Romance Review – HAPPY MEDIUM by Sarah Adler

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I fell in love with Sarah Adler’s style of storytelling last year when I read her debut, Mrs. Nash’s Ashes.  It was just such a fun, unique and heartwarming story and I still think about it to this day.  When a book resonates with me that much, I immediately want to read everything that author writes so of course, I had to get my hands on a review copy of Adler’s new novel, Happy Medium!  It did not disappoint either.  Happy Medium is equally unique and charming, if not more so than Mrs. Nash’s Ashes, and I enjoyed every page of it!

Gretchen Acorn is a con woman.  She pretends to be a psychic medium and is apparently pretty convincing at it because one of her wealthy clients offers to pay her $10,000 to go check out her bridge partner’s goat farm, which is believed to be haunted.  He has been trying to sell it but unexplained phenomena keep happening while potential buyers are there, scaring them off.  Gretchen knows she’s a fraud, but hey, she’s got to pay her bills, right?  And if she can help an old man sell the place and retire, even better.

Gretchen is shocked by two things when she arrives at the farm:  1) Charlie Waybill, the old goat farmer she’s expecting to meet, is actually a gorgeous grump who is actually her age, and 2) there is actually a chatty, goofy ghost named Everett there and she can both see and talk to him.  She has never been able to do that before so her mind is blown to say the least!  Everett fills her in on why he’s there and why he’s trying so hard to keep Charlie from selling the place.  When Everett tried to abandon the family farm and follow his dreams nearly a century ago, a relative cursed him. He died in a tragic accident that same day and has been haunting the farm ever since.  If the farm is sold to someone who isn’t a Waybill, the last Waybill there will suffer the same fate as Everett.  Everett scares off every potential buyer because he wants to save Charlie from his fate. Gretchen finds herself drawn to both Charlie and Everett, and when Charlie proposes that she stick around and help him save the farm if he can’t sell it, she agrees, having no idea what a life changing decision this will be for her.

I don’t know if I can fully express how wonderful this story is! I was a little nervous I wouldn’t like Gretchen since she is so morally gray, but she won me over as soon as it became clear that she really doesn’t like taking advantage of people and makes it her mission to leave them no worse off than when they first came to her.  She also endeared herself to me once she gets to the farm and starts interacting with both Charlie and Everett. She and Everett become besties and some of their banter is truly hilarious, especially some of their battles that revolve around Everett’s television addiction.  I also loved the chemistry that quickly blossoms between Gretchen and Charlie after their initial rocky start.  They’re actually a great team as they work together to save the farm, and I loved how the more Gretchen gets to know Charlie, the more she wants to save him from the curse.  Adler does a fabulous job here using the situation surrounding the curse to create a wonderful redemption arc for Gretchen.  Not only did I like Gretchen, but I ended up actually adoring her by the end of the story.

Happy Medium has a little something for everyone.  The humor is top notch, the paranormal antics of Everett are entertaining, and the personal and romantic journeys of both Gretchen and Charlie are so poignant and heartwarming.  Happy Medium is perfect for fans of enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine, forced proximity, and of course silly ghosts and adorable goats!

Thanks so much to Tina Joell at Berkley for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour!