Delightfully chilling! The drama and mystery coupled with the supernatural elements in I’ll Be Waiting kept drawing me back to this even when I should have been doing other things. I found the characters well-developed and believable. The setting was suitably creepy and appropriate. Cautionary note for younger audiences: lots of blood and gore.

Thank you to #netgalley, the publisher, #stmartinspress and the author, Kelley Armstrong for this ebook to read. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The first third of the book dragged a little for me, but the last 2/3 of the book definitely picked up the pace. This will be the perfect book to read this October!

I really enjoyed the majority of this book. It had some really fantastic creepy factors that kept me on the edge of my seat and seriously started to creep me out when I was reading it at night. The author did a great job with making you feel Nicola's loss and understanding why she wants to reach out to her lost husband.
The latter half did start to lose me a bit though. The seances were feeling a bit repetitive and Nicola basically starts suspecting everyone around her, yet can't see the most obvious shit in front of her face. It just started to feel a little too long. While the possessions tie up loose ends nicely they're also a tad ridiculous and things start to lose the "creepy" factor that there was before. In the end the ending brings this down 4 star for me.

Perfect for spooky season! I love a good ghost story, and even if did kinda guess where it was going, I still really had fun with this one.glad to see Armstrong hitting her paranormal roots again!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Pros: LGBTQ rep. Cystic Fibrosis rep. Reads fast.
Cons: I couldn't get attached to the characters and therefore couldn't get invested as much as I would have liked. The flashbacks were weird because they were portrayed as dreams where Nic was reliving the past and those parts read very YA and not as if an adult were looking back and remembering. Also, early on we are led to believe that Nicola had an experience in her past that led her to believe in spirits, but she finds every excuse to dissuade herself that anything she experiences could be from a spirit.

I could not get invested into the characters. I fully got 30% into the book and did not care about whether or not Nicola could ever contact Anton on the other side. I decided to read a few reviews and several people liked the first third, but said the book went downhill and got weird from there on. So, I feel fully confident in stopping it here as I am not enjoying this enough to continue. I'm disappointed because I wanted a good spooky read for October, and this just wasn't it. :(

As a 30-something woman living with Cystic Fibrosis, Nic expected to be the first one to die in her marriage, but fate and a snowy road had other plans: After a car crash, her husband Anton dies in her arms, telling her with his last breath that he’ll be waiting for her on the other side. After months of failed seances with fraudulent spiritualists, Nic’s friends and family find a reputable medium and convince her to make one last-ditch effort to contact Anton. In a lake-front estate once owned by Anton’s family, Nic hopes to finally reach her lost love from beyond the veil. But as frightening things start happening in the house, and as Nic’s past seems more present than ever, she begins to wonder if something else – something more malevolent – wants to make contact instead.

I’ll Be Waiting has a lot going for it: an isolated lakeside setting, a diverse cast of characters, and a plot full of paranormal thrills and things that go bump in the night. Kelley Armstrong integrates the past and present timelines seamlessly, and there are plenty of shiver-inducing moments. I loved Armstrong’s decision to write the book from the perspective of a character with a chronic, often terminal, illness; this aspect gave Nic a unique worldview that was engaging, thought-provoking, and educational for people like me, who don't have a lot of familiarity with CF. There’s lots of nuance and texture in the plot, and the interactions among the characters felt authentic.

I’ll Be Waiting did, however, lose its way for me a bit at the end. I saw the twist coming, but even aside from that, the plot devolved into a gore-fest that felt out of sync with the rest of the book. Armstrong set up a traditional haunting in the first two-thirds of the book, but went in a different, more chaotic direction at the end that didn’t quite satisfy me.

That said, though, I think most readers of paranormal fiction will enjoy I’ll Be Waiting, and it’s definitely a perfect read for Spooky Season. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the early reading opportunity.

I’LL BE WAITING by Kelley Armstrong

Nicola Laughton was never supposed to live long enough to reach middle age due to her cystic fibrosis, but here she is newly married and looking forward to spending the rest of her life with the love of her life, Anton. That is, until he dies in a terrible car accident.

While this started out strong and had its creepy and entertaining moments, the plot was too drawn out which really impacted the pacing and my interest. Nicola’s inner monologue/thoughts became so tedious, repetitive and annoying.

Overall, I appreciate the chronic illness representation and enjoyed the plot as a whole. It just didn’t quite meet the spooky/scary vibe I was hoping for.


Rating: 3/5 ⭐️

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’ll Be Waiting
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Horror?

Thank you so much Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC! This book just released on 10/1. It’s my second book by Kelley and wow it was perfect! Another great spooky season read (I’m trying). Nicola has CF, and is married to the man of her dreams, Anton. After a tragic car accident, his “ghost” is seen saying his final words of “I’ll be waiting for you” to her at the scene. Afterwards, she is constantly hounded by spiritualists telling her they will connect her with her husband. Her friends and family end up finding a professional parapsychologist that they think will finally bridge the gap between the dead and the living and help her get the closure she needs. This book is spooky and twisty, and pretty much everything you want in a ghost story. Kelley’s writing flows seamlessly, and this book keeps you wanting to know more after every page. I really enjoy her books and I can’t wait to dive into some of her other paranormal works. Thank you Leanne for the rec! 👻

I’ll Be Waiting, written by Kelley Armstrong, is a mixture of paranormal horror, thriller, and mystery. This is my first book by Kelley Armstrong, and I was excited to jump in.

The book follows the FMC of Nicola Laughton after the horrible death of her husband, Anton. On that fateful night, someone on the scene told the press that Anton’s ghost hovered over his body while Nicola clung to him. Haunted by his last words, “I’ll be waiting for you.” she longs to reach out to him and see if his spirit is still close by seeking out mediums.

Nothing is as it seems from the beginning, and things begin to happen all around Nicola: footsteps, voices, and even clouds of bugs. I loved the atmosphere of the old house, from its eerie porcelain dolls to the dumbwaiter.

The suspense was built, and I was really into it, but then I just began to lose interest. The story started to drag with its past stories and theories. I set the book down several times and found it hard to pick back up. It took me over a week to finish. While I loved the beginning, I was disappointed in the finish.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for gifting me an eARC of I’ll Be Waiting. I am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a freaking rollercoaster of a story!! This story grabbed my attention right away, it got a little slow around the 30% mark but picked back up right away! I honestly could not for the life of me figure out what the hell was going to happen!! This was way more paranormal than I normally read, or like to read, but with that being said, this story did not disappoint! I would like to point out that I am a complete wimp when it comes to scary movies, and this actually felt like I was watching a scary movie & I honestly wish I didn’t read this one at night, because it actually freaked me out!!!

If you are looking for a spooky, suspenseful super twisty story with paranormal activity then this is the book for you!! I will be recommending this book to everyone for spooky season, because I don’t know what more you could want from a book for spooky season!! This was perfect! A bit of the story felt a bit far fetched but in the end it was an awesome story that I could not put down!! I literally read this is one sitting and I couldn’t wait to find out what actually happened and what was going to happen next!!

I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I wish I had a bit more time with Anton & Nic, and I really loved the chronic illness representation, so I will be telling everyone to read this book!!!

I'll be waiting by Kelley Armstrong is a ghost story built on tragedy.

When Nicola’s husband died in a tragic car accident and his dying words were.. I’ll be waiting for you… but a witness says his ghost said it.. so Nicola spends her time trying to reach him in the afterlife.

When her friends contact a parapsychologist to help contact Anton, she hopes this stops her spiraling.

This isn’t the first time Nicola has contacted the dead and Nicola isn’t even her real name..

It was a clever piece of supernatural fiction. The slow steady creepy build up was really entertaining. The tension was palpable and real.

Nicola wasn’t expected to live this long. She has CF and she certainly never expected to outlive her husband. All the characters were ok. I don’t think the book was there to make friends and it showed.

It does get hella crazy past the halfway point. It goes to a place I didn’t think it would go to and I actually thought the shock was brilliant! The end was done well too. It tied up all the questions I had and really, it was an epic book to start the spooky season with!

4 stars

Thanks St Martin’s press and netgalley for my gifted copy.

There were some elements I really liked about this book, but overall it didn’t really stand out enough. There wasn’t quite enough suspense and the horror elements were more gore based, ultimately it didn’t land for me.

Loved it! This was a great stand alone and perfect for an October read! Spooky seances, murder, mystery, ghosts, twist and turns, it has everything you could want in a spooky read!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I've read some of Kelley Armstrong's series back in highschool and college & loved them.

When I saw this one as an adult horror, I knew I had to read it for spooky season.

I really enjoyed the journey and it was an actual horror, which I feel like is hard to find. I loved the dual timelines and the mystery. I did figure out the twist but not until the very end.

Overall this was a very spooky and fast read I really enjoyed!

This was a very good haunting story! I enjoyed the way it incorporated skeptics and believers into the story. I think it dealt with the character's grief very well and was a fun story all throughout.

I really like the Canadian setting in this one. I live close to the border, so it seemed local to me. The story was tough to read about a woman who lost her husband, but intriguing nonetheless. I did see very early on where it was going, and while there was a surprise twist after that, it felt very predictable. If you love a haunted house or the supernatural, you may like this one.

I love the majority of Kelley Armstrong’s books and I am enjoying her foray into supernatural horror.

The story grabs you in the beginning. You think you know what is going on, but you don’t. There were unexpected twists I didn’t see coming. There is a part where you know that one of the characters is going to be related to the “wronged” party, but there is another twist.

Great story to start October!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Kelley Armstrong for the eARC.

Going into this book I completely thought it was going to be in the vein of Simone St. James, a mystery with supernatural elements, sadly it wasn't that. The dead body hinted at in the blurb was not found until the final action sequence of the book, which left the rest of it just a bunch of silly, spooky sounds and things going bump in the night. It was pretty easy early on to figure out what was going on and I feel like that was a bit of a disservice to the reader because we then had about 250 more paged to get through.

With that being said, I was enthralled with Nicola and her journey. She is just the type of female character I love. Self sufficient, kick butt and independent. She has been through enough in life to know not to take any moment for granted. I wish we would have gotten more peeks into her life with her husband. I feel like the ones we got were pretty small. There was that little twist involving her husband that I definitely didn't see coming.

All in all I gave this 3.4 stars. I would probably recommend this to someone who hasn't read a paranormal thriller before as a dip your toe to see if you like it kind of story.

I'll Be Waiting is a stand-alone tale of supernatural terror by Kelley Armstrong. I fell in love with Ms. Armstrong's series Casey Duncan, Rockton and A Rip Through Time, and I've really enjoyed some of her other stand-alones, such as Hemlock Island (which was also a horror story). I've recently become a fan of horror fiction again; I loved it years ago, but my tastes had changed. I'm glad I found my way back to it, as I would hate to have missed this thrilling book. It will have you sitting on the edge of your seat!

Nicola Laughton was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) as a child. She didn't think she'd ever make it to her mid-thirties, never mind to adulthood. But medical advances had given her a greater lifespan and hope, and just a number of months ago she fell in love with Anton and married him. He gave her hope for a future together... until that future was quickly ended by a car crash. As she held him as he died in her arms, he had the chance to say to her, I’ll be waiting for you.” Someone at the scene took a picture of the scene and released it to the press, also revealing his last words. To make matters worse, that person said those words uttered were not by Anton, but his ghost hovering over his body. Since then, Nicola has been visiting spiritualists, hoping for closure. After visiting the latest charlatan, her family and friends decide to locate a reputable medium—a professor of parapsychology - in an attempt to stop Nic's downward spiral. For the séance, they rent the Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned where Nic and Anton made happy memories. The séance has barely started before odd happenings occur. Clouds of midges surround the house. Locked doors unlock. Nick hears voices, footsteps and the old dumbwaiter creaking, never mind the shaft is empty. And then Nic begins to have nightmares about her past, one unknown to the others. This isn't the first times she's contacted the dead, and her name really isn't Nicola...

This book was a lot of fun, and at times disturbing. It was one of those stories that you want to speed through to find out what happens and who lives and dies, but you make yourself slow down because you want to savor it. First, the characters... Nicola was a Cystic Fibrosis patient, but she was bucking the odds with new meds and treatments. I had heard of this disease, but really wasn't very familiar with it. Oh, what those patients have to deal with is horrifying, and I am in awe how people with such illnesses can fight for normal lives. She lost both of her parents, but has a very supporting brother, Keith. Nic became an engineer, and had recently married Anton, who she knew in high school and later reunited and fell in love with. They were discussing a cruise to Iceland when the fatal accident occurred. It was heartbreaking, and of course I cried. His death sent Nic looking for mediums to find out if Anton was okay, and the charlatans kept killing her hopes. Brother Keith, his husband Jin and Keith's ex-wife Libby (took me a minute to wrap my mind around that group), her best friends, were determined to find a medium who could either contact Anton or find that there was no way it was going to happen. Jin agreed to accompany Nic to the Lake Erie home Anton's family once owned. I loved Jin; he was a very caring - and funny - friend and brother-in-law, and I loved his interactions with Nic. Also accompanying them to the home was Shania, a nurse who lost her sister and whom Nic was helping as a grief counselor. Shania seemed very excited to see if their professor of parapsychology could reach the other side. The plot really picked up when they arrived at the lake house. At first it seemed like a perfectly nice place; well, except for the room with LOTS of dolls. In my world, the only thing more terrifying than dolls (with their empty, staring, lifeless, soulless eyes) are clowns. Odd little things began to happen - locked doors would suddenly open, there were footsteps and voices in the room Nic would sleep in, and there was creaking in the dumbwaiter. I, unlike Nic, would not be opening it up in the middle of the night to see if anything was in there! What creeped me out were the swarms of midges that were like clouds. Jin referred to it as the bug-pocalypse; loved that! The suspense and fear really ramped up when Nic began dreaming of high school, and the séances she participated in with her two best friends. Those did NOT end well; was there any connection to the present? Nope, not going to tell you. Pick up the book and experience the horror for yourself! You'll see why I'm such a huge Kelley Armstrong fan.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

First of all, the cover is gorgeous! I absolutely loved this book. It was creepy and is perfect for spooky season.