I love Kelley Armstrong books and they always seem to have me stressing out and finishing the book in one sitting because I can't stop reading them! I'll Be Waiting fell a little short for me, I just couldn't quite connect to the characters and it felt a lot more drawn out than her other books. I found myself skimming some chapters just to get through them.

I think the premise of this book sounds phenomenal, but it just need a little bit of cleanup to make it an edge of your seat book! I definitely think I'm one of the few who didn't love this, so I'm definitely blaming this on a me thing.

Dang, this was SCARY.

When Nicola's husband Anton dies in a car accident, she becomes a viral sensation. Not only is she terminally ill with cystic fibrosis (at thirty-eight, time is rapidly running out for her), but a passerby claims to have seen Anton's ghost say to Nic, "I'll be waiting." In fact, Anton does say this before he dies, but the ghost element really gives the story wings and makes it go viral.

Nic spends eight months going to various seances, trying to make contact with her late husband. They're all unsuccessful: she discerns how they're all charlatans. Yet, she can't give the idea up, so she plans for one final seance, after which she'll call it quits.

This is where it gets scary. Nic and her friend Shania, from grief group, and Jin, a guy in a relationship with Nic's brother Keith, rent a house in the middle of nowhere with a parapsychology professor. They succeed in making contact—only, it's pretty certain that not just Anton is there, but some other dark entity...

Throughout the story, there are flashbacks to Nic's high school days, when she was known as Janica and had a seance with two friends. The one friend is convinced she's possessed, so when they have a second seance, this friend goes crazy and murders the third friend. We later find out that the friend was indeed possessed by her evil aunt. And apparently Shania is the friend's younger half-sister! Who apparently sought out Nic to get revenge on her now dead sister's behalf since Nic's testimony sent the possessed sister to a mental institution.

We also find out that Jin put tapes of Anton's voice to give Nic some comfort. She actually does make contact with him, though, and he says even though he's waiting on the other side, she doesn't have to rush to join him.

Anyway, a scary and pretty sad book. But I enjoyed it. The pacing is fantastic and overall, I liked the characters. I'd definitely recommend it!

I am not a fan of supernatural and horror stories. However, I have become a fan of Kelley Armstrong over the last five years or so. I'll be Waiting is a story with ghosts and seances which is not my cup of tea but I could not put this book down! I think Kelley Armstrong is a master storyteller and especially with intrigue and mystery. I'll be Waiting did not have the strong character development that I have come to appreciate from her. However, I didn't care the twists and turns kept me turning the pages and wanting to find out what had happened that fateful night so many years ago. I highly recommend picking this title up, even if supernatural stories are not your jam. You will not be disappointed. I eagerly await Ms. Armstrong's next book.

I received an ARC ebook from NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

Nicola never expected to live into adulthood and find love after being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. But that all changed when Nicola met Anton in her thirties and fell in love. With some advancements in medicine and luck, Nicola is still healthy and may have a few more years with her beloved new husband. But, this martial bliss is cut short only a few months later when Anton dies in a horrific car accident. Before Anton died, he tells Nicola "I'll be waiting for you."
Nicola is now a widow and has to deal with the tragedy and extensive media coverage. Also, she is convinced that Anton just might be waiting for her on the other side when a witness claims that they saw Anton's ghost hovering over his body.
Nicola has seen countless mediums, all frauds. She is beginning to lose hope. That is until she decides to hire a proper expert, a professor of parapsychology. With the help of the professor, Nicola was attempt to contact Anton one last time. To conduct the séance, Nicola will travel to Lake Erie to stay at a beach house that Anton's family once owned. She will enlist the help of her brother-in-law and a friend to be witnesses to the séance. And, she will bring Anton's ashes with her. No matter what happens, Nicola hopes that she will finally have closure. But, when she arrives at the house, strange things begin happen and Nicola's mysterious past begins to unravel.
I really really wanted to like this book. It had such a good premise. I thought it was going to be a supernatural book with lots of romance. But, it was completely different from what I had envisioned. The book began quite slow. I found myself having to force myself to read the book. It is only until it got to the last third that the story started to pick up the pace. Nicola spends a lot of the book reliving flashbacks from her childhood, and I found that it hindered the pacing of the story.
I found that this book reminded me a lot of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. I liked the idea of a house full of secrets of the past, and the possibility of Nicola being an unreliable narrator. But, I found that the story was sort of lack-lustre.
Overall, it was entertaining. It was not exactly the book I thought I was going to read, but sometimes these things happen.

I am a huge fan of this author, and couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one.

It was well written. However I found that the characters didn’t interest me as much as those in some of her other books. I also found that the plot was paced a bit slowly for my personal preference.

Overall, this book was good, but just didn’t draw me as quickly as those in some of her other series (I especially love A Stitch in Time and Havens Rock)

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and review.

This was an interesting book, outside of my normal reading type, but I still enjoyed it, though I did find some part a tad repetitious. Nicola Laughton is in her late 30's, which in itself is amazing, having been diagnosed as a child with cystic fibrosis her life expectancy wasn't long. Advances in drug and medical devices have extended her life and enabled her to do things she never thought possible, going to college, founding her own company, marrying the man she loves, Anton, then losing him in a car accident and as he's laying on the side of the road his last utterance to her is I'll be waiting. Which was heard by a bystander who promptly told a newspaper who made into a, Terminally Ill woman holds dying husband who says he'll be waiting. Of course every psychic in the country bombards her with promises that they can reach through the veil and contact Anton. Nicola does go to several but quickly becomes skeptic after many of these people use false means to try to prove they have contacted Anton. Along the way Nicola has made friends with a young woman, Shania, who is also getting over the loss of her sister, they along with Nicola's brother in law decide to hold a special séance at a lake house that her and Anton had spent time at, included is a professor of parapsychology who promises that he can do what others have failed to. There are flashbacks to when Nicola was in school, Anton was at the same school for a while, Nicola moved away after an incident with her and two friends went very awry. The group experience strange occurrences, sounds of someone walking, voices, and a very large cloud of insects that are so dense they can't see through them. All builds to an ending that I could not read fast enough. I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #St Martin's Press for the ARC.

This tense thriller proves yet again that Armstrong can write in any genre. Nic, a recent widow with cyctic fibrosis, is grieving her husband by exposing fraudulent mediums, a hobby that has bordered on obsession if you ask her family. At one last seance the past and the present will collide in a breathless story that melds suspense and paranormal in the best way possible. Did she really know her husband? Does she really know herself? The reader will find out as they join her down this suspenseful story.

What if you knew that because of your illness, you would die before the love of your life? But what if fate had other plans. Nicola and her husband Anton are in a horrible car accident, and he is the one who dies. Nicola is grief stricken and cannot get Anton’s final words out of her mind. She starts visiting psychics, one after another, hoping that one of them will be able to reach Anton.
Finally, she believes she has found someone who is legitimate. Soon she has rented a house on Lake Erie, where she shared many good times with Anton. Just Nicola, her brother-in-law, a friend, and a trusted professor, who is going to help them contact Anton. But strange things start happening and Nicola wonders if she ever really knew Anton.
This one started out a bit slow, but as the story progressed, well, let’s just say it grew on me. I was sure I knew who the bad person was, but alas, I was mistaken.

This author excels at every genre she chooses to write in! This is another of her paranormal tales, an atmospheric and twisty story perfect for spooky season. The beginning was a bit of a slow burn but the story got moving soon and then I didn't want to stop reading. A very enjoyable read!

I'll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong is a complex, twisty, and thrilling tale of paranormal horror that builds bit by bit towards a stunning conclusion. It is sure to keep any reader anxiously turning the pages.
As a long time reader of Armstrong's, I was as eager to read this book as I always am. I did find, however, that I had difficulty getting into the first half of the book. For me, it dragged somewhat. By the halfway point it picked up and it wasn't long after that I was postulating my own theories as to what was going on in the house.
Armstrong blends past and present, back and forth, to weave a truly complex tale, meting out clues in seemingly innocuous passages so that the ultimate solution will come as a surprise for many.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #I'llBeWaiting.

This was such a great atmospheric read that will be perfect for the spooky season! I really enjoyed this book.

Nicola is our MC who never expected to live into adulthood being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Only she does and she meets her husband Anton who tragically dies in a car accident just months after getting married. People at the scene witness a moment when he says “I’ll be waiting..” as his last words to her and she is bombarded with mediums from all over to call her dead husband up from the spirit world for her and when one finally does, secrets from her past and a dead body stir up trouble. It’s certainly an interesting premise.

This book definitely had the perfect eerie setting at a lake house on Lake Erie for the seance and the atmospheric vibes were there with all the spooky happenings. I will say this book was darker in the sense that it was a bit more sad and depressing than I had anticipated but it still left for a good story. It’s a well-written albeit slow-burn, paranormal ghost story with palpable tension and suspense. Plus it has an awesome cover!

I haven’t read that many ghost books but this is by far the BEST one. From the very beginning I was hooked! The characters, the suspense, the drama. Everything was incredible.
The story revolves around Nicola who’s lost her husband in a tragic accident. She proceeds to go to seances to try to contact her husband and finds the flaws and hokey in every single one of them. A couple friends convince her to do one last seance, something more legit before giving up on it for good. What they don’t know is that this isn’t her first rodeo with spirits, and Nicola isn’t her real name.

The only thing I would change is the pacing? It felt like this book gave me information dumps and just drew out the story longer than it needed to be.

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FYI: on a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars ~ Nothing at all. Chefs kiss. No notes.
*4 Stars ~ It could us some slight adjustments here and there but pretty solid overall.
*3 Stars ~ Adjustments need to be made and rewriting needs to be done. Good but could be a lot better. I read it once and don’t need to do it again.
*2 Stars ~ This book needs a lot of work. Whether it be rewriting the plot, characters, style or ending. Something or everything needs to be changed.
*1 Star ~ Dumpster fire.

Atmospheric, spooky, creepy, and well written. I'll Be Waitingis a chilling ghost story.

Nicola Laughton felt she hit the jackpot when she married Anton. Nicola was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child and thanks to the advances in medicine, she has been able to live longer, have a job, and get married. After being happily married for only a short period of time, Anton dies in a car accident after uttering “I’ll be waiting for you” to Nicola.

Their final moments together were captured on film, and the psychics have come out of the woodwork with claims of being able to connect them once again. Hoping to get closure, Nicola, some friends/family, and a reputable medium gather at a Lake Erie beach house that Anton's family once owned. There she must not only look to the past when she attended a séance in high school, but to the present, try and cope with the things that go bump in the night.

I loved the atmospheric vibe in this book. The home on Lake Erie was the perfect setting for a séance. I enjoyed the creepy vibe but could have done without the insects. UGH! This book had a very strong beginning and an interesting premise. I was fully invested in the plot and wondered if Nicola would in fact get closure with Anton. But then the book lost some of its magic for me.

The middle and later part of the book goes into territory that I did not see coming. I am still trying to wrap my mind around how I feel about the revelations. I did enjoy the missing person story line and the not so welcomed blast from the past.

Although I found this book to be enjoyable, it did not wow me as I had hoped that it would. I had a hard time connecting with Nicola. I felt quite ambivalent towards her for the entire book. But I was invested in the possibility that she could be connected again with her dead husband. The chilling atmosphere was a huge plus of this book. I just wished the middle part of this book would move at a faster pace.

Atmospheric, chilling, and dark.

3.5 stars

Nicola is a grieving widow whose husband’s death became a viral story as a witness to their car accident relayed how, as he lay dying, Anton had said to her “I’ll be waiting”. It wasn’t supposed to be that way, Nic has CF and she was supposed to die first, not be left behind mourning a life she should have had. As she searches for contact with Anton in an attempt to prove to herself that he is waiting for her she eventually finds herself at a make or break weekend seance with a reputable medium, her brother-in-law and a friend from the grief group in an old beach home that once belonged to Anton’s family. From the start things seem to point to Anton’s presence but also to a malevolent spirit as well that may be tied to a tragedy from Nicola’s past - and then they find a body
Generally I don’t read horror but I have become accustomed to picking up any book that has Kelley Armstrong’s name on it and once again I was not disappointed. More a ghost story than what I think of as horror the suspense builds as we slowly learn about the tragedy in Nic’s past and start to see how it links to the current events that are gradually becoming more dangerous for Nicola while leaving her unsure who she can, and cannot, trust. I read this in one sitting, pulled along from page to page with a need to know what happened next. Was Anton truly the love of her life or was he more involved in the tragedy from the past than she wants to know? Highly recommended.

I loved it! I got really truly scared a few times but I still loved it! Nic walked in to each seance with both eyes open using logic to sort out the unexplainable but couldn't always find an answer. And the parallels to another seance she attended to as a teen kept me unsettled the entire book. Excellent author.

I'll Be Waiting is a Stand-alone supernatural thriller by Kelley Armstrong. As soon as I heard Kelley was coming out with a new novel, I knew I just had to get my hands on it and once again, I was not disappointed. As a Canadian, I love that this book took place in Ontario. I knew many of the locations she was referring to along with the annoying midges that plagued the characters throughout much of the book (I had the fortune of being scandalized by them myself on a camping trip to the Sand Hills one spring weekend).

It starts with Nicola Laughton, who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis and was never expected to reach adulthood. Now as a middle aged woman, she is loving the life she has with her husband Anton. However, one horrible moment is all it takes in their car to end Anton's life and send Nic into despair. Anton's last words "I'll be waiting", leave Nic wondering if this was meant as a loving gesture or a threat. And what did he want to tell her those last few moments before he died - when he seemingly changed his mind?

Nic is now being hounded by spiritualists who claim they can bring her closure by contacting Anton's spirit. However, as the months go by and Nic only finds people trying to profit from her loss, she is spiraling further. Her friends decide to find her one last medium who they believe to be reputable to finally either allow her to contact Anton, or know that he is at rest and she must move on. They find themselves on the shores of Lake Erie in a secluded house that was Anton's family home at one time trying to do a seance to bring him back. But they may get more than they bargain for when the contact Nic is getting is more hands on than she bargained for.

This book had me hooked from the first chapter. The characters are very relatable and the language is easy and flows smoothly - almost as if I were thinking the story rather than reading it. I absolutely loved everything about the story line and can't wait to read Kelley Armstrong's next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Kelly Armstrong's 'I'll Be Waiting" offers readers another book with interesting characters and page-turning interest to discover what happens next. I enjoyed this stand alone book and it's gothic elements of an isolated location combined with a novel dark element represented by the insects swarming the area.

Kelley Armstrong delivers a creepy story that quickly hooked me as our main character Nicola Laughton desperately tries to reach her husband who died tragically in a car accident. Unable to move on, Nicola is desperate to make contact but finds herself repeatedly scammed. Nicola is determined to once and for all find out if Anton is reachable. This story had me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't decide if all the characters were being upfront and how the past that Nicola has buried played into the story. The author did not let up on the tension and every time I thought I had a clear picture, things shifted. I struggled along with Nicola to determine what things could be reasonably explained and what could not. The paranormal elements felt well-placed and not overused. The ending was tense and allowed for a very satisfying conclusion.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC - much appreciated..

This is the first book I’ve read from Kelly Armstrong, and I quite enjoyed it! There’s plenty of occult, supernatural, and mystery elements that made it hard to put the book down.

The characters are fun, and believable. Nicola, the main character, is a recent widow that is grieving the loss of her husband. She has tried numerous seances to contact him. Her family intervenes, and convinces her to stop with the caveat that they’ll allow her one last seance, but only with someone of their choosing.

This kicks off the story, which leaves you questioning who you can really trust when ghosts are involved.

Kelley Armstrong always provides a good, solid read, with a touch of fantasy and adventure thrown in. Her work is always outstanding.