The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound like they may be interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along with series information and the publisher’s book description. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Although I am working on a review of a GREAT book that I hope to have finished soon, there have been no new posts since the last of these spotlights—but if you missed it and want to discover some books coming out in 2022, I covered 30 of them here. Today’s featured book is also coming out this year, but it will be out a lot sooner than most of those since it’s being released this week!
Good Neighbors: The Full Collection by Stephanie Burgis
This fantasy romance collection following the same couple will be released on February 2 (paperback, ebook).
Good Neighbors contains a short story, a novelette, and two novellas that first appeared on Stephanie Burgis’ Patreon:
Stephanie Burgis wrote that it’s “about 60,000 words of metal magic, fake dating, undead minions, midnight balls, illicit opera house adventures and more!” on her blog, and she has a couple of snippets from it here.
This sounds like fun, and I was immediately intrigued by the first line: “It wasn’t so bad living next door to a notorious necromancer, most of the time.”
When a grumpy inventor meets her outrageous new neighbor in the big black castle down the road, more than one type of spark will fly!
Mia Brandt knows better than to ever again allow her true powers to be discovered. Ever since her last neighbors burned down her workshop in a night of terror and flame, she’s been determined to stay solitary, safe, and – to all outside appearances – perfectly respectable…
But Leander Fabian, whose sinister castle looms over her cozy new cottage, has far more dangerous ideas in mind. When he persuades Mia into a reluctant alliance, she finds herself swept into an exhilarating world of midnight balls, interfering countesses, illicit opera house expeditions, necromantic duels, and a whole unnatural community of fellow magic-workers and outcasts, all of whom are facing a threat more ominous than any she’s confronted before.
Luckily, Mia has unnatural powers of her own – but even her unique skills may not be enough to protect her new found family and help her resist the wickedly provoking neighbor who’s seen through all of her shields from the beginning.
This novel-length collection includes all four stories and novellas originally published on Stephanie Burgis’s Patreon in 2020-2021: Good Neighbors, Deadly Courtesies, Fine Deceptions, and Fierce Company.
