Wanted: Brooding Man, Tragic Past
by Lidiya Foxglove
My Rating: 5 stars
Genre: Cozy Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f
Blurb:
Una has one dream: to fall in love with a tall, dark, and handsome man worthy of her favorite gothic novels. With the war over, men are in short supply, but a mysterious limp, a haunted gaze, and a tragic back story are pluses in her book, so the perfect husband must exist.Then why does she keep thinking so much about Varrie Lumanar, once the best employee at Beldar’s Books? With his overenthusiastic smile, bright yellow scarf, and cheerful demeanor, he’s an insult to brooding manhood.
He also went off to fight—gifting her a perfect book before his departure–and never came home.
When the Keeper of the Dead comes to town, using his magic to report on the missing soldiers, Una learns that Varrie is alive. Shouldn’t someone go look for him? Must that someone be her? Apparently it must.
But the mission to save Varrie also leads her to take a hard look at herself—the writerly ambitions she abandoned, the friendships she would never sacrifice for romance, and that maybe an overenthusiastic smile is worth more than a tragic past.
This novel takes place in my Hidden Lands world, and has cozy-goth gaslamp vibes with a touch of Northanger Abbey homage. There is some battlefield injury but otherwise it’s pretty much just a cozy read all the way through with a sweet romance and friendship.
My Review
I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.
I’ve really enjoyed the Hidden Lands books Lidiya Foxglove has written so far and I was so excited for another one. There’s just something about these books that really works for me and these are exactly the type of books I love reading. I started this one right after I received it and it was the perfect book for my reading mood and a stressful week I went through.
Wanted: Brooding Man, Tragic Past follows the point of view of Una and Varrie both of whom were introduced in Doll Girl meets Dead Guy. You can probably read this one as a standalone, but I am glad I read that first. It was fun to see Sorla and Dorr again and see how they’re doing now as well as already know more about the world in general and the Ven-Diri district specifically.
Wanted: Brooding Man, Tragic Past is a cozy fantasy romance story about Una and Varrie. Una is an avid reader who is hoping for a brooding man with a tragic past to sweep her off her feet. Instead she finds herself compelled to search for Varrie who didn’t get back from the war and when she finds out he’s still alive she goes to look for him. I thought it was interesting how these two spend quite a big part of the start of the book apart. I liked getting to know them individually and see how they thought about the other before they meet again.
I liked these two together, it was so fun to see them figure things out and how to move forward. Varrie knows already that he likes Una, but isn’t sure how to let her know. He knows he isn’t the type of man she reads about in books, but now the war has changed him and he wants to let her know how she feels. While Una always dismissed Varrie as being annoying, silly and not her type, but then she realized that maybe she doesn’t want a brooding man after all, but it is Varrie she wants.
I liked seeing these two figure things out. And along the way they have plenty of other things to focus on. I liked the plot line with the movie theater. I also liked seeing Una interact with her friends and how they are all there for her. I also liked Tarran and then halfway through I suddenly realized he is Mr Ker, a side character from The Potion Dealers, which is so fun as that book gives a glimpse of his past. And I liked seeing his romance play out as well. I liked how supportive everyone is and how they all band together to help with this movie theater.
I really liked reading about all these characters. I liked Una’s personality, the way she always said what was on her mind and her slightly chaotic energy and how her passion for things really shone through. Then there was Varrie who is way too cheerful and silly for a typical Ven-Diri, which was so fun to read about. He’s such a sweet character and I really liked reading about him and Una. I also found Tarran such an interesting character, he has done things he isn’t proud of, but I liked how he changed and seeing what he did now and how he helped his friends. He acts kinda mean and grumpy at times, but it’s obvious he cares. And his dynamic and friendship with Varrie was so fun to read about, these two really help each other out and are there for eahc other and I really liked reading about their friendship.
I also liked hearing about all the books that Una and Varrie read and the way those were part of the plot. It was so fun to read about all these made up books and the way those stories shaped their lives. This book also made me laugh out loud multiple times and I think it’s quite humorous. I don’t often find books funny, but this one I thought could be quite funny and I had so much fun reading it.
I just love this world that Lidiya Foxglove has created, I like how each book adds more to the world building. And I just love how each book expands the world. I really liked reading these books and spending time in this world and the world feels so real and alive. This is the type of world building I really love and it’s rare to find a book or series that handles it so well. In this world there’s more of the Ven-Diri and I especially liked learning more about the religion, as both Una and Varrie are quite religious and it was quite fun to see how their religion worked. I also liked seeing how this story fits in the larger plot arc and world and the way it ties in with other books like Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy and even The Potion Dealers.
To summarize: I had such a great time reading this book. I really liked reading about Una and Varrie and seeing them figure out they loved eahc other and be there for the other. I liked how supportive of each other they are and I liked how they talk about all these books they both read. I also liked all the side characters who have their own personalities and lives going on. I liked seeing this group all come together to work on the movie theater and it was fun to see that all play out. This book also was quite funny at times and made me laugh out loud a few times, it was just such a fun and cozy book to read. I really love this world and it’s such a joy to read these books. I like seeing the world get expanded on with each book and I liked how this book added more about the religion of the Ven-Diri people. I also appreciated the tie ins with Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy as Sorla and Dorr make some appearances here and Mr. Ker from this book is in The Potion Dealers again, which made me excited when I figured out I already read about him there. I can’t recommend these books enough and I can’t wait for more books set in this world.
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