After her husband is killed by a drunk driver, Kelly Harris and her son TJ move into a sprawling Victorian house in Ohio that her husband inherited from his grandmother. Dealing with her overwhelming grief is a struggle as she adjusts to life in a small town. And, just as she’s beginning to feel more comfortable, life takes another unexpected turn.
The Alexa unit in her son’s bedroom starts to cry, and a little girl’s voice comes out of it asking for help.
At first Kelly is unnerved by the presence of the voice. After ruling out all the other likely possibilities, she begins to put the pieces together, and suspects the girl is a ghost. Unwilling to be uprooted from another home, she decides to find out what the child wants. Maybe she can help.
Kelly isn’t the only one interested in the voice. Detective Rob Porter is investigating the disappearance of a child named Marilee. As the two cross paths, Porter is taken aback when Kelly’s ghost mentions Marilee’s name. In fact, the ghost says “Marilee’s with me.”
Whether that means the child is a ghost as well is a question Rob and Kelly hope to answer.
Pam started writing later in life when an author friend challenged her to create a book from his story idea. Being a never-say-never person, she met the challenge and managed to finish an entire novel, much to her surprise. Since that beginning, she's written several books, in several genres. Romance, middle grade and paranormal comprise most of her work. Pam has spent over forty years working as a legal secretary at a law firm in Orange County, California. Aside from writing, she likes to follow the stock market, buying, selling and trading stocks and options. Maybe in sharp contrast to that (or perhaps it's related), she loves Las Vegas where she can spend many happy hours at the Pai Gow tables. She shares a condo with her My Cat From Hell TV star, Allie, who manages to exude just enough affection to make her scary feral ways tolerable.
After the death of her husband Tom, Kelly and her son TJ move to Ohio, to a house Tom inherited from his grandmother. They slowly start settling in and making new friends, getting to know the town and it's people. Then one night TJ's Alexa unit starts crying. Stunned Kelly and TJ listen to the tale of a young girl, who claims her friend Marilee needs help. The thing is Marilee has been reported missing. With the help of local detective Rob, Kelly has to try to figure out where Marilee is, and the only clue they have is a disembodied voice coming through the Alexa unit.
While I did enjoy this book, it was never as creepy as it probably could have been. The old house setting and ghost child could have made a far more chilling tale than it was. Plus Kelly's attitude towards Rob for the entire book became annoying. Yes, it was understandable at first, meeting someone so soon after the death of her husband, however it kept being brought up again and again...and again, and it became tedious. So yes I did like this book, but I didn't love it.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I received an advance copy of this book from net galley and the publisher in return for an honest review. Release date for this book is 15 May 2020
This is an okay book - I just couldn’t get that into it. The storyline just really didn’t hold any appeal to me. The book didn’t flow really well for me and I found it to be a bit dry. It wasn’t the worst book I’ve read but not the best either.
'Under The Willows' by Pamela McCord is the story of a young mother, Kelly, who is dealing with the loss of her husband and starting a new life with her son TJ. She decides to move them into a house that her late husband inherited. Once there some strange things start to happen centered around their Alexa Dot.
This book has a crime-mystery vibe to it, with a touch of the supernatural. The whole premise is you get to see Kelly dealing with the grief and loss of her husband and possible new love interest, all at the same time she and her son TJ are trying to figure out what is going on with this Alexa Dot. This Alexa Dot takes center stage in this story.
I loved supernatural stories. That is why I was very drawn to this at the beginning. But I think this book failed in developing an interesting paranormal storyline and interesting character set. It struggled a lot to build an atmosphere that is normally used in these kinds of suspense, paranormal stories.
There was just a lot of filler. A number of times a series of events would happen to Kelly and we watch them happen, but then she would sit and explain those same series of events to different characters and it felt very much unnecessary. So it starts to feel like this story was longer than it should have been. I don't need to know all of the minute details. And the way some of these things were described felt very underdeveloped. Almost like this was the first pass and it could have used further refinement.
At the same time, time didn't seem to have real weight. Things seemed to move very, very quickly. Especially for the fact that this is a recent widow who is dealing with raising her son, on her own, for the very first time. And yet we have this love interest that starts to take center stage. And the loss of her husband doesn't seem as big of a deal anymore even though it is directly after those events that they move into this house. And TJ himself doesn't seem to feel a lot of that loss for his father. He readily accepts a bunch of new characters into his life without really having any repercussions or emotional stress because of it.
Then it started to feel like ghosts are a parlor trick. Even though the whole main point of the story was that these ghosts have an integral part in everything that was going on, they became a novelty. They are this trick being shown off to various different characters, trying to get all of this explained. And because of this, the paranormal aspect started to lose some of its seriousness.
There was another whole part of the story that was added in and really didn't have a point to it. There was this whole secondary crisis or plotline going on that didn't help the main plot. It felt like an afterthought or something that was thrown in there to try and throw you off. But it wasn't filled out enough to actually accomplish anything.
It wasn't a bad story by any means. I just feel like it could have been revised a little bit, pared-down a little bit, and then beefed up in other areas to really give it some weight.
This was a lovely story. It really pulled on your heartstrings. I really felt for Kelly with her emotions after losing her husband and moving with her son TJ. The grief felt very real. I loved the relationships between Kelly and Rob and how the relationship developed. This story has ghosts but it wasnt scary at all and was very emotional. It really pulled at my heart strings and brought tears to my eyes. I really liked that the story ended all wrapped up in a bow (quite literally ;)).
Kelly and her son TJ move into her husband’s grandmother’s house after he passes away. TJ has an Alexa unit in his room and he hears a little girl crying and asking for help. The girl talking through the unit identifies herself as Emma and she tells Kelly and TJ about a little girl named Marilee who is with her. It turns out that Marilee has been missing for a few weeks. Kelly is extremely worried about the little girl and investigates the case, along with a detective named Rob, who she recently became acquainted with. This is a great little ghost story for people who enjoy a bit of the supernatural in their fiction. The end is satisfying and ties up the story nicely. I found the story to be sweet and sentimental, and it plays on your feelings. This is not a scary story but rather an emotional one. I recommend it for people looking for a relaxing read and a feel good ending. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader’s copy so that I could review it.
Acquired Kindle edition when offered free on Amazon.
An entertaining romantic suspense story. Strong point was the MC's emotional turmoil following the death of her husband. The ghostly element was well integrated so that everything hung together well, except for the lawsuit over the inheritance. That particular subplot never impacted the rest of the story; should either have been done away with or made more important.
Writing was clean, with only a couple little typos too minor to mention.
read for book club. not my genre of choice so that didn’t help matters but I thought the writing was poor and the story was uninteresting. I think there was supposed to be some mystery here? but there were no clues only just ghost children telling the adults all the information they needed. also I’m the biggest wimp on the planet when it comes to scary stuff and this didn’t even get close to spooky
I found this to be an okay book - I just couldn’t get into it. The storyline didn’t hold my attention. The book didn’t flow really well for me, the writing style is dry and choppy.
After the recent death of her husband, Kelly moves to a different town with her son and soon after is contacted by a little girl asking for help through the Amazon Echo Dot. This was a unique plot and I enjoyed reading it but I had hoped that the storyline would be a bit more creepy/frightening. We aren't given much, if any, background information on the killer and the girls, how it happened or what his motive was in the first place. Due to this and the storyline mostly touching on the main character's romantic life, I would classify this one as a "cozy mystery". A good, quick read.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book for my honest review.
I absolutely loved this book. The storyline was so unique that I told many friends about it. I loved the story...it just flowed page after page. This is definitely a 5 star and then some for me.
After a tragic car accident, Kelly lost her husband. She decides to settle down with her young son - T.J - in a family house that her husband inherited from an aunt before his death. While a missing kid in this new town occupied the background, they gonna have to find a way to keep living their lives and welcome new faces.
The story is a mix of missing child - grieving a loved one while keep going and some romance.
Kelly found it difficult to think ahead and allow herself to keep having a life or to start a new one ... which is perfectly understandable. FOR ME it became too much to take or should say - irritating - when she's spending most of her time in this story between accepting her feelings and attraction for this new man - Rob - and at the same time forbidden it because of her fresh grief. When it's happening every two seconds it's starting to lose my interest. The author wanted to use the 'voice of a ghost' to help the search of the missing kid BUT explaining how it's get connected to their Alexa Dot in order to communicate with them would have been nice otherwise, it's just convenient!! There was no use at bringing an element of contesting the inheritance by a cousin since that character is never in the picture what so ever. It may be a possible way by doing so to misdirect the reader but it really doesn't do the trick. Kids can react a bit strangely when facing drama about a loved one but here, T.J who expressed missing his father a lot has no problem welcoming whole heartedly this new man into their house - knowing quite well what is going on between the two adults (feelings wise). No justified anger by accusing his mother of replacing his father way too quickly since it's only been a handful of months (maybe even less). A bit difficult to believe. And finally, guessing who's the villain in this kidnapping story was super easy (and it will be for anyone) so, there was no surprise at the end. A very poor choice in the placement of the different elements for the building of the story.
I would say that Under the willows is for you if you like romance books and if you want to try a bit of 'suspense'. It really didn't deliver for me.
Fast-moving and hard to put down, this is a gentle ghost story with a brave ghost child who will break your heart. A recent widow, Kelly Harris, and her son TJ move to an old Victorian house left to her late husband Tom by his grandmother. Heartbroken because she expected to live in the house with TJ and Tom, Kelly deals with her grief, and soon has something completely different to deal with when eerie crying and an unsettling voice come from the Alexa unit in TJ’s room. The voice belongs to Emma, and she has a message for them involving a missing child named Marilee. With Emma’s help, Kelly, TJ and Rob Porter, a detective investigating the kidnapping, race against time to save Marilee’s life before it’s too late.
This story is less scary than it is emotional, combining the paranormal, a kidnapping, a desperate search…and romance. It’s a great story if you enjoy a little bit of the supernatural in your fiction.
A thoroughly enjoyable story. A recent widow and her young son move to a small town but into a large house. They settle in quickly because of the friendly people they meet who befriend them easily. Their house is big but not spooky old. However, her son TJ calls for her in the middle of the night claiming that his Dot is crying. Of course asking Alexa if she was crying leads to her usual answer that she does not understand that. The next time Mom hears it and thus begins an interesting and amusing tale of trying to find a missing girl using only the ghost’s voice as clues. Of course there is also a sweet strictly platonic love story blooming to add that little extra something to the story. It is truly a delightful read. Good character development and clear story lines. Give it a you’ll be happy you did.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback.
Rating: 4
This was a unique and enjoyable thriller. I enjoyed the twist of a ghost helping out in a mystery. The only problem I had with this book was I thought that the use of Alexa to communicate with the ghost was unnecessary. It was kind of hard to grasp at first, and I feel as though a ghost would be able to communicate without Alexa. I did think that the characters were well-rounded and the grief that the main character felt about her husband and questioning her feelings was genuine feeling.
I absolutely loved this book. Why someone would give it a 3 rating is beyond me. It's a paranormal book that I couldn't put down. I read it in one day. The young boy is absolutely adorable and had me laughing at his actions. His mother, the main character of the book was also a very likeable and believable person. I don't believe in ghosts and that doesn't matter because the plot just captures your attention, wanting know how it will turn out. You should love it and while you might not look at your Alexa the same way again you'll be rooting for the hero and heroine right to the end.
But a good one, not a scary one, although it starts out being a little scary. I mean, which one of us hasn’t thought from time to time that our Alexa was haunted? But when Kelly’s son TJ reports that the Alexa Dot in his room has been crying in the night, she’s scared, especially several nights later when a little girl’s voice says she’s Emma. It takes several weeks and the help of a hunky local cop to sort it all out. Telling any more than that would spoil the story…but the next time you think your Alexa might be haunted, you could just be right!
This was just okay. Took place in Marysville, OH and the fact that it mentioned there were only 2 postal workers for such a small town was hilarious. Marysville isn’t a huge metropolis but it’s not a tiny village! And I felt it started to get repetitive. They had pizza and coffee on every other page. I did like the concept of a ghost speaking through the Alexa Dot (makes me glad I don’t have one lol) but i think those were the only scenes I truly enjoyed.
I did not put this book down, until I finished it. I was left wishing for more. A story of a missing child, with a twist .. This book keeps one reading, I finished it at 2 am. I won't give anything away, I suggest you buy it, and begin your journey. If you shed a tear ... so did I.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book to review.
Under the Willows by Pamela McCord
Unfortunately, I did not care for this book. I could not get into it therefore never even finished it. Please remember this is only one person's opinion perhaps what I feel is boring someone else may find interesting. Sorry 2 stars for this novel.
Oh boy. This book...was not good. I wanted to like it. The hook was unlike any other ghost story hook I'd seen before, which gets it the 2nd star. Otherwise, it was predictable and generally unfulfilling. Skip it. I don't understand where all the 5 star reviews came from.
When I read the review before one orders the book I almost didn't order it so make sure you add more as this was the most incredible book I've read. I was there, I heard the voice, I old see the characters. The timing was good. I couldn't read fast enough. I hope the author does another like this one. I will be watching.
If you like ghost, mystery, murder and romance, I think you'll love this story. I love how she used new technology for a ghost to communicate through. There's also tearful moments that end in healing by the end of the book. The book isn't really deep but a great twist on a ghost tale. I highly recommend this book !
I enjoyed this book as a respite after reading heavier, fact based works of fiction. It was a fun semi-suspenseful story with just a bit of paranormal and romance thrown in.
A mix of several streams... grief over losing a spouse and moving to a new place, contact with spirits, and a missing child case. Waiting to search when you believe a child's life is on the line didn't really mean with the character's determination.
I really enjoyed this book..I loved it actually..It was a very different kind ghost of story..Beautifully written, sad, romantic, likable characters..It brought tears to my eyes at times..I will check out the author's other books..Bravo Pamela..Thank you for an excellent read..
I loved this book. The only thing is that there is not any more. I loved the characters and the story was great. Nice clean read. Loved it. Hope there will be more like it. Ghost Whisperer meets Alexa. Thanks for writing it.
I do. I hope you do too. Great book to read on the beach or anywhere really. I loved how the son accepted much more easily than the adults. I have Alexa but she is always turned off. Mistake?