Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an advanced readers copy of Haunt Your Heart Out, in exchange for an honest review.

"Amber Roberts' 'Haunt your Heart Out' will transport you to a cozy town in Vermont. The book follows the charming, but introverted Lex McCall, you will be drawn into her world of ghosts, love, and unexpected adventures. As Lex navigates her rule of not dating tourists or newcomers, she finds herself caught in a whirlwind when she meets the handsome James, a member of a ghost-hunting documentary crew.
With an unbeatable offer to buy the supposedly haunted bookstore she works at, Lex must balance her growing feelings for James and her secret past as a ghost debunker. As their connection deepens, Lex must confront her fears and decide whether to follow her career dreams or risk it all for a chance at love.
With its blend of romance and the supernatural, 'Haunt your Heart Out' will captivate you with its mix of romance and a touch of magic.

This was a 4 Star read for me! Truly enjoyable!

Unfortunately, this one was not for me. It had several similarities to other books that I have enjoyed much more, so I constantly found myself comparing it to those books.

I just didn't connect with the town or these characters.

This book was a cozy, fun read for fall, perfect for anyone looking for a light spooky romance. Set in a small town during the holiday season, it mixes ghost stories, paranormal investigations, and a dash of Christmas vibes. The plot follows Lex, a small-town bookstore manager with some abandonment issues, and James, a documentary filmmaker who's come to town to investigate local ghost legends. Their romance feels sweet, though a bit fast, and the banter between them adds some cute and funny moments. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the queer representation, with Lex being pan and James bi.
Although I enjoyed the spooky setup, I was hoping for more actual ghost elements. The book leaned more into the holiday rom-com side, and the haunting parts weren’t as spooky or developed as they could’ve been. The idea of faking hauntings for a documentary sounded fun, but it didn’t play out in a very suspenseful way, and some of Lex’s decisions felt a bit unnecessary, especially when the real-life conflicts she faced—like financial troubles and her relationship with her family—were more than enough to carry the story.
Overall, it’s a cute and quick read with cozy vibes, perfect for fall or winter. If you're in the mood for something light that mixes romance with a touch of holiday magic and a little spooky atmosphere, this book is worth a try!

This book is so perfect for spooky season and I absolutely loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove for the e-arc!
Well this ended up being such a fun read for fall! Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I am always on the hunt for more spooky romances, so this was PERFECT for me. This book is a mix of ghost hunting and paranormal investigations with cozy bookstores and adorable small-town charms; really the perfect Hallmark rom-com set up! Also, unexpected bonus of queer rep, as I didn't see that before reading, so it was a pleasant surprise (Lex is a pan, and James is bi). There are also a bit of Christmasy vibes thrown in, which was unexpected as well.
Overall this was such a cute story! I flew through this in one day, and I highly recommend enjoying some fall-flavored coffee, cocoa, or tea while reading as, from experience, it enhances the vibes!

Thank you, Alcove Press and NetGalley, for the advanced copy of Haunt Your Heart Out.

This was a cute read. I loved the mix of spooky time at Christmas. Every reader loves a character who wants to open their own bookstore. The banter between the characters was adorable. Overall the characters were likable. The story kind of faltered in its pacing. The book tended to get a bit repetitive and slow. Near the end, it was hard to keep my attention.

This was a cute, cozy romance perfect for the spooky season! Hallmark movie vibes with forced proximity (my fave) and I had so much fun reading it!

Haunt Your Heart Out is a pumpkin spice latte in book form: sweet, cozy, plenty hot, and perfect for the chilly days of fall! This was a fun and cozy novel that holds at its center two people learning to accept love.

Spooky & Spicy!! Now's the perfect time to read this sweet romcom from Amber Roberts. All the ghost stories plus the spirit of Christmas, a little bit of everything for the holiday lovers. And they are just stories, not actual paranormal activity just fyi. I love the way the relationships drive the story, not just the romantic ones but familial relationships and friendships. Both MCs have stressed relationships with their families and we see how that affects each of their life paths and the way they see things. Lex has dealt with anxiety for a long time and feels like everyone leaves her behind so she's hesitant to start a relationship with anyone who doesn't plan to stay in her beloved town, but James makes it hard to stick to that plan. Plus, James has the CUTEST sidekick in his dog Lulu so really who could resist? Lex and James are cute and funny, with lots of banter and silly moments, but also tons of tender ones. It's a very cozy, sweet read and I love the way James and Lex seemed destined for each other since he's working on a documentary based on ghost stories and her old vlog is one of the driving factors for his crew choosing Stowe as their filming location.

*small town romance
*ghost stories
*LGBTIA+ rep
*mental health rep
*found family

If you're looking for a feel-good romance with small town vibes, amazing friends, a lovely local book store, and a very cute dog, check this one out!

Thank you Alcove Press for the DRC via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book would be perfect for November. It has the cozy spooky vibes of October, but also the wintery and romance vibes of December.

It was a cute small town romance, but the plot was a bit boring. There were too many random moments that felt more like it was there to fill out empty space and not actually important for the story.

The relationship between the main characters felt a bit too fast, but very cute.

I really liked the idea and the premise of the book, but it didn’t meet my expectations. It’s a quick and easy read, so I would still recommend it if you are looking for something with a mix of spooky and wintery/christmasy.

I definitely thought this was a Halloween/October book based on the cover and title, but it’s actually set in wintery Vermont!
Lex works in a small bookstore and is instantly attracted to James, who’s passing through with a ghost hunting documentary crew. Lex, who in the past had staged some hauntings for a popular vlog, decides to help them out by faking some paranormal activity. In doing that, she starts a chain of events she’s afraid will ultimately come back to haunt her, especially as her feelings for him deepen.
This was a fun read that, in addition to fake hauntings and flirty banter, deals with difficult family dynamics, especially parents and living up to their expectations.

✨🪦✨ Haunt Your Heart Out ✨🪦✨

What do you get when you mix a Haunted Happenings (possibly fabricated) vlog, a Ghost Hunter and one overly caffeinated Bookseller? One heck of a love story! Haunt Your Heart Out is packed full of ghost stories, small town charm, mental health representation, ride or die friendship, complicated family relationships and a very cute dog!

👻 Paranormal Investigations
💖 Bookseller x Ghost Hunter
💻 Haunted Happenings Vlog
🍁 Small Town Vermont
📚 Cozy Bookshop
☕️ All the Coffee
❤️‍🩹 Healing
🪦 Walks in the Graveyard
🔦 Investigation Tampering

This was such a cute read and perfect for spooky season! Thank you so much TBR & Beyond Tours & Alcove Press for sending me a copy!

I enjoyed sections of this book - the MC’s love of books, the sexy scenes, the fun ghost play- but overall it felt a bit rushed. I had a hard time really falling for the main love story and really understanding the timeline. Overall it was a good read but I’m not sure it’s one I’ll come back to.

I really enjoyed this one! I’m a big fan of Amber Roberts, and I think this is a really lovely , cozy romance that’s perfect for fall or winter! I love the characters, setting, and story of this one

This was an odd one for me. I loved the anxiety rep of the female main character, Alex. It was very truthful in its representation and felt uncomfortable a lot of the time. I imagine this will be one of those books where she is named ‘unlikeable’ for this reason.

However, the plot felt like it wasn’t paced to keep the story engaging, moving forward, or creating chemistry. It often felt like many of the moments, miscommunications and misinterpretations of information were just thrown in there just so we could get to the end, but didn’t serve much purpose other than to slow the book down.

For this reason, the chemistry between the two characters started out strong, but then fizzled out toward to end, where it almost felt like the climax of their relationship had already happened by 30%.

It does all end with a happy ending of course, but its predictability and strange pacing meant that it all felt redundant by the end.

Overall, the story held fantastic anxiety representation of a 30+ pan woman searching for home, in a town that felt a bit like stars hollow with a giant cemetery.

Thanks to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

2.5 stars rounded up.

This was a bit too Hallmark-y for me, and I feel like I probably should have picked up on that vibe more when I read the description of the book and saw that it was set in a small Vermont town and the FMC worked at a small bookshop. The story was cute, and I enjoyed the characters for the most part. There was just enough spice for it not to seem excessive, in my opinion.

My biggest qualm was that this wasn't marketed as a Christmas book. The title HAUNT YOUR HEART OUT and then the cover art showing them in a graveyard, plus the podcast about ghost stories all give off Halloween vibes, but this book is set during Thanksgiving and Christmas, and that really threw me off and added to the Hallmark-ness of it all. I probably wouldn't have requested this title if I had known that it was more of a Christmastime book.

Haunt Your Heart Out by Amber Roberts is a fun and spooky romance with a unique paranormal twist. I enjoyed the dynamic between Lex and James, and their adventure. I would recommend this book for lovers steamy contemporary romance, with a tricky web of lies and the threat of it all unravelling, and tension-filled banter between the love interests.

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It felt like a cute hallmark movie but with some spice. I like how it incorporated spooky with Christmas.

I had really high hopes for this one, but alas.

I loved the setting: small, cozy Vermont ski town with locals who live and breathe the small town life. A bookstore manager who wants to purchase the book store but is experiencing a ton of money struggles and strained family relationships, including keeping the house her grandfather gifted her up and running. She is a clear commitment-phobe because living in a tourist town means that people will always leave.

Enter James: documentary filmmaker. World traveler and ghost hunter.

My issues were:
• personal opinion but I found the dialogue very cringy
• for a short book there was a ton of what seemed to be really unnecessary detail and not enough dialogue
• she went from commitment-phobe to relationship girlie a little too quickly? Like she went to kissing him in public when they meet up so fast that it made all of her commitment issues seem really flimsy
• both MCs have issues with their parents, and as someone who also does, I totally get it. But Alex was so incredibly immature. She was giving Lorelei Gilmore fighting with Emily because Emily just wanted to throw money at problems to fix them and Alex hated it. But she honestly sounded like a petulant 18 year old most of the time

Cute, but not very memorable!

I found myself speed reading at the end to just hurry up and get to the point.