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friends2lovers's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
3.5
I enjoyed this quite a lot, though I wasn’t blown away like I have been by a few of Chambers’ other books. It felt a little too slow for me and lacked that something extra to push it from good to great. To be fair, I think my current headspace (stressed, distracted, etc.) is affecting my ability to fully engage with Romance right now. Also, I may still be suffering from a book hangover after rereading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller last week.
Anyway, I honestly don’t have many insights to share about this story. It’s just one of those books that was perfectly enjoyable but didn’t provoke a lot of deep feelings or thoughts from me. There were individual scenes that stand out—like their first kiss, which happens in the wake of Nick rescuing Ward from a life-threatening situation, so it’s wonderfully spontaneous, passionate, and frantic. And also individual elements I loved—like Nick’s dog and the paranormal/gothic bits.
As I write this review, I’m realizing that Chambers does a decent job exploring themes of duality. dichotomy, and opposites. Nick is half Romany, half Cornish and struggles to reconcile those two identities. Porthkennack is Nick’s home and it’s idyllic in some ways, but he also feels like an unwelcome outsider. Ward is a scientist who values tangible evidence, facts, and reasoning, but in the wake of his brother’s death he immerses himself in spiritualism.
Overall, a good—could have been great—read. With a title like A Gathering Storm, I expected more of a build up of tension and conflict resulting in a climactic final act. The ending was satisfying enough, but the angst just wasn’t there for me, so it didn’t feel earned.
Endnotes: Historical Romance, M/M, part of the Porthkennack multi-author series (standalone books all set in the same fictional Cornish village), Victorian era (summer 1853), class difference, gothic elements, MC has a dog, scientist MC, Romany MC, working class MC, opposites attract, 3rd-person dual POV, novel (81k words), ebook on Hoopla
Endnotes: Historical Romance, M/M, part of the Porthkennack multi-author series (standalone books all set in the same fictional Cornish village), Victorian era (summer 1853), class difference, gothic elements, MC has a dog, scientist MC, Romany MC, working class MC, opposites attract, 3rd-person dual POV, novel (81k words), ebook on Hoopla
Heat Index: 3/5 (3 full, moderately explicit sex scenes. First scene is at ~55%. )
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Classism, Death, Racism, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Racial slurs
I'm tagging 'Racism' and 'Racial Slurs' but that's not entirely correct because the discrimination and derogatory comments are based on ethnicity (specifically Romany), not race.
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