If we could judge books in sections, I would give the first half 5 stars. The first chapter alone caught my interest and had me rapidly engaged. But something happened at the mid point. All the spectacular spooky vibes went by the wayside as Nic chased some crazy theories of her own. Up until that point, the spooky stories and overall vibe of the story was spot on for the season. It felt very much like a change in tone. Wrapped up with an ending I think was too easily seen coming. I have always loved this author’s writing style and that was still a positive with this book. Overall, it just ended up dragging a bit too much with Nic’s side speculation and never regained momentum after that. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Nicola Laughton was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child, not expected to live to adulthood. But now, with medical advances she is 38, has a masters degree in software engineering, owns her own business, and is married to a guy she’d known years ago in high school. Life is wonderful, they have plans, and then while driving through a snowstorm they are hit by a truck. Anton doesn’t survive, but those around them hear his last words, “I’ll be waiting for you. But…….”

Current day, Nic and a friend keep going to psychics expecting a word from Anton. She swears she is done seeing mediums, until her friends talk her into one last chance with a good spiritualist. They plan to rent a lake house once owned by Anton’s grandmother, but now a short-term vacation rental. The spiritualist is a professor from Chicago who is a parapsychologist. I liked the way that part of the story started, sitting around talking about her memories of times spent with Anton. And then the tension starts to slowly increase, leading to a surprising end.


Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with this advanced reader copy; these are my honest opinions.

Huh.

First half = awesome
Second half = not so much

I really enjoyed the first half of the story but wasn’t able to muster enough suspension of disbelief for the second half.

I will continue to look forward to Ms Armstrong’s new books, but unfortunately this wasn’t a favorite.



Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

I'm a seasoned thriller/suspense reader and I've got to tell you that this book was so unpredictable and twisty that I couldn't even guess what was going to happen next! I was fully invested in this book the minute I started reading!

We follow Nicola Laughton in her journey to reach her husband's ghost while also dealing with Cystic Fibrosis. Nicola's husband Anton died in a horrible car crash and his last words to Nicola are made public by people surrounding the crash. This of course isn't what Nicola and Anton wanted. Nicola then goes through some mediums that aren't too trustworthy until she finds Dr. Davos Cirillo, who is a medium/scientist. With a few friends and Dr. Cirillo, they head up to Anton's family's old cabin to try to reach Anton.

This book is a spooky vibe for sure! Loved it! 5 Stars!

Fantastic! This book sucked me in from the very beginning. I know when I pick up a Kelley Armstrong title that it's going to be good, but this is definitely one of my favourites! I laid down with it intending to read just a couple chapters before sleep, next thing I knew it was 3 am and I'd finished it. By the time I got to the halfway point I knew I couldn't stop, I just needed to know what happened next. There's no way I could sleep without knowing the conclusion. Literally unputdownable, with a healthy dose of creepiness that would have kept me from sleeping anyway, lol. If you're into malevolent spirits, ghost stories, and tales from the other side of the veil, then this book is definitely for you! I'll Be Waiting is the perfect Fall spooky read! 🎃👻

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I finished this ARC with an impression of, "that was fun", which in short sums up my experience reading this book, in that, it is a fun and spooky ghost story with a few twists along the way, however it did not read as anything groundbreaking nor with any large amount of soul to it.

I did greatly appreciate the development of our main character, Nicole, with CF and how she was developed with so much strength and tenacity as well as a snarky, sassy voice that gave her such a robust personality. I enjoyed the representation of the regular and candid mechanics of her daily life living with CF without this being the focal point of the story. Instead, this novel is written as a ghost story centred on a girl with a mysterious and spooky past, which has reared its head now for her to contend with in the wake of the death of her husband, even as she happens to have CF. I think that such representation is important, and helped to garner another dimension to our main character.

I do want to be clear that I enjoyed reading this book. I feel bad giving any book 3 stars, as it seems demure to give a book 3 stars, but as it lists on Goodreads, 3 stars means I liked it, and I genuinely did. It's not that there was anything specifically bad about this book; it was a fun ride with some fun characters. I enjoyed my time reading this book. However, I also did not feel like this story resonated strongly with me or left any lasting impressions. Perhaps part of this is because I wasn't sure what kind of book I was getting myself into, nor did I feel I understood it any better a few chapters in, other than the obvious theme of it being a spooky/horror-ish one. And that's perhaps where the book falls into a mediocre category for me; it did not have a characterization or obvious theme to give it a strong body or tone that a well defined genre might otherwise give it. This book over the course of its story, spanned some spooky tones, some romance, some mystery... however there wasn't enough soul or development for me to really feel invested in the story or to feel that there was any theme or soul to really latch onto. I enjoyed the mystery and twists; some of the spooky scenes gave me chills, and so it was an enjoyable read but not one that particularly stood out to me.

In essence, Armstrong wrote a campfire ghost story drawn and fleshed out with some skin-crawling scenes and some thriller-style apprehension; it gave me a few laughs and a few scares. I moreso enjoyed it as a fun read, especially finding it well-timed with fall coming up around the corner, and bringing with it, the season steeped in pumpkin spice and spooky pumpkins. Thus, the spooky ghostly seances and haunting atmosphere of this novel fit the type of read I was craving.

If a reader is looking for something fun, with a bit of a mystery and a few scenes to give them a little bit of a scare, I would recommend this book. It was a fairly light read, outstanding a few scenes of "gory horror" which I found palatable for this being a haunting/ghost story. Thank you to Net Gallery and St. Martin's Press for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a bit too creepy for me personally - but I’m sure it will find its audience. Absolutely love the Cystic Fibrosis rep!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nicola tragically loses her husband in a car accident.  His last words to her were, "I'll be waiting."  Since then, she's been visiting mediums, trying to see if she can reach him.  In a last ditch effort to find him, she rents out his childhood home.  Things escalate quickly to voices, shoving, and sounds.  Nothing is what it seems, though, as we learn Nicola has a secret past of her own.

Thoughts 💭
This book started off very interesting and with a lot of promise. The setting enhances the spooky atmosphere of the book. There is tragedy, grief, and a chronic illness.  Nicola has a dark past that slowly unfolds.  There seems to be an actual haunting after discovering multiple fraudulent mediums trying to gain a quick buck.  The story seems to be heading in one direction the entire book to be completely flipped around at the end. I think the author was going for shock value, but it just came off as ridiculous.  Nicola wasn't the most likable character either.  She would go from hot to cold in seconds.  She was often aggressive.  I think the ending just let me down a bit.  Maybe you'll feel differently if you check it out. 

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I enjoyed this book , I can say it was really creepy in a lot of parts throughout the book . But towards the end it was getting really dragged out . It kinda lost the plot towards the end

4/5 stars! I really enjoyed this books. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in two days. I will say that I thought that it was a little too long but overall I really enjoyed it. This book is released October 1st, 2024. Thank you to Netgalley and Kelley Armstrong for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

This is perfect spooky season reading. Complete with seances, mediums, weird sounds coming from an empty locked basement, a creepy house with a room full of dolls. The first half of the book consists mainly of strange paranormal occurrences in an old lake house, just typical horror movie stuff. And in classic horror movie fashion, the characters are mad dumb. You know how in horror movies, they make the absolute dumbest decisions and it makes you roll your eyes and it’s absolutely no surprise to anyone when things start going badly because of their dumb decisions? This book is just like this lol. Weird stuff is happening but sure let’s definitely keep staying in the house and having seances!

I enjoyed this, in the same way you’d enjoy an unserious horror movie. It has everything you’d expect from a horror movie, just in book form, down to the characters making the worst decisions like knowingly putting themselves in danger because they were so desperate to find proof of spiritual activity. By the time you’re 70% in, you know enough about Nic’s past (possibly paranormal?) trauma and how it ties in to the present which makes you even more invested and ready for answers. It’s a pretty quick and easy read if you want something to get you in the mood for spooky season.

I gave this 3 stars because this story just didn’t have much depth to it. Aside from weird paranormal occurrences and flashbacks that slowly reveal parts of Nic’s past, there’s not much else that happens until the end. It’s just one giant linear story, no subplots or anything happening that adds to the story aside from, oh we heard creaking coming from upstairs again. Also, the ending didn’t really feel satisfactory enough for me. All in all, this was just an ok read. I thought that this was my first Kelley Armstrong book but turns out I read Hemlock Island last year, which I preferred over this. I would be open to reading something by her again!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

This unnerving paranormal thriller had me hooked for at least the first 1/2. It was eerie enough that I was glad I was reading it during the daytime. The roller coaster sort of went on and off the track from there.

Are ghosts real, and if so, can Nicola reconnect with her husband Anton after his untimely death several months prior? That's what she aims to find out when she, her brother-in-law, and a fellow grief support group member meet up with a paranormal activities expert at a lake house once owned by Anton's family. From the beginning, weird things happen--from a plague of insects, to a missing neighbor, to bumps, voices, and knocks that could be attributed to dark entities. Nicola has a dark history connected to a seance gone wrong, and she begins to believe that horrific chapter in her history may be connected to the present.

Nicola makes some real leaps (some of which seem out of character) when starts trying to connect her past with the present, and the last 1/4--when the big bad is revealed and confronted--goes a bit haywire. It's always entertaining, though, even if the narrative rules and tone seem to have changed pretty quickly. And good mystery fans will have already picked up on some of the key clues, despite the overabundance of red herrings in this story.

It's a quick, spooky read for a chilly fall night--perfect if you're looking for a book to get in the mood for Halloween.

Ahhh this book is perfect for a fall, spooky read!! Nic is recently widowed, her husband, Anton, died in a horrible car accident and the last words he spoke to her were "I'll be waiting". This wasn't how things were supposed to happen though. After being born with cystic fibrosis, Nic is living a miracle having lived as long as 38 years, and it was always known that she would die before Anton. These turn of events escalate her grieving for her husband and she turns to paranormal efforts to learn what exactly Anton meant with his last words. After several months, Nic admits to her obsession with mediums and seances to contact Anton in the afterlife and vows that she will participate in one last try before totally giving up. She contacts a reputable professor who specializes in the paranormal and sets up a getaway to the lakeside house she and Anton visited and loved. Along with her brother in law and a new friend she made in a grief counseling group, Nic will attempt one more time to talk to Anton and put to rest all of her questions. Not long after they arrive at the house, mysterious and weird things start to happen that will make them question what is real and maybe Nic's past has more to do with present events than she would like.

Armstrong does such a good job setting the stage for a creepy week of seances! You're instantly questioning, alongside Nic, whether the things that are happening are paranormal or maybe a figment of her imagination. Is it human or spirit malice? Is Nic having a mental breakdown or is someone messing with her? Her struggle to question everything and find a rational explanation is so well done that I couldn't figure out what was going on until the climax of the book! I got The Haunting of Hill House vibes a few times and loved it! And the little bits of humor/sarcasm you get from Nic sprinkled throughout the book had me laughing out loud: "It was a nightmare. So why does it feel so real? Because it’s the middle of the night, and you’re in a haunted house. Oh, and the reason it’s haunted? Because you brought your dead husband and all your fucking past baggage with you. Well, I do always overpack." I really appreciated all the overthinking and rationalizing of every event, I would do the exact same!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I want to start by saying how excited I am that I was able to review an ARC for an author that I read as an adolescent and loved. I am extremely grateful to Netgalley for allowing me to do this review for this book.

I started off reading this with my expectations rather high, and I believe that my expectations were certainly met! I wasn't sure how I would feel about reading a book about seances in the beginning, but it was surprisingly not as bad as I thought. Ms. Armstrong's storytelling is incredible, and while there were parts in the middle of the book that felt like they were dragging pace-wise, the majority of the time was captivating.

I spent part of the book wondering who or what was going to be the cause of all of the problems and I felt as though I was losing my certainty after each page with the narrator.

I do feel like the way that things were wrapped up in some aspects was a little farfetched, but I was not expecting it and everything else wrapped up rather nicely. That being said, I finished this close to midnight and had spent quite a bit of time peeking into my hallway because it was dark and I was spooked.

All in all, I very much enjoyed this book, and I am very glad that I received the opportunity to review this as an ARC copy for Ms. Armstrong.

This is the perfect spooky read. I was frightened and intrigued at the same time. If you want a spooky seance, look no further. I loved the mysterious element and wondering what we were dealing with. A great read for the month of Oct.

I’ll Be Waiting by Kelly Armstrong, Nickie and Antonn are planning a cruise to Iceland. While they’re discussing it, they get in a car accident that kills her beloved Anton right before he passes he tells her he loves her and that he’ll make contact until he sees her again he’ll be waiting for her. In the aftermath Nikki visits psychics and goes to séances trying to contact her lost love. She meets Shania in a remorse group for those dealing with grief, they become very close and Shania becomes one of the few people in Nicholas Close friend group. Shania was also there when Nicola busted all the fraudulent psychics and see Sayers,this is why Nicki invites her to Anton‘s families vacation home. She’s going there with her brothers husband Jim, Shania end a professor who deals in the afterlife but only deals in facts. All Nicola wants to know is if Anton is waiting for her or not. Nicola years ago use to be named Janica, due to a horrible incident in her teens and the publicity of that she changed it. After all she has cystic fibrosis and so with the grief of losing Anton she has enough on her plate just trying to keep her lungs working and getting over the death of her beloved husband. Unfortunately when looking for the fax it will not just be the ones Nicola is looking for but there may be someone else with an ulterior motive that before it’s over instead of looking for a sign from Anton she will be doing everything in her power not to join him. I love so many Kelly Armstrong books especially her stitch in time series, so the fact I absolutely loved this book was no surprise to me she is such a great rider with a relaxing style that is not so laid back that she doesn’t keep you on the edge of your seat. I thought her integrating Nikkis CF into the story was done so brilliantly as well as how she cared for herself due to the illness. As well as all the great facts about the disorder. This is a great paranormal mystery from one of the best authors in the genre a total five star read. #NetGalley,#Saint Martin’s press, #KellyArmstrong, #I’llBeWaiting,

This book is creepy. Perfect spooky read for spooky season. Ghosts, seances, death & a mystery. Armstrong always delivers an enjoyable book, and this is no exception!

This book started off really well and I was enjoying it very much. Nic lost her husband Anton eight months ago so she decides to go to a bed and breakfast that she and Anton frequently visited. They visited there often because the house used to belong to Anton's family. Nic visits there with a professor/medium to try to contact Anton. It was wonderful getting to know Nic and finding out about her secret from twenty years ago. She has cystic fibrosis and I really got an education about the disease.

I was so hoping for a spooky read to recommend to fellow Halloween/Paranormal book lovers like myself for fall. And it was that for about three-quarters of the book. Where it lost me was the last twenty-five percent when went completely off the rails with disembowelled bodies and outrageous demonic possessions...and not in the good (The Exorcist) kind of way. So, for the exciting beginning and middle, four stars for sure but that ending is a two-star read at best so I'm going to go with the average of three.

Nicola Laughton never expected to live as long as she has, nor did she ever expect to fall in love. Nicola has cystic fibrosis and medical advances have extended her life span. She didn't expect to outlive her husband Anton, but a freak car accident takes his life. Before dying, he was overheard to tell her that he'd be waiting for her on the other side.

Their story went viral and new Nicola is being plagued with psychics who want to help her connect with her lost spouse. Grieving hasn't ruined her find analytical mind, though, and she ends up outing a number of fake psychics.

For one last try at contacting Anton and finding her own peace, Nicola agrees to one last seance. Dr. Cirillo is a noted parapsychologist and has agreed to conduct it at the Lake Erie beach house where Nicola and Anton built a number of happy memories. Accompanying her are her brother-in-law Jin and a young woman named Shanie who she is met at a grief counseling session and is now mentoring.

As soon as they arrive at the house, weird things start to happen. There are the usual ghostly sounds of footsteps and creaks. Locked doors are found open. The house is surrounded by midges. The housekeeper's son who acts as groundskeeper goes missing. And Nicola experiences a series of "accidents."

Nicola hasn't admitted to anyone that this isn't the first time she's been at a seance that has gone wrong. When she was a teenager, she accompanied two friends into the woods to try to connect with a pair of lovers who were grossly murdered. The seance leads to the death of one of the friends and the other being committed to a mental health facility for the rest of her life.

This story was spooky. Nicola tries to keep her analytical side at the forefront but there are quite a few things that can't be explained rationally. She also comes to suspect that each of her fellow guests at the seance may be manipulating events to meet their own agenda.

Fans of horror will be the perfect audience for this one.

I love a spooky seance. I love a grisly urban legend. I love an isolated house by a lake.
Lucky for me, I'll Be Waiting has all of this and more. (Did I forget to mention creepy dolls?)

A truly eerie tale of grief, parapsychology, and adolescent pranks gone wrong. All those elements mix together for an unforgettable cocktail of things going bump in the night and the past coming back for a vengeance to haunt you...even from the afterlife.

Thank.you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review