Great duology from two amazingly talented writers, Elizabeth Hunter and Grace Draven! Both stories beautifully written with interesting, and different characters. Loved both short stories, but I did like Ms. Hunter's just a little bit more. I've never read Gothic romance so this was a first for me.

In A VERY PROPER MONSTER, we have a main character who's a writer (loved this idea), who ends up falling in love with one of the very monsters she writes about. I had never liked vampire stories ever since Twilight came out, but now I just might have to check out Ms. Hunter's Elemental World series. Interesting enough, one of the characters referenced in this book has the same name as the main character in Ms. Draven's short story, so it had me wondering for a time whether they were the same person. Loved Josie and Tom as a couple and would love to read more about them. Lots of chemistry between them.

In GASLIGHT HADES, we have a tale of lost and second-chance love. Our FMC's father had just passed away, but the graveyard caretaker is someone she once knew and loved. She spends the majority of the story not knowing his true identity (but we do). While I enjoyed this story, I didn't get as into it as I did with the previous story. Maybe because half of it took place on a ship and some of the things described went right over my head. Still, beautiful prose, as always, and I definitely rooted for them to be together in the end.

Both had compelling, likeable characters and slow-build romances with satisfying, happy endings. The MMCs and FMCs weren't your typical super hot and amazing Mary Sues and Gary Stus, and were written as characters who were flawed, and not conventionally handsome or beautiful. Still, you fell in love with them. Both stories were written in third person limited from both the FMC and MMC's POV.

As always, look forward to future and additional works by these two authors. ( )

A Very Proper Monster by Elizabeth Hunter
Elemental World Novella
Source: ARC from author
My Rating: 5/5 stars
My Review:

Tom Dargin has been an immortal for 70+ years and by Patrick Murphy’s side for every single one of those years. As Patrick’s right-hand man, Tom is uniquely positioned to help Patrick build his growing empire and, eventually take over control of the Dublin area. One of the single most important steps in the building process is buying the Shaw’s shipping and mill interests but the buy isn’t going to come easily.

Old man Shaw has spent his life building his businesses and putting plans into place so his only daughter, Josephine is protected after he is gone. Patrick Murphy’s place among the vampire community is certainly on the rise but that status can change at any time. The ideal situation would see one of Murphy’s men married to Shaw’s daughter so there could be no contesting the sale/transfer of the business once the old man is dead and gone. Willing to do what he must to further his friend, boss, and sire’s interests, Tom agrees to marry Josephine is she will have him.

There just a few people in the world who really know who Josephine Shaw is. Much of the world sees her as the invalid daughter of a powerful businessman. In truth, Josephine is ill but she is much more than just the daughter of a businessman, she is also an accomplished writer known (under her penname, of course) for her macabre Gothic stories. Surrounded by books since she was a child, Josephine has translated her love of the written word into a career and only a very few know her true identity. Marriage has never been in the cards for Josephine Shaw but Tom Dargin changes everything! Tom is kind and gentle and shares Josephine’s love of literature. He keeps crazy hours just like she does and he doesn’t seem to mind that their time together will be so very limited.

Both Tom and Josephine know the score going into their marriage. What neither expected is the intense love that develops between them in a very short amount of time. For a vampire, protecting his or her mate is of the ultimate importance and when Tom all-too-soon faces losing Josephine, he makes the decision to meet the sun when she is no longer with him. The only possible way to save her is to turn her and that would take an act of mercy.

The Bottom Line: What a wonderful addition to the Elemental World series. Josephine is so delightfully weird that it would have been a real shame to allow her to die off. Hunter excels at writing characters/couples who balance one another and Tom and Josephine are no exception to this rule. Tom is strong and steady, smart yet cunning and totally in love with his Josie. Josephine is a woman far removed from her time and place and every one of her eccentricities is balanced by her mate. Her love of the macabre, her desire to see real vampires and creatures of the night is simply perfect and makes her transition from human to near-immortal all the more special. If ever there was a character who deserved a HEA, it is most definitely Josephine Shaw! In all, yet another fine addition to the ever-growing Elemental World series. ( )