Sophia Rose is here today with a fun paranormal romance. Come check out her thoughts for Happy Medium by Sarah Adler, where a con artist must convince a sexy farmer he has a real-life ghost in residence.
by Sarah Adler
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Heat Level:
A clever con woman must convince a skeptical, sexy farmer of his property’s resident real-life ghost if she’s to save them all from a fate worse than death, in this delightful new novel from the author of Mrs. Nash’s Ashes.
Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn is happy to help when her best (read: wealthiest) client hires her to investigate the unexplained phenomena preventing the sale of her bridge partner’s struggling goat farm. Gretchen may be a fraud, but she’d like to think she’s a beneficent one. So if “cleansing” the property will help a nice old man finally retire and put some much-needed cash in her pockets at the same time, who’s she to say no?
Of course, it turns out said bridge partner isn’t the kindly AARP member Gretchen imagined—Charlie Waybill is young, hot as hell, and extremely unconvinced that Gretchen can communicate with the dead. (Which, fair.) Except, to her surprise, Gretchen finds herself face-to-face with Everett: the very real, very chatty ghost that’s been wreaking havoc during every open house. And he wants her to help ensure Charlie avoids the same family curse that’s had Everett haunting Gilded Creek since the 1920s.
Now, Gretchen has one month to convince Charlie he can’t sell the property. Unfortunately, hard work and honesty seem to be the way to win over the stubborn farmer—not exactly Gretchen’s strengths. But trust isn’t the only thing growing between them, and the risk of losing Charlie to the spirit realm looms over Gretchen almost as annoyingly as Everett himself. To save the goat farm, its friendly phantom, and the man she’s beginning to love, Gretchen will need to pull off the greatest con of her life: being fully, genuinely herself.
Sophia Rose’s Review
A con artist with a good streak and a lonely goat farmer with more than a bit of skepticism must come to an understanding if she’s to save him from a not-fake family curse with the aid of his gangster-era family ghost ancestor. Irresistible and humorous paranormal romance from a new to me author with her follow up effort.
Gretchen comes from a long line of family larceny. She doesn’t know anything else so she goes with it, but Gretchen has a Rule about just how far she’ll use her targets. She earns a livelihood in fake medium work, but doesn’t want to drain anyone dry or leave them less than satisfied so she’s making a humble living rather than a fortune.
Then her biggest client asks an eensy, weensy favor as she hands over a honking big check- help her old Bridge partner with an exorcism on his goat farm so he can sell. No biggie, right? Only… two things. The goat farmer is a young, handsome guy who doesn’t buy what she’s selling and wants her gone and that fake psychic bit just got flipped on its head because, Charlie’s distant past cousin, Everett, the family ghost is as visible and audible as can be.
Everett and his gangster slang from the Roaring 20’s means to keep Charlie from the family curse killing him and tying him to the farm like Everett. And, whew, Charlie was resistant making this an enemies to lovers trope, for sure.
Happy Medium is light and funny particularly when Everett is stealing scenes and egging on Gretchen to get through to Charlie in her city gal mucking about in the country sort of way (she’s scared of the goats). But, there are solid layers of deeper emotions as Gretchen has to come out from behind the part she is always playing and be real for herself and Charlie- tell the truth for once- to keep him safe and maybe have a chance at a romance with a great guy. Charlie is just trying to keep the family farm going at his own expense because he’s become lonely and isolated.
I found the element of her dad trying to work on Gretchen more distracting than an added layer of conflict, but his trying to work on her showed her trying to do better than her past, at least.
All in all, this was entertaining, but full of heart. I was mostly taken by Everett and he took over every scene he was in, but I was well-satisfied seeing Gretchen and Charlie find their happy. Recommend this light paranormal romance.
About Sarah Adler
Sarah Adler writes romantic comedies about lovable weirdos finding their happily ever afters. She lives in Maryland with her husband and daughter and spends an inordinate amount of her time yelling at her mischievous cat to stop opening the kitchen cabinets.
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About Sophia Rose
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature)
I really enjoyed this one too! Glad you liked it as much as I did. Great review!
Sophia Rose
I thought it was pretty fun and I’m glad I finally picked up one of her books. Thanks, Lisa!
Katherine
Yes please! This sounds so fun. Adding it to my TBR.
Sophia Rose
Hey, hey! Glad to put you onto it, Katherine. 🙂
Mary Kirkland
Goats, curses and ghosts. That sounds fun.
Sophia Rose
Yeah, it was a hilarious combo at times. 🙂
Vanessa @ Blushing Geek
Ohh, I love Paranormal Romance! This one sounds really good, plus I think the cover looks really cute <3
Sophia Rose
Glad to introduce you to it, Vanessa! yes, adorable cover!
Lola
I just recently bought this one after seeing a review for it on another blog. Great to hear you enjoyed this one so much, makes me even more excited to read it. I like the sound of this one being light and funny and the set-up just sounds very fun. And the ghost sounds like a great character. I look forward to reading this one!
Sophia Rose
Yay! Hope you like it, Lola!
Anne- Books of My Heart
This one looks fun. I’m seeing it quite a bit.
Sophia Rose
It had some laggy moments, but it was fun with the ghost and her having to pit herself against a guy who just wouldn’t be budged.
Laurel-Rain Snow
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Sophia Rose
Hi there!
ailyn koay
a con artist? You sure it’s not just her losing faith in her ability so she thinks she’s a fraud ? It sounds more like that from the synopsis 😛
Sophia Rose
LOL, no, she’s a con, but she just doesn’t go as far as her dad and other relations. It caused her no end of trouble, though. 😉
ailyn koay
now…that’s interesting XD
ER LeVar
“a con artist must convince a sexy farmer he has a real-life ghost in residence” — lol! This gets me right here. Seems like a solid read, so I might give it a go.
Sophia Rose
It was a pretty funny premise. 🙂
Rachel @Waves of Fiction
I enjoyed parts of this story, but I had issues with their enemies-to-lovers romance, and I wished Charlie’s past and hers were revealed sooner in the story. I would’ve care more about their journey if so. Plus, the story felt really long to me. I did like Gretchen’s positive character growth, the cute goats and farm, though.
Sophia Rose
Yeah, there were some long spots. This wasn’t one I read in one sitting. Yeah, I did tend to get into the ghost side more than the relationship. Still, a cute one.
Ethan
Your review has me intrigued! A con artist with a good streak and a skeptical goat farmer teaming up with a gangster-era ghost sounds like a fun ride.
Sophia Rose
It was a fun combo with the characters scrapping and the ghost doing his part, and the city gal on the farm antics mixed in.