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A Fresh Start
Still hurting from her divorce, Melissa Caan makes a drastic life change for herself and her two young children by moving them out to a rural home.But the country life came with some extras that she wasn't counting on. Doors are slamming, she and her children are violently attacked by unseen hands, and her elderly neighbor doesn't like to talk about the murders that happened in the strangely named hollow all those years ago.Ghost hunters, witches, and a sassy cancer survivor come together to help Melissa fight for the safety of her children and herself.All she wanted was a fresh start, will she get it?
- GenresHorror
140 pages, Paperback
Published July 6, 2019
1 person is currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Somer Canon
33 books76 followersSomer Canon lives in Eastern PA with her husband, two sons, and three cats. She loves to read and write and although she is polyamorous when it comes to genres, horror always seems to be her favorite. Please feel free to contact her!
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 5, 2025
This is my second book (You're Mine being the first) by Somer Canon, and it will definitely not be the last.
Recently divorced Melissa Caan is thrilled to have a fresh start (hence, the title) with her two young sons after fulfilling her lifelong dream of purchasing a farmhouse out in the country.
Very shortly after settling in she and the boys are confronted with a violent and vengeful presence makes itself known. Mellisa refuses to leave and will not play the victim any longer.
Left with no other options, Melissa joins forces with Ida, (her fierce older neighbor), a team of professional ghost hunters, and a mother/daughter Wiccan team. All are set on chasing the rage filled and evil apparition off of Melissa's property. They better hurry because it is getting stronger and angrier ...
A difficult to put down nail biter with exciting, dynamic and well developed characters. Highly recommend A Fresh Start for a fast and suspense filled ghost story.
Recently divorced Melissa Caan is thrilled to have a fresh start (hence, the title) with her two young sons after fulfilling her lifelong dream of purchasing a farmhouse out in the country.
Very shortly after settling in she and the boys are confronted with a violent and vengeful presence makes itself known. Mellisa refuses to leave and will not play the victim any longer.
Left with no other options, Melissa joins forces with Ida, (her fierce older neighbor), a team of professional ghost hunters, and a mother/daughter Wiccan team. All are set on chasing the rage filled and evil apparition off of Melissa's property. They better hurry because it is getting stronger and angrier ...
A difficult to put down nail biter with exciting, dynamic and well developed characters. Highly recommend A Fresh Start for a fast and suspense filled ghost story.
August 5, 2022
If you're looking for a good spooky ghost story, look no further. This my first read from Somer Canon , and it won't be my last. 'A Fresh Start' is a haunting story that has a similar vibe as 'The Entity' while keeping a completely fresh feel to it with great characters and a satisfying ending!
July 15, 2020
A Fresh Start by Somer Canon is a bone-chilling tale about a violent and possessive ghost that won’t let a family settle into their new home. Mixed with wonderfully heartwarming scenes, this novel will continuously convince you to let down your guard just to smack you upside the head with another terrifying scene.
Trigger Warning: A very good dog goes to the farm upstate very suddenly. RIP Dumb-Dumb.
In this story, a woman named Melissa has moved into a new house that she had build on an old farm plot next to the original barn. On just day two of living there, something happened that totally spooked her. She soon learns that she’s living on the land where a man killed his wife and two children. Unfortunately the soul of that man hasn’t left the property… and he’s got his sights on Melissa now.
OH MY GOODNESS. This book got me so many times. It was the perfect mix of happy and scary! There were plenty of heartwarming and calm scenes but then out of nowhere, we’d be slammed with a totally gut-wrenching or horrifying scene!
Speaking of gut-wrenching… The poor dog, Dumb-Dumb. I mentioned the trigger warning above so just one quick note here. You don’t actually “see” what happens. You hear about what happened through the kids explaining it and then you “see” the aftermath. This way of explaining what happened added to the terror! Like the poor pup meeting its end in John Wick, this dog death definitely served a purpose in the overall storyline. It was absolutely heartbreaking of course. In my opinion, the whole situation was extremely well done.
I was totally captivated each time I was able to pick this book up, especially because the sense of dread continued to build throughout the story until the explosive ending. The pacing of this story was absolutely wonderful and everything flowed very well. I adored each of the characters and their banter with one another. I especially enjoyed the relationship that grew between Melissa and Ida. And the descriptions that ranged from the scenery on the farm to the action sequences were all outstanding.
I found myself really attached to the main character, Melissa. While incredibly stubborn to the point of absurdity, I also understood why she was reacting the way she was. After all, after going through what she had been through in her recent past, having that one thing that she can try to control is something that I can really relate to.
While a shorter novel, this one packed so much into just 130 pages! I already can’t wait to revisit this story. I know it’s one that going to stick with me for a long time!
My Favorite Passages
Melissa dropped the bags she was holding and ran as hard and fast as she could to the house. Without thinking about the futility of the action, she locked and bolted the heavy front door and leaned on it, breathing fast and holding onto her chest, feeling her heart doing its best to make a dramatic escape.
“Some people never stop to thank the stepping stone the buried itself in the mud to keep others from getting muck on their boots…“
My Final Thoughts
I really wish that I had picked this one up on a day off so I could have read it cover to cover. Putting it down was incredibly difficult. I even found myself letting my mind wander during work hours, just so antsy to get back to it!
I absolutely loved everything about this story. The ghost was terrifying, the human characters were all wonderful, the pacing was quick, and the sudden scares totally caught me off guard and got my heart rate going. I loved how much this one spooked me. I was jumpy for a few days after finishing this one!
If you enjoy ghost stories filled with jump scares, violence, and a whole lot of heart, you have to check this one out!
Trigger Warning: A very good dog goes to the farm upstate very suddenly. RIP Dumb-Dumb.
In this story, a woman named Melissa has moved into a new house that she had build on an old farm plot next to the original barn. On just day two of living there, something happened that totally spooked her. She soon learns that she’s living on the land where a man killed his wife and two children. Unfortunately the soul of that man hasn’t left the property… and he’s got his sights on Melissa now.
OH MY GOODNESS. This book got me so many times. It was the perfect mix of happy and scary! There were plenty of heartwarming and calm scenes but then out of nowhere, we’d be slammed with a totally gut-wrenching or horrifying scene!
Speaking of gut-wrenching… The poor dog, Dumb-Dumb. I mentioned the trigger warning above so just one quick note here. You don’t actually “see” what happens. You hear about what happened through the kids explaining it and then you “see” the aftermath. This way of explaining what happened added to the terror! Like the poor pup meeting its end in John Wick, this dog death definitely served a purpose in the overall storyline. It was absolutely heartbreaking of course. In my opinion, the whole situation was extremely well done.
I was totally captivated each time I was able to pick this book up, especially because the sense of dread continued to build throughout the story until the explosive ending. The pacing of this story was absolutely wonderful and everything flowed very well. I adored each of the characters and their banter with one another. I especially enjoyed the relationship that grew between Melissa and Ida. And the descriptions that ranged from the scenery on the farm to the action sequences were all outstanding.
I found myself really attached to the main character, Melissa. While incredibly stubborn to the point of absurdity, I also understood why she was reacting the way she was. After all, after going through what she had been through in her recent past, having that one thing that she can try to control is something that I can really relate to.
While a shorter novel, this one packed so much into just 130 pages! I already can’t wait to revisit this story. I know it’s one that going to stick with me for a long time!
My Favorite Passages
Melissa dropped the bags she was holding and ran as hard and fast as she could to the house. Without thinking about the futility of the action, she locked and bolted the heavy front door and leaned on it, breathing fast and holding onto her chest, feeling her heart doing its best to make a dramatic escape.
“Some people never stop to thank the stepping stone the buried itself in the mud to keep others from getting muck on their boots…“
My Final Thoughts
I really wish that I had picked this one up on a day off so I could have read it cover to cover. Putting it down was incredibly difficult. I even found myself letting my mind wander during work hours, just so antsy to get back to it!
I absolutely loved everything about this story. The ghost was terrifying, the human characters were all wonderful, the pacing was quick, and the sudden scares totally caught me off guard and got my heart rate going. I loved how much this one spooked me. I was jumpy for a few days after finishing this one!
If you enjoy ghost stories filled with jump scares, violence, and a whole lot of heart, you have to check this one out!
June 20, 2022
This novella BLEW MY MIND! I showed up for a spooky farm read and got so much more. The spooks and creepy scenes were definitely there, but there was an added layer of humanity that I did not expect. Focusing around a newly divorced woman, Melissa, and her children trying to start over, a fresh start as the title indicates, this story has a ton of heart, and pain, throughout. These characters are going on multiple journeys, and Somer Canon does a wonderful job at having the reader invested in every aspect of them. Melissa has a neighbor out in the hollow where she lives now, Ida, and she really brings a ton of fun to this story. Ida is wise and sassy and has just the right amount of humor. She kind of reminded me of Jud Crandall from Pet Sematary but she has a little more fire in her than he did.
Movie rights when!? I can 100% see this on the big screen... it's that type of story and has the right amount of everything happening to make it a great success there if it were ever adapted.
Prior to A Fresh Start, I have only read Canon's work in an anthology. I am a huge new fan and will be seeking out more of her work ASAP. I have another book of hers on my shelf that I can't wait to start, too! Definitely an author to keep an eye out on from now on.
Movie rights when!? I can 100% see this on the big screen... it's that type of story and has the right amount of everything happening to make it a great success there if it were ever adapted.
Prior to A Fresh Start, I have only read Canon's work in an anthology. I am a huge new fan and will be seeking out more of her work ASAP. I have another book of hers on my shelf that I can't wait to start, too! Definitely an author to keep an eye out on from now on.
July 16, 2022
I loved this tale of a newly single Mom moving with her kids to the farm house of her dreams just to discover there will be hurdles she never could have imagined in the shape of a malevolent spirit. Part Pet Semetery with its local lore and rural charm and part Poltergeist with a protagonist mother trying to navigate the supernatural. This well spun yarn makes you care about the characters so much that you feel like they are your neighbors too (but I like Melissa and Ida more than my real neighbors). Plus I appreciated the cast of strong women in this story that are taking care of business.
August 30, 2019
A fantastic, character-driven haunted house tale. Terribly creepy yet definitely relatable, this story is just aching to be made into a movie. A quick read with ghosts, paranormal investigators, and witches, one you don’t want to miss out on.
February 16, 2021
While not breaking much in the way of new ground, this was a pretty solid, tightly-written haunted house story. Like many such tales, it relies a bit too much on the protagonist being stupid or stubborn for my tastes, but the trope was handled fairly well here and at least it was consistently in character for Melissa to be stupidly stubborn. She was a likeable lead and the story worked well. Creepy without being terrifying, it was a perfectly respectable entry into the haunted house genre. Quick read too, economically sized at under 200 pages.
December 2, 2020
A fun, entertaining haunted house story with some solid characters. Somer Canon’s biggest strength is putting realistic, everyday people in incredible situations. The protagonist, Melissa is relatable and endearing. There is one sequence of dialogue between her and her ex husband that is as believable as anything heard in a million households in similar situations. Highly recommended.
August 13, 2019
An enjoyable classic ghost story.
Just a fun throwback haunted house story. Likable characters with a hide building sense of dread. Highly recommended to horror fans out there.
Just a fun throwback haunted house story. Likable characters with a hide building sense of dread. Highly recommended to horror fans out there.
August 19, 2024
Very excellent haunting story.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews