Review: Ghosts and Liars by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

Kathryn Ann Kingsley's second book in the Impossible Julian Strande series, Ghosts and Liars is, if it is possible, darker, more psychologically twisted, sexier, and somehow even better than Illusions of Grandeur. 

I feel like this second book is told ever so slightly more from the perspective of the ghost than the first book, and I really enjoyed that. 

Now, for the record, I feel like for all that I've mentioned that it's dark and psychologically twisted, I know there's a lot of C-PTSD readers out there, so I'm going to just throw out there that omg, the gaslighting, manipulation, and other flavors of unhealthy abusive relationships get covered in this novel to some degree- if not portrayed per se, then perhaps discussed. On the one hand, if you're going into a dark romance, you probably know what you're likely getting yourself into. On the other hand... if you can't read people exercising poor judgment, well, you've been warned.

But like I said before when talking about book one, I've read this pair five times, and for a reason. It's good. The characters are deep multidimensional constructs, and oh, dear me, the magic system is even more exquisitely detailed in this novel, and the geekery abounds. 

I also read Ghosts and Liars first as a Kindle Unlimited offering that I later bought in order to have in my own personal library forever, because I know it will be one of those stories to which I continue to return.

Review: Illusions of Grandeur by Kathryn Ann Kinglsey

It isn't like I read this book 5 times or anything. Because I totally at least skipped around one of those times, so only the first four count, right?

Okay, this bookk is the first in a lovely pair of exceedingly dark romance novels. Did I say dark? I mean Vanta Black dark. I loved it.

Like the setting, the architecture of the story is delightfully detailed and not quite as linear as you'd expect. It's perfectly delightful. Between ghosts, rumors of murder, a young woman starting over, a house full of old fashioned automatons, a charismatic magician, and a the true hero of the story, a little plastic octopus, it's a delightful story. Once you start following Alice down this rabbit hole, you won't want to stop.

Of course, this isn't for the prude out there. The story gets not only steamy, but explicitly steamy. But full props to Kathryn Ann Kingsley, when it gets super steamy, it's at least plot furthering. 

Beyond the delightful layers of dark paranormal mischief and even darker lusty goings on, I loved the world building that Kingsley did in this book. While the paranormal aspects are exceedingly far from normal, her careful world building gives it the uncanny magical realism feel that makes it seem like something that just possibly could happen, and I like that.

I recommend checking it out. I read Illusions of Grandeur free on Kindle Unlimited, but I liked it so much that after my third read through I bought it. 

In the Shadow of Blackbirds

Click here for my full review.