Aaaah, I loved this book! It was funny, but dealt with serious subjects at the same time. Everett was the funniest thing and I loved their friendship so much! And then Charlie!! He's the absolute cutest ever!

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

When tired con artist Gretchen Acorn is offered £10,000 to excorcise a house for an old lady, she thinks it will be easy. Go in, waft some sage around, charm an old man, and come home with enough money to stay away from her father just a little longer. Except there is actually a ghost (charming but a bit weird), and the old man is actually a 30 year old farmer called Charlie. A 30 year old farmer called Charlie, who sees right through Gretchen within minutes of meeting her. But the ghost is meddlesome, there is a generations old family curse, and Gretchen just can not ignore the chemistry between herself and Charlie.

This book was absolutely what I needed after reading nonfiction for a good while. It was spooky, funny, and so full of angst that I had to put it down on several occasions. The beginning was a little confusing. However, the inciting incident was interesting, and the setup for the story was absolutely phenomenal. I enjoyed every minute I spent on this book, finishing it in only 2 sittings! The writing was clear, the story was well thought out, and the characters were absolutely perfect. Despite being an anti-hero, Gretchen was honestly the funniest and most real character. I love the 'villain with morals' trope, and Gretchen filled that perfectly. She conned people but always left them better than they were before. Her chemistry and banter with Charlie was honestly some of the best build up to a relationship that I have read this year (and I've read 40 romance books so far this year). I loved the connections she made along the way and the friendship she managed to build with the ghost, even though he was chatty, tiresome, and the oddest flirt known to man. Charlie himself was the definition of a grump, but he was soft on the inside, so full of heart and character. The scenes where he was looking after the baby goats were some of my favourites, and the way he spoke about his grandparents was even better. I loved him from the get-go.

There were a couple of weird parts to this book, such as an entire paragraph on whether Charlie's feet were attractive or not. That being said, this book had LGBTQIA+ characters, found family, forced proximity, and sex positivity, all wrapped into one bundle of joy that would be the perfect romantic comedy for halloween nights.

4 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this read from start to finish and it was exactly the vibe I was hoping it would be. It had the perfect mix of character development, plot twisting, enemies to lovers (my faaaave), escape to the country vibes and of course what’s not to love about baby goats in knitted jumpers?! 🐐 While I really liked Gretchen and Charlie, I absolutely adored Everett and felt they were just perfect mix together. I would definitely recommend this if you enjoy a bit of magical realism in your romance with a dose of comedy but also moments of heartbreaking reveals and emotional growth 💕 ✨ Thank you Sarah Adler and Quercus Books for sending me an eARC copy to read and review through NetGalley ✨

The protagonist of this fantastic story is Gretchen Arcon. Gretchen is a fake medium because, of course, she can’t talk to the dead, but she feels she is doing something good if it helps grieving people move on, even if, in exchange, they give her lots of money. When her best client offers her a large fee to help her bridge partner, Gretchen is happy to help. All she has to do is to investigate strange events that seem to prevent the sale of his farm. However, when she arrives at Gilded Creek, there are quite a few surprises waiting for her. First of all, Charlie Waybill is not the old farmer Gretchen was expecting, but a handsome young man who scowls a lot and who doesn’t believe she can’t talk to the dead. Then, there is really a ghost in the farm who scares away potential buyers. His name is Everett and he’s been cursed to never leave the farm since the 1920s. And, he reveals that if Charlie manages to sell and leave the farm, he will be destined to the same family curse. Gretchen needs to convince Charlie to not sell the farm, but he is stubborn and he doesn’t trust her. So, not only she has to earn his trust and convince him that the curse is real, but she also must face the past that still haunts her and makes her keep people at a distance.

I must admit that I had a bit of a slow start, but, as the story progressed, I really started to enjoy it and I didn’t want it to end. Happy Medium is fun, engaging, and witty. I loved the easy relationship between Gretchen and Everett, who was my favourite character. How not to love a chatty and honest ghost who watches too much television? The romance is also well-developed: an enemies-to-lovers, grumpy-vs-sunshine love story that kept me completely immersed.

Sarah Adler is definitely an author I will keep reading. She created an heart-warming and satisfying story of romance, family, and friendship that kept me entertained for hours!

This book was definitely something different to my normal reading but it was a pleasant surprise. The book follows Gretchen who a fake spirit medium. She is tasked by a client to preform a cleansing of a property. This property is owned by Charlie. This book is funny and quirky. It was super heartwarming read. I will definitely be reading more of Sarah Adler’s books. Thank you to Net Galley and Berkley romance for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the humour and quirkiness of this book making it stand out from other romcoms. great characters (I especially loved Everett) making it a perfect light summer read

This book quickly became a favorite read for me!
Stunning writing and incredibly complex characters made for a wonderful reading experience.
The romance felt so genuine and with such a cool and fascinating set up.
I cannot recommend it enough!

I got to 15% through and I really considering DNF’ing because I just wasn’t vibing but I am SO glad I persevered because this is easily a four star read for me.
The story is super cute, it is heartwarming and laugh out loud funny. I just loved Everett, I will definitely be checking out this authors other book!
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Thank you NetGalley and Quercus Books for the opportunity to review this book.

I DNFed this bok at 13%. I found I could not reconcile the premise enough to settle into the story. The main issue was an intense dislike for the FMC.

I've read plenty of books where the FMC does horrible things but they've always been justified enough to assuage any moral or ethical dilemma I felt about their actions. Gretchen, on the other hand, does horrible things but justifies them to herself by reasoning she's doing something good. She's not, and I could not agree with her logic that taking money - lots of money - from vulnerable, grieving people and pretending to commune with the spirit of their lost loved ones was something that it is ok to do, or earn a living from. The character gave me an almost visceral ick and I found I just didn't want to read about her conwoman antics at all, amusing romcom plot be damned.

When the talking ghost showed up, I was out.

Oooh I loved this. I loved the connection between Charlie and Gretchen while they search for a place that truly feels like home. I also adored the friendship between Gretchen and Everett which had me cackling on multiple occasions but was also really emotional in places as Everett comes to terms with the way he lived his life and how that impacted his afterlife. I loved seeing Gretchen open herself up to love, both romantic and platonic, and realising that living without it would be far worse than being alone forever. Just a joy to read.

This was an extremely sweet and cosy read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I hadn’t read anything by the author before this one and I’m glad I took a chance on this one. I loved the humour of it and the representation of a Bi lead character.

This book had such a great premise, that I was a little worried it would fall short but it was really well executed and a total delight to read. The book is well-written, with vibrant, loveable characters and a quirky but ultimately moving story. I loved the ghost element, which provided a lot of humour but also somewhat surprising emotional depth. The goat farm setting adds a sweet layer to Gretchen and Charlie's relationship, and particularly Gretchen's character development. Overall, definitely recommend picking this one up for an enjoyable read.

This book was really cute and funny. Some of the subjects around the main plot could be heavy but they were executed well to keep it as a light rom com. I loved the MC she really made me laugh, as did the resident ghost. Charlie was the perfect grumpy character. The book was a delight 🩶

Gretchen is a fake medium discounters a real ghost when she is hired to help Charlie well his family property. A fun read!

I didn't expect to love this book so much! It was different from the others I've read before and it felt like a breath of fresh air. It still had that enemies to lovers vibe, but with a touch of goofy paranormal romance with charm and humor.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC. 🩷

I have been waiting for the next Sarah Adler book since Mrs. Nash’s Ashes changed my brain chemistry last year and this one did not disappoint.

Gretchen Acorn was raised but a con artist to be a con artist and it’s all she’s ever known. She’s been working as a psychic in DC but when one of her long term clients asks her to check out a friend’s haunted farm, she can’t possible say no. Partly because there’s a $10,000 check that comes with the ectoplasm.

When Gretchen arrives she gets a chilly welcome from both the very attractive owner of the farm and the unfortunately very real, ghost. The particularly talkative ghost informs Gretchen that not only is he haunting the farm and making it so that his distant relative (Charlie) can’t sell it, but if he does, Charlie will almost certainly die. Which is a problem since Charlie thinks Gretchen is a complete fraud.

Sarah Adler writes the best combinations of romance tropes again with forced proximity, enemies to lovers, and a sprinkling of arranged marriage. If you like any of these tropes with some supernatural comedy you’ll love this book.

Thank you NetGalley, Quercus Books, and Sarah Adler for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Well, this book started out as kind of a wild goose chase. I’m not really a fan of con artists. Thankfully, Gretchen was different than the rest. She had good in her and throughout the story she could really transform into an honestly good person with good purpose. I understood why Charlie was so untrusting. But they were really good together and he realized it eventually. The paranormal part of the story was so hilarious, Everett was such a little shit. I really loved the life on the goat farm and how things turned out by the end.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.

Gretchen Acorn, a fake spirit medium, is hired by her wealthiest client to help her friend get rid of a ghost so he can sell his house and goat farm. When she arrives at the farm, she is shocked to find a young, hot goat farmer instead of someone as old as her client. Charlie Waybill already thinks Gretchen is a fraud who is conning his friend and definitely doesn't want her at his house to help with his problem. However, when she goes to leave she is shocked that she can actually see and talk to the resident ghost, Everett.

I absolutely loved this book! I loved Gretchen, Charlie, and Everett and their stories! Gretchen and Everett's friendship literally had me laughing out loud. Watching Everett try to use modern slang in all the wrong ways had me cracking up! I really enjoyed Gretchen and Charlie's relationship and how it changed throughout the book. I especially loved Gretchen and how she was able to overcome her past in order to move ahead in her life. I will definitely be buying this one when it comes out! Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

In Happy Medium we follow Gretchen. She's a fake medium and when an elderly client offers to pay her a lot of money to help rid her friends farm of the paranormal, she can't resist. Only the the clients friend isn't the old man she expected, and she wasn't expecting to meet Everett, a ghost from the 1920's, stuck at the farm because of a curse.

This was such a fun read, I adored Everett and the grumpy/sunshine romance was really well done.

Thank you to Quercus and Netgalley for the chance to read Happy Medium.

Charming lil grumpy sunshine romcom with a paranormal spark.

- opposites attract
- contemporary romance
- romcom
- grumpy sunshine
- she looks like a cinnamon roll, is a cinnamon roll
- he looks like he could k*** you, is a cinnamon roll
- forced proximity