(2.5 stars?)
Brynn Wilder needs to escape from the real world and finds herself spending the summer at Wharton. When she gets to the guesthouse she finds out an unknown woman died in room five and it’s not long before Brynn finds herself being inexplicably drawn to it.

I’ll be honest, this was not a book for me and it wasn’t because it was a bad book it just wasn’t to my reading taste. If you’re looking for a slow burn, dialogue heavy, gothic/paranormal tale then you might really enjoy this one. For me, I couldn’t stay interested in the mystery aspect of it because it was so slowly paced. I thought some of the descriptive passages were really well written but there was far too much dialogue that was just ok. The twist at the end had no effect on me as I didn’t have a connection to the characters and just wanted to finish it. I think this could have been much stronger as a short story.

But like I said, that’s just to do with my personal tastes. I’ve seen many people raving about this book so if you do enjoy ghostly, paranormal mysteries then you might want to pick this up!
✨ Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the eARC of this book! ✨

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Published: November 2020

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

After a devastating loss, Brynn Wilder escapes to Wharton, a tourist town on Lake Superior, to reset. Checking into a quaint boardinghouse for the summer, she hopes to put her life into perspective. In her fellow lodgers, she finds a friendly company of strangers: the frail Alice, cared for by a married couple with a heartbreaking story of their own; LuAnn, the eccentric and lovable owner of the inn; and Dominic, an unsettlingly handsome man inked from head to toe in mesmerizing tattoos. But in this inviting refuge, where a century of souls has passed, a mystery begins to swirl. Alice knows things about Brynn, about all of them, that she shouldn’t. Bad dreams and night whispers lure Brynn to a shuttered room at the end of the hall, a room still heavy with a recent death. And now she’s become irresistibly drawn to Dominic—even in the shadow of rumors that wherever he goes, suspicious death follows.

(Blurb, NetGalley)

I’m not going to lie – I found this book very difficult to finish. I considered putting it down multiple times but didn’t – partly because I’d got it through NetGalley and wanted to give it a fair shot and partly because I’m terrible at letting go of books and hate not knowing how things end!

I wonder if I misunderstood what type of book this was going to be? But it was filled under mysteries and thrillers on NetGalley and so I presumed it was going to focus primarily on the mystery mentioned in the blurb and be quite a ghostly read. There are ghosts in the novel but only a few and it was very tame. But at it’s heart this book is a romance novel with a minor supernatural element. But the problem was that neither of the main characters were strong or interesting enough to sustain a romance plot.

Brynn, the protagonist is fine but boring – she is nice and kind and everyone likes her and she has the typical main character trait of having had everything that could possibly go wrong with a person have happened to her in the last year. She just had no personality! For example, Brynn arrives in town in order to escape from her life, and within days she is having creepy dreams and seeing things she thinks might be ghosts. She talks to some of the other residents and they are like ‘of course you are seeing ghosts, they are real’ and she just accepts that and it’s not a plot point in the novel at all?

Dominic, the love interest, is equally as bland and nice – apart from the fact he’s supposed to be a bit of a ‘bad boy’ but this never goes anywhere.

And this is the crux of why I didn’t enjoy this book: nothing goes anywhere. Nothing actually really happens. I was reading, trying to work out what the book was heading towards and then I got to the end and found out the answer was: nothing. The bits of the novel that are thought were the main parts of the plot end up being loose ends and any questions asked are never answered. I was reading this on an e-reader, so without a physical indication of how far through the book I was, and I was actually surprised when it ended as I didn’t think it possibly could without answering anything.

This book ended up being a cheesy insta-love story filled with lots of creepily nice people, with no plot or point. I think what is worst is that I like and read romance novels, but even that part of the book fell flat and lacked chemistry. My rating is 1.5 stars as I would not recommend this book to others, but do think that there is possibly someone out there that would enjoy it!

Didn't love this book, a bit too romantic for me but that's purely personal! Wendy Webb has a great writing style and really creates characters you can connect with. Although this one wasn't for me I will still be reading her other books!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Haunting of Brynn Wilder was a subtle take on a paranormal romance.

Wendy Webb had an amazing concept and a beautiful writing style. However, I truly wish that this novel was significantly longer. I found myself wanting more from the plot flow and character development.

Brynn travels to Wharton, Lake Superior for the summer following a series of losses. She hopes to recharge, re-evaluate and get her life back on track to resume her post as Professor of Literature. She rents a room at colourful LuAnn’s boarding house and quickly immerses herself in the lives and mysteries of the occupants of the house.

This book is not quite what I expected as it’s more a smorgasbord of themes. It begins with a really mysterious, creepy, gothic vibe with a sequence of odd events, some lucid dreams and a real air of ghostly puzzle which I really like. Then there are other elements thrown into the mix such as one character Alice having early onset Alzheimer’s which is portrayed very well and there’s a romance aspect too. It becomes apparent in this clever tale that this is about being haunted by loss and grief but there’s way more to it than that! The characters are good and the setting is fantastic. I am intrigued by the Ray Bradbury ‘Illustrated Man’ angle which appears in the storytelling which makes me want to pick up a copy. I don’t want to give too much away but this is a surprising story, it takes a very twisty turn but I like the direction it goes in. It’s both warm and sad, happy and heartbreaking. The end explains all and you either buy into it or you don’t and after much reflection I conclude it’s very clever and so it’s a buy!

Overall, this is an intriguing, well written book that keeps you questioning and pondering throughout.

With thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union for the copy for an honest review.

First off I want to say huge thank you to the publisher Lake Union Publishing, the author Wendy Webb, and to NetGalley for letting me request this book as well as letting me read and review it.What the perfect read for any time you want to just cozy up under a blanket and read, its not scary at all, the perfect mixture of the Paranormal and romance as well as a mystery .

I've never read anything by this author before, but the description intrigued me and it was set locally. When I read some comments about it being paranormal, I almost changed my mind about trading it, because that really isn't my thing.

I'm so glad I did go ahead and read it. Yes, there are some paranormal elements, but they are *almost* believable. I loved how this story came together and things finally made sense right at the end, in a very beautiful way.

* Thanks to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Haunting of Brynn Wilder by Wendy Webb.

I normally don't love books with a supernatural/ghosty theme, but sometimes you can strike the perfect balance between spooky, and real life. I love a good story that's rich with humanity, love, and relationships, so even though this was about a haunting, it was still very easy to gobble up.

Brynn Wilder has escaped to a boarding house in Wharton, by Lake Superior to rest and recoup from her messy life. Of course, sharing close quarters (and bathrooms) gives her no choice but to quickly meet her fellow boarders, and she's pleasantly surprised to be quickly enveloped by the town. It also doesn't hurt that there resides a gorgeous, and mysterious tattooed man.

But not everything is perfect in Wharton. Mysterious noises haunt her at night, and one resident in particular sheds some all-too-clear light on Brynn's life. Too close for comfort.

Like I said, some haunting. However, the ending was...I can't give anything away, but, what da heck. I didn't hate it, but it also didn't quite flow.

Beautiful, haunting, and so well written. I became completely immersed in this story. I laughed and I cried. I spent an entire day reading this story, I could not put it down. I loved Daughters Of The Lake and I really enjoyed seeing those characters back. The ending of this story is perfect and will stay with me for a long time.

I enjoyed this one. Was it perfect, no. There were a lot of loose ends, and things that needed to be fleshed out more. However, it kept me turning the pages. I liked the characters and the setting, so overall it was a decent read for me.

"The Haunting of Brynn Wilder" by Wendy Webb was a book that caught my interest with its blurb & gorgeous cover.
What I expected going in:
mystery, ghosts, romance
Yet in retrospect the book pretty much lacked all three.

The Plot: Brynn needs some healing after losing her mother, her dog, questioning her career path & ending a relationship of 20 years all at once, so she decides to spend the summer in a town, where her best friend Kate found love & a new beginning.
For her summer in Wharton Brynn decides to stay at LuAnn's inn where she meets all the secondary characters.
As luck would have it, she chose to rent a room in the most haunted place in town, but don't worry, the ghost don't show up much at all or put her in any danger. Hardly an inconvenience, really.

My problems with the book/writing:
- I didn't like Brynn as a storyteller, the book itself basically consisted of 10000 long, wordy descriptions of rooms, outfits & food with some ghost "encounters" sprinkled inbetween.
So many times we got to hear how Brynn takes her coffee in detail (the same everytime, mind you), I simply don't undestand why the author made it a point to repeat it time after time. Or why we need so much information on what they're eating, how it's all plated and what does culinary have to do with ghosts?

I truly love descriptions that immerse you into the story, the ones in THOBW sadly were anything but that. Readers don't need one thing repeated 19829 times in a roll like they have Dory's memory.

The Prologue itself pretty much ruined the "twist" of this book/the big mystery of LuAnn's (who is the dead lady in room 5 & why can only Brynn see her). Nothing revealed really surprised me.
Also, after the revelations from the last chapter, most of what happened doesn't even make sense:
(For example:) The lady from room 5 was old Brynn, years later. Somehow she was able to show herself to her young self & leave clues for her so she falls in love with Dominic. Yet, LuAnn discovered her dead body in the past. So Brynn was young and also old/dead all at once?! How and why would a dead body be teleported back in time? Was it all not real? They couldn't have all been ghosts, so wtf happened?
Dominic basically turned out to be an "angel"/reaper of souls/(Death himself maybe?) yet for some reason he had a corporeal form & was able to get Brynn pregnant. We never get to hear how they originally ended up together and why they get to be "reborn"/meet again & again and fall in love.
Also, did he get to live as a human while also reaping souls of old ladies or what? I have questions about how this whole arrangement works.

When it came down to the relationship, Brynn jumped into it so fast for a responsible adult. Most of their "romance" was so rushed, the chemistry non-existend (if you're going in expecting anything spicy or intimate, you won't be getting anything like that here).
Any relationship bonding that took place felt artificial, at the end of the book Brynn hardly knew anything about Dominic. So many times she refused to ask him questions or keep pushing for answers when her own friend (and her cop husband) was worried Dominic was dangerous, a potential ex-con that murders ladies around town .
What's even worse: I felt no connection to Dominic, so when his "dramatic death" came, I wasn't really impacted by it. I just don't see them as the soulmates the book claimed they are.

- How it was never cleared up how old Brynn really is:
I'm assuming she's almost 40 if not older, considering she's a college professor and just got out of a relationship that lasted 20 years.
The fact we have no information of her age makes it super hard to determine if she's acting her age when she reacts to stuff or not. At times she felt like she's 20 years old at most, for the fact how dismissive she was of things and how she didn't want to question anything/refused to listen to reason and see why her friend might be worried about her getting close with a stranger.
The hypocrisy was real with Brynn, she kept insisting she "knows" Dominic (all because of her gut feeling & some visions of their past life) yet when Kate asked her what she knows about him, she literally refused to answer the question.

- The amount of times Brynn called Dominic's tattoos illustrations. Always "illustrations", almost never tattoos. *cringe*

- The amount of times Brynn kept asking THE READER (not really herself, since it wasn't in cursive as her other thoughts to herself) rhetorical questions about something that occured.
"Didn't I see..?"
"I hadn't seen those before, had I? Maybe I had missed them."
"He had said he had a busy day ahead... hadn't he?"
"Nightstand? Dominic’s bedroom didn’t have a nightstand. Did it?"
"I wasn’t sure about the time difference between where I was and Cornwall , England. Six hours earlier? Six hours later? *calls her brother anyway without checking in Internet or something*" (You asking me? Do you know how to use Google, Brynn?)
"Did Nick just roll his eyes? Or did I imagine it?"

- Last, but not least, some quotes that speak for themselves:
“It’s about time you came on home, mister ,” I teased him, my voice , like Dominic’s, was my own, but not my own.

"It’s okay, Brynn, the lake seemed to be saying to me. It’s okay. She’s at peace now. She’s where she wanted to be. There, with the lake whispering my name as it lapped at the shore, I began to feel that maybe we’d never know who she was and why she was there."
(THE LAKE TALKS NOW?)

"Sure, it was still daytime , but movie watching required movie-watching attire."
(I don't know about you, but I always watch my k-dramas in a dress worthy of the Oscars.)

“He’s been in prison, Brynn. He has a record a mile long. Assault, grand theft. Juvenile stuff.”
All at once, I wanted to shake her . A violent anger bubbled up inside me.
“How dare you violate his privacy like that,” I hissed at her. “And mine! Who does Nick think he is?”
She gave a strangled laugh. “The chief of police.”
“For your information, Dominic grew up in very rough circumstances. I’m not surprised he ended up on the wrong side of the law when he was younger. It’s what he dedicates his life to now, if you must know, helping people transform their own lives, to rise above the cards they were dealt.”
“That’s what he told you,” she pressed on. “But what if it’s not true ? What proof do you have of it? What if Nick’s right? What if Dominic is the common denominator in all of those deaths?”
“Are you saying your husband thinks Dominic is a serial killer?” Kate reached over and took my hand. I pulled it away. “I’m not saying that,” she said, her voice soft, pleading. “But he is watching him. Be careful, Brynn. Please.”
“I think you should leave,” I said.

(Why listen to your best friend that's clearly concerned for you & makes sense? Dominic is hot with all his "illustrations", it's all that matters.)


"The Haunting of Brynn Wilder" by Wendy Webb was a book with a premise that had potential, but thanks to the writing it all fell flat. The story has more talk about food & places than ghosts or romance. The twists at the end are predictable, not offering any kind of explanation that actually makes sense when put together with the rest of the book. The ending raises more questions than the "answers" it gives us.

I read this book in 2 sittings which was a huge shock to me. I found myself unable to put it down, despite several issues I had with the dialogue.

I loved the characters and the small Minnesota town (as a Minnesota girl, myself, I may be biased). The unclear nature of the haunting was intriguing to me, as well as how the author was able to incorporate Alzheimer’s as a mechanism for revealing truth.

What I didn’t like was that the romance felt a bit forced. It happened so quickly. Halfway through the book characters ages were hinted at, making them much older than I had thought for the first half. Also, I expected more danger, more thrills from a book about a haunting, so by the end, the payoff was a little bit of a letdown. It was an interesting concept, though.

All in all, this was a good, light read, and It kept me glued to the page, but don’t expect a scary thriller.

An absolutely wonderful book. Very well.written and I just could not put this down. Lone it. Highly recommended xx

Omygoodness, what a story! It took me completely by surprise!

First, it isn't scary, but it sure is very atmospheric. There's an element of mystery and the supernatural that's ever-present but it actually doesn't go where I thought it was going. I actually cried at the end, it was so beautiful!

Brynn comes to Wharton on a sabbatical from her teaching position at a university, trying to recover some semblance of normal after her father's death. The boarding house where she settles for the summer is full of interesting characters who become true friends to her. The town is small and nosy, but people mean well.

When she meets Dominic, there's incredible chemistry between them and they're drawn to each other. Despite the mystery surrounding Dominic, Brynn follows her heart, but more and more there are unexpected things happening that she can't explain, that no one can.

As I mentioned, the ending was beautiful and I cried happy tears, which I can't remember the last time it happened.

This was the first time I read this author and already downloaded the previous book, the one about Brynn's friend.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Brynn Wilder has had to deal with several devastating things recently and is taking the summer off before going back to her teaching job, to try to regroup. She rents a room at an inn in Wharton, on Lake Superior. She begins settling in and making friends, and automatically gravitates towards the other summer resident, Dominic. When she discovers that one of the rooms is closed for the summer because someone died in there, she is disturbed to realize she keeps being drawn to that room and having visions of an old woman in a rocking chair sitting in front of the fire in there. It is even more disturbing that she is the only one that seems to see her.
This was like a mash-up of a romance and ghost story, heavy on the romance. It was a really good story though, and kept me captivated through the entire book, wanting to see how it was all going to play out. I will say, when I got to the last chapter, maybe I am just dense but I really didn't fully get it. It was like I couldn't quite wrap my head around what she was trying to say. All-in-all it was an enjoyable read and I think you will enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this copy of The Haunting of Brynn Wilder by Wendy Webb.

Having seen this title on a list of Fall thrillers to read I was very excited to dive in and see what this book had in store for me. I was not disappointed! I found myself sneaking chapters at work and going to bed early so that I could finish it. I couldn't wait to finish the story of Brynn, who has decided to spend a summer in Wharton, recharging after a hard couple of years. Brynn meets and befriends many interesting characters in Wharton, some of whom are guests in the same place and some of whom are residents. Odd things begin happening to Brynn almost immediately. Is she losing her mind or is something otherworldly happening? You'll have to read to find out because I'm not giving anything away!!

For fans of ghost stories and thrillers, this one's for you! Is it a perfect read? Of course not. Suspend your need for everything to make sense and enjoy the ride that is The Haunting of Brynn Wilder.

So I was expecting a little more coming into this book!
I guess a little more thrill.
It was a good book! I enjoyed the setting. The characters. But it just slacked in some ways.
The ending could have been more....

Overall not bad!

What a beautiful and poignant book . it's surprising how different this storyline is from what I was expecting. It's so much more than a ghost story and incredibly thoughtful and thought provoking.
Brynn was a lovely character and very easy to empathise and relate to/ with. Dominic is a mystery waiting to unravel fThere were an array of wonderful and colourful characters and the haunting in the title is more emotive than sinister, but with an eeriness that is very palpable.
The plot twists and turns throughout were cleverly interwoven into the storyline as the mystery unfolds. You never quite know where the author is taking you , it's very immersive reading and I was emotionally invested in the lives of the people involved.
The ending ties up all the loose ends in a way that makes sense. It felt right and was so moving to read , it literally brought me to tears , it was sad , happy and hopeful all bound together. It broke my heart and put it back together again.
Once you start this book you won't want to put it down.. I devoured it in a few hours. It was a definite emotional rollercoaster so make sure to keep tissues at the ready, ultimately, it's a life affirming read that's characters stay with you even after you've read the last page. I can't wait to read the authors previous book now , as it's set in the same place and sounds really interesting .

After losing her mother, Brynn Wilder, escapes town to Lake Superior. The Victorian is the boardinghouse she is staying at. People say the Victorian is haunted, Brynn hears whispers in the dark. This book was a good thriller. The characters at the boardinghouse were very interesting.

Okay, this one truly surprised me a lot! After seeing the name of the book and eerie, heart pounding cover I thought some thrilling and chilling ghost story will give me nightmares and haunt me down! But it started like soft chic lit and gave me Debbie Macomber meets Nicholas Sparks novels taste.

This is a paranormal, bittersweet story with a twist that I cannot blurt out and that emotional ending made my poor heart felt like stabbed by small glass pieces but overall the deeply layered, well crafted characters are so lovely. Their back stories are also sad and heartbreaking. Even though i was expecting something different which a little confused my mind, I still enjoyed my reading!

It is not about get haunted by ghosts! It’s about to be haunted by loss, grief, mistakes! This is more about tormented souls who are exhausted by carrying burdens of the life put in their shoulders, struggling, trying to make peace of the past and move on.

If you like sad, heart wrenching, powerful stories, this is a good fit for your needs!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.