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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Cornerstone for sending me an arc of Love at First Fright!
I loved this so much! Rosemary was such a good fmc i acc love her, and the ghosts! Juliet and Cecelia were amazing
I loved this so much! Rosemary was such a good fmc i acc love her, and the ghosts! Juliet and Cecelia were amazing
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.
Rosemary really didn’t want an action star in the historical horror movie based off *her* book & script. Ellis is ready to step outside action roles & serve up a haunting portrayal of someone being haunted .
This premise is A+, especially considering that the old estate where they’re staying is haunted (!).
This was my first read by Nadia El-Fassi, & the author creates a warm & inclusive community of characters (for the most part) who are invested in bringing Rosemary’s words to life. If you want sensitivity & heat, this book balances both, serving up some crackling scenes that are underpinned with great communication.
The haunting isn’t quite what I had hoped for—it feels rushed—but the focus is on Rosemary & Ellis & that probably won’t disappoint a lot of people.
Rosemary really didn’t want an action star in the historical horror movie based off *her* book & script. Ellis is ready to step outside action roles & serve up a haunting portrayal of someone being haunted .
This premise is A+, especially considering that the old estate where they’re staying is haunted (!).
This was my first read by Nadia El-Fassi, & the author creates a warm & inclusive community of characters (for the most part) who are invested in bringing Rosemary’s words to life. If you want sensitivity & heat, this book balances both, serving up some crackling scenes that are underpinned with great communication.
The haunting isn’t quite what I had hoped for—it feels rushed—but the focus is on Rosemary & Ellis & that probably won’t disappoint a lot of people.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me access to the eARC of this book!
Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi is a cozy paranormal romance filled with so much atmosphere you absolutely feel transported to every location they describe. In this book we follow Rosemary, a historical horror author (uhm yes please) whose novel is being turned into a movie. And, by the way, she can see ghosts. As the executive producer and script writer she is asked to come to be involved in the filming. Enter the first big problem, the A-List actor who is cast as her leading man: Ellis Finch. Our fiery redheaded author does not feel like Ellis is right for the role, and she lets him know it. Ellis has problems of his own: a nasty, blackmailing agent, getting older in the film industry, and oh yeah, his poor dog’s ghost following him around.
Many hijnx ensue as one would expect filming in an old (and absolutely haunted) victorian mansion. Can Rosemary and Ellis put aside their differences and move forward to create a blockbuster movie?
This book has age gap romance, a soft dom/sub relationship, well written spice, and cute dogs (both living and ghost). It has beautiful descriptions of living with loss and grief, and lovely messages of dismantling internalized homophobia and living as your authentic self. Many scenes brought tears to my eyes, while others made me laugh (I also realized I was bi from watching the 1999 production of The Mummy). This book was honestly such a treat to read and I can’t wait for it to be out where everyone else can read it.
Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi is an enemies-to-lovers, magical romance. Rosemary is a successful horror novelist with the ability to see dead people, excited to work on the movie set for her first book to movie adaptation. Ellis is a movie star who has been cast as the lead actor in her movie. This was such a fun book and the author did a fantastic job of developing the characters throughout the story. They were unique, vulnerable, relatable, and just real! There were heartwarming and sometimes challenging moments of conflict throughout the book, but that just gave the story more depth. I would highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read more from the author.
Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Love At First Fight
3.5 ⭐️
Kicked off spooky season a little early this year with this romcom full of all sorts of ghosts!
A horror author catches her big break when her book is finally being made into a movie, only for the worst choice in an actor to be cast as the star. The two are at odds at first until they start to find some common ground.
This book may not have been my favorite fall romcom, but I could totally see where some would love the age gap romance with a dash of paranormal! Little more 🌶️ than I’m used to, but definitely had some side characters I liked.
Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC!
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
So. Much. Cuteness. A confident horror writer & action actor that start as enemies before hitting it off on-set of her book to film adaptation where he's the star. We got grief, a tasteful age-gap, forced proximity, & Dom/sub kink
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Read: June 8, 2025 - July 25, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the spectacular opportunity to read this book before its official release!
Disclaimer for other readers: I read purely for vibes, and I super vibes with this book. I hope anybody that picks up this book after me enjoys it as much as I did, if not more.
Don't let my reading time fool you! Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi hit the spot during my paranormal romance phase and even exceeded expectations in some areas! Who would've thought all I needed in my life was to read about pets hanging around in ghost form? Not I, but it was definitely a welcome change.
The romance wasn't really hitting all the right places for me with how quickly everything moved for the two main characters and how they each handled their respective feelings for each other. Something about it fell flat and felt just a teensy bit forced. I could tell there was a connection between the two, but I couldn't feel the longing, desire, or love.
In addition to the above, I would've liked to see more of that struggle to come forward from both parties. The struggle to be 100% open and honest about something you're utterly terrified to share for fear of the other party walking away should or normally is more of a struggle and I just wanted to feel it and connect with the characters on that.
Last but not least! I REALLY wish we could've had more details about how the conflict with Ellis and Brody went down. I would've loved to feel the satisfaction of bringing down the antagonist with one of the main characters to really bring this story/journey to a close.
Again, thank you so much for the opportunity to ready this book! It wasn't bad or mediocre, I truly did enjoy the story and would recommend it to friends if they're looking for something like this.
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the spectacular opportunity to read this book before its official release!
Disclaimer for other readers: I read purely for vibes, and I super vibes with this book. I hope anybody that picks up this book after me enjoys it as much as I did, if not more.
Don't let my reading time fool you! Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi hit the spot during my paranormal romance phase and even exceeded expectations in some areas! Who would've thought all I needed in my life was to read about pets hanging around in ghost form? Not I, but it was definitely a welcome change.
The romance wasn't really hitting all the right places for me with how quickly everything moved for the two main characters and how they each handled their respective feelings for each other. Something about it fell flat and felt just a teensy bit forced. I could tell there was a connection between the two, but I couldn't feel the longing, desire, or love.
In addition to the above, I would've liked to see more of that struggle to come forward from both parties. The struggle to be 100% open and honest about something you're utterly terrified to share for fear of the other party walking away should or normally is more of a struggle and I just wanted to feel it and connect with the characters on that.
Last but not least! I REALLY wish we could've had more details about how the conflict with Ellis and Brody went down. I would've loved to feel the satisfaction of bringing down the antagonist with one of the main characters to really bring this story/journey to a close.
Again, thank you so much for the opportunity to ready this book! It wasn't bad or mediocre, I truly did enjoy the story and would recommend it to friends if they're looking for something like this.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC!
I really liked this one. I liked the characters and seeing Rosemary fall in love with Ellis. I liked the way the ghosts were portrayed. There were a lot of funny scenes in this book and some good spicy scenes. A pretty solid rom com.
I really liked this one. I liked the characters and seeing Rosemary fall in love with Ellis. I liked the way the ghosts were portrayed. There were a lot of funny scenes in this book and some good spicy scenes. A pretty solid rom com.
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Since reading Best Hex Ever, I have been incredibly excited to read more from this author, and this book absolutely did not disappoint!
It started as I expected, cute and cosy. I really liked Rosemary as a FMC, and found her so quirky and relatable. Adding that she can see ghosts made for a fun sub plot, and I liked that she meddled in the love lives of ghosts.
And then we met Ellis. Ohh sweet, brooding, British Hollywood Hearthrob, Ellis. I loved him. That man could do no wrong in my eyes. The relationship between him and Rosemary blossomed so naturally and felt real. There is an age gap between the two of them, but only by 12 years. The sub/dom power play dynamic was very well written, and it definitely felt that the both characters fully trusted eachother. The physical relationship between them was absolutely perfect for me, and felt like it came at the right time in the story too.
Again, Nadia has written a book that has left me with an insatiable need for more of her writing, and I cannot wait to see what comes next from her. This will definitely a book that I will be reading again and again on cold autumn nights 🫶🏻
Tropes:
- Paranormal Subplot
- Age Gap
- Power Play Dom/Sub
- Gender and Sexuality Rep
- Third Act Breakup
- Forced Proximity
- Author x Actor