I was pleasantly surprised by this RomCom. Romance isn't my genre and I find myself to be a bit more critical and skeptical when I read them. Which makes it all the more delightful when I find one I don't hate!

I am a New England girl through and through, and was able to easily relate to the goals of the FMC. Bookstores, coffee shops, spooky historical locations...I was hooked.

Fair warning for those who like a spice free experience, there are 2 open door explicit scenes in the first half, which honestly took away from it being fully for me. But the second half was fine.

This was a complimentary advanced copy by Alcove books via netgalley. All opinions expressed in my review are mine.

HAUNT YOUR HEART OUT starts off looking like a classic small town romance. You've got a cozy town popular with tourists, a quirky independent bookstore, and a small town girl who's attached to her home. Then a hot stranger shows up, and sparks fly! A familiar formula, right?

But the further you get into the book, the more complicated the characters get. Our narrator, Lex, is attached to her town not just out of sentiment, but because she's built a life that can accommodate her anxiety. This is great anxiety representation, by the way: Lex has learned to manage her anxiety with the help of therapy, but the condition will never go away, and true love doesn't cure it. Over the course of the book, it becomes clear that Lex's home and her job are both tools she uses to manage her condition. This is something I don't think I've seen before in romance, at least not to this degree.

Be warned that toxic family relationships take center stage in the second half of the book. Both Lex and James have painful histories with their families of origin. Both leads experience on-page controlling, criticizing, and emotionally abusive behavior, which may be triggering for some readers. (Personally, I'd like to kick James' dad.)

For a romance about ghost hunters, the vibes are surprisingly not as spooky as I expected. Instead, this is a holiday romance with some ghost hunting on the side. In other words, more a Christmas book than a Halloween read. But I enjoyed it, and I think lots of other readers will, too.

THIS WAS SO CUTE!!
Any book that can make me cry just because of a moment of tension between the main characters is an automatic 5 star for me.
I loved these two. Lex has popular YouTube videos of ghostly hauntings in her town that she completely fabricated— but they are based on real legends. The vlog inspires ghost hunters/videographers James and Julian to explore her hometown of Stowe, VT.
So you’ve got the ghost hunter and the girl who created them.
I loved the small town romance and the paranormal aspects to it. James was all in from the get go, but Lex was, understandably, hesitant. Here was a guy she could see herself easily falling for, and who knew how long he was in town for. A few weeks maybe until filming wraps?
Everybody always leaves her.
This book explored a lot of relationships— familial, professional, romantic— and how easily feelings and sentiments can be misconstrued if not communicated properly.

Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours for having me on the tour! I immensely enjoyed this read.
Be sure to check out their site for the rest of the tour!

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for an advance copy.

DNF at 15%. Her abandonment issues are very strong and she doesn’t want to keep doing things to move herself forward. Her boss doesn’t like her suggestions to improve the bookstore she works in so she just stops making them and continues working there for the next 12 years.

There weren’t any sparks between Lex and James for at least the first several times they met. I just wasn’t feeling it at all.

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁: Not what I expected, but I enjoyed this one. It’s has very relatable characters with real life problems. I loved seeing both MCs dealing with parental pressure and fighting for what they want. This is about more than romance, it has great: spooky, cozy, fall to winter vibes!

Lex lives in a small cozy town of Stowe, Vermont. She lives in a falling apart house, her grandpa left her and works for the local bookstore she hopes to one day own. She grew up here and it’s where she feels grounded. Her family has since moved away to CA and left her behind. They didn’t understand why she wanted to stay, and like to question her decisions with the direction of her life. But the town loves and supports her, this is her home.

James is a working on a film project with his best friend Julian, to capture the local ghosts lure that surrounds Stowe. Little did he know he would stumble into Alex who was the ghost whisper herself. But thanks to lulu his dog and his NY Yankee baseball hat their paths would cross.

Lex acts as James guide to help his team capture the ghost legends. As these two work together their is no denying their is a magnetic pull and we’ll see these two go from strangers to lovers. The only issue is they both having a lot riding on this project’s success, but for two very different reasons and their secrets could destroy everything.

Sometimes believing in the ghost stories and embracing the unknown can change you forever. Be sure to check this one out.

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Strangers to Lovers
* Small Bookstore Worker x Ghost Documentary Director
* Staged Hauntings
* Anxiety Rep
* Small Town Vermont
* Difficult Parents
* Steamy 🌶️
* Single POV

👻✨📚👻✨📚👻✨📚👻✨📚👻✨📚👻

Thanks #NetGalley for the advanced copy of #HauntYourHeartOut by Amber Roberts in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I struggled with this book. Overall, I enjoyed the premise and James was a wonderful golden retriever MMC. Lex (aka Just Alex), on the other hand, came across as immature and whiney. I know a lot of that was supposed to be her anxiety but it wasn't presented well and it came across as annoying. She was way too hard on her parents (don't get me wrong, they were awful at times but she was overly awful to them and sometimes it was uncalled for and that also annoyed me). I never really understood why she was keeping her secret from him and why she got mad at him when it came out and then it was just all wrapped up a little too easily. I'm just not sure I bought the HEA in this story.

A nice rom-com that I enjoyed and made me root for the characters. Well plotted, entertaining.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Haunt Your Heart Out by Amber Roberts is a pleasant mix of Halloween and Christmas fun. This is a sweet contemporary romance full of emotions. Don't let the title fool you, this is not a paranormal romance. The romance is honestly adorable. Their chemistry has me hooked from the very beginning. I also liked the focus on Lex's family and their relationships. If you're looking for a cute, cozy fall romance then you should definitely give this a try.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Haunt Your Heart Out by Amber Roberts is a charming, cute and cozy small town romance.
The perfect blend for the holiday season!
I was sucked in to this paranormal romance between a struggling bookstore manager and a town hopping ghost hunt documentary director.
I really enjoyed the writing, these characters are engaging and the story was phenomenal.

Thank You NetGalley and Alcove Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This book was ok for what it was, it wasn't my favorite.

The story started cute and quickly became annoying to me.

Lex and James had a cute storyline, even though it was not very believable, and once they became an actual couple the story itself fell flat. The ghosthunter aspect was interesting, the best part of the book to me. I was hoping for the MFC to be haunted or something but that didn't happen.

Lex was a bag of bad decisions and family issues and it was just a bit much.

I honestly give this a 2.5 out of 5

The cozy vibe of the book, the fact that I do like a small-town romance, there was a slight spice level, and the fact that I also enjoy a bookstore or library trope, caused me to give it 3 out of 5 stars.

It wasn't terrible just not for me. I am still interested in reading more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley, Alcove Press, and Amber Roberts for the ARC of this book. This review is honestly and voluntarily written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing the ARC.

I felt very neutral about this book. It didn't wow me, but there isn't anything inherently wrong with it either. It just felt very flat and I couldn't get immersed in it the way I wanted to.

Alex was a very annoying character to me. She was self-reliant to a fault, rude, and abrasive to the point where I didn't want to read about her anymore. James was a nice male lead, but I never really got enough from his character to say anything more than that. There were hardly any sparks between the two, and the whole relationship felt very forced. I had a hard time believing that these two would meet and want to be in a relationship with each other.

Alex's relationship with her family also rankled me. A lot of the animosity was self-imposed, and a lot of it could have been resolved with open communication. I find it hard to believe that Alex would spend as much time in therapy as she does and not have her therapist mention how to speak to her parents. So their whole interaction felt very disjointed.

Like I said, nothing inherently wrong, but I did not vibe with this book as much as I would have liked.

☆☆☆.5

Haunt Your Heart Out is the perfect spooky season read for fans of The Ex Hex.

Overall, the story was cute, cozy, & full of spooky season ambiance, but just generally underwhelming. The exposition felt a bit rushed, which left it hard to buy into James and Lex’s relationship on a deeper level. I was also a bit disappointed by the way the ghost hunting aspect of the novel was executed. James is supposedly a “ghost hunter,” but really is just following his friend around to make a documentary and, in reality, is terrified of ghosts/wants nothing to do with them. coming in at only 304 pages, i think there was room for further development, which would have significantly increased my star rating.

It was okay. Didn't really keep my attention. There were some parts I liked but nothing that wowed me.

This was such a cute read!

Lex, a devout homebody living in Vermont, is working her dead-end bookstore job when James, an out-of-towner, comes in and visits while he’s making a ghost hunter series with his best friend. Lex has one rule: don’t date anyone who will leave you behind. Even so, she can’t help but fall for James, even if it means putting her dreams at risk.

This is a perfect blend of Christmas and Halloween vibes all in one - the chemistry between Lex and James are cute, and its so nostalgic of Hallmark holiday movies. It also has a super cute setting and has great charm.

Despite that, there were some flaws that took me out of enjoying the book. The pacing was super off: within a third of the book, they’re fully together and clicking, but there’s still another two thirds to go which means the chemistry is really stagnating. I really enjoyed their chemistry until the end.

There was a lot of miscommunication towards the end, which really seemed incongruent with their characters. We also see Lex falling hard at the beginning of the book, even though its clear she’s a huge commitophobe and has a lot of anxiety with creating relationships with others. I also should disclaim that the miscommunication trope is one of my least favorites so I might be slightly biased here.

This is perfect if you need that cozy read with a little spooky and charm.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the e-ARC in exchange for this review!

I really, really enjoyed this opposites attract, forced proximity, small town romance that sees Lex, a former ghosterhunting Vermont vlogger turned want to be bookstore owner pairing up new to town, James, who is working on a paranormal ghost documentary. Sparks fly between the two as the film different haunted places around town and James travels home with Lex for Christmas.

This was great on audio narrated by Mara Wilson and perfect for fans of books like Love and other conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe. There is also great queer rep (he's bi, she's pan) and great mental health rep (Lex drops out of college because of mounting depression). Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

This novel was cute. Easy to follow with a mix of Halloween and Christmas vibes due to the ghost hunting and small town in winter setting. The characters were well written and I was happy to read a novel that focused on a woman in her thirties rather than a teen or twenty-something. This novel was a quick and easy small town romance read if you’re looking for one!

“Haunt Your Heart Out” had a really great premise and I was really excited to read it. The novel started off pretty strong with some steamy chemistry between Alex, a local bookshop manger looking to purchase the store, and James an out of town documentary maker. The connection between the two of them is instant and Alex finds herself breaking her rule of dating an out of town we who might leave her like her family did. She is presented with an opportunity to haunt the book store to encourage the sale but now she feels herself conflicted with the ethics of doing so for James’ documentary. Will she choose her small town or her growing feelings for James?

I liked the premise of the book and James is a wonderful MMC. He cares for Alex and stands up for her but I don’t like how cagey he is about leaving and how he never addresses her fears of him leaving, he basically ignores her when she refers to it. Alex had all the makings of a great FMC but I found her non confrontational at the beginning and super confronted the end, she made strange requests for having only known James a few weeks and for all her reservations she seemed to contradict herself constantly. I didn’t find she made the soundest decisions and that irked me. The book was ok but not my favourite. It’s too bad because I really wanted to like the book.

Absolute pumpkin spice perfection in book form, Hallmark meets Halloween in this spooky-themed contemporary romance. Don't expect a paranormal romance or real hauntings, this is definitely more Stars Hollow than Sleepy Hollow. I personally loved the Gilmore Girls and Good Witch vibes of the feel-good story, which follows a small town bookseller who reluctantly relies on out-of-towners and seasonal trade to keep the second-hand bookstore afloat.

Lex describes her home as a "snowglobe of a town" and I'd have to agree. Her best friend makes a living in her family's Christmas focused businesses such as a tree farm and horse-drawn sleighs. They both rebelled in their youths by adding some fuel to the fire of local legends and ghost stories, filming hauntings and ghost hunting for their YouTube vlogs. Though the channel died long ago, their legacy lives still lives on to this day and draws some filmmakers to the town to start their own investigation. This is a very low-stakes and cozy read, it reminds me of a made-for-TV Christmas movie.

The story does take a more emotional turn when Lex and her love interest bond over their lack of familial support. I really connected with Lex's ferocious independence and struggle to advocate for her own wants and needs in the face of her parent's disapproval. Her problems with loneliness and her mental health were also really relatable, particularly in the face of living up to the plans her parents had for her future. I think seeing Lex confront this troubling dynamic and her relationships with and perceptions of the rest of her family was very healing and added depth to what otherwise would have been a sugary sweet romance plot.

Lex doesn't want to leave her small town of Stowe, Vermont. Sure, the house her grandfather left her is falling apart, and her job isn't going how she wants it (mostly because her boss is a pain in the ass). But it's always been her home, and she has her friends and her routines. She's plagued by thoughts of what ifs - what if she'd finished college? what if she left with her ex-boyfriend? what if she moved to California to be near her family? When she was younger, she had a mildly popular youtube channel where she explored the (made up) ghostly lore of the town. When James comes to town, Lex vows to stay away; he's a tourist, he's just visiting, and he'll leave Stowe like everyone else. But their chemistry is hard to ignore, and he's helping with a supernatural documentary based on Lex's old videos.


This book was too slow-paced for me, so I ended up DNFing at 45%. The cover is a 10/10, but the rest of it failed to keep my attention.

Amber Roberts’ sophomore novel, HAUNT YOUR HEART OUT, is the perfect read for the holiday season! Set in beautiful, snowy Stowe, Vermont with perfect Gilmore Girl vibes, you’ll fall in love with Lex and James, too! It releases TOMORROW, so stop by your local store and grab a copy if you haven’t preordered!

The book follows Lex, an employee of the local indie bookstore who dreams of one day owning it, and James, who is shooting a ghost hunting documentary, largely based on an anonymous blog. What he doesn’t realize is that the blog was written by Lex, and that all those “hauntings” were faked.

The chemistry between these two is off the charts! The banter will slay you and the spice scenes will have you wishing you were in Stowe, too, so you could take a dive in the snow. On top of the fun and heat, Amber expertly explores Lex’s anxiety and depression. Lex and James were so adorable with their shared love of books, and I loved the complex family backgrounds that added another layer to their characters.

I can’t wait to add this book to my shelf!