charlie can come across a bit all over the place.

Overall I liked this and recommend it if you want a nice breezy read. The goats were good, too.

N.b. I received a digital copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Aaaah, I loved this book! It was funny, but dealt with serious subjects at the same time. Everett was the funniest thing and I loved their friendship so much! And then Charlie!! He's the absolute cutest ever!

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

When tired con artist Gretchen Acorn is offered £10,000 to excorcise a house for an old lady, she thinks it will be easy. Go in, waft some sage around, charm an old man, and come home with enough money to stay away from her father just a little longer. Except there is actually a ghost (charming but a bit weird), and the old man is actually a 30 year old farmer called Charlie. A 30 year old farmer called Charlie, who sees right through Gretchen within minutes of meeting her. But the ghost is meddlesome, there is a generations old family curse, and Gretchen just can not ignore the chemistry between herself and Charlie.

This book was absolutely what I needed after reading nonfiction for a good while. It was spooky, funny, and so full of angst that I had to put it down on several occasions. The beginning was a little confusing. However, the inciting incident was interesting, and the setup for the story was absolutely phenomenal. I enjoyed every minute I spent on this book, finishing it in only 2 sittings! The writing was clear, the story was well thought out, and the characters were absolutely perfect. Despite being an anti-hero, Gretchen was honestly the funniest and most real character. I love the 'villain with morals' trope, and Gretchen filled that perfectly. She conned people but always left them better than they were before. Her chemistry and banter with Charlie was honestly some of the best build up to a relationship that I have read this year (and I've read 40 romance books so far this year). I loved the connections she made along the way and the friendship she managed to build with the ghost, even though he was chatty, tiresome, and the oddest flirt known to man. Charlie himself was the definition of a grump, but he was soft on the inside, so full of heart and character. The scenes where he was looking after the baby goats were some of my favourites, and the way he spoke about his grandparents was even better. I loved him from the get-go.

There were a couple of weird parts to this book, such as an entire paragraph on whether Charlie's feet were attractive or not. That being said, this book had LGBTQIA+ characters, found family, forced proximity, and sex positivity, all wrapped into one bundle of joy that would be the perfect romantic comedy for halloween nights.

4 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this read from start to finish and it was exactly the vibe I was hoping it would be. It had the perfect mix of character development, plot twisting, enemies to lovers (my faaaave), escape to the country vibes and of course what’s not to love about baby goats in knitted jumpers?! 🐐 While I really liked Gretchen and Charlie, I absolutely adored Everett and felt they were just perfect mix together. I would definitely recommend this if you enjoy a bit of magical realism in your romance with a dose of comedy but also moments of heartbreaking reveals and emotional growth 💕 ✨ Thank you Sarah Adler and Quercus Books for sending me an eARC copy to read and review through NetGalley ✨