Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove Press and Amber Roberts for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love this cover art, it’s so cute and fits well with the plot.
I found this one difficult to read, purely because it felt so ‘insta love-ish’ the plot seemed like it was on x2 speed in a bid to make romance happen faster.
It felt rushed and kind of like when you force two Sims to get married by dragging their ‘relationship’ bar to 100 after they’ve just met.
I liked the premise of this, but it just didn’t feel believable based on how quickly everything happened.
It’s not a bad book, but more time developing the relationship would have made this better, in my opinion.

MY THOUGHTS?
MEH. This seems to be a cycle I'm stuck in. I'm not loving anything I'm reading currently,which is a real bummer.

This one did get better as the book progressed,but overall it wasn't a memorable read for me.

I did enjoy the whole "spooky ghost locations at Christmas," though! I was expecting a Halloween story, but was wrong!

You can't love em all right? But maybe you will love this one!

Hey @alcovepress and @netgalley -thanks for the arc opportunity! Always appreciated!

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an ARC of Haunt Your Heart Out by Amber Roberts in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3/5

⭐⭐⭐

I was hoping for a mix of spookiness and romance in this book, but it focused more on the romantic aspect than the paranormal. I liked the exploration of family relationships, but the main character was sometimes difficult to empathize with. If you're looking for a romance book with lots of excitement and a spooky, occasionally holiday-themed setting, then this book is for you.

Local Stowe, Vermont bookstore manager, Lex, meets a traveling paranormal documentary filmmaker, James. They both have troubling dynamics with their families and it was nice to see them work through them together. My favorite parts of the book were the throwback scripts to Lex's defunct YouTube channel.

This was a cozy read, I loved feeling the vibes of the town they were in, but overall I thought the plot and storyline was just okay and it felt like it dragged on. These characters were supposed to be in their 30s but they acted like they were in their early 20s.

Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to read and review Haunt Your Heart Out.

Fine. Nothing particularly special. The middle definitely struggled from pacing issues. Lex was very very whiny.
Gilmore Girls coded.

This was a cute fall/Winter read. Perfect for fans of small town book store vibes and working through family drama.
I didn’t like the parts of the book where Lex, James, and the crew went on their “haunt” searches. I can see why they were added but found that it happened too much throughout the book and I found quite boring.
The parts of the book I really enjoyed was Lex and James getting to know each other and sharing their anxieties and family problems. I liked the dynamics between Lex and her family and how it was written.
The ending was very cute and happy how it concluded in a well rounded way.

Some “haunted happenings” set during winter in Vermont equals a fun rom-com with emotional connection between the two leads. Plus there’s a cute dog in the mix.

Lex was someone who was content and settled with her place in her hometown, happy to maintain her roots and ties while still having ambitions for growth in the space she is in. I admired that about her. She got a lot of pushback from people in her life who thought she needed to aspire to bigger, better, and adventure away, but she was confident in the life she chose and willing to work hard to move forward in the way she wanted. Her stubbornness (affectionate) was slightly detrimental to allowing people in but it allowed for personal growth as she opened up.

James was an endearing character who had the opposite lifestyle from Lex. He spent his days wandering from place to place, experiencing all the different places the world had to offer. The two of them found common ground in their challenging familial relationships that really helped deepen the bond between them. Their flirty banter was cute and was a good source of lighthearted moments throughout the book.

Lex’s reasons for her haunted happenings and James’s connection to them was a touch that really added depth to the story and to that particular part of the plot that could have been silly and quirky. I appreciated that.

There were some pacing issues for me in the middle where it felt like things were stuck in the same place for a while but once it all started moving again I enjoyed the journey. There was a third act that had me want to shake both James and Lex and tell them to use the words they’d been so good with earlier in the book, but no one is a perfect communicator.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book definitely gave me Hallmark movie vibes, which made me laugh when Hallmark movies were mentioned at one point in the book. It was definitely a cute, cozy, and fun read! Very heartwarming. The ending had me in tears multiple times! The combination of winter and hauntings definitely surprised me but it worked out oddly well! Overall, it was an adorable book that gave me feels!

I think I had a different expectation about this book going from the cover and title.

In the beginning I expected it to be paranormalish, At one point I even thought James was going to turn out to be a ghost himself. I was also surprised to discover the age of Lex... who I'd presumed to be in her late teens. I certainly didnt expect all the family angst and house drama to be from someone in her 30's, let alone the pranks and lying about the ghosts. I didnt really get the attraction between Lex and James either, tbh,

The second half was almost like it was a different book. Maybe because there was less of the angsty stuff and more of the actual romance. I still feel like the black moment was pale grey at best. It was over way too easily, with everything tied up in a very neat bow, totally ignoring all the pranks and lies, because they found a solution with the documentary.

It took me a very long time to read (months instead of weeks) and I almost DNF more than once.

I did enjoy the book references, and the love of second hand books with annotations. It was easy to read and I am sure it will find its audience.

Thank you, Netgalley, for allowing me to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own

Although the characters are enjoyable as is the setting, this wasn't the book for me. I stopped reading by page 61, as the pace was a little slow for my liking

Ghost hunting AND bookstores? I loved this book. What a fun concept. I wish I lived in this town and could be friends with these characters.

Reading this book was exactly like watching a Hallmark movie. Warm cozy winter setting, small town romance, family drama, and some ghost stories. All the characters were likeable, and there was a dog with a silly name. I thought there would be more ghosts, but honestly I just kind of enjoyed the vibes.

I did DNF this book, but it has zero bearing on the book's quality; I just can't quite get back into it after a reading slump.

I will say that from what I did read, Roberts is a great writer; it's easy to fall into the world she's created, and I was invested from the start. The atmosphere is top tier; cozy old bookstore in the middle of winter? Sign me up. Lex is such a great character, and Roberts makes her feel like an old friend.

I'll definitely edit my review when I come back to this one (because I absolutely plan to!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. After reading the plot I thought it was interesting. It was heartwarming and the banter between the main characters was really good. A cozy vibe for the fall months!

I couldn’t get into this one based off the first few chapters so I did DNF. The formatting of the arc made it confusing cutting between present day story and what I think was flashbacks? So I think that for sure added to me not vibing with this one.

I think I’ll try to tackle this one again if I had a physical copy to read from.

Haunt Your Heart Out is like a cute Hallmark movie with a little bit of actual sex thrown in. Lex manages the local secondhand bookstore, but her dream is to own it and offer things like open mic nights. James is in town with a documentary crew when he stops into the bookstore. There is immediate chemistry and honestly, the main characters are cute the whole book, though there is a miscommunication trope (not my favorite), this is a true romance and is happy ending compliant.

Even though this book is called Haunt Your Heart Out, it takes place during early winter (Nov/Dec), which kind of bothered me. It just seemed like a better opportunity to focus on Halloween. The secondary plot of the book focuses on how Lex feels abandoned. Her parents followed her sister and left Vermont to live in California. Her family is always pressuring her to abandon the bookstore and her home to move to California to "meet her potential". Throughout the book, we see contentious phone calls between Lex and her mom. This part felt a little overdone to me. Lex is 32 and is still fighting with her mom because her parents JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND. Lex mentions she goes to therapy and has since she dropped out of college. You'd think her therapist would have tried to give her better tools to work with her family. Lex, get a better therapist.

The main storyline, the romance, was cutesy but relied on the ghost stories too much for me. Lex used to have a vlog that followed the haunted happenings of her hometown in Stowe, Vermont. James felt connected to that vlog, and he convinced his business partner Julian to shoot a documentary there. Of course, the hauntings weren't real, and the plot hinges on Lex tricking Julian. It just seems silly that a 30-something-year-old man who works in film wouldn't recognize certain tricks.

This is a cute romance with some family drama. I didn't love some of the secondary plot, but overall a fast love story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the advanced copy, all opinions are my own.

This was such a cute small town romance with a fantastic depiction of anxiety. I haven’t read a book where the main character’s anxiety felt so much like my own. I could really see myself in Lex and I super appreciate all the work the author put into creating her. For awhile there, I was worried Lex would be the one to change her entire personality and risk her own happiness to find a way to be with James, seeing as in most romances I feel that the women (or more feminine characters) make the most sacrifices regarding a relationship. However, it was a breath of fresh air to see that James had already decided he wouldn’t be forcing Lex out of her comfort zone. Finally!! A man in a romance decides to change and has zero resentment or hold ups in doing so. I adored Haunt Your Heart Out. It has small town charm, wintry vibes mixed with Halloween, fantastic characters, and a dog I would die for. Definitely pick this one up!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Alcove Press for sending me an early copy!

Loved this book so much!! The perfect read around fall time. Great characters and a fun plot. Highly recommend.

Love the trend of Halloween/spooky romance. This one is just so cute. Good for fans of Erin Sterling and Lana Harper.

This is a new Author to me, I now want to read more from her. I enjoyed reading Lex McCall and James who is part of a ghost-hunting documentary crew's story. I found it to be a fun story with its mix of Halloween and Christmas. They will have their ups and downs as they work towards a happy ending. I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.