Here are two deliciously bite-sized romantic gaslamp fantasy novellas, both of which I devoured on my vacation and wanted to tell you about, even as I’m now reading exclusively middle grade speculative fiction for the Cybils Awards. In full disclosure, I sponsor Stephanie Burgis on Patreon, and learned about Tansy Raynor Roberts from the Patreon Discord channel.

A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience
by Stephanie Burgis

Five Fathoms Press, 2024

ISBN 979-8332688690

Read from an ebook kindly sent by the author.

Margaret Dunhaven would have preferred to stay a scholar living at her college forever, despite the scorn her male colleagues heap on her. Instead, her loathsome aunt and uncle forced her into an unwanted marriage with Lord Riven of Shadowcroft Manor, a centuries-old vampire. Once she’s able to work past her initial rage, she learns that he was also forced abruptly into the marriage – and into giving up the family treasure he’s spent his undead lifetime guarding. Margaret wants nothing more than to escape – and to get some revenge on whoever arranged this marriage for them. But she’ll need to work with her new husband to make this happen – and that, of course, might just convince her to stay in the relationship after all.

Revenge tales are often too dark for me, but despite involving vampires and having much of the action literally take place at night, A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience is warm and sparkling. I’m not sure that it would quite count as a true enemies to lovers story – Margaret and Lord Riven don’t know each other well enough to be true enemies at the beginning, despite each initially blaming the other for their situation. However, their transition from quasi-enemies to allies to true partners who understand and support each other is very satisfying. Margaret can tell early on, for example, that Lord Riven’s man of business was not taking the best care of his things because he didn’t have modern gas lighting installed, while Lord Riven is able to help Margaret figure out who singled her out for this trick. Margaret’s taste for tea, books, and scholarship made her instantly relatable to me, while Lord Riven is appropriately dark and brooding while never engaging in the borderline abusive or controlling behaviors that have traditionally belonged with that archetype. It’s short and delicious, with room for the sequel I’ve heard is on the way.

For more of Stephanie Burgis’s spooky-cozy romances, try her linked short story collection Good Neighbors.

Tea and Sympathetic Magic
by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Sheep Might Fly, 2022

ISBN 978-0648763970

Read from a purchased ebook.

In the proper world of the Teacup Isles, Miss Mnemosyne Seabourne would much rather keep busy with her books and good cup of tea than continue to put herself out on the marriage market. Her mother, however, has other ideas, which is how Mneme winds up at a house party where her cousin, the affable Duke of Storm, is the most eligible man of all. Her mother might think they’d make a good match, but Mmene is there mostly to keep her cousin from being tricked into marriage by one of the small love spells the other single ladies keep trying to cast on him. It’s mostly fun and games – making a couple of new friends and enjoying a mild flirtation with the professional spellcracker the Duke of Storm has hired to help dispell the love charms. (The scandal of flirting with a professional!) Then, the Duke of Storm is kidnapped. It’s up to Mneme, her new friends, and the spellcracker to stop the probable nonconsensual nuptials before it’s too late.

This is short, sweet and lighthearted, paying attention to the kind of ettiquette one expects from period romances, while Mmene actively despises corsets and works to end gender-based restrictions. It has contains charming elements such as magical croquet, hedgehogs, and enchanted cakes. As it’s just the first book in the series, and a novella, the romance element is left on a promising note to develop more fully in future books. I devoured this on my normally too-busy-to-read vacation and went immediately on to the second book in the series.