Review of Better Homes and Hauntings by Molly Harper - 3*

Title: Better Home and Hauntings
Series: Standalone
Author: Molly Harper
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Rating: * * * 

Publishers: Pocket Books 

(June 24, 2014)

Paperback: 352 pages

ISBN: 978-1476706009

FTC Disclosure: ARC from Net Galley

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.

Got to admit, I picked this up to read solely because of my love of everything Molly Harper. Boy was I surprised and disappointed to find instead 

of the laugh out loud snarky humor that I was accustomed to from her Jane Jameson series to find instead a gothic murder mystery that reminded me so much of the type of books that I read in the 60’s and 70’s from authors like Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney that it kind of amazed me. Did you know that there is a Facebook account that has pictures of these old novels?  www.facebook.com/GothicRomancePaperbackNovels

Really, you should check it out if you read gothic romance back when.

I have to admit it was a well written ghost story with just the right amount of twisty  happenings to keep me reading to the end. Still can’t believe I read the whole thing so yea it did keep me hooked but it so was not what I expected. This definitely should have been published under a different nom de plume. That said --if you loved those type of books, you should read this one. But if you want the fabulous Molly Harper that has you laughing long after you put the book down, give this one a pass .