The Ghost in the Hall

Beyond the Veil #1

by K.M. Avery

Something is very wrong with the Fitzwilliam estate...

It was supposed to be a regular séance job.

But from the minute I met an angry ghost in the hall, I knew there wasn’t going to be anything ordinary about this house or its dead residents. First of all, there were way too many of them. Second, some of them had been helped along from living to dead. Third, my attempt to figure out what was going on got a bit sidetracked when I met the gardener.
He was tall, dark green, and handsome.
And really, really smart. So I hired him to help me figure out what was going on. And that’s when things got interesting, in more ways than one.

I think I’m falling for an orc, and that’s making it really hard to concentrate on doing my job, but if I don’t, I’m going to be in a whole heap of trouble.


M/M romance with an HFN ending, the first in a series.

Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, M M Romance, Romance, Ghosts, Mystery, Urban Fantasy

472 pages, ebook

First published November 2, 2021

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already wrote a general review on Amazon bc the author absolutely deserves to be seen, but I wanted to write a different here, because this book deserves a detailed one too.

So let’s see.
This is a debut novel, and for that a really good one.
My first thought was in the beginning that the author made a terrible mistake to write a post pandemic ( not that kind) story and had the power to come up with any kind of mutations and they chose the mainstream ones. And let’s face the fact that they anatomy- where gets interesting- hadn’t changed. I know it’s sad.☹️

And the good part!! The writing is very good! I disagree with some reviews which say that it’s too long. It’s part of the writing style and fits! And great! The book is almost 500 pages, I have book friends who eat a 200 pages long book for breakfast and they are ready to start the next book by mid morning, not me tho, and I still enjoy the story telling. It was entertaining, they weren’t pointless they purpose to get better understanding of the MC’s background.
I do agree that the last few chapters was unnecessary in this book. If it would have been a standalone then yes, but as part of the series? Definitely not.

The characters are spectacular. Mason is the best, the gentle giant who also intelligent af? Hell yeah!
Ward is pretty good too, likeable and interesting.

I have a good share of medium and ghost stories but this was the very best so far. Absolutely interesting and clever.

There is probably more I wanted to share like it’s high heat and low on humour ( what I usually don’t like but here worked perfectly) but my review is already so long, so that’s it for now. Fingers crossed the next book will be a win too.

Short version: this is a pretty solid read and a great start for a hopefully amazing series. Highly recommended!

[QuietlyKat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original review, February 2023:

Aw dang, The Ghost in the Hall deserves more than a sentence or two review but 😅😆 all I want to do is jump straight into book 2, The Boy in the Locked Room!

I loved this one! LOVED IT! And I’m so, so thankful I didn’t listen to the reviews that said it dragged or was too long or the inner monologues were repetitive and rambling because honestly those reviews did sway me 😔😨 but in the end, I never felt any of those complaints. At all. I am also so thankful to Alexandra for recommending this book to me and for her review that assuaged my fears and hesitation and encouraged and enabled me to jump in without pause.

Loved the story. Loved Mason and Ward, their kind, supportive, gentle hearts and the way their relationship grew. Loved Lady Sylvia! Loved the social statements! I was completely intrigued and invested in the story from start to finish and boy oh boy did the epilogue hook me. I mean, I’d be starting book 2 next anyway, but that hook made me even more excited and eager to get to it immediately!

Edited to add from K.M. Avery’s FB June 30, 2024:

July is Disability Pride Month!

To kick things off, *The Ghost in the Hall* is available for FREE on Kindle July 1 and 2! Ward is a disabled hero who succeeds because of his strengths--not in spite of his disabilities.

Support disabled authors and artists this month! (Yes, that includes me.)

[Saimi Vasquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divertida, entretenida, original

Ward es un "medium", desde que enfermó y despertó con esta nueva habilidad ha aprendido a sacarle provecho. Así descubre que hay una mansión donde hay más de 60 espíritus atrapados y decide ayudarlos. Pero no va a ser tan fácil, para eso va a necesitar ayuda y recluta al hijo del mayordomo, Mason, quien resulta ser un famoso profesor de historia. También a su amiga Cat, quien es la bibliotecaria principal, su amiga Beth, quien es una exorcista. Entre ellos deberán enfrentar al espíritu más poderoso que hayan visto, y vivir para contarlo.

Lo primero que me llamo la atención fue el origen de los seres sobrenaturales, La descripción del universo, y los protagonistas. El misterio estuvo interesante, pero sin mucho "misterio". El romance estuvo normalito, muchas escenas eróticas de las que eran necesarias. Pero es un buen libro, y para el género, bastante entretenido. Es seguro así continuaré con la serie más adelante.

[Courtney Bassett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, that was… GREAT!

Confession: I picked up this book because it was free and there was a medium and an orc and it sounded interesting, though I’d never heard of the author that I can recall. I got a little ways in and was impressed at the editing and quality of writing, and the story kept me engaged and entertained clear to the end. I’m definitely looking forward to more in this series/from this author!

[Aricka Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I want to run my tongue over you, take you in my mouth, and feel you against my teeth and the back of my throat.”

4.5⭐️

The Ghost in the Hall, the first book in the Beyond the Veil series, was a pretty good surprise for me. I didn’t go into it expecting much since I was more familiar with its older book cover — and let me tell you, that is not a book cover you wanna pick up. But I decided that since I’m starting my SPOOK Month early, and I want more spooky paranormal romance dudes being dudes, being supernatural, and fucking, I thought why not finally try this one since it’s been on my TBR for a while.

I was quite surprised, because I really enjoyed the premise of this book. I actually really enjoyed the lore that came along with all the supernatural beings and how they came to be in the “real world.” I also enjoyed our main character, Ward, and his abilities, plus of course our main love interest Mason, the orc, who is also a total hottie. I’m a sucker for ghost whispering in general.

This is a slower book, with rather long chapters, which is something I also enjoy. I don’t want to really go into depth because that’s not how I review — and I don’t want to spoil it. Overall, it’s a good paranormal romance with unique lore for its supernaturals and a romance that’s pretty fast but believable.

The only downside I see in this series is that the books fork off from the main couple after the third book and start focusing on other people, which is a bummer for me personally.

[Kaity]

Audio: 2.5 stars for Daniel Henning… his voice for Ward was good but anyone else was kinda bad…

Book: DNF@34%

So I was interested at the beginning but then it started dragging and I looked and saw I was only 34% in and I knew I wouldn’t be in it to finish.. I might skim to the end.. but really it might be my mood since this got over a 4.2 on Goodreads… it could have also been the narrator, didn’t love his narrations, especially for Mason, or even the faun working at the library haha

[Long Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything other readers said about this book being too long is true. Too many side notes, unnecessary descriptions of mundane things, lots of everyday stuff, lengthy monologues all distracted me from the plot, and I had to skip a lot. Which is a pity. Because the plot premise is interesting, and quite original, which is an investigation into a mass-murderer ghost. The author is better, in my opinion, when she writes the main plot - the mystery - than the romance.

Something else I don’t enjoy is the characters. Except for the elf, other characters are a bit bland, unmemorable, not to mention crying too much (the MC). Maybe the author should write a separate book for the elf. I’ll read that (minus the lengthy details, of course :)

[Chappy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 long but glorious stars with a horrible cover image.

Ward and Mason have both been affected by the arcana virus. Ward is now a medium who can see and talk to ghosts while Mason became an orc with green skin and fangs. Ward manages to turn his new ability into a career and while on a case, ends up recruiting Mason.

I loved the chemistry between these 2 even though they both had self-esteem issues. Mace is super sweet and makes Ward feel cherished. The haunting/mystery is pretty good and I can't wait for more.

[Marzipop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was very long and dragged for me. If it had been chopped in half would have been better lol. Love all the characters though.

[Susan]

DNF at 50%

I'm just not feeling it. :(

[Layla]

DNF @ 20%
Can't get into it

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A sweet and sexy read, with mysterious adventures and great themes around acceptance and care.

The narration style in this is not my favourite and we got off to a bumpy start. It's a single first-person POV (Ward's) which breaks the 4th wall a bit and he's info-dumping a lot in the beginning. I was feeling a bit iffy about the pandemic setting, but I got over it fairly quickly.

Around 20% in, it really started growing on me.

The focus of the story is on Ward and Mason, but we have some strong secondary characters. Lady Randolph (Sylvia), the snarky grandma ghost, being my personal favourite. I appreciated having strong female side characters, as they can sometimes be lacking in M/M romances.

There's a lot of hurt-comfort. Apart from an extremely brief overreaction, and an equally brief separation which has a perfectly good explanation, there's no relationship angst. Mason is the biggest sweetheart, so caring and respectful of Ward, who needs a lot of emotional support.

I will say, it veers on the sappy at times, but I still enjoyed it a lot.

The culmination of the mystery plot is a bit anticlimactic but the fall-out of it has a major emotional impact on Ward, and will clearly be a significant plot point in the next books.

I didn't find this too long at all, the writing style is straightforward I tore through it quickly (in one day, but I'm a pretty obsessive reader). Looking forward to reading the sequel!

[Danna Iuliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I barely gave this 3 stars. It was incredibly long, which is fine if the plot doesn t drag but here there was a lot of narrative, inner thoughts, hell the romance was non existing half the book. The premise is good and maybe now that the couple is established it will get more interesting, who knows. This one isn t something I will remember, there was no reason to make it this long, it just got boring.

[Readergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started off really well. Then the story stagnated and kept repeating itself a lot. Really didn’t need to be so long. The characters were already solid like one hundred pages before the climax of the story. Then there were another hundred pages after that weee completely unnecessary to the story. So the book was a five, became a four, and ended as a three because I had to skip the last five chapters as it was too much of the same thing. This was very clearly a first novel. The writing is good, though. The story just needed more finesse.

[Audiobook S1ut]

DNF at 80%, no rating. I think the big problem is the lack of suspense. If I had to guess, the big scary ghost kills Ward and his witchy orc bf brings him back to life before they defeat the bad guy together and free the ghosts, the end.

I can't bring myself to care. The writing was fine, good even, the plot had potential, I cared about the MCs..sort of. I don't think the author really knew what she wanted to accomplish with this book.

[Arta reads at night · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️
Snarky, funny, plot driven, sarcastic at times and just quite awesome.
One MC a bag of insecurities and self depreciation and another who doesn’t get treated fairly. Because shitty human reasons.

[Benjamin Wong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hoooo boy, there are lengthy books and then there are longwinded, draggy ones, and this definitely fell into the latter category.

70% in, I was on the verge of giving up, and I forced myself to skim, which i seldom do, to the end. Pity though as this started with so much promise, and even when it hit the 50% mark and the story kinda veered off course, I was still hopeful, until I wasn't. It was such a struggle to read honestly. I don't mind lengthy reads, if the story and plots actually worked, but this just had too much of nothing going on. More than half of the time, it's just Ward's inner monologuing, or stuff that is not in service of the storyline, and a quarter of that is spent on them making out like randy teenagers, and the remaining quarter is the actual plot and storyline. Though the writing is decent, I seriously cannot say much else.

What I can say is the only saving grace of this is the characters. I do like Ward and Mason, but other than sexual chemistry, I didn't really feel much of an emotional connection between them. Their romance felt a little forced and superficial. Also, the change of tone in the characterization of Ward threw me off and gave me vertigo. When we first met Ward, he was kinda witty and a little self-deprecating, but suddenly halfway through he became this needy and insecure person that I had to do a double take. I think Lady Sylvia ended up being the more compelling and fascinating character when I was finished with the book.

I had such expectations for this, I really did, and up to the midway point, this had so much potential to be a favourite series, but who knows it fizzled and died a miserable death midway through, and became a book that I was glad to finally be finished with when it came to an end so I will actually not be bored out of my mind. Probably not going to carry on with this series.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had pretty low expectations when I started this book, I was looking for something fun to read and I enjoy supernatural mystery novels. What I got was a great story.
In the book a pandemic is going on and when they contact the virus they ondergo various magical changes or they can die. Our main character has become a medium.
I really liked reading a book in this setting, because like with covid, the virus isn't gone yet. They have to wear masks indoors, and that's a precaution that's been reintroduced in my country last week. So it felt very relevant.
The mystery in this book was very intriguing and kept being interesting the whole book.
The characters were another amazing part of this story. Ward was a great main character, he's very endearing. One of my favourite things is a big cast of characters and they were all great and interesting too! Almost all side characters had a personality and felt like their own person, not some generic 2d copy of one another. Even those that were on the page for a short amount of time had depth.
Another great thing is the disability rep. Because Ward contacted the virus he has some lasting complications. Allergies for example.

If you're looking for a entertaining story about a medium solving the mystery of a haunted mansion. I highly recommend this one.

[Megan Hull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

This was a very good book with complex characters and engaging plot, however more then once the inner dialogue was incredibly rambling and repetitive. I believe the information about the virus and how it changed things was repeated almost word for word 3 different times before 40% and repeated yet again 2 or 3 more times. This caused the book to kind of drag on. This plus I felt like for as much as we heard him talk about all his work we really didn't get to see a lot of it made me give it 3 stars instead of 4-5. I would have definitely liked to see more of his gift being used instead of it just kinda cutting to black and then picking up with the emotional aftermath and maybe a brief summary. I would have loved to have seen some of the parties, but especially the day of the dead seances. Outside of these personal complaints, I really liked this book and it's take on the magical and paranormal world. I will 100% be reading book 2.

[soda · Rating 3 out of 5]

what worked for me:
↬ mason was extremely caring towards ward
↬ the mystery was relatively interesting
↬ mason was just the best and the sweetest
↬ ward was a genuinely good person as well
↬ mason and ward were just good together

what didn't work for me:
↬ the length desperately needed to be cut down
↬ the writing was repetitive and wordy... but i still found myself turning the pages
↬ sometimes i got a bit confused on what was happening

overall, i liked this. at first, i couldn't get into the story, but for some reason as i kept reading, i got more invested. i absolutely loved mason. he was so caring and sweet. i definitely prefer books without relationship angst, so i'm glad it didn't go down that route when ward got injured. i wonder why mason is the only orc in his huge family though. how come he was the only one that turned?

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dnf at 81%. I loved the premise but it’s execution was just lacking. There was massive info dump at the start and the internal narration is just endlessly rambly. It felt very repetitive. This felt more of a paranormal book with a side of romance, which is fine, but neither of them were being handled well considering how long this book is! I started skimming around 60% and the sheer length of this book just made me give up. It’s way too long.

[Kaylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Legally they had the same rights as everyone else. But since when has that mattered to humanity?

I really enjoyed this. Got it for free as paperback copy from the author during a contest last year and am very glad to have it. Such a pleasant surprise. I don't judge based off the covers (especially since, let's be real, LGBTQ+ are notorious for having awful covers) but this is just... not at all good. Definition of "don't judge a book by its cover."

Anyway, I really liked the main characters here. There are a lot of supportive scenes, and they actually talk to each other. In the beginning there are misunderstandings but it's understandable especially since they've only just met. We get more background on Ward than Mason but it was only the first book so I'd hope they wouldn't pack everything into it. (It really did bother me in the beginning bits where Mason gave "small sighs" left and right, especially since there were two on one page, but that's mostly a me thing with its passive aggressiveness. Thankfully, that didn't continue long.)
"I made assumptions that were very wrong, and then when I realized what a fucking asshole I was, I took it out on you instead of acting like a damn adult."

I also thought the pacing for this was great overall. They're figuring things out with some past baggage and also... A pandemic.

Definitely would've been better released at a different time. Or maybe not. Hindsight and all that. Also, I have no idea how long the author was working on this. Maybe it was well beforehand. I am definitely not going to get into my perspectives on all of it. All that being said, I thought this was handled well, and it all melded well on top of it. They're very sweet. (Especially Mason and his "Ward-safe foods" on his fridge.)

There were some parts that truly hurt my heart.
"Why does this scare you?" He sounded so lost. Hurt, maybe.

I liked the side-characters a lot. Doesn't happen often for one, let alone multiple. Lady Randolph! Hart. Beck. So great.
Don't stare at the teeth, I told myself firmly.
Why not? came Lady R's completely inappropriate question.
If you had a wart on your nose, should I stare at that? I asked her sharply.
No. But you wouldn't think it particularly rude if I were to look at your wart-free nose, now would you?

I'm one that really likes single POV so it was very much appreciated here on my part. It was done very well and I look forward to more in the future. I liked the explanations we get of how things came about, how Ward had to learn things (and how he played things up for his profession), how he and his aunt lived, him and the cats (especially Pevs!). Which reminds me...! Loved how Mason had a dog and Ward had his cat and it wasn't some weird "oh you're a cat person. you're a dog person" kind of nonsense that happens all the time. I liked how they got along just fine; how they didn't forget about their respective pets during this and how they integrated them. How their cat and dog got along and they're even in bed with them. It was so refreshing and so great to see! 

I love you, Ward," he spoke into my temple, his lips warm on my skin. "Whether you run, or walk, or dance, or I carry you."

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one remained at 3 stars except for the bits that added a half star.

The worldbuilding is good. The characters are good. The plot is good, and would have been better had there been less detail about everyday stuff, and less over-describing. It gets pretty schmoopy in the middle. The climax, and the aftermath, are very good, and I liked how it ended quite a lot.

Too bad I kept wishing I could edit it.

[T.A. Burke]

DNF wasn't into the writing style

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the story, but I really hated the audio performance. I think I'll continue with the series, but switch to ebooks.

[Summer · Rating 2 out of 5]

It dragged for me, could have been a lot shorter. The characters were interesting in theory, but read like they were fan fiction characters. Mason is wonderful, clever, strong, protective, but vulnerable, the underdog. Ward (found the name pretentious!) has a gift, inherently special, but has been through so much trauma, Mason saves him. It’s all just a bit overdone, it became dull and a bit cringeworthy. I never grasped what Mason did for a living, or if he made so much money in his previous career he didn’t need to work. Apart from one day of gardening and Ward contracting him, Mason doesn’t do anything. Ward says he’s poor, but earns in one night more than the annual salary of a nurse in the UK. The story grabbed me at the start, but about 25% in, I started skim reading. I made it to the end, the epilogue grabbed me. I might give the next book a try if it’s free on kindle unlimited.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long book which could have been shorter but a good story that kept me absorbed.

Don't usually comment but have to say I dislike the cover so much.

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, rounded up!

This was recommended to me by several friends and for that I want to thank them forever! I was honestly worried when I started this. Because the first chapter is very info-dumpy. But I pushed through it and I'm so very glad I did! This was fantastic!

First of all, the world this is set in is so fascinating. I love the whole premise of a sort of magic-infused pandemic. It's not something I've seen before. Or, if I have, I don't remember. Not sure I'd want to live in it though as it doesn't sound entirely pleasant overall. But it's a very unique premise and I really liked it!

I really loved the characters as well! Ward is a great character. He's good at what he does (competence is sexy okay?), kind, caring, generous, but also a bit of an anxious emotional disaster who needs all the love and cuddles. Can relate. Of course, Mason is fantastic too. So sweet and smart and attentive and, my god, so passionate. Love this amazing orc witch. Also, shout-out to Beck and detective Hart. Loved those two!

The mystery and ghostly fuckery is super intense. It's this thread of doom that underlines even the sweet, domestic, spicy, every day moments in between. It has me tense and on the edge of my seat, which was a very stark contrast with the romance? Talk about epic! The romance and how it develops is so beautiful and intense and sweet and hot and emotional and perfect. Stunning, really.

I can't wait to continue this series, which I probably will right away. Highly recommend this series if you're into MM romances featuring mediums and other supernatural beings with unique, interesting world-building.

[SophiaH · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect with this one oddly enough. I know the cover should give it away to a point. A ghost story a medium and an orc. But it truly wasn't what I was expecting. It was so much more kindhearted and less action pact than I though it would be.

First things first, I felt as if quite some bits could have been ✂️ I think they were there to make some point, like to highlight that Ward had a day job and a life or mark the passage of time but they didn't really bring anything to the story like the seance at the I think it was a knitting circle or some such or the Halloween one or the job before that . I would have preferred to see more investigating or romantic awe moments instead. I felt as though a lot of legwork was done off page or by someone else. If you cut everything else I'm sure the inciting event, the clues/research and conclusion could have fit in 100 pages.

It is also a little sad that we only got Wards POV. It might be just me but I felt the little disconnected from Mace at times. Is he still working as a gardener? Has he started researching again for a new article or is he now 100% helping out Ward?

That being said I really liked both MC's as well as their supportive characters. With all the talk about Wards exes I was kind of surprised that none made an appearance just so Mason could tell him off or Ward could ignore them. I think the pair was well matched and you Mason was quite the doting and supportive boyfriend.

Now I'm quite curious about the second as well as want to know more about a certain cop 🧝‍♂️.

[Tia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf at 23%. The premise is quite interesting and I can see how others may be into it, but I was just bored. There is an excessive amount of info dumping throughout - at any turn and any new development, we will take a excessive detour either explaining the worlds backstory, our MC’s life history, our detailing the MC’s own character to himself. In addition to being a bit tedious after a while, this interrupts the flow of the story. Also explaining your personality to yourself is strange narration. And then we had ghosts conveniently telling you everything except what you need to know - and yes, I can see that will eventually be a plot point, but it felt contrived and annoying.