The House With the Haunted Heart

by Amy Crook

The House: A gently decaying Victorian with a well-deserved reputation for being haunted. On its fifth foreclosure after previous owners abandoned it.

The Homeowner: Aaron Calveley, recently escaped from Silicon Valley and working remotely at his programming job. A gay, half-Asian horror nerd with a reasonably popular gaming stream. Single, and hoping to fix that through the power of online dating.

What exactly is haunting the house, and what does it want with its latest buyer? Will Aaron ever have a good date, let alone find a boyfriend? Is the East Bay worth it?

Hopefully the pizza delivery driver learns to find Aaron before the ghost does.

Tags: low-stakes haunting, m/m/m-ish (house) romance, open door spice, everyday magic, mild creepiness, major fluff

Genres: M M Romance, Queer, Supernatural

279 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 31, 2025

About the author

Amy Crook has passed straight from maiden to crone; her final form will be a cryptid that lurks in the liminal spaces, joining all the cats who reside there. They will become her feral army of spoilt, self-serving fluff beasts. Amy is aro/ace, uses she/they, and prefers textual communication. She has made friends with the house ghosts in upstate NY, and the old monster under the bed came along on the move and still holds hands with her at night.

She specializes in writing magical worlds, boys in love, delicious meals, adult communication, and happy endings. She also paints cats, crows, and other small, strange wonders. You can find more about Amy, her artwork, and her eight cats at her website.

Reviews

[Drache.... (Angelika) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 stars
This magical fantasy was a bit mediocre, bland and boring. I didn't really feel the connection and chemistry between the MCs Aaron and Caleb (and the house).

With how often the MCs "giggled" and "teasingly" said something, I had a hard time picturing them as the adults they were (giggling and teasing were used around 100 times after they met).

The D/s talks felt out of place for me, especially that they needed to explain kinks to the house, lol.

The idea behind the story, a sentient house that somehow becomes first a friend to Aaron and then a kinda-third in their relationship was strange yes, but interesting, too.

Yay to the diverse cast (that's the only reason why I rounded up).

A heads-up: both Aaron and Caleb still go on dates with other people after they meet and kiss, they talk about it openly. After their third date (and sex) they decide together to cancel the dates they both had lined up with other people.

I skipped through the last third of the book, because it couldn't hold my interest. Getting to know the family, learning more magic, caring for their cats, always giggling, it all was just boring to me.

[isthisakink · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5. One of the rare times that picking something off the suggestions lists because of the cover worked out for me. This was adorable and fun and perfectly fluffy.

*I came back now that my brain is fully online to mention that I loved that this book contained an entire fucking story. Not just from when the human MCs meet, but from the time Aaron moves into the house. You get to see him build a life, failures and triumphs alike. It was so nice and a fun change from what you typically get. It was about so much more than their relationship, and the house was such an interesting addition to everything, especially when you get more deets on the whole situation. It was fun.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet quick read

A fun slice of life story about life in a haunted house when the haunted house wants to be a friend. Character based with a gentle plot featuring kittens and magic.

[Lois - Who Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting a standard haunted house book and that is not what I got. Instead, I got a pretty funny story of two young men falling in love, with the odd house as a third character. This was a fun read full of oddly wonderful people and how a Victorian house brings them all together.

[Brenda Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet!

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this story, the way their personalities meshed and intertwined. No angst, no high drama, just a sweet, cozy haunted house tale.

[Kandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really a plot

I really had a hard time rating this book. It just starts with Aaron in a house, that's possibly haunted, and we have no idea how he got to this moment. It really felt like a chapter or two was missing from the beginning. Then he just carries on with his life, and everything went pretty much seamlessly. There was no conflict/resolution. I kind of struggled to be honest, I have never read a book like this before. It was kind of nice that there wasn't any silly issues that could be resolved if characters just had a conversation, so that was lovely. It was well written. There wasn't much explanation of the world this book is set in. Is magic apart of the world as just a normal part of it? The reason the house may/may not be haunted was new and interesting, but not really explored/explained. Again, not a bad story, not a great story. I still kind of feel like i just read the middle of a story. Even at one point Aaron says something about so much good happening he's waiting for the other shoe to drop, but no shoe. Also, a potential mentor/teacher was introduced that seemed like it might be the start of a conflict/issue, but nothing came of that. Then something was said about Caleb's roommate situation being a potential problem, so they should move his cats sooner rather than later, but again nothing happened with that.
This was my first book by this author, and if all their books are in this style, it just might not be for me.

[Sarah☀️ Somerville · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea behind this book, and I loved about the first half - it was adorable and fun.

The second half was more about Aaron learning magic, and it was not particularly interesting. There were no conflicts or challenges.

(The M/M/house romance was oddly hot - in the first half. Then it was just sweet, and drat, so much more could have been done with it.)

[Miriam]

My lasting impression is that nothing happened in this book. Which is of course objectively untrue.

Believe the blurb when it tells you "heaps of fluff".

[Robbin Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

first book from this author.
good book, like the main characters. The concept of the house was a little strange, but I did enjoy this book

[Bookbeard · Rating 4 out of 5]

story line: ***
main characters: *****
side characters: ****
world building: *****
editing: *****
The story was a bit slow in the second half, but great world building

[... · Rating 4 out of 5]

🥰🥰🥰

[MyDoRyS · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting until 30%. Then they are all over each other talking about a future together....but they continue going on other dates.....WTH? It just turned into weirdness. It's not awful but not good, either. I don't like how Caleb is constantly saying the house is his and have Aaron pay for almost everything, he is basically a "handsome" loser munching off his family and Aaron. I don't find him attractive at all, personality-wise. I do not appreciate when he refers to his partner as being "ok" or "good enough" when the loser in the relationship is him, the Asian MC is pretty successful and deservers someone who actually acknowledges that. The book is also full of stereotypes, which is borderline homophobic rather than being LGBTQA+ supportive. Onto my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!