Absolutely worth the hype! Expertly written, surprising, mind fucking, erotic, unconventional perfection! One of my favorites of the year! But I wouldn’t consider this a dark romance.

I don't even have words for what I just read?

1. THERE'S a BUNNY KINK IN THIS BOOK (which is fine, but it def should have been mentioned? Pet play/ hunter & fear play is not a casual thing to not mention)!!
2. In no world should this have been marketed as a romance (dark or not!), this is 100% a paranormal erotica.
3. The penpal aspect of this book is WAY overplayed when she got MAX 2 - 3 letters?
4. He never even fixes the leak in her roof.
5. The larger triggers in this book need to be mentioned and this book entirely avoids listing them in order to keep the "surprise" alive.

Overall, I feel extremely mislead by the marketing of this book, there's no such thing as a non traditional HEA (Happily Ever After), and I would not recommend to anyone looking for a romance book.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me this ARC!

Thank you to the publisher for an e arc of this book.

So….the burb is absolutely nothing like the book. Honestly in some cases I found it very misleading, and I think this book being marketed as a romance was wrong. I don’t want to go into too many details as to why, but to me it wasn’t a romance, more like romantic suspense/thriller. It’s not dark romance either.

Aside from that I thought it was a well written book. I did actually enjoy the book overall, but it was not what I was expecting.

If you like mysteries and thrillers with a side of spicy romance, I think you will enjoy it. The reason I’m not wanting to say too much is because this book is still better read with no spoilers.

Saying that, this book did make me want to flip back and look at the clues laid throughout the book. Gessinger did that very well, and I applaud her for that.

There are trigger warnings that do need to be listed, miscarriage and abuse among them.

Overall, if you saw this and are looking for a dark romance, you will not get that in this book.

This book… Plot twist of all Plot twists. I thought I had it figured out and then BAM! This book was not what I expected it was going to be. But, I was not disappointed. Such a good book!
NetGalley provided me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts are my own.

I loved this book! The twists and turns kept me on my toes the entire time! I love the characters and chemistry they had! Overall it was a fantastic book!

I had no idea what to expect going into this book but what I wasn't expecting was to cry and be in shock once I finished the book. There was not one single thing I didn't like about this book. I loved the paranormal aspect, the romance was a level 10 of spice, the characters I loved with my whole heart, it was just so good. When they compare this book to the thrills that Rachel Hawkins writes, they hit it right on the head. It was twisty, gasp-worthy, sexy, I loved every minute of it. Please don't go into this book thinking it's a perfect happily ever after because it's definitely not but it is so worth the read.

Not your average romance, more of a mystery romance. Super spicy at 15%. Full of letting go, commitment and clairty.

Definitely did not expect this title to turn into the psychological thriller that it was! My advice is to not read spoilers that have been posted, go into it blind. It makes it that much more thrilling!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title!

I'm just going to say it -- this book is bizarre. Just when I thought I had a handle on what was going to happen next, the rug was pulled out from underneath me.

"Pen Pal" wasn't at all what I was expecting it to be from the blurb. That's not to say that I wasn't hooked, but I think that it would benefit from either an updated blurb to indicate more of the actual plot, or a different type of marketing. I also think that the title of the story is a bit misleading. That being said, I'm still going to continue reading JT Geissinger because she continually makes me want to turn the page to see what happens next.

I think if you're into suspense, open door sex scenes, and added intrigue, you'll like Pen Pal. Thank you to Bramble for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book I’ve read by this author. I enjoyed the spicy romance and the mystery/surprise elements. I think fans of J.T. Geissinger will love this gorgeous special edition.

“He’s drenched in golden sunlight, smiling at me as if I’m the first sunrise he’s ever seen."
•

I went into this one completely blind, and what a wild ride! it was sexy and spooky and the type of story I wouldn’t normally reach for but I’m glad I did!

after her husband dies, Kayla Reece is trying to move forward with her life. while attempting to fix the electrical issues and leaks in her home, she hires and fires a handyman in one day. she doesn’t expect to see him again, and she definitely doesn’t expect to start a fling with him!

simultaneously, she's receiving letters from a penitentiary inmate she’s never met and it’s obvious he’s obsessed with her. throw in her housekeeper who is convinced Kayla is being haunted, and you’ve got a jam-packed thriller on your hands.

each of these situations appears to be independent of one another, but eventually Kayla must reconcile that all signs point to one thing. will she be able to handle the truth and everything that comes with it?
•

this and that:
♡ “eyes on me”
♡ ghosts
♡ handyman / client
♡ open door romance
♡ Pacific Northwest
♡ paranormal activities
♡ psychics / mediums
♡ rain
♡ role-playing
♡ romantic thriller
♡ seances
♡ Sixth Sense vibes
♡ tarot readings
♡ widow finds a new love
•

triggers:
☞ domestic violence
☞ explicit sexual content
☞ kidnapping mentioned
☞ miscarriage
☞ murder
☞ spousal death
•

notable quotes:
・I sometimes wonder what will be left on my to-do list when I die.

・“Even small dragons can still breathe fire.”

・“We’re not introverts. We’re misanthropes. Big difference.”

・“I wish you knew how perfect you are. How different and perfect. I’ve never met anyone like you. Whenever we’re together, I feel like a new man. A better man. Like everything bad that’s ever happened to me doesn’t matter anymore because your sweet smile takes it all away.”

・“Everything about you pleases me.”

・Funny thing, isn’t it, hindsight? It’s memory, but with new understanding tacked on, so that the past means something different than it did before.

・“Pretend whatever you want. The reality is that if I find out a man put his hands on you in anger, he won’t ever be able to do it again.”

・“If you decide this isn’t what you want, promise me you’ll end it before I fall in love with you.”

・“I never want you to look back at this time and think we rushed things. I never want you to have regrets. Not about us. So we’re gonna slow it down to a crawl and take baby steps.”

・“Reality is simply what we believe it to be.”

・He’s drenched in golden sunlight, smiling at me as if I’m the first sunrise he’s ever seen.
_
thank you Bramble Romance for sending me an early copy of this book to review!

I think I liked this book? This was my first foray into paranormal romance and it was fun. The relationship seemed a little shallow and the mystery seemed a little simple, but I guess it all made sense. I don't know how I feel about the twist. At first I was pretty upset by it, but I've since calmed down, haha! There's a reason why this book was so popular when it was indie published. This isn't a romance you read for the quality writing or the emotional depth of the characters. It's fast, spicy, and keeps you guessing.

Wow! I wasn't expecting that. I'd strongly suggest you go into this story blind. It will make the journey all the better. So seriously stop reading the reviews... just go get the book.

This is not a romance. This is an erotic thriller, and this made me cry more than it made me giggle and blush. This was horribly sad and depressing, but extremely well done. This book will stay in my head for a long time, I just know it. The spice was hot but in the end the book was so heart-wrenchingly depressing I just want to cry in my bed for the rest of the week. At least they’re happy, right? Wrong. I don’t want them to have ended up that way. The Romeo and Juliet trope is something I never want to experience ever again. Only read this if you’re prepared for erotica that will make you scared and then depressed. Anyway, five stars. I loved it. This book messed me up, but I enjoyed reading it.

This book made me cry way too many times. Kayla is a widow, who meets Aiden, who she hired to fix her roof. Their story unfolds with more twists and turns than I expected. This book is a thriller/romance, but the HEA isn't really a HEA to me. I liked the two main characters together, but their story seemed a little too tragic for me. I did enjoy reading it, but it didn't quite live up to the reviews I read for me personally.

Pen Pal is going to be different that what's expected for romances, and I quite enjoy that in a book. I found the romance in this book to be unique and unconventional, yet it evoked powerful emotions and feelings about the love shared between the characters Kayla and Aidan. While the happily-ever-after ending may not be traditional, it was still satisfying for me as a reader of erotic thrillers and paranormal psychological stories. Although it might not work for everyone, I was pleasantly surprised to find hope, peace, and beauty in the ending, which was far from the tragic ending I had expected. Overall, I was moved by the story and found its ending to be quite enjoyable. I rate it four strong stars out of five.

This was great and so fun! Thank you for letting me read an early copy of this book. Also the edges look so cool!

This is the third or fourth book I have read by JT and I have to say that this book takes the cake for me. have no words for just how good this book was. I never saw any of this coming. I think I might have to read this book again just to make sure I did not miss anything. What a book!!

This book was wild from start to finish and I was so excited to get back into the works of JT but nothing could have prepared me for this book. I loved JT's other works (she writes fantastic mafia with hilarious banter), but heading into this book I was skeptical.

I'll be honest in saying this book wasn't for me, I did go into it with an open mind but the plot and storyline were a lot to follow for me personally. I'm not normally a psychological thriller reader, which is what this turned into for me, and the romance felt left in the dust to the rest of what was happening in this book.

The writing itself was fantastic, and I will never not love JT's writing style, however this book was not for me but for all those thriller romance lovers, this is one to check out!

This was interesting and a bit unexpected. I liked that the main characters were the ghost instead of the ones being haunted by ghosts.