dial romance – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary / Paranormal Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Lyla Sage
Publisher: Dial Press
Release Date: September 30th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Home is where the heart is—and this one is haunted.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Rebel Blue Ranch series returns with a brand-new story, featuring a small-town upholsterer in need of a fresh start, a photographer whose life has come to a screeching halt . . . and the supernatural forces that bring them together.

Collins Cartwright does not want to go home. Sweetwater Peak, Wyoming, was supposed to be in her rearview mirror, but when she finds out a developer is trying to buy her parents’ antique shop out from under them, she doesn’t have a choice—at least, that’s what she tells her family. They don’t need to know she’s lost her job and is out of money. Or that the ghosts that have always been her companions have recently gone silent.

But just because she’s returned home doesn’t mean she has to stay with her parents or crash on her twin sister’s couch. Lucky for her, the new-to-town upholsterer has a room for rent above his store. Unluckily, it is absolutely crawling with more ghosts who are freezing her out. And Collins hates being ignored.

Brady Cooper is absolutely and totally fine. Seriously, there’s no secret reason why he decided to uproot his life and suddenly move to Sweetwater Peak. He just needed a change of pace. At least, that’s what he tells himself. And everyone else.

When he agrees to let the elusive Collins Cartwright stay in his spare room, he doesn’t know that she’s absolutely bonkers—constantly talking to herself and having conversations with no one—or that she looked like that. But as they begin to get closer, the lines between them start to blur, leaving both of them—and the ghosts that have been pushing them together—wondering whether or not their temporary arrangement could be something more permanent.

KIND OF A LET DOWN.

I’m a big fan of Lyla Sage’s cowboy romances and I’ve been looking forward to this book. Buuut, I don’t know y’all, it was missing something.

The audiobook was DUET though so I still highly recommend that format if you want to try it!! I love duet narration and that was great.

Overall, I just never FELT the romantic chemistry between Collins and Brady. Maybe a few scenes in the second half but all together? Meh. It’s a pretty good slow burn and doesn’t sprint to the spice which I do appreciate.

All of the paranormal moments were woven in well? But yet? Once again, I wasn’t charmed. I’m not always charmed by paranormal romances and this fell into that category. I’ll try the next book to see if the future installments work better.

Overall audience notes: