October BOM: Better Homes and Hauntings By Molly Harper

[Dawn, Desperately seeking new worlds]

The October BOM is Better Homes and Hauntings by Molly Harper



Author of the beloved Half Moon Hollow series of vampire romances (Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs), Molly Harper has created a standalone paranormal romance in which a dilapidated haunted house could bring star-crossed lovers together—if it doesn’t kill them first!

When Nina Linden is hired to landscape a private island off the New England coast, she sees it as her chance to rebuild her failing business after being cheated by her unscrupulous ex. She never expects that her new client, software mogul Deacon Whitney, would see more in her than just a talented gardener. Deacon has paid top dollar to the crews he’s hired to renovate the desolate Whitney estate—he had to, because the bumps, thumps, and unexplained sightings of ghostly figures in nineteenth-century dress are driving workers away faster than he can say “Boo.”

But Nina shows no signs of being scared away, even as she experiences some unnerving apparitions herself. And as the two of them work closely together to restore the mansion’s faded glory, Deacon realizes that he’s found someone who doesn’t seem to like his fortune more than himself—while Nina may have finally found the one man she can trust with her bruised and battered heart.

But something on the island doesn’t believe in true love…and if Nina and Deacon can’t figure out how to put these angry spirits to rest, their own love doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance

[Darcy]

I normally like this author, but this book wasn't her best work. At best I thought the book was meh....

None of the characters really captured my attention, nor did the story in the past and what happened to Katherine. I found myself more interested in how the group was bring the house back to life than anything else. I was glad that the group found out what happened and that there were some HEA's, but mostly I was glad to finish with the book.

[Joseph]

I thought this book was absolutely fantastic, like everything else I have read by this author. Great characters, fun story, interesting plot, well-described scenes. A nice combo of urban fantasy, romance, and mystery. Also it has the nice bonus of bringing back so many memories with its fun and funny pop culture references.

[Dawn, Desperately seeking new worlds]

I am a huge Molly Harper fan but it felt like something was missing with this book.

To Joseph's point I did like the cast of characters and the world building was quite good. But like Darcy said at times there was too much emphasis on the past and not enough on the present.

I think I got a little bored mid way through and it never quite came back for me.

[Darcy]

It will be interesting to see where everyone else falls on the spectrum for this book.

[Dawn, Desperately seeking new worlds]

Agreed :-)

[Angie]

I guess this one will have to climb to the top of my TBR list! I'm reading an ARC now, along with a buddy read on Poison Promise. After that I have one other ARC, but the publisher says not to post reviews earlier than two weeks before the release date, which is half way through November. So maybe after the one I'm reading now, I'll read Better Homes and Hauntings. I'm interested to see which side of the fence I fall on, since I loved the Half Moon Hollows, Jane Jameson and Naked Werewolf books, but the Bluegrass books were slightly meh to me. They definitely felt like they were missing something, especially since there were no death threats or anything more interesting that office politics really. They were okay, but not my favorite of her series.

[Darcy]

Angie wrote: "but the Bluegrass books were slightly meh to me."

I feel the same way on those ones. I read them, but they aren't my favorites.

[Nichole ~Bookaholic~]

I liked this one....I listened to the audio so it took a bit to get used to the multiple POV's

[Lara]

I liked this book, but not nearly as much as I normally like Harper's books. I appreciated that she was trying a new genre, but I felt that switching point of view so frequently weakened the story for me. I didn't get to really settle in with any character and get to like them.

[Angie]

Okay, the ARC I'm on, then one other that's publishing in no time, and then I'm jumping on this one. I keep saying that, but now I gotta know! And I really am about to start that physical list I keep saying I'm going to start, so I remember to do it this way!! Now let's just hope I don't lose the list ;-)

[Dawn, Desperately seeking new worlds]

Lara wrote: "I liked this book, but not nearly as much as I normally like Harper's books. I appreciated that she was trying a new genre, but I felt that switching point of view so frequently weakened the story ..."

I think switching povs can be very tricky and honestly there are only a few authors who I think do it really well.