Many of my friends have been singing the praises of British romance author K. J. Charles for some time now, but I’ve only just hopped on that bandwagon. K. J. Charles currently has over two dozen books to her name, ranging from straight up historical romance to series more tinged with horror and fantasy, most with queer love stories. I decided (or rather, the Romancing the Gothic book club decided) to start with one of her more fantastical works: Spectred Isle, Book One in the Green Men series, which came out in 2017. Continue reading Review of Spectred Isle—A Romance of Green Men
Tag: romance
A Summoning of Souls Review
Leanna Renee Hieber is back with a new book in her Spectral City series! In case you missed it last week, Leanna wrote a lovely guest post for us on the many possibilities of ghost stories in her works and in her life. In her Spectral City books, ghost stories help the psychic ladies of NYPD’s Ghost Precinct to solve mysteries and save lives! A Summoning of Souls is the third book in this trilogy, and it comes out tomorrow, July 21. WORD Bookstores will be hosting a virtual release party on their Instagram page tomorrow at 7:30pm EDT. Continue reading A Summoning of Souls Review
Review of Widdershins—Gay Romance and Cosmic Horror
Don’t you just hate it when all you want is to study dead languages alone in your office, but you’ve just discovered a dangerous cult that is trying to resurrect the dead and take over the world, and it’s up to you and a handsome detective to stop them? Percival Endicott Whyborne is a particularly reluctant hero in Widdershins by Jordan L. Hawk, which came out back in 2012. This first book in Hawk’s lengthy Whyborne & Griffin series is a subversive take on Lovecraft’s cosmic horror mythos that centers a love story between two men. I adore it when writers take the world that H. P. Lovecraft created and use it to create stories that would leave the notoriously bigoted author turning in his grave. Continue reading Review of Widdershins—Gay Romance and Cosmic Horror
Review of The Quiet Gentleman—Regency Romance with a Gothic Flair
When the black sheep of the family inherits the title and estate, you know some Gothic inheritance drama is about to go down. Gervase Frant has succeeded his father as Earl, only to find himself fending off attacks on his life while living amongst the family that always hated him in Georgette Heyer’s The Quiet Gentleman (1951). The Romancing the Gothic book club I’ve been participating in this summer recently introduced me to Heyer—the prolific twentieth-century British author who essentially established historical romance as a genre, specializing in the Regency romance. The Quiet Gentleman is a prime example of her work and also shows the clear influence that the Gothic often had on the budding romance genre. Continue reading Review of The Quiet Gentleman—Regency Romance with a Gothic Flair
A Dangerous Observer Review–Escape into Gothic Suspense
Can I offer you a beautiful woman fleeing a castle in these trying times? From the cover of A Dangerous Observer alone, I knew this book was going to have everything I needed for a purely pleasurable escapist read. A Dangerous Observer is the latest Gothic Romance from one of my favorite authors, Amanda DeWees. (You may remember my reviews of her Gothic spin on Hamlet, Sea of Secrets, and her Daphne du Maurier Award–winning novel, With This Curse.) A Dangerous Observer came out just last month, so now is the perfect time to grab this fresh new read. Continue reading A Dangerous Observer Review–Escape into Gothic Suspense
A Sanctuary of Spirits Review
Halloween may be over, but that just means it’s time for my other favorite thing about fall: a spooky new release from Leanna Renee Hieber! In A Sanctuary of Spirits, the second installment in Leanna’s new Spectral City series, the girl-gang of the NYPD Ghost Precinct return to investigate a horde of restless children’s spirits. The book comes out tomorrow, November 12. And if you’re in the New York City area, you should join me tomorrow for the launch party at WORD bookstore in Brooklyn! Continue reading A Sanctuary of Spirits Review
Denizens of Distant Realms Review
Once upon a time doesn’t necessarily have to be long, long ago. I’ve mentioned my great love of fairy tales—whether they be classics, retellings, or brand-new fairy tales that emulate the classics in form and style. Denizens of Distant Realms, a new collection of short stories by Dawn Vogel, falls into the latter category. The book came out back in August, and while I was previously unfamiliar with the author and her other works, my great love of fairy tales drew me to take a chance on the new collection. Continue reading Denizens of Distant Realms Review
The Lady and the Highwayman Review
Want some romance with a side of literary rivalry? How about if it’s set in the Victorian era and features that aptly named mode of early horror fiction—the penny dreadful? The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden, which came out earlier this month, is a delightful historical romance that pushed all the right buttons for me. If you love Victorian literature, bold heroines, and sweet couples solving mysteries together, then this is the perfect book to curl up with on a cool autumn day! Continue reading The Lady and the Highwayman Review
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue Review
Ah, the Grand Tour of Europe—that most exciting part of coming of age for any young Victorian gentleman. Monty’s Grand Tour, however, gets a bit too exciting in The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee—a queer YA historical novel that my friends have been ranting and raving to me about for well over a year. Apparently, July is the month for me to finally catch up on all the great reads from the last few years that I somehow missed. I actually met Mackenzi Lee back in 2015 at the Brooklyn Book Festival and reviewed her debut novel, This Monstrous Thing. And yet I still managed to be the last one to hop on the Gentleman’s Guide bandwagon. Oh well, better late than never! Continue reading The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue Review
Review of An Ember in the Ashes
“The field of battle is my temple. The swordpoint is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release.” This is the mantra of one of the elite soldiers in Sabaa Tahir’s dark YA fantasy, An Ember in the Ashes. The first in an ongoing series, this book blends political intrigue and revolution with mythological creatures and hints of magic. I picked up An Ember in the Ashes on a whim, but found myself devouring it as fast as possible and immediately downloading the sequel. Continue reading Review of An Ember in the Ashes