Connecting

Lily Dale #3

by Wendy Corsi Staub

Now that Calla has accepted her ability to communicate with the Other Side, she's desperate to connect with the one spirit whose energy she can't seem to feel her late mother. As ominous supernatural signs imply that the devastating loss might not have been an accident, Calla sets out to uncover the truth, convinced that a shadowy stranger may hold the key. But she gets more than she bargained for when she stumbles across a shocking secret about her mom's past―one that will change Calla's own future forever.

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Mystery, Fantasy, Ghosts, Teen, Romance

304 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 2008

About the author

New York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub is the award-winning author of more than ninety novels, best known for the single title psychological suspense novels she writes under her own name. Those books and the women’s fiction written under the pseudonym Wendy Markham have also appeared on the USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookscan bestseller lists.

Her current standalone suspense novel, THE OTHER FAMILY, is about a picture-perfect family that that moves into a picture-perfect house. But not everything is as it seems, and the page-turner concludes “with a wallop of a twist,” according to #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben.

Her critically acclaimed Lily Dale traditional mystery series centers around a widowed single mom—and skeptic—who moves to a town populated by spiritualists who talk to the dead. Titles include NINE LIVES; SOMETHING BURIED, SOMETHING BLUE; DEAD OF WINTER; and PROSE AND CONS, with a fifth book under contract.

Wendy has written five suspense trilogies for HarperCollins/William Morrow. The most recent, The Foundlings (LITTLE GIRL LOST, DEAD SILENCE, and THE BUTCHER’S DAUGHTER), spans fifty years in the life of a woman left as a newborn in a Harlem church, now an investigative genealogist helping others uncover their biological roots while still searching for her own.

Written as Wendy Markham, Wendy’s novel HELLO, IT’S ME was a recent Hallmark television movie starring Kellie Martin. Her short story “Cat Got Your Tongue” appeared in R.L. Stine’s MWA middle grade anthology SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN and her short story “The Elephant in the Room” is included in the Anthony Award-nominated inaugural anthology SHATTERING GLASS.

A three-time finalist for the Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, she’s won an RWA Rita Award, an RT Award for Career Achievement in Suspense, the 2007 RWA-NYC Golden Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement, and five WLA Washington Irving Prizes for Fiction.

She previously published a dozen adult suspense novels with Kensington Books and the critically-acclaimed young adult paranormal series “Lily Dale” (Walker/Bloomsbury). Earlier in her career, she published a broad range of genres under her own name and pseudonyms, and was a co-author/ghostwriter for several celebrities.

Raised in Dunkirk, NY, Wendy graduated from SUNY Fredonia and launched a publishing career in New York City. She was Associate Editor at Silhouette Books before selling her first novel in 1992. Married with two sons, she lives in the NYC suburbs. An active supporter of the American Cancer Society, she was a featured speaker at Northern Westchester’s 2015 Relay for Life and 2012 National Spokesperson for the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation. She has fostered for various animal rescue organizations.

Reviews

[Karolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this series

[shushan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Calla, a girl who's mother was mustered and who has psychic powers, struggles with some really cliché things (yet somehow manages to be an interesting character). Let me explain HOW cliché. First, she struggles with choosing between two guys (yes, and it's a love triangle). Actually, at the end, it turns into THREE guys. The third guy is the dude that dumped her through text. I don't understand her feelings whatsoever. Meanwhile, she tries to figure out how to control her psychic powers and use them for good, not bad. She tries to use them to figure out who murdered her mother.

There's so much I gotta say about this book. First of all, it was written just as amazingly as the previous two books. The only reason I gave it four starts and not five, is because it just is nowhere as good as Harry Potter. That's kinda just my standard for five star books. Anyway, back to the boom. Tons of suspense and foreshadowing going on. The romance though, not so good m, although I DID love it when Calla used her powers against them. Speaking of psychic powers, hers were just great. Since this town that the boon was placed in is an actual down with actual psychics, that just made everything so jug more cooler, and made me want to move to New York, where this town is located.

Sorry. This review was just all over the place, but I couldn't really get my thoughts together about this book. I promise next time I'll have a waaay more organized review for whatever book I read next.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am loving this series. Sad that I am fixing to start the last one! Wish there were more with Calla and friends!

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Calla, is still trying to get used to her ability. She experienced so much this year. Her boyfriend breaking up with her by text, her mom dying, going to live with her Gammy who lives in a spiritualist community then discovering she can see ghost and communicate with them. Only to find her first experience was to help find a dead girl and become the traget for the killer who she thwarted by finding his last victim before she died.

Not to mention to very hot guys she is learning to care about, however one has her heart more than the other and we finally get some satisfaction there....shhhh I'm not telling.

Ms. Staub knows how to effectively weave mystery through it all interlacing the mysterious....I look forward to the next in the series.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good story by Wendy Corsi Staub. Calla continues to see more and more dead people, but none of them are who she wants to see most, her mother. As Calla continues to be given clues into her mother's death by members of the spirit world, she realizes that her mother was murdered. She enlists the help of Jacy to help her investigate the clues which only alienates her new best friend, Evangeline. Against her better judgement, Calla continues to date Blue, and now Kevin seems to be reaching out to her again, making Calla's love life as confusing as the spirits that seem to permanently reside in the town of Lily Dale. The more Calla finds out about her mother, the more she knows she must go to home to Florida to find her mom's laptop and any other clues to her death that might have been left at their home where she died. Questions lead to more questions in this interesting mystery with heartache and angst in the background of every scene. I found this book difficult to put down and I'm looking forward to reading the final book, Lily Dale Discovering.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like this is probably more like 1.5 stars. I don't know how someone could be a dumb as Calla. She's supposed to be someone who has great grades, but she lacks all common sense. Most of the problems she has could be eliminated by talking about them--but she's convinced that, if she does, people will get mad at her or make her live somewhere else. She doesn't trust adults at all. Clearly, her mother was some authoritarian figure in her life! Anyway. The three boys she can't be straight with are also annoying. Her lack of empathy for her new female friend is annoying. The only reason this is over one star is because Lily Dale is an interesting place. And, a few of the characters aren't annoying. (Calla makes Bella seem really smart for Bella wanting to date an abusive vampire, and making excuses for him!)

[Deda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Connecting is the third of four books in the Lily Dale series. I enjoyed these YA books very much and now want to visit the actual town in western New York! It's my opinion that the story should have been condensed into 1 book, instead of being divided into a series. None of the books can stand alone so much time and text is spent on refreshing the reader on characters and events from previous books... and I got weary of the repetition. I enjoyed learning about psychic mediums, I enjoyed the characters (although Calla does lie too often to the adults in her life), and the writing kept me interested and wanting to read more (minus the repeated reminders) so I give the series a solid 4 stars.

[Lauren Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t get enough of Lily Dale after reading the series for adults that starts with Nine Lives. There were references to Calla, the main character of the youth novels and I was curious to learn more. I just loved all of these books. And I loaned them to a friend who felt the same. It wasn’t just typical teenage drama. There was so much more going on. The books have subplots along with the main mystery that isn’t resolved until you read all four. Well worth your time. Connecting really peaks the reader’s interest as Calla tries to figure out the truth about her mother. It’s not all teenage romance as the cover of the book may make you think. Far from it.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting Y.A. series about people connected to and living a gated community in western NY for spiritualists

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! It just gets better!!!! Grabbing the next one now!!!!

[Marge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series!!!

[Judy Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun read with a bit of scary. Loved learning about Lily Dale!!

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just wish the main character Calla would quit keeping secrets and tell her grandmother so she could help her.

[Bonnie Archuleta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book

I love Staub's style of writing even though these are teen reads they are very enjoyable ... A quick escape

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily Dale: Connecting is the third in the Lily Dale series. Calla is just as lovable as she's always been and so are her friends (particularly the mysterious Jacy Bly, my favorite). She's on a mission to find out how her mother was murdered and the ex-boyfriend who appeared at her house only months before her mom was killed.

Jacy gives Calla a warning. He's been having a vision where she's underwater, struggling to reach the surface but unable to. Calla knows Jacy was right once before and takes him seriously. But she's going to visit her friend Lisa back in Florida, where she will be surrounded by water. Could Jacy's vision actually be true?

I do enjoy the Lily Dale series, but the end of this one seemed a little hooky. There was no explanation (but I'm sure Corsi Staub has one) as to why it happened. The mystery of her mother's past just seems to get more complex instead of being answered. And there's the fact that no matter how many times her father comes to Lily Dale he still has no idea it's the land of mediums? Seriously. I would think just looking across the street at another medium's sign would do it. Apparently he doesn't look around.

If you've been reading the series, this one's pretty good. It's a little more along Calla's life instead of revolving around the paranormal. Still a massive part of the story (and what's in it is good), but this makes Calla seem more normal.

[Linda Munro · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third of four novels in the Lily Dale series. In her quest to learn if her visons of her mother's death are accurate, young Calla sets herself up for a true "near death' experience. Despite warnings from her boyfriend Jacy, a psychic child she babysits, her grandmother and others; Calla convinces Jacy to drive her to Geneseo to locate a statue of a giant bear and a neon purple house as indicated on a billet draw. (A psychic workshop asks the participants to write a question on a small piece of paper, fold it and drop it into a basket. The filled basket is passed arounbd the room, each person chooses a paper strip. Withhout opening the paper; the class is told to concentrate and verbally describe what they see; after which the person opens the paper, reading the question.) Although Calla and Jacy locate both the bear and the house; Calla's response to the woman answering the door at the neon purple house gives thewoman enough informationo to track down the youth. In the end, the death of Calla's mother, previously ruled accidental has been reopened; this time as a murder investigation.

[Robin Brown Clune · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short series of Teen Fantasy books is an odd oxymoron.

Clearly aimed and written for a young teenaged audience, there are moments of violence, deep emotional devastation, and adult emotional themes. (not sex. there is no sex.)


Each book stands alone, although they really should be read together and in order.


Calla has just lost her mother, who buried her own teenaged years behind a wall of efficiency and 'normalcy.' This death is handled very well, and gives good insight into the grieving process. Now Calla is trying to figure out who she is, and who her mother was at the same time.

Maybe teens are ready for the level of fear that this book would have raised in me at 15, but I found it a bit shocking.

The writing was overly simple, and repeated to carry on through the four books in case someone picked up one out of sequence. While the emotions dealt with in grief were complex, some of the other parts of the book were unsatisifyingly glossed over or not explored in depth.

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never read the first book, Awakening, in the Lily Dale series, but I think that the third book is okay to read and won't be confusing even if the first book is not read first. Connecting has a good plot and is interesting because there is a lot of suspense and tension, but it's written in third person. I personally prefer first person because it puts the reader in the character's shoes so that we can understand more about them. However, the setting of this book is mostly realistic, minus the psychic part of the story. I think it's more realistic because the main character, Calla, deals with things that I, and many others, have felt before. An example is that Calla moves, and changes her school, and leaves her friends and classmates from Florida behind. However, Calla makes new friends at her school and is able to adapt. I feel that this is the thing that I can relate to Calla the most about, because I've also moved before and changed schools.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story continues in the third book of the Lily Dale series. Calla has finally accepted her gift to communicate to the other side and desperately longs to be able to feel the spirit energy of her late mother. Although her mother’s death is thought to be an accident, Calla’s visions tell her otherwise. She enlists the help of Jacy who warns her about the serious danger that lies in her path. In her determination to uncover the truth she catches a glimpse of a shadowy stranger and gets more than she bargains for when she stumbles across a secret that will change her life forever.

[Katy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Lily Dale entertainment! Seriously, between all the Lily Dale references I've seen on "Mysteries at the Museum" (yep, I'm a nerd) and these books, a visit to Lily Dale, NY is steadily moving higher up on my 'bucket list'. I also always enjoy Ms. Staub's Author's Notes. The only reason I haven't given it 5 stars is because (despite a number of my earlier ratings here), I've decided a book has to be REALLY special/touching to earn "that elusive fifth star" (paraphrased line from a Frasier rerun I recently re-watched for about the 15th time. Once again, I'm a nerd).

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Calla is still at Lilydale and is still trying to unravel the mystery of her mother's death. She thinks she has found the murderer, but it turns out the person she thought could not have done it, having been dead at the time.

So, there's still someone out there who murdered her mother and probably wants to murder Calla. To complicate matters, her father is thinking of moving near Lily Dale, she's not sure which guy she wants as a boyfriend, and she finds out that her mother had been hiding a major secret.

A good third book in the series.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third in the Lily Dale series. I felt this was a little better than the second one. I like the idea of a psychic community but am a little creeped out by the fact that Calla sees ghosts absolutely everywhere. I think that would be a hard thing to get adjusted to. The pace was quick and the characters are enjoyable. Looking forward to the next one. Would recommend to teens looking for books dealing with the supernatural.

[Jax O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! I am really impressed by the Wendy Corsi Staub Lily Dale series. Calla continues in her search for the possibility that her mother may have been murdered. After finding that her mother had a romance as a teenager; she finds a new key to the mystery of her mother. With Jacy's help she finds a trail that may lead her to her mothers killer. Only she finds more than she expected, and may be putting herself in more danger.

[Dascha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 3 of the Lily Dale series. Calla has come to terms with having paranormal talents, and is learning to hone them. She is getting mysterious signs of a teen relationship her now deceased mother had while living in the house she now lives in and it could be a lead to her mother's murderer. In the midst of all this she's still a teen trying to making new friends & dating at school. Intriguing read. Hard to put down.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Calla has managed to survive and thrive in Lily Dale. But now her dreams turn more violent as she focuses on her mother's death and who killed her.

That's not to say other things are fine. She is finally with Jacy, but Evangeline is hurt and Kevin seams to still be in the picture. And when Calla heads to Tampa to find out more about her mother, the killer follows.

Another great addition to the series!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Connecting is the third book in the Lily Dale series. Calla desperately tries to connect with her dead mother, and find out why she was killed. I really enjoy the Lily Dale series and have grown to like Calla and her friends and family. They are very likable characters, and each book is a fun, light read. This book also leaves a cliffhanger ending, so I'll soon be on to the next book in the series.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series just kept the pages turning. I never struggled to finish this series when I was reading it. I found that there are times there is a lull in the plot but it is character building. I think that when ever we find out the person that hurt her family it will be shocking and there will be times that I really don't know where this is going but I do feel like that this will lead her into trouble.

[LuAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm hoping to find time to read the first two books in this series. I read this for a review in LMC and I was immediately hooked. Interesting main character and problem, her connection to the dead. It seems she sees ghosts everywhere, except the one she wants and needs to see, her own mother. Was her mother murdered? Is that same person now trying to murder her?

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea of a whole community filled mostly with people who can communicate with the dead is an intriguing idea for a story. This is so much more than just that, a love story, a mystery, and grieving for a mother who is gone to the other side. A great read and part of a series about the community Lily Dale.

[Jamie Wyatt Glover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like nothing is really getting resolved in these books, just more questions are popping up! Yet they are still keeping me interested and I am still eager to see the questions answered. I just requested the fourth book from the library. I want this whole situation with Calla's mom resolved once and for all.