Well, this was just deliciously fun! Set in the 1930s, this stars a charming ex-medium who's reluctantly drawn in to help with a very real and genuineWell, this was just deliciously fun! Set in the 1930s, this stars a charming ex-medium who's reluctantly drawn in to help with a very real and genuinely very scary ghost by a sweet, bumbling Egyptologist. The characters are adorable, and for all that the ghost story becomes increasingly chilling across the book, there's so much humor along the way - and the romance is so sweet - that the balance felt just right to me.
I grew up devouring Barbara Michaels's ghost-story-romances, where a human couple always falls in love while trying (more and more desperately!) to deal with a really scary and chilling ghost problem. I love that setup - but since then, the only other book I've found that's hit that sweet spot for me (being a really satisfying romance AND a really fun, scary ghost story) was Charish Reid's I'll Come Back For You, which I read and loved last year. I'm now adding The Shabti to my list of scary-ghosty-romance favorites, because it was just wonderful. (As a mark of how absorbed I was in it: on the night I picked up my e-ARC, I was dealing with a really bad flare-up of my spinal injury. The pain was so bad that I'd been struggling to focus on anything else - but the story totally sucked me in and took my mind off it until I had to stop reading for bedtime, at which point, the pain came flooding back in.)
I asked for an e-ARC after reading KJ Charles's recommendation of it, and I certainly think that if you enjoy KJC's books, you'll enjoy this too! But even if you don't, still give this a try. It manages to pull off a feeling of warm coziness and charm despite the increasingly scary moments along the way - and I really loved the ending. I can't wait to read whatever Megaera Lorenz writes next!...more
I was so incredibly lucky to get an ARC of this novella, which is going to be published at some point by the HEA Collective, and all I can say is: if I was so incredibly lucky to get an ARC of this novella, which is going to be published at some point by the HEA Collective, and all I can say is: if you need a reason to sign up to that Patreon, this is IT! <3
As always, I'm just in awe of how seamlessly Sebastian shifts between time periods in her different romances. This one is set in the 1950s and the tone is just effortlessly right, while the two heroes, Luke and Billy (both professional baseball players), were both so much fun that I actually found myself caring about the sport of baseball for perhaps the first time ever in my life.
Luke and Billy have spent almost every minute of their professional lives together for years as the closest of friends and teammates, but it's only in the wake of a bad accident that Luke takes refuge with Billy and, for the first time, they end up seeing each other off-season...and confronting all the repressed feelings that they haven't dealt with up until then. This is 100% a sweet pining idiots kind of romance - my favorite kind! - and it's just warm and lovely and really funny, too, as they circle around each other, bickering and doing house repairs and taking care of each other and desperately assuming that each of them is the only one who's *obviously* been head-over-heels for the other one for years.
One of my (many) favorite things about Cat Sebastian's romances is that in her recent books, she's stopped forcing her protagonists through the stressful 80% Black Moment in romance when (traditionally in the genre) they break up (sometimes for genuinely plausible reasons; sometimes because That's the Way It's Supposed to Go in Romance) and angst happens before the happy ending. As stressful as I find those moments as a reader, I do understand how effective they are at keeping up the tension of the traditional story arc - but somehow, nigh-on magically, she manages to elide any need for that kind of unnecessary stress without losing a single drop of interest, fun, or tension from the storyline.
I don't know how she does it, but I'm so grateful that she does, and it makes her stories feel like warm, nurturing hugs. This one left me smiling and feeling warm and happy, like a delicious hot coffee on an autumn morning. I loved it!
Merged review:
I was so incredibly lucky to get an ARC of this novella, which is going to be published at some point by the HEA Collective, and all I can say is: if you need a reason to sign up to that Patreon, this is IT! <3
As always, I'm just in awe of how seamlessly Sebastian shifts between time periods in her different romances. This one is set in the 1950s and the tone is just effortlessly right, while the two heroes, Luke and Billy (both professional baseball players), were both so much fun that I actually found myself caring about the sport of baseball for perhaps the first time ever in my life.
Luke and Billy have spent almost every minute of their professional lives together for years as the closest of friends and teammates, but it's only in the wake of a bad accident that Luke takes refuge with Billy and, for the first time, they end up seeing each other off-season...and confronting all the repressed feelings that they haven't dealt with up until then. This is 100% a sweet pining idiots kind of romance - my favorite kind! - and it's just warm and lovely and really funny, too, as they circle around each other, bickering and doing house repairs and taking care of each other and desperately assuming that each of them is the only one who's *obviously* been head-over-heels for the other one for years.
One of my (many) favorite things about Cat Sebastian's romances is that in her recent books, she's stopped forcing her protagonists through the stressful 80% Black Moment in romance when (traditionally in the genre) they break up (sometimes for genuinely plausible reasons; sometimes because That's the Way It's Supposed to Go in Romance) and angst happens before the happy ending. As stressful as I find those moments as a reader, I do understand how effective they are at keeping up the tension of the traditional story arc - but somehow, nigh-on magically, she manages to elide any need for that kind of unnecessary stress without losing a single drop of interest, fun, or tension from the storyline.
I don't know how she does it, but I'm so grateful that she does, and it makes her stories feel like warm, nurturing hugs. This one left me smiling and feeling warm and happy, like a delicious hot coffee on an autumn morning. I loved it!...more
I liked but didn't love the first book in this series (basically, I loved the historical fantasy aspect and all of the characters, but I wasn't compleI liked but didn't love the first book in this series (basically, I loved the historical fantasy aspect and all of the characters, but I wasn't completely sold on the romance), so I stepped away from it for a few years...but then I absolutely FELL IN LOVE with the spin-off series (which takes place after the first trilogy and stars two characters who first appeared in this book), so I came back to try the original trilogy again. I enjoyed the first book more the second time I read it, and this second book was so much fun! I'm all-in now and heading for Book 3....more
This is an enormously fun Christmas romance-slash-heist novella, full of rich Victorian details and a twisty-turny plot that ends in a fantastically sThis is an enormously fun Christmas romance-slash-heist novella, full of rich Victorian details and a twisty-turny plot that ends in a fantastically satisfying way. I'll be re-reading it this Christmas!
(This is officially #3 in the Lilywhite Boys series, but you definitely don't need to have read the first two full novels to enjoy this. It stands alone perfectly, even though it's fun as a reader of the other books to catch the callbacks in this one.)...more
This epistolary historical fantasy romance novel is being first published as a series of daily emails, and I loved the first entry, which arrived todaThis epistolary historical fantasy romance novel is being first published as a series of daily emails, and I loved the first entry, which arrived today! You can still subscribe right here if you haven't already....more
Oh, this was just WONDERFUL. I love Christmas romance novellas as a subgenre, honestly, but this was just a stellar novella for any subgenre - so beauOh, this was just WONDERFUL. I love Christmas romance novellas as a subgenre, honestly, but this was just a stellar novella for any subgenre - so beautifully written, full of hilarity but also deep feeling, with both aspects combining into a truly swoon-worthy historical romance with an ending that made me glow with happiness. I'll be re-reading this one every year!...more
Utterly brilliant, full of fantastic characters and deliciously witty lines, and so full of painfully accurate emotional realism that, if you have eveUtterly brilliant, full of fantastic characters and deliciously witty lines, and so full of painfully accurate emotional realism that, if you have ever been a young would-be writer/artist/composer/musician in desperate search of validation, this story may just scald you with its resonance. I ended up having to skim-read some chunks of the story with my hand in front of my eyes, the first time through, because it all just felt too raw and resonant for me to cope with. (From the moment charming older writer Nash Nicholson offers to "help" Eddie by reading her novel, I was inwardly screaming NO NO NO NO NO! But of course I knew she would leap at it, because I would have, too, at that age and in those circumstances.)
The fact that I found it so painful, though, is not a criticism of the novel AT ALL - it's a tribute to just how real it all felt (and how godawful that same toxic emotional dynamic has been throughout history, again and again - just read up on the women writers and artists in the Bloomsbury group or what poor Mary Shelley went through with her husband to get a taste of how it cycles round and round and keeps on going even now).
The slowburn romance in the background of Eddie's painful artistic coming-of-age, though, is incredibly sweet and adorable, and the ending is lovely - really, really satisfying.
Cat Sebastian is one of the very best writers - at every single level from stylistic elegance to depth of character and storytelling - of historical rCat Sebastian is one of the very best writers - at every single level from stylistic elegance to depth of character and storytelling - of historical romance for adults, and this new book from her is just fantastic: warm, wry, witty, resolutely non-traditional and ruthlessly kind...much like the romantic couple at the heart of it. The grumpy one (prickly, ruthless, and desperately ethical Marion, formerly known as the Duchess of Clare before she murdered that husband for Very Good Reasons) is reluctantly and delightfully soft for the sunshine one (sweet, generous Rob, who first met her when he tried to blackmail her to avoid anyone ever finding out that he, in fact, is the rightful next Duke of Clare). I was already in love with them as a couple by the end of their hilarious correspondence at the beginning of the book (when she caustically points out just how BAD he is at blackmail, and they rapidly become best friends), and I fell even more in love with every mile they rode across the country afterwards, adopting stray cats, debating the ethics of theft in an unjust society, and protecting each other from everything else (including themselves).
I loved it, and now I need to go back and re-read the first book in this series, which stars Marion's ex-stepson (who's older than her and a lifelong good friend) and Rob's best friend, who were thrown together due to Rob's catastrophic blackmail scheme. (I think this second book would stand alone just fine for readers who haven't read Book 1 yet. On the other hand, Book 1 was also great! So, do as you will. ;) )...more
A gorgeously lush and swoonworthy historical romance in the vein of Lisa Kleypas and Mary Balogh, with wonderful characters, huge emotions, and a trulA gorgeously lush and swoonworthy historical romance in the vein of Lisa Kleypas and Mary Balogh, with wonderful characters, huge emotions, and a truly beautiful ending. I was a little wary about diving in because I was worried it would wrench at my heart (which is not up to that much damage at the moment!) but I thought I'd just read the opening...and then I couldn't stop. I devoured it, and my heart was indeed wrenched, but I was glad of it. If you want historical romance with All the Feels, this is absolutely the one to scoop up. I loved it....more
Although this is marked as #1 in the Cabots series, I read it second and was perfectly happy with that reading order. :)
This historical romance novellAlthough this is marked as #1 in the Cabots series, I read it second and was perfectly happy with that reading order. :)
This historical romance novella (set in 1959) has a much more muted tone than Peter Cabot Gets Lost (which was full of snicker-worthy banter and lots of humor), but it was a really lovely, warm, kind, and compassionate story about finding hope, courage, and second chances. It's set mostly in the winter, and it was just wonderfully cozy and emotionally moving. I am really looking forward to the next Cabots story that gets released (which will be about Patricia Cabot, Tommy's ex-wife, who was a wonderful side-character in both stories)!...more
This is such a lovely, warm, funny, tender, steamy, comforting, and low-angst historical romance for adults, following two college graduates as they fThis is such a lovely, warm, funny, tender, steamy, comforting, and low-angst historical romance for adults, following two college graduates as they find themselves and each other along an unexpected road trip from Boston to Los Angeles in 1960. I snickered at so much of the banter (I, too, believe that maps conspire against me!) and I really adored the characters. While this works perfectly as a standalone (it was my first introduction to this loosely-connected series), I started reading the other book in this series immediately afterwards just because I wanted more of that same feeling.
I picked up this book at 5a.m., at the tail end of a sleepless night (due to a really miserable, sniffly cold), and it is SUCH a testament to its comfort-read nature that I was feeling warm and happy by the time I finished it! :) ...more
This is a very, very gentle slow-burn historical romance set across the months and years soon after World War I, starring two women dealing with diffeThis is a very, very gentle slow-burn historical romance set across the months and years soon after World War I, starring two women dealing with different kinds of grief and internal transformations. It's also a very slow-burn fantasy novel where the magic gently, carefully creeps in and then somehow becomes intensely creepy and numinous by the end.
I loved all of the characters in this book and the whole warm, vivid setting. Their community is lovely, and so is the sense of place and time. I was sometimes startled or even a bit confused by the book's pacing/structural decisions (for example, there's one scene where people discuss whether or not to get something translated and decide against it...and then a few scenes later - which is also a few months later - they offhandedly refer to the fact that oh, yes, they got it translated a while back), but I loved how the magic in this book genuinely had a sense of being unknowable, dangerous and, well, truly magical in a way that can't be dismissed or governed by human rules. This new take on fae lore (and the Wild Hunt) was just wonderful.
I also really loved the relationship between Sylvia, the very brisk country doctor (who'd had to work for the French when she first went out to the WWI battlefields because the English wouldn't accept women as doctors yet) and Lucy, who was a nurse during the war and is now casting about to find her new purpose, since her pre-war life doesn't feel right anymore. At the beginning, Sylvia's the one with all of the purpose and the answers (and has to be, to prove herself as the village's first woman doctor); by the end, she's come to really appreciate and rely on Lucy's strength, and she's able to feel safe being vulnerable with Lucy, too, in a way that really matters. This is a super-slow-burn romance, but there's a hair-brushing scene early on that crackles with tension, and when they finally kissed, I cheered!
There was sometimes a bit of an elliptical feel to the overall narrative, where I had to blink and work out what exactly was going on from time to time - but that didn't stop me from genuinely enjoying every scene as I read, and I will definitely be reading the second book in this series....more
A fantastic ending to a really, really enjoyable trilogy of pulp-y (and steamy) romantic thrillers set in the 1920s. The relationship arc between the A fantastic ending to a really, really enjoyable trilogy of pulp-y (and steamy) romantic thrillers set in the 1920s. The relationship arc between the two heroes was just beautifully handled, and I adored the perfect endings that every one of the main series characters got. Seriously fun!...more
Oh, what a lovely, fun, sparkly and healing romance novel. I loved the wit and style of this 18th century romance, full of all the dash and verve you'Oh, what a lovely, fun, sparkly and healing romance novel. I loved the wit and style of this 18th century romance, full of all the dash and verve you'd hope for when one hero is a fabulous dandy of an aristocrat and the other is an ex-highwayman getting talked into One Last Job - but also I just loved the essential kindness and warmth that infused this whole story with so much tenderness. As I neared the end of the story, I found myself feeling some external dread, only because I have been going through an emotionally fragile year and so really DID NOT want to read the traditional Black Moment Breakup that comes 99% of the time at that particular point in a romance novel's structure...but without getting spoilery, I just want to say here that Cat Sebastian handled her book's structure and character arcs in a way that worked *unbelievably well* dramatically while still absolutely avoiding any unnecessary levels of pain/angst or misunderstandings - and I was so, so grateful for how beautifully she'd handled it. This whole book was a warm hug, and I loved it....more
Pure comfort and delight, with a plot I enjoyed so much more than I'd expected based on the inaccurate jacket copy. The jacket copy made it sound likePure comfort and delight, with a plot I enjoyed so much more than I'd expected based on the inaccurate jacket copy. The jacket copy made it sound like the hero intentionally trapped the heroine into marriage; he didn't. It sounded like she was in love with someone else when they got married; she wasn't. And in fact (after their incredibly unfortunate first meeting, at which the hero really did come off as a jerk - but he gets much better afterwards), their relationship is actually incredibly warm and funny and sweet. My very favorite part was how the inevitable black moment was handled with SO MUCH LESS drama than I'd expected, but SO very satisfyingly!
Perfect pandemic comfort-reading in every way. I hadn't read any of the other books in this series, but that made no difference to my enjoyment, and now I'm going to get the others, too!...more
Loretta Chase's writing is so stylistically gorgeous that I'll happily read her books almost no matter what they're about - which is the only reason ILoretta Chase's writing is so stylistically gorgeous that I'll happily read her books almost no matter what they're about - which is the only reason I got through the first third of this book, because the hero starts out the book as such an obnoxious guy. He's massively over-privileged, irresponsible, and voluntarily unaware of (and uninterested in) what life is at like for anyone with less privilege. And honestly, living in Brexit-era Britain, I found it very hard to root for a hero who starts out happily taking part in an Oxford-formed drinking club just like the one Boris Johnson and David Cameron used to be in (rich, drunk guys smashing things up for fun and then throwing around money to make it all right afterwards).
BUT. The heroine was fabulous from page 1, the writing was witty and clever and fun - and almost unbelievably, Chase completely pulled off the hero's moral development across the book, truly convincing me by the end that he had become a good person and would be both a fabulous husband to the heroine and a good driver of positive change in the world from then on (making GOOD use of his privilege, under his new wife's influence). And I genuinely loved the couple that they ended up forming themselves into.
Also, I was only partway through this book (which was a Christmas gift) when I ordered a copy of the other book in this series, which I hadn't read yet! So that's a pretty strong indication of how much I was enjoying it after all. :)...more
Ohhhh do I love the way Diana Biller writes ghost stories and love stories and just people in general. Her characters are so, SO good, so warm and truOhhhh do I love the way Diana Biller writes ghost stories and love stories and just people in general. Her characters are so, SO good, so warm and true and richly developed and I love them so much (especially including every one of the various ghosts who visit Amelie, the heroine of this novel).
This is a book about grief and about recovering from trauma and learning how to find hope again - so even though I'd preordered it (in two different formats, because I've loved everything she writes THAT much!), I hesitated about getting started. I thought maybe I should wait until I was no longer dealing with a physical recovery of my own.
But I did read the opening just to see what it was like...and that was it. I was sucked in completely! I stayed up far too late to devour it all tonight, and I don't regret it one bit. Amelie and Benedict have both been through so much in their past, but watching both of them, in different ways, start to unclench and find joy again was AMAZING. I adore the entire Moore family so much (and look forward with great interest to Maggie's book whenever it arrives), and Amelie's little sister is wonderful, too. This book is just so warm and rich and overflowing with compassion, and there's so much lovely humor and lightness of touch in the midst of the harder issues. I love this bit between Amelie and Benedict, early on after they've met again for the first time in twelve years:
"Your offer. Of...help."
"I will always help you," he said plainly.
This did not seem to please her. "I want to negotiate."
"Alright," he said. "I'll give you anything you want."
"Ben. Benedict, I mean."
"You can keep calling me Ben."
"Benedict. That's not how a negotiation works."
"No?"
She frowned at him. He smiled back. He couldn't help it - he was slowly realizing she'd come to see him and a slow tide of joy was rolling through his body.
"I can't accept your help for nothing," she said. "I need to give you something in return."
"I like sandwiches," he said.
She huffed at him. It was a familiar huff. It meant he wasn't doing what she thought he ought to, that he wasn't seeing reason - he was being pig-headed. He'd loved that sound.He still loved it.
<3 <3 The issues that Amelie and Ben have both been through (his time as a doctor in the US civil war; her traumatic experiences in Paris during the Franco-Prussian war and the Bloody Week afterwards) are real and hard and complex - but the romance between them is just lovely. And I adored the ghosts!
Basically, just: this book is wonderful. Read it! (I have no idea why, btw, the rather bland cover copy and the cover image make absolutely no mention of the many ghosts involved in this book. Ghosts - both literal and metaphorical - are the main propellors of the whole plot! They're hardly irrelevant! But - in other words, please ignore the cover copy and understand that it's a fabulous ghost story AND a fabulous romance, full of really wonderful characters. Some of them also occur in a different book, The Widow of Rose House, which I also loved, but you can happily read them in either order. And the novella prequel about the Moore parents is lovely too!) I will buy everything Diana Biller wants to write, in multiple formats, forever. :)...more
I'm still really enjoying this trilogy of pulp-y 1920s romantic thrillers (all starring the same couple). For myself, I would have personally preferreI'm still really enjoying this trilogy of pulp-y 1920s romantic thrillers (all starring the same couple). For myself, I would have personally preferred to get fewer sex scenes and more action/plot in the first half of this book, but I loved the second half without any reservations whatsoever, and I'm all-in on the (really wonderful) characters and fabulous setting. Can't wait for Book 3 (and I REALLY want to read a separate story just for Maisie and Phoebe one day)!...more
This is such a deliciously fun historical romance romp! It stars Socorro, a 36-year-old spinster in the Caribbean who may be forced to live on the kinThis is such a deliciously fun historical romance romp! It stars Socorro, a 36-year-old spinster in the Caribbean who may be forced to live on the kindness of her family and friends but who is not about to let herself become an object of pity...so, to make herself valuable to any household, she decides to start conducting fake séances! Unfortunately, she runs into a REAL ghost at her first séance - a lady pirate who is entirely inappropriate but who guides her towards a whole new kind of future. And of course the one snarky skeptic at the séance is an annoyingly attractive guy who gets swept along in Socorro's new hunt for pirate treasure...
There are so many hilarious moments that made me laugh as I read - and so many mouth-watering descriptions of hot chocolate! I loooooooved it, and the ending was just perfect. This is the first story in a new series called "The Spinster Sect," and I cannot wait for the next one. (According to the note at the end of this story, the next one's heroine will face "a creature straight out of Dominican myth during a house party in the mountains..." CAN. NOT. WAIT! Seriously.)
I was trying to figure out whether to describe this as a novelette or a novella, so I asked the author about wordcount, and she said it's about 16,000 words - so, just under the official wordcount minimum for a novella. It's just perfectly paced and feels exactly right as a long novelette - a lovely treat to devour in a single evening. And best of all, you can download it for free right now. Treat yourself! :)...more
Loading...
