happy medium - sarah adler 🔮

happy medium is a contemporary romance that follows gretchen, a con-artist who pretends to be a medium. she gets a gig where she has to convince charlie not to sell his goat farm. when she gets discovers the place is actually haunted by a ghost named everett, who only she can see.

so last year i read sarah adler’s other romance novel “mrs nash’ ashes”. in that book i loved the side plot line way more than the actual romance. the same goes for this book. while i liked charlie and gretchens relationship, the main hook for me was the friendship between gretchen and everett.

the first 50% of the book it felt like there was too much going on. you have gretchens job, her relationship with het father, her relationship with yolanda, her relationship with the lady she is scamming, her and everett, her and charlie and then also all the medium stuff, the con stuff, the goat farm stuff (this is only gretchens stuff, we still have all of charlies stuff as well). it just felt like, since there was so much, there was so much introduction as well.

the romance picked up in the last 30% and i would say if you are thinking about picking this up, don’t do it for the romance. the humor was a bit too cheesy for me, but i can def see how it would appeal to others.

overall a fine read (3 stars for me). ⭐️

I screamed so much because of the chemistry between Gretchen and Charlie!!!

Gretchen was different from what I expected. I thought she would be like a villainess who would turn good when she fell in love. How wrong I was! Gretchen is not a villainess. Yes, she knows how to scam people as that is what her father taught her, but she still has morals and won't take everything away from someone. She wants to bring happiness through her services, and being a medium allows her to do that. Too bad that Charlie doesn't agree. Gretchen has to go to Charlie's farm as she was hired by her most wealthy client to help him sell the family farm. There is gossip that the farm is haunted, and being a (fake) medium should be enough to fake an exorcism. However, what Gretchen doesn't expect is to find a real ghost who has ulterior motives on why the farm cannot be sold. If now she could only convince Charlie of the truth...
But he's too skeptical, and thinks Gretchen is a scam artist.

It was painful reading how Charlie, even unintentionally, hurt Gretchen with his words. She's softer than she tends to let on and only wants someone to see the real Gretchen. Hopefully Charlie can be that person, be he has some baggage as well. Overall I liked their interaction and how the characters were able to grow and open up with each other.

This was cute! I’ve not read anything from Sarah Adler before but I am definitely going to be picking up more of her work! Warm, cute, and full of moments which made my heart melt (Charlie Waybill has the makings of a viral instagram book boyfriend, I’m calling it now). I was expecting this to be a closed door romance but nope! It’s a slow burn but it definitely heats up!

Full of pop culture references, slapstick humour, and moments of genuine warmth - Happy Medium is the perfect book if you’re looking for a romcom with a little extra spirit. Gilded Creek Farm’s resident ghost, Everett, steals the show in this forced proximity romance. Stepping into the role of best friend, comic relief, and reason the two main characters are forced together for a month (100 year old curse, what can you do?), he really is the ghost with the most. It’s worth reading just for his attempts at haunting the house when prospective buyers come by.

All in all, what an excellent romcom. Many years since I’ve read such an exemplary example of the genre.

Gretchen Achorn descends from a long line of bullshit artists. But, unlike her ancestors, one of her rules is to leave her clients better than she found them. A request from a rich client to perform an exorcism on a friend's goat farm finds Gretchen discovering not only she can see ghosts, but maybe she might become victim of a con herself: falling in love.

Happy Medium is a funny, poignant and heartwarming story about loneliness and learning to open up your heart to friendship and love. Sarah Adler creates a real gem of a book with not just two compelling characters, but three - Gretchen, Charlie and Everett. I adored the very slow burn romance from distrust and attraction to love and trust between Gretchen and Charlie. One of the other joys was also Gretchen and Everett learn how open their hearts up to make and be friends (that epilogue ahhhhh!).

If I had any quibbles though it would be the minor sideplot with Gretchen's con artist father. I think it needed to be a bit bigger to make the emotional impact land more, otherwise removed entirely. Overall Happy Medium is the perfect blend of wit, charm, heartwarming characters and slightly bittersweet and poignant moments that left me sated with a book hangover.

Thanks to Quercus and NetGalley for the ARC.

3.75 stars

I had a fun time with this book - with the goat farm, a resident ghost to befriend, and a grumpy farmer with a terrible knitting skill what's not to love? This book feels very much like it could be a cosy rom com movie which I liked.

I will say that some plot points feel a bit unsatisfactorily unfinished but didn't take away too much from my overall enjoyment, I would have maybe liked to see more of Charlie and his grandfather, and a more firm conclusion with Gretchen and her father. There were also a few scenes (the confession lol) and Everett sometimes said stuff that was a bit strange but I did like his friendship with Gretchen and how they were there for each other as two lonely people.

It was my first time reading one of Sarah's books but I definitely would pick up another! Thanks to Netgalley for the arc!

Fun, touching, heartwarming and funny! I’d love to see this made into a movie.
Everett truly has my heart.

If you enjoy paranormal romance, then this is for you.

Gretchen is a fake medium from DC and one of her customers asks her for help with a friend’s haunted house.

Gretchen moves for the weekend to find out what is happening and ends up being left on the street by a grumpy farmer (Customer’s friend, Charlie), because he doesn’t believe a thing Gretchen is telling him and calls her a fraud.

When Gretchen is waiting for her getaway car, she meets Everett, a friendly ghost who’s been haunting the house, so Charlie doesn’t sell it.

Everett tells Gretchen why he is doing all this and that Charlie is a great danger if he leaves the house. He then persuades Gretchen to staying and helping Charlie. Well, if you can call it “persuading” 🤣 He is a cheeky ghost.

Charlie ends up accepting Gretchen’s help, but only if she does what she wants in return and she also has to stay for a month.

During all this it’s not only Gretchen and Everett who gets close, it’s also Charlie and Gretchen…

All the farming together and learning about each other makes them feel things and eventually things get quite steamy 🥵

I really enjoyed this book. It was funny, sad at occasions and it also made me scream out of excitement.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this copy before it’s being published!

Title: Happy Medium By Sarah Adler


Release date: April 30, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5 Stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

This author's book was my first read, and oh dear, did I devour this!

A clever con woman, Gretchen Acorn, finds herself entangled in a peculiar situation when her wealthy client hires her to investigate unexplained phenomena on a struggling goat farm. Despite being a fake spirit medium, Gretchen sees an opportunity to help both her client and the farm owner, Charlie Waybill.

However, Charlie is skeptical of Gretchen's abilities and unconvinced of the farm's haunted status. To Gretchen's surprise, she encounters a very real and chatty ghost named Everett, who reveals a family curse that threatens Charlie's well-being.

With only a month to convince Charlie not to sell the property, Gretchen must navigate her feelings for him while trying to outsmart the ghost and save the farm. As trust and love grow between them, Gretchen must confront her own vulnerabilities to pull off the ultimate con and secure a future for all involved.

This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster—I laughed, squealed, and yes, even shed a tear by the end! Without giving anything away, I was completely gripped by the story and emotion moments. Everything flowed seamlessly, creating a perfect blend of storytelling. The pacing of the story felt just right, with a realistic level of detail in portraying the characters' emotional growth and decision-making processes.


It was an incredibly pleasant read, and I'm eagerly anticipating diving into more books by this author.

This is a fluffy love romance story which will have you hooked from the very start, the characters are loveable and the story is fast paced, it’s a well written book

First, I need to give props to both the title and the cover of this book for setting up the cutesie farmer x psychic ambience. Because that's exactly what this is, a fun, lighthearted (albeit, unexpectedly sad at some points) romance between a city slicker psychic and a goat farmer. Adler's charming writing style suits this novel perfectly- although the current formatting issues of the kindle ARC did make me lose my immersion a few times.

Ultimately, I rated Happy Medium 3/5 stars. It's cute, enchanting, and fun- I almost want to give Sleepy Jean a whole star on her own. But unfortunately, I saw a few downfalls with the stakes and the characterization. Charlie and Gretchen's tension is enjoyable, but the attraction-at-VERY-first-sight made evident from the get-go spoiled whatever deeper enjoyment of their tension I could gain. It felt as if they were never in any real danger of having their relationship fail, despite a lack of communication, and ultimately felt like plot armour. Everett's characterization also felt shallow and sometimes neglected in favour of Gretchen and Charlie's scenes, resulting in a highly juvenile 100-year-ghost that was admittedly, a bit jarring at times. My only other qualm with Adler's story was introducing storylines without furthering them. Gretchen's father was sidelined, with the letter introduced early in the story never properly resolved. The current resolution to this side story feels like a very casual dismissal of Gretchen quite literally being stalked by her father, and ultimately never contributed to the storyline in a more complex manner.

Regardless, Happy Medium is a perfect palette cleanser for anyone looking for a lighthearted novel with charming settings, and the adorable inclusion of goats in coats.

I had eagerly awaited this new Sarah Adler book as I adored Mrs Nash's Ashes. I enjoyed this book about a fake medium Gretchen who ends up communicating with a ghost Everett, and has to prove to the book's other protagonist, Charlie, that the ghost and his message/warning is real.

I loved the humour and the romance buildup, and Gretchen's dialogue with Everett. I don't mind that there was a spiritual/otherworldly figure in the book, and that it wasn't "realistic" per se, but I still didn't love the plot as much as I was hoping. I also would have liked to have seen some "closure" or fullstop with Gretchen's dad - had he changed being in prison? Why was he trying to get in touch with her? Did he want her back as his con partner, or did he want to say sorry. I feel there was a gap for me there.

I still enjoyed it and would recommend it to someone looking for something light, romantic and fun!


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6313235550

I really enjoyed this book. The main characters are very likeable. The FMC, Gretchen does grow as a person. When we first meet her she is making ends meet as a con-artist, fake medium (with a heart). She ends up taking a job and being able to speak to a ghost. It’s a fun book that I couldn’t put down. The ghost that Gretchen meets is a lovable rogue who puts the whole story into motion. The MMC, Charlie, seams a bit harsh to start with but he grows and when we learn more about his background it makes sense.

This is a sweet, fluffy book. It doesn’t pretend to be anything else and I loved it for that.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Adler and Quercus Books for the ARC.

Loved this!
Refreshing to see a FMC in a romance with actual flaws and not just quirks!
Funny and lighthearted but did have a couple of emotional moments, which made even my cold, cold heart feel something!
Will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author!

I can honesty hardly believe that this is the same author who wrote Mrs Nash's Ashes. This book read like a children's book with a bit of spice (and somebody please tell me that the confession sex scene was as weird to you as it was to me) and the funny bits weren't really funny. The plot felt like there were a lot of loose bits stringed together, in order to make a complete story. I could not care less about the characters and I was bored most of the time because it the story felt a little bit stretched out. To summarize: this book reads like a free Amazon e-book.

Thank you Netgalley for this earc. All opinions are my own.

I went into Happy Medium a bit hesitantly, because of the MC background story and because I’m not a big fan of ghosts. But the story was quick to convince me. After the mandatory initial silliness, Gretchen and Charlie became great characters and even Everett ended up growing on me. The farm setting and the baby goats were super cute, especially the goat yoga, that was my favorite bit. I do wish that maybe Gretchen could have developed more friendships other than Everett, because she needed more connections in her life, but that’s just me being nitpicky. The writing was good, the cover is cute and the story is solid. Overall, it’s a perfect romcom.

This is the perfect romcom. It's funny, unbelievably sweet, the characters are incredibly lovable, it has real growth, character development and depth, and relationships that are heartwarming and soul-hugging. When I started this book, I never expected I'd be shedding tears over an absolutely ridiculous and somewhat annoying but unbearably lovable tv-obsessed ghost, but here I am.
I really loved this, and can see myself returning to this book for comfort and warmth and joy over and over again. I only wish it was about 500 pages longer so I could stay in the company of these characters for a bit more time.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to read this arc. While this was kindly given to me for free (and I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for that) - all my opinions in this review are genuine.

I received an ARC copy of this novel for an honest review

The Rule Book was a cute story. I enjoyed the writing style and tone throughout the story. The characters were fun enough and well suited to the plot and style.

The character of Everett and the goats gave some opportunities for fun and humour. Although, personally I would have liked more insight into Everett’s time as a ghost - with missed opportunities for humour and heartfelt moments.

Family dynamics are introduced but largely on a surface level and these could have been considered more - for instance seeing Charlie’s relationship with his grandfather more would have been a nice way to further develop his character.

The plot pacing moves well but I found the ending and relationship decisions in the last quarter to be rushed and feel out of character - particularly for Charlie.

Overall a sweet and easy read - I will definitely be looking out for more titles by this author.

So, you can tell I liked this book because I stayed up to 2am reading this so I could see how it ended. I’ve been in such a slump, not interested in reading anything, and then this fun guy came along.

Without giving too much away, this fun paranormal story gives off major Ghost vibes, with fun, quirky characters with interesting back stories that don’t fit into the standard character moulds. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it hit all the rom com spots I want, without feeling cliche or tacky. Highly recommend.

Thanks to Quercus Books for the arc copy, all opinions are my own.

I found this book very easy to read, the romance seen here felt cute and it made me feel warm and cosy so perfect for these cold winter evenings.

This was an incredible cozy romance. It reminded me of a warm cup of tea and a few times I slowed down reading just so I could savour this a little longer.

We have a feisty FMC, a hilarious and devious Side Kick and a grump MMC to contend with and they will 100% steal your heart.

This is one of those books that remind me that loving someone isn’t in the big moments. It’s in the tiny moments and connections that we make and care for each other. It’s truly seeing one another and every part of my heart was happy after finishing this!

Go read and be happy!