These two authors have collaborated on collections in the past, and they have always been good. I must confess that I am already a fan of Elizabeth Hunter’s Elemental series, and I always welcome any opportunity to revisit that world. I enjoyed the first piece I read from Grace Draven, and I was excited to see what she would bring to this collection. When I averaged my rating for each story, the overall rating came out to be 3.7 stars.

“A Very Proper Monster” received a rating of 4.5 stars. At first, it took me a while to realize whose story was being told. However, once it picked up, it almost rushed through their early life together. Despite this, I enjoyed everything about the book. It was a nice turn since we hadn’t seen many of these characters before.

Josephine Shaw is a spinster who spends her nights filling the pages of her Gothic stories with fantastical creatures for the enjoyment of others. She is unaware that her father is looking for a husband to care for her when he is gone. Tom Dargin agrees to court the ailing spinster to secure a deal between Mr. Shaw and his boss Patrick Murphy. But when he finally meets the woman in question he is drawn to her and no longer sees this as just a duty.

This was a sweet love story with bite. Tom and Josephine were destined even if neither could see it at first.

“Gaslight Hades” I gave 3.2 stars mainly because it was confusing for me. I had difficulty getting into the story and did not really warm up to the characters until almost the end. While it was supposed to be a Gothic romance I got more of a steampunk feel from it, not that I don’t like steampunk. The story somewhat reminds me of Lovecraft because of the monsters.

Nathaniel Gordon was a man once upon a time but now he is barely human and walks among both the living and the dead. Nathaniel is a Bonekeeper, a guardian against grave robbers who has a well-earned reputation for protecting his charges. He has resigned himself to the fact that his old life is over until he spots the woman he once loved in his graveyard.

Lenore Kenward has lost her father, a man she both loved and admired after losing her almost fiancé years before. While at the graveside she senses something and finds a guardian watching her, instead of being frightened like so many she asks him to keep her father’s grave safe. She also feels there is something familiar about him.

This was a really slow burn but delivered a decent love story in the end. Not my favorite but I came to like them both.

My rating: 💫💫💫💫