This was the perfect read for the spooky season! I've been loving Armstrong's latest releases and can't wait to see what she brings us next year!

I'll be Waiting is a nice little ghost story. There are definitely some moments that freaked me out in this one! I also really appreciated learning a little about Cystic Fibrosis. Thank you for the advanced copy :)

At first, I was really into this book. It had an eerie tone with the seances and haunted house aspect, and Armstrong did a great job at building tension. However, the last half didn’t really hold my attention as much - it was quite repetitive. Plus there was some crazy stuff that happened that just kind of threw me off. I will say that this was a great read for spooky season, but it isn’t my favourite just due to how long it felt and how outlandish it became.

The cover is also so gorgeous and definitely drew my eye!

I always applaud - and am impressed by - authors who write in different genres. Especially when they’re known for one genre and try something new. Sometimes that means I don’t read their next book because it’s not my preferred genre but as long as they’re writing something that makes them happy? That makes ME happy! It was with all this in mind that I gave I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong a try. I’ve really enjoyed her Rockton series so thought, well, let’s see what her horror-type book is like. I don’t know if it’s something horror lovers would enjoy but I can confirm it’s not the kind of book for me!

Here’s the book’s description:

Nicola Laughton never expected to see adulthood, being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Then medical advances let her live into her thirties and she met Anton, who taught her to dream of a future… together. Months after they married, Anton died in a horrible car, but lived long enough to utter five words to her, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

That final private moment became public when someone from the crash scene took it to the press—the terminally ill woman holding her dying husband as he promised to wait for her on the other side. Worse, that person claimed it wasn’t Anton who said the words but his ghost, hovering over his body.

Since their story went public, Nicola has been hounded by spiritualists promising closure. In the hopes of stopping her downward spiral, friends and family find a reputable medium—a professor of parapsychology. For the séance, they rent the Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned.

The medium barely has time to begin his work before things start happening. Locked doors mysteriously open. Clouds of insects engulf the house. Nicola hears footsteps and voices and the creak of an old dumbwaiter…in an empty shaft. Throughout it all she’s haunted by nightmares of her past. Because, unbeknownst to the others, this isn’t her first time contacting the dead. And Nicola isn’t her real name.

That’s when she finds the first body....

I work with someone at the library who’s a huge horror reader and advocates for the genre just as I do romance. We often talk about what we’re reading, not because either of us are going to read the other’s choices but so we can be better at our jobs. So, it’s with her in mind that I wonder, “Does I’ll Be Waiting qualify as a horror novel? And what would she think of it?” Why am I mentioning all this? Well, I think you already know this book was outside of my comfort zone. The tone of this review will be very much, “This may be a good book but it’s certainly not a book for me.” So please keep that in mind while you’re reading this review!

I ended up listening to this one on audio and, my word, Jennifer Pickens did such a great job. I think I was more unsettled with the story thanks to her narration. She really nailed the pauses, wavering voices, creepy sounds, and the like. I’ll definitely check out other books she’s narrated.

How do you feel about authors who take on a disease when they themselves don’t have it? This was something I pondered while reading this book because Nicola has cystic fibrosis, but Armstrong does not. She did note at the end of the book that she had someone she talked to about the disease, a sensitivity reader of sorts, which I do appreciate. I wondered if I was being too…precious? Wanting Own Voices in too many ways? All that said, I was happy to see a character with CF and a book that was spreading awareness of what the disease looks like these days. I could have used a little less repetitiveness with all the gear Nicola has to travel with and her therapies and medicine. Some mention? Absolutely. Multiple mentions of the exact same info? A bit much.

As for the ghost story…I was both spooked and totally disbelieving of it. I refused to read the book before bed, had to finish it to find out what happened, and was over the mystery by the end. It was an odd jumble of feelings. But the fact that I was feeling all those things meant something - and was probably what pushed me to finish the book. I really did NEED to know what happened. Armstrong hinted at something that happened 22 years before the book took place and it took far too long to get to it - it was about 40% in when things finally started being revealed. I’m not entirely sure I buy how all the characters fit into the story and how the haunting really worked. But was I supposed to? I’m not really sure.

I’ll Be Waiting was, personally, not a winner. But I’m very aware that it could be that it’s not my usual type of read. I’d be really curious to see what horror and ghost story readers think of Kelley Armstrong’s latest book!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Minotaur Books

Nicola Laughton has had a death ticket from the day she was born with the horrible illness of cystic fibrosis. Nicola never thought she would ever marry but she did meet the love of her life and sadly he died shortly after their marriage in a horrific traffic accident. Anton's last words to her as he died in her arms was "I'll be waiting" and some witnesses claimed to see his spirit hover over his body for a few moments. Ever since then Nicola has visited mediums and attended seances seeking to prove or disprove of life existing after death.

Nicola rents a summer house by the sea and brings her best supporters, her brother-in-law, a sceptic and another friend whom she met at one of her seances who definitely believes in the afterlife and hopes Nicola will find her answers. The medium she hires is also a scientist who comes well recommended.

Shortly after they arrive strange and bizarre occurrences begin to descend upon the group, subtle in the beginning but when swarms of black insects hover outside the house where Nicola can't even go for a walk due to her breathing and the insects flying in her mouth and eyes whenever she steps outside. It is a very strange phenomena to be sure and now Nicola wonders if she's made some very bad decisions about needing to have contact with Anton since all the paranormal experiences seem aggressive and dark so maybe she's made contact with something else and how will she make it all come to an end without any harmful entity attacking her and her friends. Something has gone very, very wrong!

Kelley Armstrong has written another suspenseful and terrifying novel that I hated putting down and coming to an end. I enjoyed all the characters and felt they were well developed and I also loved all the twists and turns that K.A. always include in her books. This novel was so enjoyable and entertaining and I am so looking forward to reading many, more books by this author.

I recommend this book to any reader who wants something spooky, unsettling, suspenseful with some tense horror that never lets up and yet a great story
behind the scenes concerning Nicola's chronic, deadly illness but her courage and stamina beating the odds of her life expectancy by never giving up!

I want to thank the publisher "St. Martin's Press" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this digital copy and thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given a rating of 4 SUSPENSEFUL AND NERVE SHATTERING 🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

There are always those books that just stick with you. Whether it be a warm embrace, a lingering book hangover from the depressing yet satisfying ending, or the feeling like this one. Terror...

This story really gets under your skin, makes you sleep with your bedside lamp on and forces you to watch SpongeBob Square pants before bed, just to bring yourself back to the real world. It is spooky and haunting, everything horror lovers need.

I normally love Kelley Armstrong’s books so I was excited to get an early version of the book. I started the book eager to know more about the séances and if they would manage to contact the ghost of Anton. The first half was great, I couldn’t stop reading. The second was just dragging the suspense and kind of destroyed my excitement. It took me a while to really finish it. I was even thinking of skipping pages but was too worried I would miss some important informations. I liked the ending but personally thought she could have spend more pages on it. It was quite rushed.

The story started out really strong. I was completely pulled in by Nicola's grief and the way she coped with her Cystic Fibrosis. There were plenty of conflicting feelings between her almost desperate desire to make contact with Anton and her absolute disdain for the charlatans that purport that they can facilitate that contact. The meetings with those mediums were riveting and I also enjoyed the way the author set up the entire encounter at the beach house. The rest, I have to admit, was not quite my cup of tea. If this was a movie, I would definitely not watch it. Personally, I did not like the possession arc, but I could still appreciate the clever story-telling that brought it all together. This was a viscerally disturbing tale of grief and vengeance.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Oh man this book was so freaking good! This one definitely went beyond the stereotypical haunted house/seance story! I figured out who the antagonist was pretty quickly, but it was still wild as hell watching it play out! It was the kind of thing that is so insane it can’t possibly be the real story. Even knowing what was happening, I was on the edge of my seat and breathless watching it play out. Absolutely fantastic. I can see this getting made into a movie for sure. I’m a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong, but I can say with everything in me that this is a must read!

Huge thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

In Kelley Armstrong's new novel, Nicola has just lost her husband, Anton in a horrible accident and is desperate to contact him. She goes to a few seances, but she can tell they are all fake. She decides to go to an old house that was in Antons family and try to contact him there. Unfortunately, her past catches up to her. I really enjoyed this story and just when I thought I had figured it out, another twist happened. I highly recommend this book.

This one is a creepy, extrememly enjoyable ghost story with a likeable protagonist. Nicola has arranged a seance, trying to contact her dead husband. His last words at the site of the deadly car crash were that he would be waiting for her. She's already lived far longer than expected and the story of a terminally ill woman holding her dying husband immediately went viral, especially after onlookers claimed that it was his ghost who spoke the words. Nicole has a history with seances and knows exactly how to make it look like supernatural things are happening, but she also knows that real spirits exist. This isn't a particularly scary book, but it has all of the trappings of a good ghost story.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I definitely enjoyed some elements of this book but overall I didn't love it.

I’m always here for Canadian based, isolated, spooky stories, especially involving seances. Kelley Armstrong writes fabulous horror.

So I wanted to love this book (i didn't love it but it was good, that is why I am giving it a 3.5-star rating) sinister secrets, haunted house vibes, possessions/paranormal elements and seances.
Nicola (who has CF) is married to Anton, their thoughts are that she will always be the first to die because of her health issues but that is not what happens. Anoton ends up dying in a car accident and lives just long enough to speak the words.... "I'll be waiting for you."
That private moment ends up becoming public from someone who overhears it and leaks it to the press. She is now hounded by tons of spiritualists promising closure. Which non provide..
Enters the next person; a professor (who seems ok at first but then later on in the book, things get crazy) doing a seance at the Lake Erie beach house that Anton's family used to own. This house definitely gives off sooo many haunted vibes. Hello haunted ghost house!!!
So many things keep happening, all while Nicola is haunted by nightmares mainly about her past. She has no idea why all this is happening.
Here is the part when it gets annoying she gets away too much into her head, and has too many inward (in her head conversations) and so much on repeat also. It's hard to deal with and you have to have a lot of patience. Back-and-forth, memories none really don't make too much sense til the end. The backstory is needed but it seems like it was drawn out away to long and not in the best way.
The characters in this book are not enjoyable to me. You don't really tend to care about them or take their side, which also make it a struggle to get through this book but have patience.
This book has your mind all over the place and keep thinking of new things or how the past and present make sense and why its important and sooo many theories.
Then we also get a storyline of a missing person with a thriller mystery element, so much going on.
But I needed to see how this all comes together in the end. I needed a conclusion, closure to this book. The end was worth it and glad that I had the patience to get to the end.

This book encompasses all things spooky! I enjoyed the tension greatly and I feel that this was the strong point of the story. What I didn't care for was the writing style and repetivness. Overall, I think this is a solid read if you enjoy thrilling stories!

Though I found the premise of this intriguing, the story itself I just could not get into. I found it repetitive and just not what I was looking for. I love this author’s work though so I will eagerly be waiting for her next book!

Than you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC! This book is out now.

I remembered reading Kelley Armstrong in my teenage years, so I was excited to pick up a standalone and see if it was the same feel.

This was a creepy haunted house tale that did well building its supernatural atmosphere through tension and a spooky atmosphere, and it gave me the chills more than once. The story's strength lies in its ability to create genuine spooky vibes and unsettling haunted house imagery as you go along for the ride with the mystery. Where it started to fumble for me was in length and a bit of repetitive moments. However, it did a great job at being spooky, and a bit of horror at the end, to keep me invested.

I am a big fan of Kelley Armstrong, and when I read the synopsis included seances, I knew I was in. This is the perfect spooky read and has a very memorable final showdown.

Not my type of book. It sounded interesting but i cannot get into it. Will i try again to get it to it.. def

I love Kelley Armstrong and pick up anything with her name on because I enjoy her writing. I was excited to be able to review this new book for my favorite season! I enjoyed the first 3rd/first half and then it felt like it changed. It lost my attention and began to feel repetitive and that it was dragging a bit. I believe this book would have benefited from being a bit shorter so that it was not repetitive.

The beginning felt like a good haunted house type of paranormal story with a good representation in the character and it turned into something overly gory and unnecessary. While it was a 4 star at the beginning the last portion was about a 2 so I am doing.a 3 star for this rating! I hope to read more from Kelley Armstrong in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!