Ahoy there mateys! I love this author's work.  This is a standalone novella set in the Dominion of the Fallen world which takes place in Gothic devastated Paris. I have not read the trilogy and wasn't sure if I wanted to read it as it deals with the fall-out of a war in Heaven.  I was happy to get this eArc to see if the setting would work for me.  This story follows married couple Thuan (dragon prince) and Asmodeus (ruthless killer angel) who go on vacation to see Thuan's family.  What they find instead is a ghost from a forgotten shine who is the only witness to a murder.

I really loved the ghost story and murder aspects.  I also found much of the writing style to be lovely.  I even enjoyed the setting and some of the politics.  I was not a huge fan of Thuan and Asmodeus as a couple even though I liked them individually well enough.  They seem to have gotten together in an enemy to lovers trope.  Their relationship in this novella still felt very fraught and how they dealt with each other just made me uncomfortable.  They don't communicate well enough and I just didn't like them together.  I am not a fan of roller coaster relationships.  Shame because I liked the elements of this one. . . Oh and the bad guy was one-dimensional and the reason for the murder was silly.

In reading reviews of both the series and the other novella, it is clear that this world is one I will skip.  I will continue reading the delightful Xuya stories and I still want to read the Obsidian and Blood trilogy (which I own).  Arrrr!