I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Hollis Brown is stuck. Born to a blue-collar American Dream, Hollis lives in a rotting small town where no one can afford to leave. Hollis's only bright spots are his two best friends, cool girls Annie and Yulia, and the thrill of fighting his classmates.

As if his circumstances couldn’t get worse, a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger named Walt results in a frightening trap. After unknowingly making a deal at the crossroads, Hollis finds himself losing control of his body and mind, falling victim to possession. Walt, the ghost making a home inside him, has a deep and violent history rooted in the town Hollis grew up in and he has unfinished business to take care of.

As Walt and Hollis begin working together to put Walt’s spirit to rest, an unspeakable bond forms between them, and the boys begin falling for one another in unexpected ways. But it’s only a matter of time before Hollis’s best friends begin to notice that something about Hollis isn’t quite…right.

With the threat of a long-overdue exorcism looming before them, will Walt and Hollis be able to protect their love and undo the curse that turned their town from a garden of possibility into a place where dreams go to die?

Short and Sweet Reviews

Hollis Brown lives in a small town where he’s either spending time with his best friends Yulia and Annie or getting into fights for the thrill of it. One night Hollis comes across a stranger named Walt and unknowingly makes a deal with him at the crossroads. What happens next is a surprise to Hollis as Walt makes himself at home in Hollis and Hollis is now sharing his body. Walt has a history in this small town and he has business to finish, Hollis decides to help Walt so that his soul can rest. Hollis and Walt begin to fall for each other, the only problem is Yulia and Annie notice something isn’t right with Hollis and an exorcism is on the horizon.

This is the second book I’ve read by K. Ancrum and I can say I do like her writing style, the chapters are short and they get right to the point. Hollis’s story is about loneliness and throughout the book we can see him believing in a brighter future. In the beginning of the book we see Hollis get into a lot of fights with the other guys at school and he isn’t well liked, the only two friends he has are Yulia and Annie who will give him an earful about his decisions. When Hollis meets Walt and makes the deal I think Hollis was at his lowest point. Hollis has a reputation of not caring but when Walt possesses his body we can see Walt is the total opposite of Hollis and he cares. These two personalities have conflict but over the course of the book they learn to tolerate each other and even learn from each other. I did enjoy the romance because it wasn’t instant and Hollis and Walt were spending a lot of time together and knew each other’s thoughts and I do think they completed each other. We also learn that Walt has a history in the town and Hollis wants to help him with his unfinished business. The more Walt controls things in Hollis’s life the more people become suspicious especially Yulia and Annie. Eventually the girls figure it out and Hollis is faced with the decision to get an exorcism which could just ruin his newfound romance.

Overall, this was well written and really makes you feel for the characters. Hollis and Walt are the definition of opposites attract and it was interesting to see how they were both coexisting in Hollis’s body. I was hooked and just wanted to know what would happen next. This is a book that’ll have you invested in the story and the characters and is worth the read!