Melody Bittersweet and The Girls' Ghostbusting Agency by Kitty French

Melody Bittersweet and The Girls' Ghostbusting Agency by Kitty French
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Life’s tough for Melody Bittersweet.

She’s single, addicted to sugar and super heroes, her family are officially bonkers, and she sees dead people. Is it any wonder no-one’s swiping right on Tinder?
Waking up lonely on her twenty seventh birthday, Melody finally snaps. She can’t carry on basing all of her life decisions on the advice of her magic 8 ball; things have got to change.

Fast forward two months, and she’s now the proud proprietor of her very own ghostbusting agency - kind of like in the movies but without the dodgy white jumpsuits. She’s also flirting with her ex Leo Dark, fraternising with her enemy in alleyways, and she’s somehow ended up with a pug called Lestat.

Life just went from dull to dynamite and it’s showing no sign of slowing up anytime soon. Melody’s been hired to clear Scarborough House of its incumbent ghosts, there’s the small matter of a murder to solve, and then there’s the two very handsome, totally inappropriate men hoping to distract her from the job…

Welcome to Chapelwick, home of the brand new and hilarious Girls Ghostbusting Agency series, where things really do go bump in the night

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I don't think I've been so charmed by a paranormal book since I read The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Melody Bittersweet is a new favorite character of mine and I seriously hope that this is the first book in a series!

The book is hilarious, it's romantic, it's engrossing and I love Melody's snarky humor. (And, by God, I love Lestat, the dog). I even like  Melody lusting after Fletch, and I'm usually the last people interested in reading books about people lusting after each other. But, the love-hate relationship between Fletch and Melody work like magic! And, let's not forget Artie the apprentice ghost hunter and Marina, her colleague and best friend. They brought so much to the story that I can't help feeling giddy just thinking about all the funny moments in the book from office meetings to trying to get rid of the ghost from Scarborough House.

Seriously, I hate writing 5-star reviews, because all I do is gush and I just can't help it. This book made me happy, it's a book for when you feel depressed or just down a bit. It was a great joy to read this book, and now I want a sequel! I'm bloody happy that I caved in and requested this book on NetGalley!

I want to thank Bookouture for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

The Ghost Hunters by Neil Spring

The Ghost Hunters by Neil Spring
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sarah Grey has returned to England after a brief time as a model in Paris. She is looking for a new job, but she never expected to be offered and accepting a job as a personal assistant to Harry Price, the infamous ghost hunter. Harry has devoted himself to expose mediums and false hauntings. And, despite being temperamental and neurotic is he also very charming and Sarah can't help but be drawn to him. One of the most puzzling cases for them will be Borley Rectory. Is the place really haunted or are the rumors about it exaggerated?

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I think the knowledge that Borley Rectory was a real haunted place and Harry Price was a real ghost hunter makes this book extra special. The author has taken some liberations with the story. This is not a true story, but there are some truths in the story. Sarah Grey has never existed, she is based on a secretary that worked for Harry Price a while. But still, it's really fascinating to read this book and I was intrigued by Harry Price and can fully understand why Sarah Grey was too. Even though as I understand it the Harry Price in this book was more charming than the real one.

I didn't know before I read the book that Borley Rectory had existed and that Harry Price was a real person. Or rather I have a vague feeling that I have known and forgotten about it and it hit me when I looked up the place and the man himself on the net during the time I read the book. Strange how the mind can forget things.

The story in itself was good. This was after the First World War, a time when many people were desperate to make contact with the other side, to know that they were all right. And, many people took advantage of this to earn money of other people's grief. Harry Price like Houdini in America, debunked many false mediums. Arthur Conan Doyle has a small part in this book, he was quite crossed with Harry Price because of his negative attitude towards the paranormal. Conan Doyle believed quite strongly in the afterlife.

This is absolutely not a horror book, more a mystery would I say. A paranormal mystery book. Despite dealing with a house that is said to be haunting was the book never scary to read. And, it could feel a bit long sometimes. I can honestly say that if Sarah Grey and Harry Price had not been so interesting to read about had this been dull to read. But they give the book life.

It's a very interesting book. There are not many big twists in this book, but still the story is enjoyable. There are one big secret thing; Sarah Grey's secret that she hides from Harry Price. But, that never felt like a secret. I don't know how it was for others that read the book, but I guessed it right away and then it was just waiting for her to tell him. And, honestly, I thought that she was a bit too cruel to him towards the end when everything was revealed. Although he did treat her appalling sometimes. In the end, one can say that the case of Borley Rectory became something that bound and tore them apart.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

Better Homes and Hauntings by Molly Harper

Better Homes and Hauntings by Molly Harper
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

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.

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The thing I really enjoyed about this book was the nerdiness and the banter. Deacon Whitney may be a billionaire, but he is also a computer geek with who loves old cult fantasy movies like Flash and Kull. He is a rich guy who dresses in superman t-shirt. I thought I was over that whole rich guy, poor girl thing, but that was before I finally found myself reading a book about a nerdy billionaire. There is a lot of flirting between Nina and Deacon in this book and really funny nerdy banter between them.

We also have Jack and Cindy, Cindy is cleaning up the place and Jack is the architect and they have a past history, well Jack asked Cindy out on a couple of days and then she never heard from him again, and she is still pissed of despite the fact that it was years ago. And Jack just doesn't understand why because he doesn't remember that. So Cindy is making him really miserable and he can't understand why because people usually like him.

Then there is Dotty, Deacon's fun loving and impulsive cousin that arrives at the island to write a book about Catherine and Gerald, the women killed and her husband, the suspected killer. She instantly befriends Nina and Cindy and the three of them are having a blast, well when they are not being spooked.

The story in itself wasn't that surprising. I mean it was easy to see the how it all would turn out for both Nina and Deacon and Jack and Cindy. I mean I like them, but the book is very much a paranormal romance, with a big emphasis on romance. The paranormal part was just not the books strongest part, for instance, I suspected the ending quite soon, there was in my opinion just two ways it all could end and my suspicion turn out to be the right one since. And all the parts when there are spooky things happening, well it was was never in any way terrifying. I think humor just got in the way to really make it a good haunted house story. But if a less terrifying paranormal book about a haunted house you are after then this is a very good choice.

I was quite pleased when all the women Nina, Cindy and Dotty instantly like each other and there were no women that were a jealous bitch, then Regina turned up. So typical. Also, it was hardly surprising that Rick, Nina's ex would have a role to play in this book.

So all and all, the humor was great, the character likable, the romance kind of OK despites its obvious pairing, but the story a bit weak. I was just never worried that something would happen to the main characters and the ending was just not that thrilling. One thing I liked was that is a stand alone paranormal book and not part of a series. There are so many series out there that it's nice with a book that isn't planned to be part of a series. As far as I know at least...

Thanks to Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!