Once Ghosted, Twice Shy (Reluctant Royals, #2.5) (urspr publ 2019; utgåvan 2019)

Oh I loved this!!!!!!!!
I was put off at first by the jump between Winter and Spring but soon fell in love with the characters.
What a sweet, sexy story. I wish they'd gotten a full book. I'm glad to see Portia's twin, Regina has a novella planned in this series as well.
Such fun! ( )

Short and sweet. I would have liked a bit more time to know Fab's story. It was nice to get some time with Likotsi as a central character instead of a background character to others. She's so interesting and such a unique character. This novella starts in the middle of their relationship and goes back-and-forth between past and present. The focus was almost completely on their relationship and had a very itty bitty side plot that felt tacked on. I ended up wanting more of both Fab and Likotsi. Not just the romance between the two of them (which was great) but also to know each of them as characters in and of themselves.

That said, I really enjoyed this novella. I really hope to see more of these two in future books. ( )

4/5 ( )

Charming novella with engaging characters. ( )

I read this in a couple hours during a cozy winter afternoon, and it was good for that but not perfect. While I liked seeing Likotsi again, and her get her happy ending, I’m not sure I care for her quite in a leading role and I found myself skimming a little. A bit too much organization and reserve for my taste, I think. Fab was great though, and I almost wish I could’ve gotten the whole book from her POV.

The book stays well within its limits as a novella, though. Doesn’t try to do too much, doesn’t add things in to build out space, is designed to be short and sweet and was certainly both. The romance is cute and seeing them work out their issues in a whirlwind of a date was enjoyable, and on top of that, I think I detected some nice upending of butch/femme stereotypes. For one thing, Likotsi’s pretty comfortable being vulnerable.

And like the other books in this series, I appreciated that Cole’s touching on contemporary issues and extending “Black Americans” beyond “people who were born in the States”. It gives this story the heart and tension it needs, for sure.

But … a good book in my view holds my attention, so maybe I wasn’t quite in the mood for romance or reading or maybe I just ran into my “novellas are rarely perfect” problem. Or the writing in this one was a little weaker than the novels themselves? I dunno. Something that turned this into a “liked, didn’t love”, anyway.

To bear in mind: Will give you a tour of Weird New York. Might make you hungry.

6.5/10 ( )