From Horror With Love is a novella full of short stories by C. Rae D’Arc set in her world of Novel. Novel is a unique world in which all the countries are genres of books. As such, Novel is made up of Fantasy, Western, Romance, Horror areas as well as many more. Each segment has characteristics unique to its genre, but all must periodically face an “event” particular to its theme. In Horror, for example, its inhabitants must confront a Haunting (i.e. an encounter with a monster, usually).
A novella is usually a short novel, but From Horror With Love, is broken into three sections: a novella set in Horror, a short story set in Romance, and a short novella set in Romance. All three feature characters from D’Arc’s novel Don’t Date the Haunted from her Haunted Romance series. The first offering is a prequel to the Haunted Romance series, the second mostly occurs during the events of Don’t Date The Haunted, and the third happens between books one and two. Interleaved are author segments explaining how each story came to be.
Mild spoilers of Don’t Date the Haunted abound in From Horror With Love so I suggest reading Don’t Date the Haunted first. I also believe you’ll get more out of it. In my opinion, reading this novella is a nice dessert at the end of the first novel. Does From Horror with Love stand alone? I believe so. It had been years since I read the original novel and was able to follow all three stories.
The first novella concerns a young teenaged lady from Horror who has become an orphan after her last relative dies. She partners with a Romance transplant to survive and start their adulthood. The culture clashes, suspenseful action, and creepy settings make this one a winner. If you love your horror stories mixed with a bit of romance, this one’s for you.
The second story, “Careful What You Wish For,” is more of a character study. The middle segment’s protagonist is a Fantasy lord who isn’t anything special in a world where everyone is. He attempts to find his true love in Romance. He’s about to get what he wants but not in the way he expects. The last offering is a love story set in Romance. This, however, isn’t your typical love story though it features a girl, a humbled ex-boyfriend, and a new paramour. Love triangle you may wonder. Think not!
The writing and humor contribute to the overall fun of the novel. And the story origins are welcome reading in between the fiction. If you are a writer, you may find some valuable lessons here.
This quick read will please horror and romance fans who are looking for something not too long. Also people who read the Haunted Romance series will enjoy this offering as well.