Happy Medium

By: Sarah Adler

Narrated by: Mara Wilson

AN INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

"The perfect alchemy of romance, humor and quirky originality."—Sophie Cousens, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Next Year and The Good Part

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 beneficentone. 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.

"A sincere and sincerely funny romance."—Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House

“Sarah Adler nails the ultimate rom-com alchemy.”—Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake

It’s a little sad

You fall in love with the characters and it made me surprising sad at the end

Strong start, rough finish

I can give my review in a simple rhyme;

started strong, then went wrong, lasted too long.

If you read the summary, you realize this should be a slightly campy, rom-com. There are goats, ghost and romance. The makings of a good story. The story started strong. There was good mix of comedy and romance. Good interplay between characters. The last 1/3 of the book goes limp. All charm of the first 2/3 is lost and the story falls flat and drags to the finish. I think the author makes a mistake of trying to introduce more complex themes the books doesn’t need. Mental health is shoehorned into the story in several places and just doesn’t advance the story at all. I enjoyed the plot to start but when all the fun and campiness goes away it becomes a very flatline story with unbelievable dialogue and character decisions. Chop off the last 2.5 hours and it’s a 4 star.

Sweet and slow

Really loved the idea of the story! Wish we got more actual love story and their dynamic together but that just shows how much you grow to love the characters.

Ghost meets goat farm!

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes wasn’t a fluke: Sarah Adler can write! This book was smart and thoughtful, interesting and funny, touching and romantic. Everett was a hoot, and the Ghost meets goat farm premise was unique and fun. Narrator was terrific too.

Really cute ghost story

I really like the premise of this story. The characters in it are relatable and deal with real life problems. I recommend this book and will look for other work by this author.