A fake medium
A grumpy farmer
A ghost
Baby goats
Saving family business

Gretchen Acorn is a con woman who pretends to be a medium able to communicate with the deceased. When one of her best and wealthiest clients asks Gretchen to help her friend and goat farmer Charlie Waybill investigate possible paranormal activity on the farm that prevents the sale of the farm, she is happy to say yes. But Charlie doesn't want Cretchen's help because he sees her for a fraud she is. Regardless, he agrees for Gretchen to stay on the farm in exchange for her help around the said farm. To Gretchen's surprise, there is an actual resident ghost, Everett, whom she can see and communicate with. There is also a good reason why Everett is trying to jeopardize the sale of the farm.

Happy Medium is a sweet, slow-burn romance with lots of humor and a dash of angst. I enjoyed how Gretchen and Charlie's relationship progressed from mistrust on Charlie's part to friendship and then romance. But for me, Everett stole the show. He was the best and the funniest character. I haven't read Sarah Adler's previous book, Mr. Nash's Ashes, but after reading Happy Medium, I will be adding it to my TBR.

Gretchen Acorn is a con woman. She pretends to be a psychic medium and must be pretty convincing because one of her elderly clients offers to pay her $10,000 to go check out her bridge partner’s goat farm. He’s trying to sell it but unexplained things keep happening when 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 her own age, and 2) there is actually a ghost named Everett there and, fraud or not, she can somehow both see and talk to him.

Everett fills her in on why he’s trying so hard to keep Charlie from selling the place, to save Charlie from the family curse. Gretchen finds herself drawn to both Charlie and Everett and decides to help him save the farm if he can’t sell it, having no idea what a life changing decision this will be for her.

I was nervous about whether I would like Gretchen since she’s a fraud but she quickly won me over. She especially 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 laugh out loud hilarious, especially some of their battles that revolve around Ev’s TV addiction. I also loved the chemistry that blossoms between Gretchen and Charlie after their rocky start. They’re actually a great team as they work 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 great job using the curse to create a wonderful redemption arc for Gretchen.

If you like enemies to lovers, forced proximity, ghosts & goats, check out this book!

4.5 stars
This was such a cute cozy read! The premise itself was so fun - a con artist pretending to be able to communicate with the afterlife does a favor for her best client and discovers that she's actually able to communicate with the ghost haunting a goat farm. The back and forth between Charlie and Gretchen was so good, and I loved how much the grew to understand and truly see each other over the course of the book. Especially those last few chapters, it had me swooning over their relationship and romance. BUT, Everett was absolutely what made this book for me. He was just so absurd and hilarious, but also could be so tender and the perfect friend for Gretchen while she was trying to convince Charlie not to sell. There were so many times Everett had me chuckling, and his subplot absolutely had me tearing up by the end.
Bonus that it takes place in Maryland, and more specifically referenced so many places that I've called home! I was far too excited to catch all the mentions

2.5 Stars
This was a super cute read (though I found I enjoyed Mrs. Nash's Ashes by this author more) with interesting characters and a fun setting. I loved seeing Gretchen's growth in character and her friendship with Everett - he was such an entertaining character. Gretchen and Charlie came off a bit insta-love to me though but I was rooting for them nonetheless. A lot of this felt like it could've been edited down as it seemed a bit lengthy though I did also feel that the ending was a bit rushed.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC!

My favorite parts about this book was Everett and the goats. I think that both MCs needed to communicate better and I would have loved to se meroe on how development of their relationship for me to fully believe how quickly they fell for each other.

I loved the twist that she was a con artist that turned out could actually see at least one ghost.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this one! I wasn't expecting some of the ways things played out in the book mostly due to the fact that I didn't read the back copy before starting it – but it was actually a fun surprise I got to experience since I wasn't aware of one of the big plot points.

The concept was cute and fun and I don't think I've really read something like it before (but if you're a paranormal reader, perhaps you will have!). This is definitely a rom-com with just a touch of paranormal to it – but like lighthearted paranormal.

Gretchen took me a minute to warm up to, but I loved Charlie. I feel like we could have gotten to know him a bit better. But it was only told from Gretchen's POV, so it does make some sense we wouldn't get as much character development with Charlie because of that.

I do feel like there was one loose end with Charlie's grandpa, I just wanted to know in the end how he was doing! Also, the little minor side story of Gretchen's dad didn't feel that well-developed and felt a bit unnecessary in my opinion. I think the story would have still been great without it.

Overall an enjoyable read and a great follow-up to the author's debut.

Gretchen is a con artist, but she's a con artist with morals. While she is definitely pretending to be a psychic and happily taking money from the wealthy older women of Washington, DC, she always promises to leave her clients better off than she met them, typically gaining closure and overcoming the grief of losing a loved one. She's about to let one client go when she's offered $10k to "perform an exorcism" on her friend's farm. Unable to turn down that kind of cash, Gretchen accepts, hoping to comfort an old man so he can prepare his property to sale. But when she arrives at the farm, she not only meets a handsome young land owner, Charlie, who wants nothing to do with her fraudster ways, but also a real, (una)live, actual ghost, Everett, who only she seems to be able to communicate with.

I loved this book so much. I was impressed by Adler's first novel, and this one was equally as fun. Psychics (real or fake) are such a fun trait/job for a protagonist and Gretchen filled that role well. Thrown in a hilarious, flirty, and downright annoying ghost BFF and I'm sold. I almost liked watching the friendship between Gretchen and Everett develop more than the romance between Gretchen and Charlie! But this was also sweet and spicy in all the right places, ultimately checking all the rom com boxes. I can't wait to see what Adler does next.

Thanks to Berkley for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 10/10

Happy Medium is such a fun, heartwarming, and original rom-com. I was looking forward to this one after hearing so many wonderful things about the author's debut novel Mrs. Nash's Ashes. Adler has a unique voice that's perfect for sexy and heartfelt rom-coms, and I plan on going back now and reading Adler's first book. I love the author's writing style and humor, the layered characters, and the love story!

Gretchen is a fake medium swindling many of the older people in town, but she's in for a surprise when she goes to Charlie's farm at the behest of one of her best clients. She expects an old farmer, but instead she meets the incredibly good-looking Charlie. After learning Charlie doesn't believe in her and being ushered off the property, Gretchen encounters a real-life ghost with a warning about a curse and what will happen to Charlie if he sells the farm.

A con artist with a heart of gold, Gretchen shows so much growth throughout the story, and she's a layered character - snarky and sharp with a quick wit. Gretchen goes through a lot as she tries to convince Charlie the curse is real when she knows most of her life is built on lies. It's an interesting juxtaposition, and it, as well as some of her relationships, makes her take a hard look at her life. She and Charlie have so much chemistry, and their enemies-to-lovers vibes are fantastic. Their banter - so fantastic! Charlie shows a ton of growth too as he struggles to maintain the family farm. He's such a grump and a total skeptic when it comes to Gretchen, but he is also really caring and good, and I liked seeing him heal and change over the course of the story.

Then, there's Everett, the ghostly sidekick who often stole the scenes he was in. His friendship with Gretchen had the best banter. They are so comical together, and there were times when their scenes were really emotional. I love how the author seamlessly weaves humor and lightness with more serious and emotional subjects.

I really enjoyed this read. It's fun and funny, emotional and charming, and the characters are great. And the goats! I have to mention how much I loved the goats! lol Special thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! This book was a slow burn for me. I love Adler’s writing style - Mrs. Nash’s Ashes (Adler’s debut) is one of my favorite romances of all time. This book is different, and that’s okay, and it was very sweet and poignant. But sometimes the balance between a ghost and a sweet love story building out of past trauma and loneliness was jarring. The ghost part, the only paranormal thing in a pretty realistic novel, was hard to get past for me, but saying that, this book was super sweet and nice and I definitely recommend it. I think Adler has a skill set for really showing how love is knowing someone and loving them for all of the parts of them, and for that, she’s great and this book was mostly great. Overall I recommend this book for fans of Adler, the movie Ghost (lol), and well written contemporary romance.

𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗬 𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗨𝗠 is a fun enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, slow burn, spicy romcom. Gretchen pretends she's a medium but when she's hired to rid a goat farm of ghosts, it turns out she can actually communicate with the one "haunting" it. The challenge becomes how to convince sceptic hot farmer Charlie that his ancestor Everett (the aforementioned ghost) is real in order to keep him out of danger.

The conversations between Gretchen and Everett (who would be over 100 years old but is stuck in his 20s) were hysterical and I loved all of the pop culture references (he's obsessed with watching TV). I had a harder time with Gretchen and Charlie. 𝘔𝘳𝘴. 𝘕𝘢𝘴𝘩'𝘴 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 was one of my favorite books of 2023 so I came into this with really high expectations, especially around the depth of the characters. Millie and Hollis had so many layers, and I didn't find the same with Gretchen and Charlie. She has unresolved issues with her dad that I thought would play out more, and Charlie's relationships with his grandfather and father felt superficial. The pacing also threw me a bit. The book also takes place over the course of a month and a lot happens; I felt like the first half took too long to get to where we knew it was going.

That being said, the dialogue, the humor and all things Everett make this worth a read. Do not miss the author's note where Adler explains how the concept came about (the original title is epic!).

3.5 stars rounded up

Thanks to Berkley for the copy to review.

Charlie decides he is in need of a medium to convince a ghost to leave his goat farm. He hires Gretchen who happens to be a fake medium, but his real-life bridge partner who he has never met in person. When Gretchen arrives at Charlie's farm, she realizes he's not only young, but very attractive. Unfortunately, Gretchen has to come to terms and figure out how to be her honest, genuine self around Charlie, and not the con artist she is to the rest of the world.

If I’ve ever read about two characters with the most baggage to unpack, it's these two. I honestly did not expect this book to have as many cute and cozy moments as it did l, so that was a nice surprise. The ghost, Everett, turns out to be a pretty cool dude, so that was also unexpected. I also did not expect this book to fly by as quick as it did. Even with all these unexpected things, I did find the book very enjoyable. It was a fun break from my normal contemporary romance reads.

After seeing so many great reviews on Sarah's first book, Mrs. Nash's Ashes, even though that is still on my TBR, I was excited to see the ARC of this book pop up! This is my first paranormal romance and I'm glad I dipped my toes into this trope with this book. It is light enough to still have plenty of “regular” romcom vibes, but still gives you a little bit of the “spooky” element. I'd definitely recommend this book if you're looking to get your feet wet with some paranormal vibes.

A big thank you to Berkley Romance and the author for letting me review this advanced copy! All thoughts are my own.

THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU IF: You enjoy fast-paced romance with some paranormal touches and lots of grumpiness.

Gretchen Acorn makes her living as a (fake) spirit medium. When her richest client asks her to investigate paranormal activity keeping her bridge partner, Charlie Waybill, from being able to sell his goat farm, Gretchen is excited for the big paycheck. But she has a few surprises coming. The first is she actually sees a ghost, Everett Waybill, who’s been haunting the farm since the 1920s. He tells her that there’s a curse on the farm and that if Charlie sells, he’ll meet his doom and have to haunt the farm as well. Second surprise is Charlie himself who is not the old bridge-playing man Gretchen expected, but a young, handsome farmer who thinks Gretchen is a con artist and doesn’t believe a word she’s saying. How can Gretchen convince him not to sell if he won’t listen to her?

This was a fun story that reminded me a bit of the show Ghosts (which I love) with Everett chatting to Gretchen constantly, thrilled to have someone who can actually hear him, and a bit of the movie Ghost with a fake medium who can suddenly see an actual ghost. The romance in the book doesn’t really pick up until about halfway through, but I enjoyed Gretchen and Charlie’s relationship once it started. While this was not a love triangle, the character of Everett has a lot of page time which might explain the slow burn.

This book didn’t feel like Mrs. Nash’s Ashes, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t hoping for a repeat of everything I loved about that book. If you can go in without comparing it to her first book, I think that will make for a better reading experience.

Mara Wilson narrates. She’s a fabulous performer and I love her voice, but at times I thought her delivery was a little too serious. There are serious elements of the book for sure—Gretchen’s back story is very sad and Charlie is dealing with grief—but there is a lot of fun banter too and I think the narration would have benefited from a little levity.

Sarah Adler’s 2nd book, Happy Medium, is a delightful enemies-to-lovers romance and ghost story featuring a fake medium with her own moral code, a reluctant goat farmer, and a charming (but somewhat sexist) 100-year-old ghost with a TV addiction.

When Gretchen Acorn is asked by her most important client to help an old friend exorcise a ghost on his family’s goat farm who has been driving away potential buyers, she reluctantly agrees because, even though the $10,000 would really come in handy, she doesn’t have any prior knowledge that would help her with her scam. So, imagine her surprise when the old farmer, Charles Waybill, turns out to be a handsome man about her age who knows she’s a scammer and promptly boots her off his property and the ghost she doesn’t believe in not only blocks her exit but can talk with her as well. Now she just has to convince Charlie that the ghost, Everett Waybill, is real and his reasons for the haunting are a matter of life and death. Can Gretchen learn to trust love and can Charlie learn to trust her before it’s too late?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am now going to go back and read her debut novel, Mrs. Nash’s Ashes. Adler does a wonderful job creating characters whose honesty, kindness, and compassion reel us in and balancing the romance between Charlie and Gretchen with her relationship with Everett which is full of laughter and aggravation (just like a sibling relationship). Bonus: you get to learn a bit about goat farming and who doesn’t love the little goat kids. Highly recommended!

I absolutely loved her first book, so I was bit hesitant to dive into this one but am thrilled to say it did not disappoint. I absolutely loved this story so much.

It definitely gave me Ghost vibes with a fresh new take, which was delightful. I loved the love story, but the third wheel ghost was pure perfection, he was hysterical.

Quick Breakdown

Paranormal Romance
Small Town
Workplace Vibes
Sudden Roommates
Grumpy x Sunshine
He Takes Care of Her
Stern Brunch Daddy
Hot Farmer
Slow Burn
Single POV
Open Door - Mild Details

Raised by a con artist, Gretchen currently works as a faux spirit medium, but an ethical one. Her clients are mostly older, affluent women looking to connect with lost loved ones & she only helps those she knows she can help find peace. When her biggest client offers her a large lump some to exorcise a ghost from her friend’s farm, she packs her bags & travels to small town, Maryland. Only, he’s not the old man she was expecting. Charlie’s a hot farmer in odd colored, homemade sweaters. He doesn’t buy her scheme one bit & sends her packing.

Oddly enough, there is a ghost haunting the farm & ironically, after pretending to speak with the dead for years, Gretchen is the only one who can see him. He needs Gretchen’s help to save Charlie from the same curse that’s kept him stuck for nearly 100 years.

I FLUFFING LOVED this book & my words will never do it justice. If you haven’t read Sarah Adler, you are 100% missing out! Her books are light, yet full of depth & all the wacky humor / banter I crave in a romance.

The characters crafted here are absolute gold. I loved how realistic Gretchen felt - her confidence mixed with vulnerability as she emotionally grew with Charlie. Charlie himself is on a whole other level of MMC. I loved watching his grumpy personality melt with his innate need to caretake. He was such a cinnamon roll yet still brought the heat 🔥 And my ghost man, Everett? He stole the show. He flirted the line of annoying & endearing perfectly & I couldn’t get enough of him.

Do yourself a favor & listen to this on audio. It’s narrated by Mara Wilson & she’s become an instant favorite. You won’t be disappointed.

Happy Medium, is Sarah Adler’s newest release & follows fake spirit medium Gretchen as she works to convince Charlie to keep his farm. What started as an attempted home ‘cleansing’ quickly turns into keeping Charlie safe & might even be leading to sparks flying!

I loved the concept of the story & I’m always here for a funny ghost side character. Unfortunately, those were the things I liked best. I struggled with our main character, Gretchen the most. I just never ‘care’ to know more about her. Charlie was a fine love interest but again I never felt drawn to him the way I would have wanted. The story was also 100 pages too long, there was no reason for this book to be over 400 pages and made the pacing slow.

I didn’t not like this book; it just didn’t stand out to me. Lacking chemistry, I never felt compelled to keep reading nor did I ever really feel myself rooting for our main couple. I would have liked to know more about Gretchen roommate and the other side characters, and while I did love Everett our reside ghost, he wasn’t enough to save the book for me. Overall, not bad but not a very memorable read.

Happy Medium comes out April 30, 2024. Thank you to Berkley for my advanced copies in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

This book was so much fun. I loved the whole idea of curses and spirits. It made the way Charlie and Gretchen interacted exciting and playful. The writing was light with a humorous tone, but Adler also dove into some topics that were slightly heavier. I think her balance and writing style is so well done, and it was enjoyable to read. Charlie and Gretchen were a delightful contrast, but I loved the sass and snark they brought out in each other. The farm was a great setting—I loved the goats!! I would be remiss if I didn't talk about my man's Everett. This little TV-loving spunky ghost was such a fun addition to the story. It was such a fun concept that Adler executed brilliantly and I would read more with Everett at the center. Overall, I enjoyed the love story and the character development a lot. Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for the e-ARC to read and review!

This one is so much fun. Excellent characters who are imperfect and charming, and a humorous, heartfelt story with a bit of steam. This is a winner.

This was a fun read that was filled with charm, quirk, and a sweet enemies-to-lovers romance (with just a touch of steam!) Some parts felt a bit slow toward the middle, but it also may have been my mood. Overall, the story was cute, enjoyable, and definitely unique.

Oh my heart! This was such a fun read. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this one and cried my eyes out as my husband peacifully slept next to me. Everett is my new favorite character and I loved his realtionship with Gretchen. Charlie was such a loveable grump - learning about his childhood was such a treat and really made him character realistic. I highly recommend this adorable read!