38 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ MARCH 8, 2021
Review_FICTION
returns to
Charleston,
S.C., to help her
father recover
from a broken
hip. On unpaid
leave from her
N.Y.C. bridal
gown brand,
she accepts a
temporary job
at a bridal shop
while she’s there. Derek Sullivan’s wife
died in a mass shooting three years ago,
and now he’s working to save the shop he
inherited from his mother and reconnect
with his 12-year-old daughter, Jamila.
Maya’s experience and eye for style
breathes new life into Derek’s almost-
bankrupt business, and her presence
gives Derek and Jamila hope for a
brighter future. Meanwhile, Maya gets a
chance to showcase her designs, which
have always been rejected by her famous
boss. But as Maya, who has sickle cell
anemia, grows close to Derek and Jamila,
she worries her prognosis will be too
much for them to handle. Maya’s deter-
mination is admirable as she manages her
illness and works for the happy ending
she deserves. With this heartwarming
tale, Williams has created a budding
family that readers will root for. (June)Like Cats and Dogs
Kate McMurray. Sourcebooks Casablanca,
$14.99 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-1-7282-
1454-2
McMurray (Domestic Do-over) offers up
some irresistible animal magnetism in
this quirky romance. Lauren Harlow is
the manager of Whitman Street Cat Café
in Brooklyn, serving up coffee and kitten
cuddles while helping cats find their for-
ever homes. Though Lauren has sworn
off men ever since her ex-boyfriend
announced his engagement to another
woman, she’s immediately attracted to
Caleb Fitch, the new veterinarian at the
clinic next door. But Caleb, who’s just
moved to Brooklyn after his recent and
messy divorce, is a dog person and, worse,
he initially disapproves of Lauren’s busi-
ness. So though Caleb returns Lauren’s
attraction, their great sexual chemistry
is all these sparring hearts have in
common—until a determined developerremembers her past lives—but the effect
is dampened somewhat by the story notes
that preface each tale and set up the story’s
inspiration and contents. Unfortunately,
these preludes serve to pull the reader out
of the collection’s dreamlike mood,
making the whole feel disjointed. Still,
seasoned speculative fiction readers will
enjoy Campbell’s atmospheric musings
on death, divine retribution, and the
afterlife. (May)Romance/Erotica
The Bennet Women
Eden Appiah-Kubi. Montlake, $12.95 trade
paper (366p) ISBN 978-1-5420-2917-9
Wacky sitcom tropes vie with ill-
thought-out updates to Pride and Prejudice
in Appiah-Kubi’s disjointed debut. EJ,
the Elizabeth Bennet character, is a Black
engineering major and the RA of Bennet
House, Longbourn College’s single-sex
dorm—described as “something between
a sorority and a benevolent cult.” When
mixed race Lee Gregory Engel begins
dating EJ’s best friend, Jamie, a white
trans woman, EJ clashes with Lee’s best
friend, Asian-American Hollywood star
Will Pak. Will is a radically divergent
and excessively mean take on Mr. Darcy,
and many readers will struggle to believe
EJ can forgive his behavior; in their first
meeting, he says EJ looks like a “lady
pimp” and later asks her if the Wickham
character “fucked [her] stupid.” The
commitment to diversifying a very white
classic is commendable, and the passages
about being a Black woman in majority-
white spaces are beautifully and sensi-
tively written, but Austenites will likely
take issue with both Will’s characteriza-
tion and the clumsy updates on famous
lines and themes from the original. This
will be best enjoyed by those looking not
for an Austen retelling but for a broadly
drawn enemies-to-lovers romance. Agent:
Michelle Richter, Fuse Literary. (July)A Lowcountry Bride
Preslaysa Williams. Avon, $15.99 trade paper
(352p) ISBN 978-0-06-304029-8
A struggling bridal shop owner finds
love with a wedding dress designer in this
inspiring romantic romp from Williams
(Healing Hannah’s Heart). Maya JacksonSirgrus Blackmane Demihuman
Gumshoe and the Dark-Elf
William Schlicter. BHC, $26.95 (212p)
ISBN 978-1-64397-183-4
This surprising, dexterous mashup of
high fantasy and hardboiled thriller from
Schlicter (SKA: Serial Killers Anonymous)
begins with G-man and mage Agent
Edgeangel summoning the eponymous
narrator, a dwarf PI, to a bootlegger’s
warehouse where his partner, Craig
Mason, has just been found murdered.
Before Sirgrus and Craig started their
detective agency, they were buddies in the
Great War, fighting orcs and vampires
side by side, so Sirgrus feels obliged to
avenge the dead human. To do so he must
navigate a city uneasily divided between
humans and other species—fairies, for
example, have just won the right to vote.
As his investigation leads him to the
Dark-Elf, a popular speakeasy where all
kinds of perversions are offered by dragon-
born mobster Medrash, Sirgrus must bal-
ance the demands of rival gang bosses,
Agent Edgeanagel’s nagging, and the
realization that Mason was really a rotten
jerk. He also struggles with recurring
dreams from his time in the War—experi-
ences that may be more connected to the
present day mystery than they seem.
Tolkien would be aghast at what Schlicter
does with mythic lore, but the detailed
worldbuilding and genuine feeling make
everything work against the odds.
Readers are in for some fun. (May)No Lesser Angels, No Greater Devils
Laura J. Campbell. Dark Owl, $11.99 trade
paper (280p) ISBN 978-1-951716-19-6
Campbell (Five Houses) gathers 28 spec-
ulative shorts for this eerie and introspec-
tive collection. Campbell’s characters and
settings are vastly varied: a runner strug-
gles with the most difficult marathon of
his life in the standout “The Horrible
Mile”; a Viking explorer becomes the
victim of Mayan vengeance in “Tikal.”
In “Candy Lace,” a young girl greets
people who are close to death as they
drive along a country road. The bite size
“Old Graveyard Magic” sees Bubba, the
younger brother of Death, expounding on
his newest venture as a craft brewer. At
its best, Campbell’s writing is poignant
and riveting—as in the darkly lovely
“Marie’s House,” about a woman who