Review of ‘Borage’ by Gill McKnight

This book was a ton of fun! I have been a big fan of McKnight ever since I read ‘Ambereye’, which is still to this day one of my favorite paranormal romances ever. While I can’t put this on the same level as ‘Ambereye’, this easily makes the list of my favorite McKnight books. ‘Borage’ was different, funny, and of course, entertaining and I can’t wait to read more.

This book is a really interesting mix of what I would say is a cozy mystery, urban fantasy, comedy, and an ice queen romance. It feels a little odd to call this a mystery when it’s not a murder mystery or private investigator type, but the main storyline is about a mystery that the main character is trying to figure out so I do think it fits that category. This is a unique mix of categories that we don’t see all together very often and I think it made for a very entertaining read that any reader would enjoy.

I think where this book really shines is the characters. From the main character Astral, who is a witch that isn’t very good at magic, to her ice queen boss Abby Black, I loved them all. Everyone, including the pretty large size of secondary characters of witches, humans, familiars, and other magical creatures, all had their unique and well-drawn out personalities. The whole cast of characters made this little village come to life and I was completely hooked.

As I mentioned before, this is an ice queen romance. McKnight is good at drawing out the drama between a boss and an employee. I do want to make clear that the romance is still in the beginning stages. This is a series and only book one, so I like that McKnight is taking her time with the romance. And when you come to understand both characters, you would not believe an insta-love or a fast-moving romance for them. The way it was written makes much more sense. There are no sex scenes, only a few kisses, but again it’s at the beginning and the book only covers a few days. The chemistry is there and I have high hopes for this potential couple.

This book actually had a surprising amount of twists and revelations so I’m trying to be very careful what I say. There are so many good little tidbits and mini mysteries for the reader to guess that I don’t want to give any of those away. They kept me feeling very engaged in the book and I was never bored once. This book moves at a very steady and solid pace. I do also want to mention that I liked the mix of humor in this book. For a book I would put in the cozy mystery category, it is surprisingly deep at times and could even be a little sad, but the humor throughout, made this book fun to read.

I was not surprised to like this book since it is one that McKnight wrote, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it this much. It is a book I won’t soon forget. I don’t believe that you have to be a lesbian urban fantasy book fan to read and enjoy this. And because of the different mix of categories this falls into, I think this book will have a wide range of appeal. What I am most excited about is that this is only the first book of the series. I can’t wait to read more about Abby and Astral! 4.50 Stars.

An ARC was given to me for an honest review.