HAUNT YOUR HEART OUT manages to be both an enjoyable cozy holiday read AND a spooky-vibe Halloween read. Great for this time of year!

Bookstore employee and former hobby-vlogger Lex McCall loves living in her small, sleepy Vermont town in the house her grandparent's left her. While facing the costly repairs her home needs and wanting to buy the bookstore from its curmudgeonly owner (who wants to offload the building after hearing it's haunted), Lex meets just-passing-through James, who's in town filming a documentary on haunted happenings in the area. Soon, she's having to confront her fabrications and her attraction to James, and what those truths mean for her future.

I love Amber and I thought this was a really cozy, fun debut.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for the e-ARC, and Amber for the finished copy. HAUNT YOUR HEART OUT is out now!

thank you everyone for this copy, really fit the season well and really enjoyed picking it up when i did - gave all the halloween vibes i needed :)

This book was EVERYTHING. It's the perfect fall or Halloween read! I will 100% be buying it physically so I can annotate it!

I had a hard time with this one. There was very little build up to Lex and James it was insta relationship. The banter was fun but it felt like they had been dating for years not days. Don't even get me started on the sex tape.
Anyway it was cute but didn't blow me away

I couldn't connect with the characters. From the cover to the first chapters I was drawn to the story and kept reading hoping to get to a point but I felt like the rhythm was lost.
.
And there was nothing to hold my attention, it was difficult for me to finish it and stay until the end.
.
Alex suffers from anxiety and after having a difficult time at college, returning home to her hometown was the perfect treatment, now all she needs is a relationship with someone who is not passing through. But when James comes to town she can't resist being intrigued and attracted to him.
.
and when she discovers that he is with a recording team collecting all information about paranormal events, it seems to be a sign of destiny to try it. But with the complicated relationship she has with her parents and her boss about to sell the business, she has too much on her plate.
.
I really wanted to love this book, but it was difficult for me to connect, although throughout the book I thought Alex was Lorelai Girlmore without a kid, working in a used book store and with a penchant for the supernatural who can’t stop falling for the golden retriever and adventurous new guy in town. And maybe is because I am not a fan of Lorelai, or the slow pace but I couldn’t connect with the characters and that is what got me with three stars.
.
Thanks to Amber Roberts and Alcove Press for give me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion.

This was just the feel good spooky winter romance I needed. The characters are so charming together and the small town vibes felt so authentic. Keep ghost stories in our hearts all winter long. And I loved the ending.

Ps I’m not saying this book is what powered me through the hike to Everest base camp. But I’m not NOT saying it either 👀👻

This is another very cute supernatural, Halloween-perfect romance, with an oh-so-cute small town New England setting and a ghost hunter love interest. It seems like that particular twist on the subgenre is really popular of late, and this book executes it better than most. A very fun time, highly recommended.

I think this had a fun setting with the Halloween and Christmas vibes throughout. The pacing draaaaaagged too much and while the witty banter between Lex and James was fun, it did not make up for a story that felt like a student trying to hit a page requirement.

This book is perfect for the time between Halloween and Christmas.
Spooky-Time to Christmas season is perfect, no? For me it was a lovely, sweet read.
Plus the characters were in their thirties AND represented the LGBTQ+ community, which is quite refreshing.
I loved this so damn much!

It was tough to get into. I really wanted to enjoy it as the synopsis was intriguing but this book fell short for me. The banter between characters was fun but otherwise it was slightly boring :(

This was a just a great read. I was just all in the story.
Loved the MCs. Lovely written book. i enjoyed more than I expected I would

The cover and premise had me so interested, but ultimately I think this fell a bit short.

What I liked:
1. The sisterly bond we saw towards the end of the book and the theme of the grass always appears greener on the other side. I liked how after everything Lex had built up in her mind about her family’s thoughts about her and her sister, it was all proven wrong and for the best reasons. While I didn’t love that her sister had some problems in her life, I did like the approach this took to showing Lex that its all about perspective and everyone has their issues. I loved that in learning this, her and her sister had a long overdue bonding session involving sneaking booze from the parents at an age well past 18/21.

2. I liked the flashbacks to the years when Lex and Natalie worked on the vlog creating the ghost stories and “checking them out”. I thought this was super creative and loved hearing the different tales. I actually wish there were more focus on more stories both in the past and current.

3. I really liked Natalie and her family. I liked that Natalie was there for Lex but also wasn’t afraid to tell her that she was likely overreacting about her family. This is the best friend MCs need.

What could have been better:
1. The characters were very meh. There was nothing about either of the MCs that grabbed me in either a good or bad way. The chemistry wasn’t nonexistent, but it was also very meh. Side characters Natalie and Julian had more chemistry in my opinion.

2. I wish we saw more of the town. When Gilmore Girls is mentioned, I feel the town needs to be front and center, which it really wasn’t.

3. The plot itself was very thin. Sabotaging a documentary so your boss thinks there is a ghost in his establishment so he sells to you instead of someone else? I felt this was reaching a bit and definitely didn’t paint our FMC in a good light.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Amber Roberts for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

4 Stars

Really cute and sweet and delightfully spooky. It felt a bit slow in parts, otherwise, I loved the town and really enjoyed the romance.

The female lead loves her small town and wants nothing more than to make her life there and build deep roots (oh and to take over the bookshop she works at, and to also bring new life to the town, despite putting it on the map for being haunted thanks to her teenage pranks and youtube). When a documentary crew comes to town to feature the haunts, she teams up and starts to fall for one of the directors. Its a wonderfully spicy yet sweet story about letting life take you where it leads, and growing outside of your comfort zone.

Haunt Your Heart Out by Amber Roberts is one of those crossover books, perfectly bridging the gap between the spooky and holiday seasons. I somehow managed to seamlessly combine the two, reading this book as snow fell down in October!

While this was a fun read, there was a lot that didn't work for me - most of which stemmed from timing issues.

I was never 100% sold on the chemistry between Lex and James, and they progressed from strangers to the mention of the L-word far too quickly! The first can't-keep-hands-off-each-other scene happened at an awkward moment, and the first major steamy scene was far too risqué for a budding relationship and seemed out of character for Lex (it made sense on one level, but that was never enough to justify this encounter for me). Any friction between these two lovebirds ended ridiculously fast, and meeting each others' parents occurred impossibly too soon - which all added to the perfection and quickness of their relationship! Additionally, for something that had created a major riff and had gone on between Lex and her family for years, the conflict was resolved very quickly. Overall, there was a lot packed into this book, everything feeling exaggerated to the extreme.

This was an entertaining three-star read for me, so there were obviously some good qualities here, too!

Ghost stories added to the spooky atmosphere, and the mention of snow created a sense of coziness, encouraging all the small town vibes I love during the last months of the year. I liked the friendship between Lex and Natalie and how they always had each others backs! Both found family and queer representation were equally well done! Lex was a well created character; the relationship she had with her late Grandpa, the house she lovingly took over from him and the pride she showed towards the bookstore/coffee shop she worked at all helping achieve her development!

You know, looking back, maybe Lex just loved with more of her heart than I had anticipated! She truly was an upbeat, happy go lucky character, even when things didn't exactly go her way!

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the complimentary copy to read and review.

It started out strong then the pacing went to wherever manuscripts go to die.

The characters were great, the plot was great, the pacing was so badly off I struggled to stay engaged.

It just didn't come together for me and honestly, Im a little heartbroken

I did enjoy the end so it got 3.5 stars from me

Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Amber Roberts for the ARC of Haunt Your Heart Out. This heartwarming story blends the magic of Halloween and Christmas, following Lex, a thirty-something bookstore worker in the charming town of Stowe, Vermont. The story explores her journey of self-discovery and romance as she navigates mental health struggles, small-town life, and a budding relationship with James, a paranormal filmmaker. The banter between Lex and James is delightful, and the small-town vibes, complete with ghost story subplots, add a cozy charm.

However, the pacing was sometimes uneven, and the third-act conflict felt rushed, with the resolution coming too quickly. While Lex and James had strong chemistry early on, it seemed to fade as the story progressed. Still, it was refreshing to see an older main character and LGBTQ+ representation, making this an enjoyable read for fans of low-stakes, small-town romance with a hint of spookiness.

Sad to say that this wasn’t for me. I kept holding out hope that it would get better but alas, wasn’t meant to be! I did love the Stowe setting and the blend of Spooky and Christmas!

I love the small town read about Lex and James. Lex buys the bookstore she has been working at and she is excited for the chance to put down roots. She has a rule not to date tourists but then she meets James. He is a ghost hunter who came to investigate the many hauntings in town. As a former ghost hunting Vlogger Lex gets involved in the show. Sparks fly between them as they share common interest in books, ghosts, and animals.

A dnf for me. I just could not connect with the characters or get into the story. I wanted to love it and maybe I’ll try again at some point.

Haunt Your Heart Out by Amber Roberts is the perfect cozy romance to curl up with as the leaves start to turn. With all the charm of a Hallmark movie and the quirky vibes of Gilmore Girls, this book delivers just the right mix of warmth, humor, and a little spookiness for autumn reading.

The story centers on a ghosthunter who, unknowingly, starts tracking down the very ghosts once faked by the woman. This setup is as entertaining as it sounds, especially as their paths cross and the sparks start to fly. The characters are so easy to love, and as their relationship unfolds, you really get to see them grow, adding a layer of depth that makes the story even more engaging.

What starts as a lighthearted adventure gradually becomes more emotional, giving the book a surprising depth. Haunt Your Heart Out feels like a sweet escape into a world of romance, mystery, and a bit of autumn magic—a perfect way to settle into the season.