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A review by tkbarber_author
Illusions of Grandeur by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
5.0
Will stick with me a long time
I had to take a day to digest and really process what I wanted to say about this book. In summation: I seriously f*cking loved it. This was the first book I’ve read by Mrs. Kingsley, and I’m DYING for book two. Literally counting the days. Honestly, it was a master class in how to make a book about a ghost and his house utterly enthralling, s*xy, mysterious, & spooky. And speaking of puzzle house-I can’t say enough about how Mrs. Kingsley threaded interesting tidbits into the prose without overwhelmingly focusing on detail. I could see it all so clearly in my mind and yet the story didn’t drag or snag anywhere. (Again-master class.) This isn’t a typical romance, but none of the characters are your “typical” people. We have Alice, whose growth I genuinely appreciated as it was really her finding what her limits were, and Charles, Alice’s new boss and descendant of the sinister ghost, who I’m so friggin’ curious to find out what his whole thing is about. And let’s not forget the Impossible Julian Strande, because forgetting him would be the worst slight you could do to him. I love him. I have my suspicions about the ‘behind the curtain’ scenes, and I can’t wait to see if I’m right. I love Charles, too. That slightly unhinged thing they both have going is just so interesting. I felt the two removed scenes could have totally been included in the book, and actually shed some light on a few plotty threads I’d been confused on. And trust me—when you read this book, you absolutely want to read those scenes. (Don’t skip them. It’s worth a trip to her site. If the white on black bothers your eyes like it does mine you can swap the browser to night mode and it should reverse it) I am BEYOND glad I took a chance on an odd little book that popped up in my ads. There are plenty of sexy encounters, some intense scenes, and lots of chemistry. So, if you’ve ever dreamed about visiting a spooky old mansion, haunted by a sexy, insane, sadistic magician and filled with a plethora of bizarre exhibits, creations, traps and more, this is legit the book for you. 5 magical stars.
I had to take a day to digest and really process what I wanted to say about this book. In summation: I seriously f*cking loved it. This was the first book I’ve read by Mrs. Kingsley, and I’m DYING for book two. Literally counting the days. Honestly, it was a master class in how to make a book about a ghost and his house utterly enthralling, s*xy, mysterious, & spooky. And speaking of puzzle house-I can’t say enough about how Mrs. Kingsley threaded interesting tidbits into the prose without overwhelmingly focusing on detail. I could see it all so clearly in my mind and yet the story didn’t drag or snag anywhere. (Again-master class.) This isn’t a typical romance, but none of the characters are your “typical” people. We have Alice, whose growth I genuinely appreciated as it was really her finding what her limits were, and Charles, Alice’s new boss and descendant of the sinister ghost, who I’m so friggin’ curious to find out what his whole thing is about. And let’s not forget the Impossible Julian Strande, because forgetting him would be the worst slight you could do to him. I love him. I have my suspicions about the ‘behind the curtain’ scenes, and I can’t wait to see if I’m right. I love Charles, too. That slightly unhinged thing they both have going is just so interesting. I felt the two removed scenes could have totally been included in the book, and actually shed some light on a few plotty threads I’d been confused on. And trust me—when you read this book, you absolutely want to read those scenes. (Don’t skip them. It’s worth a trip to her site. If the white on black bothers your eyes like it does mine you can swap the browser to night mode and it should reverse it) I am BEYOND glad I took a chance on an odd little book that popped up in my ads. There are plenty of sexy encounters, some intense scenes, and lots of chemistry. So, if you’ve ever dreamed about visiting a spooky old mansion, haunted by a sexy, insane, sadistic magician and filled with a plethora of bizarre exhibits, creations, traps and more, this is legit the book for you. 5 magical stars.