Bed, Board and Monster Girls: a cozy book worth a look
I was taken aback by this one. I went into it with the full knowledge that I was taking a chance on a new-to-me author, and fully expected to be disappointed. Instead, I fell in love with a broken group of people and a broken home in need of those people.
Meet Sam Pendle, an accountant in a modern city full of glass and concrete, and nephew of an aunt named Maeve, an aunt he met exactly once. Now meet Sam Pendle, trudging up a village lane, in the country side, having been fired from his job and inherited his deceased Aunt Maeve's boarding house.
Sam Pendle spends a month renovating his new boarding house to save it from a hostile takeover by a spindly heron, and along the way finds love with a succubus, an abyssal who likes to be tied down, a grumpy honeybadger, and a moth. Pretty sure a plant falls in love with someone but who knows how plants think? He learns the home is sentient, and realizes he needs it in his life as much as the home needs him as the keeper of its hearth.
I legitimately loved all of these characters, unique and dependable in their own way, recognizable in their words and actions, and finding their own needs fulfilled as the book progressed. Even the home itself is a wonderful and delightful character, with its own personality and flaws; it was a completely unexpected standout in the book.
They all speak from their own perspectives as well. Nell is always frustrated, and feeling unrewarded for her efforts, but you can see that deep down she truly, genuinely loves watching the boarding house get better, with an emotional payoff near the end. Sam approaches everything like an accountant, obsessed with his tiny little numbers and calculating the costs of potatoes and relationships. The abyssal is always on guard, and the succubus is...well, Lottie is Lottie, and I'm not quite sure how to explain her without spoiling things too much.
In short, this book is warm, and cozy, and full of heart in the very best way, set amidst the cold backdrop of the weather and a wealthy and corrupt heron trying to make the characters fail.
That's not to say the book does not have its faults. Sure, there are some typos and similar, but it's nothing too egregious. No, instead I had two main issues, and a lot of nitpicky ones. Some aren't even faults, more just opportunities for improvement.
Issue one: Sam continues to act like he doesn't have money coming in, but both the succubus and the abyssal say "Hey, I've got silver". When Sam is balancing the books and updating his ledger, there's no mention of that. For a book so dedicated to working towards a very specific debt payoff amount, it seemed to be a rather obvious miss for a character so talented in tracking numbers--including, at one point, mentioning that he'd once done a tax write-off using a goat.
Issue two: how does the warmth of a house feed back into an apparent power grid? And how does the heron then charge everyone for use of the power grid? I'm likely misunderstanding something here, but I'm also used to more obvious magic systems. I'd have liked a little more explanation on this one, and maybe a bit more reworking here. For something so significant to the story, it wasn't explained as properly as I'd hoped. It didn't impact my satisfaction of the story as much as it sounds like it did.
Some of my other nitpicky details are due to my understanding how homes are built, having done that in a previous career of mine. The home renovations in this one, like in another haremlit book I've read, are done in an improper order. For everyone reading this: you fix leaks and roofs first, not doors or windows.
One thing I did enjoy was a unique usage of sex magic; as Sam rails Lottie around the house, and eventually the abyssal, the home uses the magic produced by the sex to repair itself. That's not to say that more mundane fixes aren't valid, but I thought that was unique and creative.
Speaking of the sex, it was creative and varied and inventive, fast and filthy, and then becoming tender and sweet and beautiful. I did not love how there was little romantic build up before the sex with a new character, but it's common enough in haremlit that I'm willing to overlook it. Still, I would ask that authors begin introducing more of that. Additionally, it was also mildly explained as to how and why that was, which made it less noticeable. No, it was only after I finished that I truly thought about it.
The writing style throughout was excellent, and--especially at the beginning--reminded me of the humor of the Percy Jackson writing style, with the chapter titles to match. I don't know why it did so, I can't put my finger on it, but it's certainly a writing style I enjoy and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the author's works if the writing style and humor come through in those. Fair warning to those who do explore the backlog: not all of it is haremlit.
I also found the character motivations and growth clear and well-written, insomuch as they were present, and the conflicts, external and internal, were done well.
I never considered that this book, months on my TBR list, would have such a tender and sweet impact on me, but it did. It was cozy, and warm, and full of life, and we need more books like this in the genre. I'm looking forward to the next one, especially seeing how each character deepens their relationship with everyone else.