• Better Haunts and Garden Gnomes: A Cozy Paranormal Mystery

  • A Happily Everlasting World Novel: (Un)Lucky Valley, Book 1
  • By: Michelle M. Pillow
  • Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
  • Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (342 ratings)

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Better Haunts and Garden Gnomes: A Cozy Paranormal Mystery  By  cover art

Better Haunts and Garden Gnomes: A Cozy Paranormal Mystery

By: Michelle M. Pillow
Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
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Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Michelle M. Pillow comes a cozy paranormal mystery full of mischief, magic, and gnomes—and brimming with romantic possibilities.

Some people just have all the luck. And then there are people like Lily Goode. Abandoned at a young age, Lily and her brother, Dante, have never had it easy. So when Lily learns she has inherited an old house her estranged mother left behind, she thinks it could be the opportunity to make a fresh start. But she quickly learns that things aren't exactly what they seem in Lucky Valley. The mysterious accidents and strange hallucinations have Lily wondering: Has her luck run out—or simply taken an otherworldly turn? Gifted, prolific performer B.J. Harrison brings the perfect blend of suspense and charm to Lily's tale.

©2019 The Raven Books LLC (P)2018 The Raven Books LLC

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  • The Savage King: A Dragon Lords Story
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Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Michelle M. Pillow comes a cozy paranormal mystery full of mischief, magic, and gnomes—and brimming with romantic possibilities.

Some people just have all the luck. And then there are people like Lily Goode. Abandoned at a young age, Lily and her brother, Dante, have never had it easy. So when Lily learns she has inherited an old house her estranged mother left behind, she thinks it could be the opportunity to make a fresh start. But she quickly learns that things aren't exactly what they seem in Lucky Valley. The mysterious accidents and strange hallucinations have Lily wondering: Has her luck run out—or simply taken an otherworldly turn? Gifted, prolific performer B.J. Harrison brings the perfect blend of suspense and charm to Lily's tale.

©2019 The Raven Books LLC (P)2018 The Raven Books LLC
.

About the Author

Michelle M. Pillow is an award-winning romance novelist and best-selling author whose recipe for success includes a dash of romance with a pinch of cozy, combining genres of mystery, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, shifter romance, comedy, and vampire lit. With a penchant for coffee and adventure, she's penned more than 100 books—and counting. Expect to hear even more from this versatile and prolific writer.

About the Performer

B.J. Harrison doesn't limit himself to narrating a particular genre or author. With more than 300 audiobooks to his credit, this accomplished and veteran performer has voiced everything from paranormal romances to American classics.

What listeners say about Better Haunts and Garden Gnomes: A Cozy Paranormal Mystery

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I loved it!

I enjoy listening to it and I can't wait until the next book to come out. The book reminds me of Kristen Painter style of writing, so if you love her writings you'll love this book.

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5 people found this helpful

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Terrible book!!

Stupid. Worst I have listened to in a very long time. Not even good enough for a pre-teen. I love paranormal and cozies for this was a terrible example of both. I did not like it and definitely would NOT recommend it.

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Listener received this title free

QUIRKY, PARANORMAL, COZY MYSTERY, ROMANCE

BETTER HAUNTS AND GARDEN GNOMES is the first book in the (Un)Lucky Valley series. I believe you’ll need to read them in the order of release.

Perfectly quirky, paranormal, cozy mystery romance. This is fun and entertaining with a cast of characters with an amazing array of powers. I thought it was a great start to this new series, and there were tons of belly laughs.

Narration: B.J. Harrison does a beautiful job of providing the voices for the different characters – I especially loved Aunt Polly.

Note: While I received this book as a gifted audiobook copy via Audio BookCrave, my opinions are my own and are given freely.


Title: BETTER HAUNTS AND GARDEN GNOMES
Series: (Un)Lucky Valley #1
A Happily Everlasting World
Category /Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers, Cozy Mysteries
Recommended for: 16+ due to mature matters
Listenability: OK for ears
Received from: Michelle M. Pillow (as an Audible gifted copy)

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Listener received this title free

Enjoyable cozy mystery

Lilly and Dante find themselves in Lucky Valley after discovering that their mother Marigold Goode had property there. The arrive in Lucky Valley where the find themselves in situations they normally wouldn’t be in. In a flurry their eccentric Aunt Polly settles in with them and I think that a lot of laughable moments happen around Aunt Polly. She’s a quirky witch and she is just fun! This is a fun read with a cozy mystery and a slow burn romance. I truly enjoyed listening, and laughing at the mess that Lilly, and Dante are in. The narrator B. J. Harrison is fantastic. His voice is distinctive and I enjoyed his tone for all of the characters be portrayed.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Quirky witches, shifters, ghosts, & gnomes, oh my!

B.J. Harrison does a good job narrating & brings to life this clean, fun romp, starring foster-raised young adults, Lilly & Dante Goode. They have travelled to a small town in Lucky Valley, Colorado to investigate an inheritance from their estranged mother, Marigold Goode. Separated from her for over 15 years, and not truly wanting anything from her, what Lilly finds herself inheriting is a dilapidated mansion/ex-boardinghouse in desperate need of costly repairs, surrounded by garden gnomes. In waltzes "Aunt" Polly, an eccentric, flamboyantly-dressed, cauldron of bubbly personality & magic. Polly is thrilled they are there, & inserts herself right in the middle of their new dilemma, spouting gibberish-sounding magic spells and cryptic history. The local city code inspector/enforcer is a wolf shifter with a secret task, a stack of violations to fix... and eyes for Lilly. The townsfolk want them gone, asap! Lucky Valley turns into (UN)Lucky Valley the instant the Goodes arrive, and all make their fear & displeasure known, for Lilly & Dante have powers, though they are just discovering this themselves... hilarious misfires & all. Lilly is bound and determined to make this place her & her siblings new home, if they can get the gnomes & ghosts to behave... since they are quite mischievous! Throw in the slow-burn romance along the way, & this makes for a wacky tale, and a fun series starter.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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interesting

Aunt Polly is a rare gem and a great core character to the story and I wanted more of her.
Humorous intriguing, entertaining, and fast paced storyline. Ghosts, gnomes, shifters , and magic are fun and entertaining. Old biases make it difficult to be a Goode and get a fair shake. Enjoyed it. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a good job.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Entertaining....

A little dragged out at times but still kinda fun. Loved the characters: Lily, Nolan, Dante, and especially Polly, she was so crazy.

A G-rated read.

As always B.J. Harrison was great.

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Delightful

A cozy mystery to make your day brighter. Will there be romance in the air for Lily and Dante? You get caught up in the story with the help of the Narrator.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Welcome to WitchWay

Cute and entertaining.Un-Lucky Valley has all the fun. Werewolves,witches,ghosts,etc...plus an ever expanding gnome colony the tend to be in the strangest places at the most in opportune times.A pet lobster and a crazy aunt Polly,never a dull moment.The narration was great,he was capable of doing all characters voices wonderfully.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Hit and Miss

This was my first story with Michelle M. Pillow. There was a mixed bag of things I liked and weren't as fond of but overall a solid supernatural cozy mystery. It was an easy enough listen with some interesting flavor but I found myself much more interested in the secondary characters of the crazy Aunt Polly and her Gnomes, which I frankly wanted more of and less of the main character. The concept of the overall theme that the Goode family is somehow cursed with bad luck making the whole town dislike the family and any descendants while interesting creates some problems in and of itself. When main characters have too many antagonists and hardly any allies it feels hard to continue or feel an investment in developing the characters there. The curse on Lilly is so virulent at times it makes it almost unbelievable that a character who is already established as a drifter would want to stay in what appears to be a hugely inhospitable environment. I craved more details and explanation surrounding the developing magic and understanding of Lily and her brother Dante's abilities but it was more passing information. Again I have listened to much worse, and there were things I loved as I mentioned above, but I could also see where the story could have been pushed to the next level. I think that speaks to some seeds that the author has planted, but I think I was also struck by how many characters have the archetypal chip on their shoulder and aren't very invested that the audience themselves can start to feel confused about investing in the characters and story. I always love the narrator B.J. Harrison but with the large cast of characters in the story I noticed some of his female voices being recycled for different characters. Overall I think this is a promising start and I am interested to see if further development of characters and town will occur in the next installment.

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