Set in an alternate Victorian era were magic lurks along with creatures that go bump in the night, Elle Black is a psychic investigator. Happy with her wife, her past intrudes when Elle sees a vision of her deceased husband... but how can he be found when she watched him be buried? Unsure if he is a ghost or a figment of her imagination, Elle jumps at the opportunity to investigate a potentially haunted house.

Sundark is a well-written and fun novel that combines mystery and horror along with spirituality and LGBT relationships. I don't want to say too much, in the fear of ruining the book, but I will mention that I love the caring and supporting relationship between Elle and Faedra and the way that their marriage is quietly accepted by the other characters we meet, even though who might have looked askance at first. The plot of story is interesting and has enough twists that it isn't obvious what the ending will be, and the pace of the story is perfect, neither dragging nor feeling rushed.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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"Sundark" is a little bit steampunk, a little bit horror novel, a little bit Victorian penny-dreadful ... and a whole lot of entertainment!

Paranormal investigator Elle Black is asked to visit Sundark, a hotel/boarding house whose guests are disappearing with incredible regularity. Is there a murderer in the house? Are there dark, occult goings-on? And why does the house literally get up and turn around a few times a day?

These questions and more are answered within the pages of this entertaining novella.

Elizabeth Watasin is writing historical/paranormal fiction for the underserved lesbian audience ... but that keeps any reader entertained. Her books are ripping good yarns, and I highly recommend them.

Elle Black lives a happily domestic life with her wife in the darkly gothic world of Victorian London; certainly an unconventional relationship but one she lives with pride and joy and love.

But Elle isn’t just a housewife – she’s a psychic and she considers it her duty to help those that Prince Albert’s Royal Commission cannot or will not handle – and when Josephine Durfish comes to her door with tales of Sundark, the haunted hotel in which guests have gone missing, Elle is spurred into action.

This book is set in the same world as the Dark Victorian series – and it has those same wonderful elements. We have the darkly Gothic Victoriana (which, I admit, I love so completely) with it’s beautiful style and aesthetic. And it’s not just conveyed by the description but the joyfully elaborate style of the writing. This is from me, someone who doesn’t like over-elaborate writing and find Dickens to be incredibly torturous – yet this elaborate joyful language is so evocative of style and location. Just reading the style of the writing, the way people talk to each other, the setting it’s all so gloriously Victorian. The writing is beautiful and it oozes style and setting, it’s perfect.

I also love Faedra and Elle’s relationship. They’re married (using legal contracts) and are proud and passionate about their marriage. Their love and passion for each other is never hidden and it’s wonderfully omnipresent. Even though Elle spends most of this book separated from Faedra, her wife is always on her mind and their love permeates the entire book. It’s a beautiful relationship

And it’s not just a beautiful relationship because of their love, but because of how these characters are portrayed. I often feel how the book wonderful touches on a lot of stereotypes of lesbians and bisexual women, but never ever makes that a reason for the character – Faedra goes out and earns money while Elle stays home and prefers to keep house and be domestic, they even refer briefly to the idea of Faedra being a “husband” (because of the stereotype, especially in the age, of the man being the one to earn money) but reject it because they think they’re imposing a power imbalance on their relationship. And even when they do that, they then turn round and make Elle the active character throughout the book and Faedra be the one who loves bright colours and beautiful clothes. These are traits of the characters, not tropes they embody it’s that well balanced and it works for them. I love these characters.

I do feel that Elle’s open pride in her relationship faces a dubious lack of reaction from everyone around her, but it could as much be the setting; guests in a hotel and everyone being properly polite to each other.

With this beautiful relationship and wonderful world we have a twisty plot with lots of investigation of creepy paranormal events in this haunted hotel. The setting of this hotel is beautiful and creepy and with an odd cast of characters (some of which really worked and some of them just seemed… a little random and ill-defined).

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Please ENJOY, free to play and read at the Booktrack link. Happy Holidays! :D

It took me about two days to lay down music and sounds for chapter one of Ice Demon: A Dark Victorian Penny Dread. I am amazed at how Booktrack helped me create this auditory experience, and with a great foley, ambiance, and music library. All for free. You can download their iPhone or Google Play apps, but can as easily read in your browsers. Then the drama unfolds and plays as you read. In my case, the sounds of harbor waters, creaking ships, ship bells, wind, cold, horse hooves and carriages, footfalls, and ominous moments. Getting my hands on voice actors would be beyond my (invisible) budget, but to be able to do this, which is just like Radio Drama, is almost a bit much! I adore foley! I'm the one who annoys everyone with my slide whistle! :D

Therefore, please enjoy, as it has the Hitchcock'ian moments where I hope to make you jump out of your seat. :) And no slide whistles (until I write an all-out comedy).

I also note, for those who want to give their books an auditory experience with Booktrack, that they've great sounds for genre fiction. They're tagged 'steam punk' (yep, that spacing), for gears and machinery, 'zombie' for erm, gross things, 'scifi' and so forth for your spaceships and space opera. There are transformations, horror bits, and magical battle sounds. It is ALL COOOL. As well as contemporary sounds. I was amazed to find enough to do Victorian period. OH! And you can add your own sounds/samples, which would only be accessible by you for your book. Therefore, please dive in, and I hope you'll let me know when you do that so we can follow each other over at Booktrack! :D