The Lost Lovelies by Vanora Lawless
I discovered Vanora Lawless’ historical paranormal romances back in 2023 when I somehow stumbled upon Imperfect Illusions, a compelling, well-researched story featuring a superbly developed slow-burn romance between two men from opposite ends of the social spectrum who have been reluctantly drawn into fighting in World War One. I eagerly devoured the second book (Twisted Tome) as soon as it appeared so was disappointed to learn that publication of the third and final book had been delayed. That disappointment was offset, however, when I saw that the author had a new book coming out – The Lost Lovelies – which I quickly snapped up for review.
The Lost Lovelies is also set during wartime, but instead of the gruesome trench warfare of WW1, we’re in Canada towards the end of WW2 where celebrated war correspondent and broadcaster Kit Lovely has returned after receiving a cryptic letter from the sister-in-law he’s never met. He’d far rather still be reporting from war-torn Europe, but the letter – insisting his brother is in serious trouble and begging Kit to come home to talk some sense into him – is something he can’t ignore, so he returns home to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he finds his brother’s home ransacked and that Ted and his wife are missing without a trace. With his own unreliable magic quickly proving to be of no use and the police being equally unhelpful, Kit realises he has only one other option open to him – and it’s one he’s very reluctant to take because that option is to ask for help from private investigator August North, the man he’d loved and run from seventeen years earlier.
August – Gus – was devastated when Kit left and it’s immediately apparent that he has never really got over the pain of losing him. Learning Kit has returned home stirs up a lot of conflicting emotions for Gus, and he really isn’t eager to see him or spend any time with him – but when he learns about Ted and Mary-Alice being missing and sees Kit’s real fear and his desperation to find them, Gus simply can’t find it in him to refuse to help.
As Kit and Gus work together to discover the truth, they very slowly begin to rekindle their friendship and, eventually, their sexual relationship, but nothing about it is easy and they often take one step forwards and two back as they start to process the feelings of hurt and betrayal that have dogged them both for so many years. To start with, neither of them really believes they can have anything more than the now; their lives have gone in very different directions and they’re both expecting the same outcome once they’ve solved the mystery of what happened to Ted and Mary-Alice – Kit will leave and go back to his life in Europe. At the same time as they begin to talk properly about what happened between them seventeen years ago and to admit that they never really stopped loving each other, they make some truly disturbing discoveries about the truth behind the Lovelys’ disappearance and about Kit’s past which bring unforeseen and very real danger to their door – together with the prospect of losing each other again when they’ve only just found their way back to one another.
The Lost Lovelies is an engaging historical romance with a good sense of time and place, and in which the author paints an interesting and authentic picture of what life was like in Halifax at this particular stage in the war. The two leads are complex, well-developed characters who have both suffered a lot of trauma over the years, which is reflected in a pervading atmosphere of loss, guilt and grief they have to come to terms with if they’re to regain mutual trust and understanding. Vanora Lawless maintains a good balance between the darker elements of the story and the romance and doesn’t allow the story to drown in misery while at the same time not making it easy for Gus and Kit to work their way through the things they need to; they’re going to have to face up to some hard truths and make some difficult decisions if they’re going to get their happy ending.
I did, however, have a few quibbles with the book as a whole. The author does a good job of drip-feeding the details of Gus and Kit’s shared past – as boyhood friends and then more, of the events that affected them both – and then their individual backstories throughout, and of making it clear that their break-up was due to miscommunication and misunderstandings. But they both actively avoid talking about them for just a bit too long, and I found myself wishing for more real conversations between them. I was also a bit… disturbed by the reveal about Kit’s parents. No spoilers, but while I suppose it’s supposed to show they had some great, tragic love story, I found it rather cruel. My biggest issue, however, is that the magic system is vague, poorly defined and underused. We’re told that some people have magic, but not how or why; we’re told there are different types of magic, but other than blood magic (which Gus has and must keep under wraps because it’s frowned upon) we don’t really see any other types of magic being used. The magic system in the Devastating Magic books is much more inventive and consistent, which makes the lacklustre nature of it here all the more disappointing.
Despite my reservations, I did enjoy The Lost Lovelies – the mystery is intriguing and the central romance is sexy and angsty with a well-deserved and hard-won HEA – and in a world of so many same-old, same-old romances, it’s a definite plus whenever I find something that’s a bit different. If the author decides to write more set in this world (a sequel for George, perhaps?) I’ll certainly be picking it up.