Haunt the Mall

Love at Westbrook Mall #1

by Annelise Amore

I would do anything not to miss out on the biggest horror movie of the season.

And I do mean anything. Right down to getting on my knees for the hot, mysterious theater manager and ruining my fishnets and black lipstick with some vigorous begging when I get caught sneaking into a movie without a ticket.

Victor, however, has other ideas. Instead of taking me up on my offer, he locks me into an Two months of movie dates. With him.

Two months of sitting in the dark, with his hand on my thigh, my heart racing as I wonder if he’s about to kiss me… or sink his teeth into me. And I can’t decide which one I want more.

By the time my 'punishment' ends and the credits roll, I’ll know if I successfully bewitched the phantom of Westbrook Mall…

Or if I’ll have to accept that his feelings for me might be even less real than the horrors we witnessed onscreen.

Genres: Romance, Fiction

275 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2024

About the author

Annelise Amore is a romance writer in the Midwest US, where she eats enough cheese it probably seeps into her stories. When she’s not wrapped up in rom-coms, she can be found gaming, wandering gardens, and analyzing pop culture snuggled in the safety of her husband’s arms or a bundle of fuzzy blankets.

Rumor has it, if you give her tea and sweets, she starts wiggling with glee. She’s the author of the Love at Westbrook Mall contemporary romance series, inspired by her time working in various retail and theater endeavors.

Reviews

[Bookish Venturess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good

Oh my gosh this was such an entertaining book. The characters were funny and interesting. The book was spicy. It was also a great easy read to get you into the spooky season.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, LOVE this book!
The perfect start to spooky season. I was privileged to be given an ARC, and I blazed through it like the heat between these characters.
The movie references and cinema setting were great. I will never look at Screen 13 in my own local cinema the same! IYKYK.
Kat is a feisty, sexy FMC that I found very endearing as I got to know her better.
Victor is an absolutely delectable MMC. A sensual, mysterious gentleman that gave me goosebumps.
I was kicking and screaming when the tension reached fever pitch!
Cannot wait for the next instalment in this series!

[Charlene (pageandplace) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting more of a ghost story but this is definitely a romance at heart. Kat and Victor both work at the mall and share a love of movies.
Victor gives Kat the VIP treatment as she quenches her horror movie thirsts and let’s just say theater 13 is steamy off screen too!🍿

This a perfect, short read for the beginning of spooky season. 🕷️ I’m caught between this could have been shorter and I wish it were longer and some aspects played out longer. I’ll be back for Zero’s story Mod the Mall!
Haunt The Mall will be out September 1, 2024.

Thank you to the author, Annelise Amore for the opportunity to read this book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Emma Ras Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨ARC review✨ I was lucky enough to get this book as an arc, and I couldn’t be more thankful. I’ve been in SUCH a fall mood recently, and this was the perfect cozy, spook romance to curl up with. Kat and Victor are just the cutest, and while this is a rom-com, it did manage to tackle some darker things, quite well I’d say. This book had some great one-liners and proved to me that I can, in fact, read e-books! Love love love and 100% recommend 😈🖤

[Violet Midnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

🌟ARC Review🌟

Haunt the Mall by Annelise Amore
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Tropes:
🔥Workplace Romance
🔥Lust at First Sight
🔥Final Girl Energy
🔥Touch Her and 💀
🔥Halloween Season

Haunt the Mall was the perfect book to start the Halloween season! I sat down with this book, put on an Autumn coffee shop sounds and jazz YouTube video, enjoyed a cup of coffee, and just vibed!

Kat and Victor both work at the mall and love horror movies. He works at the movie theater and meet when she goes to see the biggest horror movie of the season. Kat is hit hard with some instalust like she's Sabrina Carpenter. *Maybe it's all in my head but I bеt we'd have really good bеd chem*

The quote that made me go aww: "I'll be right back." "Really?" I arched my eyebrow. "People in horror movies don't usually survive that sentence." He smirked over his shoulder. "Good thing we're in a romance."

This was a fun quick read and great for horror movie and Halloween lovers!

Thank you Annelise Amore for sending me this ARC!

[Megan Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I begin with this book, it’s been one of my absolute favorite reads so far this year! I love spicy books, Halloween and everything related to Halloween 🎃 so I was super pumped when I read the blurb and just had to read it. For some reason Kat reminds me of Mavis from Hotel Transylvania and I love it so much, because I absolutely love Mavis too. I love the storyline minus (‼️ spoiler alert‼️) Sam being a stalker, they didn’t talk much about him throughout the book and I felt like there really wasn’t any need for his role in this book. But that definitely didn’t stop me from loving this love story between Kat and Victor and all the feels of fall/Halloween 🎃👻 Annelise you are an absolute brilliant writer and I can’t wait to read your next book 🧡🖤

[Devon Conaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

*ARC REVIEW*

i will be making it a tradition to read this book every spooky season from now on. it had just enough spice, the perfect amount of spookiness, and the perfect ending. our mystery man turned spider man irritated me about 3/4ths of the way through the book, but once he finally opened up, i fell in love with him again. i absolutely ADORED our female main character and loved that she didn’t take any shit from anyone.

super quick read, perfect for spooky season

read if you like:
-banter
-workplace romance
-spooky season romance
-protective hero
-boy obsessed
-lust at first sight
-horror buff fmc
-snarky, subtle prankster mmc
-final girl energy
-love bites

4.5⭐️ (rounded up for goodreads)
1.5🌶️

*first in a series, second book coming soon😊
**available on Kindle Unlimited**

[Karina Serrano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.
It was the perff read for Halloween 👻
I loved the movie references in the book & how Kat & Victor had a lot in common.
I’m not going to lie I thought the widow was real and she was eating people🤭🤣
I also loved how mysterious Victor was, all honesty I thought he was some supernatural being 🤷🏻‍♀️😅
That Bree character got on my nerves when she was mentioned and when she finally got what she deserved at the end I was like yesss finally!!💀😂
This book had spice and lots of tension between the two at some point I was like can they just hook up and get it over with already??!! GEEZZZZ🫠🤣🤣
Def recommend this book 🫶🏻

[Chloe Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely adorable!!! I loved this book. So perfect for a Halloween read. Kat was one of my fave FMC as she was relatable on an entirely different level…….same amount of over thinking that I do on a daily basis LMAO also the movie references were fantastic. Also as a former retail worker (and manager………….and manager at a Hot Topic company store…..) I feel like this healed something in me from my retail days. <3 Victor is a precious lil gentleman and I just adored him.

AND MASSIVE SHOUT OUT TO THE REAL STAR OF THE BOOK, JINX. WHERE’S JINX’S SPIN OFF 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Nicole Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review (3.5): I really liked the tension and chemistry between Victor and Kat right from the beginning, and I loved the backdrop of the mall at Halloween. I did feel like the story was a little choppy at times, like I was missing something, and I felt like I was left hanging without a resolution with Jen. None of that kept this from being a quick engaging read though. I would continue with the series for sure!

[Lyndsay King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and how it all started out as a crush. I loved the little ways Kat managed to get her ‘Spider-Man’ fix.
It was a cute story with some spice with a bit of suspense thrown in too.
Did I completely miss the part of why Kat didn’t get on with her other sister and why she was such an ogre?
I love the book cover for this book and will miss seeing it on my kindle screen.
Great start to Autumn and the run up to the spooky season.

[Angela Batchelor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last half of this book was great. When the FMC started to really lean into her position at work and got to know the MMC as more than a piece of meat, it was a really cute story. I really enjoyed learning more about the characters and having a chemistry that was beyond the physical. The first half, however, just seemed to be adolescent. And maybe that's really how the characters are supposed to be (I'm assuming they were in their young 20s). It just grated on me a bit.

[Jesslynxreay · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful, feel good story! I absolutely loved the characters, and quite frankly it’s refreshing to read a single point of view novel. I like the writing style, it’s cute and entertaining. The chemistry and banter between the main characters is fantastic. Really enjoyed this book. Grateful to arc read this, leaving a review of my own volition.

[Kristy Finto · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, just not really my cup of tea. It was a bit cringey at times and there was more sexual encounters than anything (don't get me wrong, I do love my smut but it was a bit much). I probably should have dnfed it, but the story and the secrets intrigued me enough to continue. I did really love the ending and the spooky vibes in here were immaculate.

[Amelia Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally was hunting for suggestions for my sister, but bought it for myself because i thought "what the hell. I should live a little too!"

This book was so good!! The characters were so real and relatable, and they worked so well...And the Spice...Victor's silent asking for consent......*sweats*

I need to get the rest and I HOPE there are cameos throughout the series...

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and cute read. It's a cute story about two people who work in a mall and fall in love. Their sexual chemistry is immediate. The book didn't go where I thought it was going but it was still a sweet and spicy read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Shyanne Blankenship · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an arc of this and I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I was expecting a silly goofy fun read. And although it was all of those things, it also had some serious and thriller storylines thrown in.

It was an easy and quick read that I’m sure would be even better around Halloween considering all the horror movie and haunted attraction mentions. It was cute and it was fun. It’ll have you laughing and on the edge of your seat. Plus Vic and Kat are frickin adorable

[caffeinatedbigbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and fast read. Light hearted romance around horror movies. It wasn’t exactly my type of book but I did enjoy it. The characters could have been more developed but for a short read it was good.

[Keita Brizuela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the sweet ending and love a good spooky inspired story in the fall! However, I definitely felt as if the story was cringy in many sections. This book wasn’t for me despite how much I wanted to love it 😭

[Erin Saulpaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute and fun. I found myself giggling throughout the whole book. It's a fun quick read with some banter between the characters. I ate this book up. Perfect add for your Oct. TBR or fall TBR. I see myself reading this book again

[Teddi Edge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just really loved this book. It had all the spookiness and cuteness a romance for fall needs. Fun laugh out loud quick read that is just throughly entertaining. One of my favorite reads so far this year. Add to your TBR ASAP especially for Halloween season!!!

[Esmee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het was opzich wel oke. Beetje teleurstellend. Geen hoogtepunten ofzo. En te snel afgerond. Het was allemaal maar een beetje half. Dat van haar oudere zus is nog steeds niet goed, opeens zomaar een 'stalker', wat is er met die slechte werknemer gebeurd? En is hij zich echt meer gaan openstellen?

[LaRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was definitely a different type of book for me and I wasn't sure what to expect but I was so happy with the storyline and characters! Very good book!

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a cute story! The main characters had so much chemistry and their banter was enjoyable to read. I will say that the synopsis is a little misleading, but don't let that deter you from picking this up. I binged it in about two days, that's how good it was. I'm very excited for the future books in this series.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I delved into "Haunt the Mall" without reading the synopsis, expecting a monster romance. Instead, I found myself immersed in a tale of workplace love. It’s a story about two people working at the mall and the movies who gradually fall in love.

The characters are intriguing, though I found myself wishing for more details about their ages. It wasn’t touched on, and left me guessing (mid-to-older twenties, perhaps?) The single first-person POV isn't usually my favorite.

One moment that made me laugh out loud was when the protagonist says, “it was soft, unlike his dick.” Confused is an understatement—it was my fault for expecting a monster romance. Despite my initial confusion, I found the story interesting and entertaining.

The plot had potential for dark twists, but it took a lighter turn instead. Annelise Amore weaves an engaging story. However, I still feel it could have been a novella rather than a full-length novel.