Better Homes and Haunting by Molly Harper

3.25 stars

Nina is hired to landscape a beautiful mansion on an island. This is her chance to rebuild her business and get away from her ex. The owner is Deacon Whitney and he sweeps her off of her feet. The Whitney estate has been abandoned for a while and the workers keep being driven away. Something lurks in the corners of the house and they are not happy about the renovation process. This is a true Molly Harper book. I used to love her Jane Jamison series back in the day and when I read this a couple of years ago, it took me back to her witty and humorous take on the paranormal genre. Harper offers a fun and light playful twist on a genre that is normally very serious or takes itself way too seriously. I found there too be some unnecessary plot points that didn't enhance the story, but made it drag along a bit. This is a fun and quick read that I'm sure many readers of the genre will love. It's got ghosts, romance, and funny banter. Plus, the side characters really sell the story. I enjoyed it and while the big reveal wasn't something I necessarily loved or was shocked by, the reading experience was fun and light. Sometimes that's what the brain needs.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 3.5

Character Scale: 4

Romance Meter: 3.25

Villain Scale: 2 (YAWN)

Plotastic Scale: 3

Cover Thoughts: Super cheesy. Super 2014 paranormal romance

Thank you, Netgalley and Pocket Books, for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

YAY! I have tackled another Blogger Shame book. However, I kind of cheated here, I ended up buying the audiobook and it was good thing. Seriously, I would have given up on Better Homes and Hauntings a long time ago. It's not a bad story, but there's a lot going on in the story. SOOOO much going on, and at times it was a bit overwhelming. So, had I read this book and tried to keep up with what was going on, I would have thrown in the towel. So, I had an Audible book credit, and need of a book I decided to give this one a shot. I'm glad I did, otherwise this would be sitting my shelf for even longer.

If I was stuck reading this Better Homes and Hauntings, it would have been a hot mess. I'm sorry it would have been, but fortunately I had Amanda Ronconi doing the reading for me. YAY! Seriously, I love when she reads Molly Harpers work. They are a match made in heaven. Anyway. There's a lot going in this story. So here we go:

The Cast of Characters (They are an interregnal part of the story):
Deacon Whitney: The Billionaire who hired everyone that most of the important characters in the story. He wants to restore the family home.
Nina Linden: The landscaper. This is her first real chance to get her business off the ground. She has an ex-boss lurking in the background trying to ruin things for her.
Cindy Ellis: Owner of Cinderella Cleaning Service. Hired to clean and organize the house.
Jake Rumson: Best friend to Deacon, and chief architect.
Dotty Whitney: Cousin to Deacon, wants to write a story about the family, and the sordid past.
Catherine Whitney: Mistress of Crane's Nest a long time ago. People believed that she ran away from her husband to be with her lover.
Gerald Whitney: Husband to Catherine.
Jack Donovan: The architect of the Crane's Nest, and supposed the lover of Catherine.
Rick Douglas: Former boss to Nina.

Basically you have to keep track of most of these characters and their inner thoughts. However, all there thoughts and feelings center around the past with the three key players: Catherine, Gerald, and Jack. Along with that something is causing issues on the Crane's Nest trying to stop them from solving a mystery. Yes, there are a couple of Scooby Doo references going on in this story.

Overall, Better Homes and Hauntings wasn't a bad read/listen, more like overload. I think story just had so much crammed into it that makes it a bit overwhelming. I love Molly's humor, but you have so much crammed in that it became hard to keep track everything. Along with that we have the past showing up, and we see bits and pieces of what was going on in the lives, and eventually we learn the truth of what truly happen. What happens in the past kind impacts the present day. We have a couple of love lines going in the story. We have Nina and Deacon budding romance, and Cindy and Jake's too. We learn that Jake and Cindy have past together. Nina and Deacon have a lot of similar interests, but afraid that their budding romance is influenced by the dark presence on the island. Dotty is there to them all figure out whats really going. A lot mashed into the story. Had I read this on my own, I probably would have decided to come back to a much later date. However, it was a fun listen. It works a lot better as an audiobook. There you have it.

Copy provided by Pocket Books via NetGalley (purchase through Audible)

Didn’t get a chance to read before it was archived. Thank you for approving my request.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

When Nina Linden is hired to landscape a private island off the New England coast, she sees it as her chance to rebuild her failing business after being cheated by her unscrupulous ex. She never expects that her new client, software mogul Deacon Whitney, would see more in her than just a talented gardener. Deacon has paid top dollar to the crews he’s hired to renovate the desolate Whitney estate—he had to, because the bumps, thumps, and unexplained sightings of ghostly figures in nineteenth-century dress are driving workers away faster than he can say “Boo.”
But Nina shows no signs of being scared away, even as she experiences some unnerving apparitions herself. And as the two of them work closely together to restore the mansion’s faded glory, Deacon realizes that he’s found someone who doesn’t seem to like his fortune more than himself—while Nina may have finally found the one man she can trust with her bruised and battered heart.
But something on the island doesn’t believe in true love…and if Nina and Deacon can’t figure out how to put these angry spirits to rest, their own love doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.

Not a lot of nice things to say about this book.

Too many POV's in this story for my liking (five, if you can believe that!), which doesn't allow any of the characters to really grow.
The romance between Deacon and Nina is diluted by all the changes of POV. Ends up coming across a bit disjointed and lacking focus.
The wit and humor of the author is strangely missing from this book - which leaves the story flat und uninteresting.

The ghost story was okay though...

I have read enough Molly Harper to know she is a talented author. This just wasn't her finest hour.


Paul
ARH