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booksthatburn's review
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
CAROLINE'S HEART is a story of grief, love, and connection between a witch and a cowboy. Cecily has been trying to magically call her deceased lover's soul to bring her back to life. Roy is a cowboy who figured out too late that he dislikes his job. He meets Cecily when she comes to the ranch, and he’s fascinated by her and her magic. When Roy gets injured while protecting Cecily, she saves his life and he recuperates at her home. As they spend time together, the bond between them grows until, eventually, Cecily is faced with a choice between the ghost in her past and a chance at the future.
The story has such an intimate focus, only lightly involving anyone besides Roy and Cecily. Even though half of the story is from Cecily’s perspective, she’s so focused on trying to bring back Caroline, her deceased lover, that most details of her thoughts and history only are shown when she opens up to Roy.
The world building is consistent without trying to be particularly dense, which works very well for such a brief story. It takes advantage of a well-trod setting in the historical American west to do a lot of the heavy lifting, focusing more on the relationships between the characters and how Cecily uses her magic. Roy and Cecily have been navigating different kinds of prejudices, but their bond is more about how they connect to each other than whatever difficulties they have in relating to other people.
Things I love, in no particular order: The relationship between Roy and Cecily, the way Roy takes it on himself to make Cecily's life better even though she's capable of surviving, how much space there is for Cecily's grief and healing.
The story has such an intimate focus, only lightly involving anyone besides Roy and Cecily. Even though half of the story is from Cecily’s perspective, she’s so focused on trying to bring back Caroline, her deceased lover, that most details of her thoughts and history only are shown when she opens up to Roy.
The world building is consistent without trying to be particularly dense, which works very well for such a brief story. It takes advantage of a well-trod setting in the historical American west to do a lot of the heavy lifting, focusing more on the relationships between the characters and how Cecily uses her magic. Roy and Cecily have been navigating different kinds of prejudices, but their bond is more about how they connect to each other than whatever difficulties they have in relating to other people.
Things I love, in no particular order: The relationship between Roy and Cecily, the way Roy takes it on himself to make Cecily's life better even though she's capable of surviving, how much space there is for Cecily's grief and healing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Alcohol, Homophobia, Bullying, Blood, Cursing, Sexual content, Death, Xenophobia, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pregnancy, Racism, Excrement, and Miscarriage
lunarchfey's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5 stars
I thought this was lovely; a short and sweet and well-woven fantasy-romance. Gothic and a bit eerie, dealing with love and loss. I find Chant's prose incredibly easy to read - never something that jars me out of the story, and often as enchanting as the characters and the romance being created. The worldbuilding was surprisingly strong for how few words were used to do it - there was never a struggle to suspend my disbelief. I would definitely recommend!
I thought this was lovely; a short and sweet and well-woven fantasy-romance. Gothic and a bit eerie, dealing with love and loss. I find Chant's prose incredibly easy to read - never something that jars me out of the story, and often as enchanting as the characters and the romance being created. The worldbuilding was surprisingly strong for how few words were used to do it - there was never a struggle to suspend my disbelief. I would definitely recommend!
liketheriver's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
cronasbookshelf's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? No
4.75
such a heartwarming queer story♡ i wish it was a little longer but i do think the author made a great job developing roy and cecily's relationship even though its a short book. as a transmasc-enby i think roy's portrayal as a person and also as a love interest is so refreshing and amazing, he's such a nice person, even when he feels unsafe because of the men he's surrounded with at work, he's bright and admirable, and i just adore how caring he is towards cecily!! being completely honest, i didn't really think the last scenes were necessary, because the author already established that they do see each other as love interests and care deeply about each other. though, i must say, its also very refreshing to read a sex scene were trans people are comfortable in their bodies without being invalidated because of it !! i enjoyed the way the author portrayed their sexual intimacy :) . overall, a great quick read, my queer heart is full and happy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Sexual content and Death
invaderday's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
4.75
wish this was longer!!! i wanted to explore the magic system a bit more, i really liked the imagery of magic threads and frames used as looms.
absolutely loved the premise. cowboy gets mixed up with a witch, and it's all very trans and a bit romantic :) and the whole thing with caroline's heart was such an interesting bit of story, i just really really enjoyed it. great little novella! easily could have read more
absolutely loved the premise. cowboy gets mixed up with a witch, and it's all very trans and a bit romantic :) and the whole thing with caroline's heart was such an interesting bit of story, i just really really enjoyed it. great little novella! easily could have read more
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Gun violence
Minor: Death, Medical content, and Grief
amaldae's review against another edition
4.0
Disgustingly sweet. Yes, in many ways it could have been better developed, better paced, but it's compact and it does, I suspect, what it sets out to do.
bebidocrimes's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I really loved Roy and the magic system was so personal and fascinating, I want to dig into that more, especially at the climax. It just felt like I wanted more, I wanted it to be longer and dive a little deeper into developing Cecily. She seemed so distracted by her end goal I didn't get a good feel for who she really is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Violence
genderqueer_hiker's review against another edition
5.0
I F'ing loved this story. Well written, well executed. It's the cutest, sweetest romance novella. I'm a hard-hearted curmudgeon and this made me tear up something fierce.
carmine_b's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
thosemedalingkidsss's review against another edition
5.0
Ok, I loved this.
A quiet cowboy, a prickly witch. Historical and fantasy elements. Witchcraft and cozy houses they teleport to. Crafting and mending and enchantments to help the public.
So casually queer, so tender and sweet at times, also the casual transness throughout this is *chefs kiss. Also the new cover is so gooood.
Love. Yeehaw
CWs: death of loved one (partner), body horror, gunshot wound, body dysphoria
A quiet cowboy, a prickly witch. Historical and fantasy elements. Witchcraft and cozy houses they teleport to. Crafting and mending and enchantments to help the public.
So casually queer, so tender and sweet at times, also the casual transness throughout this is *chefs kiss. Also the new cover is so gooood.
Love. Yeehaw
CWs: death of loved one (partner), body horror, gunshot wound, body dysphoria