Entities to Lovers by Mallory Marlowe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Entities to Lovers is a light-hearted and funny Paranormal Romance, set in Boston with dual POVs, from Mallory Marlowe. This book does have a very slight connection to Marlowe’s earlier novel, Love and Other Conspiracies, but you certainly do not need to read that first to enjoy this one.
In this story, we’re following Rory and Ezra. Rory’s Mom owns the Ye Old Spirit Shop in Boston, Massachusetts. The shop carries most of the things you would expect a shop of that name to carry, but they also host very fun ghost tours of the city, and Rory does tarot readings as well.
Ezra, whose main job is as an adjunct History Professor at a local college, moonlights at the shop. He has so much knowledge of the history of the city, and is a sensational host for their tours; personable and handsome.
He also happens to be a thorn in Rory’s side. It annoys her how he’s always showing off what he knows. Sometimes it feels like he’s purposefully trying to get under her skin.
One night, Rory’s Mom does the unthinkable. She makes the two host a ghost tour together. Rory can’t believe it. This is cruel and unusual punishment, and from her own mother!
While hosting that very uncomfortable tour, they end up upsetting a local ghost with a penchant for hexing people. Now saddled with heinously bad luck unless they’re physically near each other, Rory and Ezra need to do whatever it takes to figure out how to break this curse.
This is really cute. I loved the setting in Boston, and it also takes place during the Halloween season, so those vibes were heavily-evident throughout.
I also thought the set-up, and how they were hexed, was super fun. This is forced proximity and even includes one of my favorite things, the ole’ ‘there’s just one bed’ situation. I wonder what’s going to happen there?
Rory and Ezra are both very well-developed characters. I feel like Marlowe took a lot of time and care with them, and it paid off. They felt very real to me. I also enjoyed the dynamic between them, particularly in the first-half.
In the later half, I’ll admit to getting a bit frustrated with them at times. Each one of them struggles with confidence issues and I get that, but I swear, they could not get out of their own ways. I wanted to shake them at times.
Nevertheless, it did make sense considering their backstories and the different life pressures they were facing. I just would have enjoyed maybe a slightly different trajectory for their relationship, with even more focus on the results of the hex and the store.
With this being said, this is strictly personal taste. There’s certainly nothing wrong with the way the author structured their relationship, and it did feel very natural, or as natural as you can get, when you’re basically forced together by a meddling ghost.
Overall, I think this is a very endearing story. It’s humorous and engaging the whole way through. The vibes are perfect for its upcoming Fall release and I know so many Readers are going to love this spicy and sweet Paranormal Romance.
Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me a copy to read and review. I really enjoy Marlowe’s storytelling and can’t wait for more!