Title: Night for Day
Author: Roselle Lim
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group, Ace
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
'Night for Day' by Roselle Lim

Interesting Read:

'Night for Day' was quite a different kind of read for a romance in a fantasy world. The reader must keep up as the story goes back and forth with the two main characters...Camille and Ward are in their second-chance romance. These two seemed to be in an alternate reality that dealt with 'pawns in a war of the gods.' If you are not into fantasy, this may not be your kind of read because I had to work hard and understand what was happening. Still, by the end, I received many of the questions I had answered from "immortality, gods, goddesses, mythology, escape rooms, romantic, spirits, ghosts, and all the in-between," which was quite a lot from this story. This read may have worked more for me if it had been a series because there is so much going on.

If you are into fantasy romance, then 'Night for Day' is probably your kind of read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher of the ARC.

While Night For Day has a great premise and interesting characters, the follow-through just isn’t there. The characters range from two-dimensional to outright annoying, the prose switches abruptly from third-person prescient to third-person omniscient from one paragraph to the next, and the book simply moves at a glacial pace that doesn’t suit the narrative style or the story.

It’s all flash, no substance, and simply isn’t a good read.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Since this review has a rating of three stars or lower it will not be appearing on my social media sites. Thank you.

File Under: AAPI Fiction/Fantasy/Romantasy/Paranormal Fantasy/Urban Fantasy

Interesting fairy tale of a story. Fairly quick read as the story bounces back and forth between the young lovers. I needed something light after the last book I read and this fit the bill.

The premise of Night for Day totally intrigued me: second chance romance in a world with imortals and ghosts! I enjoyed it overall but when your main characters are barely ever face to face, it is hard to buy the romance. They have a history, so there is something to build off of, but they mostly spend their time apart and speak briefly each day. However, they clearly had a foundation and a love for each other that they build upon and I did enjoy that. It is a twist on romance when you can only talk briefly and you are fighting for the lives of everyone.

The world is interesting for sure. There is a war between the gods that Ward and Camille have to stop somehow or they will never escape. However, the whole story takes place in a matter of days and it felt kind of rushed. Then again, they were trapped there, so I would be in a rush too. Still, as a story, with a semi-complex world, it was rushed.

My thoughts on Night for Day are all over the place. At times, I was really enjoying it; other times I felt like something was missing. It was such an intriguing premise but something about it just missed the mark a bit for me.

When I read the premise of this book I was immediately interested, two exes happen to run back into each other when they both find new jobs in London. Then by forces they must unveil they’re stuck in a twisted fantasy world, apart but still connected.

Actually reading it this became one of those books that I wasn’t sure how I would feel until finishing it, if it could deliver the ultimate pay off. I will say the romance *is* second chance but doesn’t follow the formula you may expect, their issues and tension pop up at random times. This is open door but brief and the plot is more about the magical mystery they are on.

I loved the representation of Gods in this and the fantasy/sci fi elements. It was really cool to have the parallel storylines and how each main character chose to explore the world and who they decided to trust and why. I was so compelled to keep picking this up. My only hang up is that this world and war of Gods could have gone even deeper in my opinion. The worldbuilding and plot progression is simple to understand which will definitely work for a lot of readers, there’s really only 5 or so main players in this, but I could’ve handled a deeper sense of emotion or bigger twists.

I really wanted to compare this to Masters of Death by Olivie Blake but that book was so much more layered. I don’t think my comparison is very fair so I tried to get that out of my head, I’m still sharing though because it still had similar contemporary fantasy vibes, games to play with Gods, etc.

Overall, I loved these two working together, random but I loved all the ghosts in particular at the FMC’s place of business, and all the turmoil was worth it in the end. There’s a certain character I want to get his own book so badly but I’ll stay quiet to prevent spoilers!

Thank you to Berkley for the free book!

Night for Day features two people getting a second-chance at love only their stuck in a experiment. Similar to an escape room, Ward and Camille find themselves pawns of gods and ghosts in a London shop. Days pass as they deconstruct the riddle to be back in each others arms.

The story was a bit choppy trying to dissect the East/West factions, and the back/forth between the couples conversations with the unlikable, mysterious visitors to the shop.

This story brings alive the "magic" of soulmates.

Thank you, Berkley

Dnf - it was probably me, but I wasn’t pulled in to the story. I think I was a bit distracted. The premise of the story was so interesting, and I want to read it eventually. However, at the moment, I cannot provide a full and accurate review.

I'm not even sure where to start this review because Night for Day was unlike any book I've ever read. Let me say, right off the bat, that I've been reading so many short and sweet romance books these days, it was a breath of fresh air to read a book that took a bit more brain power to get through. And by a bit, I mean I really had to focus while reading this book to make sure I was comprehending everything.

Night for Day is a fated, love-for-the-ages fantasy story. Camille Buhay and Ward Dunbar broke up years ago, moving to different cities, never thinking they'd come across one another again. Until a twist of fate brings them together in London, where they've been hired to work at an antique store (Camille) and a jewelry store (Ward).

The second Camille and Ward lock eyes in a London bookshop...it's second chance romance time. Right as the two are beginning to unpack the baggage of their break-up, they get trapped in their respective storefronts in an escape room-style challenge. They quickly learn they're pawns in a great war of the gods. Every decision they make will have damning effects on both their love and the world as they know it.

This book was so ethereal and poetic, it almost felt like a fever dream. The omniscient-ish narration made the book feel so much like a fairytale. And the London, plus antique and jewelry store, setting added a whole other layer to the aesthetic. Normally, when I read books, I envision the majority of the scenes in my head in first person. But I "saw" this book like a cinematic, artsy movie, with tons of different camera shots.

I loved the emphasis on romance and second chance love. It didn't feel like a modern-day exclusive love story, it felt timeless. The themes of fate and the magical escape room were so well done too.

I did think Camille was a bit too stubborn at times, and it seemed like she thought she was "better" than Ward, which is not always a great quality for two people in a relationship. I also feel like as the reader, there were things that seemingly appeared out of nowhere regarding the fantasy world, but they weren't previously established in the narrative in a way that sequentially made sense. I wish there was more world-building and explanation about the gods. That would've added SO MUCH to the story.

Night for Day goes into my very specific shelf (joining Forget Me Not by Karissa Kinword) of dreamlike, fate, poetic, ethereal, and romantic books.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for sending me an ARC of Night for Day. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)

I knew going into this that it would be very different from the previous books by the author that I've really loved, and that was true. This one is distinctly fantasy versus magical realism. I thought it was interesting if not fully developed- I didn't necessarily "get" the world, but I also am not a fantasy reader. This was also relatively steamy compared to my memory of the author's previous books. I thought Ward and Camille were good characters, and I thought the way the story let them explore their connection was nice.

Though I thought the premise of this story sounded intriguing, unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. I wanted more character and world development, and I found the whole thing kind of predictable. Also, as much as I like the star-crossed lovers idea, the protagonists spend the majority of the book apart, and I didn’t feel their connection as much as I wanted to. I did like how they grew and realized how important they were to one another. Being apart but still working together to figure out how to get out of the mess they’re in shows them how well they work together and how deeply they care.

Also, I thought the war between the gods was really interesting and wish it were explored in more detail. The story takes place in a short period of time and within two stores, so that could explain why certain aspects weren’t explored in more detail. But it didn’t really work for me.

This story had such a fresh and cool concept, but I feel like it could have been developed a bit better. I would have loved to know more about Camille and Ward. I didn’t feel invested in them like I usually am to characters.

Camille and Ward have dated and parted ways but decided to give it another go after running into each other. They both end up living and working in the same place. Camille works days, and Ward works nights. Their jobs end up taking a turn and end up caught in a game of the gods. Their jobs have turned into escape rooms that they have to navigate and escape.

I would have loved to see world more world building, and as I said before, more character development. A longer book and more explanation of the characters and world would have gone a long way. I did enjoy that I did not see the plot twists coming. Overall, it was OK. I just feel like it could have been more than just OK.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Night for Day by Roselle Lim
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After breaking up some time ago, Ward and Camille reunite by chance in London. They want to give their relationship another try. But other forces plan to keep them apart in a cosmic game.
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What I liked:
-Ward and Camille have to solve clues and puzzles throughout the story, and I loved seeing them work together (even though they were apart) to solve them.
-There were some chapters towards the end that kind of blew my mind!
-The way the two shops worked were fascinating and I loved learning about them both!
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If you are a fantasy fan then this is an intriguing one to check out!
Posted to Instagram 2/16/24.

Night for Day is the story of two people destined to be together, but to never see each other again, as they fight against the greatest odds in this powerful and moving fantasy novel by critically acclaimed author Roselle Lim. Main Characters: Camille Buhay and Ward Dunbar. The book itself takes place mainly in London, in two different unique stores, and over a little over two weeks. Exes Ward and Camille thought they would never see each other again.

Ward and Camille are the perfect example of opposites attracting. Ward comes from a wealthy family and never had to fight for anything, born with a silver spoon, but he always thought that Camille was the one he would end up would. He's an optimist, a charmer, social, romantic, and easy-going, while Camille is a pessimist, a skeptic, an introvert, a hard worker, and someone who had to fight for everything she's earned. She also seems to have a deep seeded angst when it comes to white privilege.

Two years ago, the couple broke up to pursue their dream jobs on opposite sides of the country—her to New York City, and him to Los Angeles. But they unexpectedly reconnect in London, where they are interviewing for similar jobs. The spark they feel when they meet again—the attraction comes back like muscle memory, and they are reminded of what they had lost. When Ward and Camille discover they both got the job working opposite shifts, they vow to give their relationship another try.

Ward starts the day shift and finds the immortal clientele unusual and dazzling. His boss is the prickly Madam Selene who is more interested in her very exclusive clientele, than Ward's comforts. Their jobs are unique. Camille helps ghosts cross over in exchange for buying their memories, while Ward sells jewelry and artifacts to the ancient Gods. When he clocks out at the end of the day, he finds the door locked and himself trapped in the building.

After a horrific first night shift contending with restless spirits and ghosts, Camille, who works for the charming Mr. Sampson, is also unable to escape. But it seems as though Camille gets the better bargain of the two since she has a place to actually rest. In their respective prisons, they discover that they’re able to talk to each other a few minutes before dawn thanks to a gift from Mr. King. This fleeting encounter incites longing for each other, but their promise to be together feels impossible.

Because there's an epic war between Western (European and American) and Eastern (Asian, Pacific, and African) gods. The gods are using Camille and Ward to help them settle their own disputes, and if this game isn't played properly their lives could be at risk. The couple has no idea that they are the chosen ones who hold the fate of humanity by determining the winner of the war and their choices will determine the outcome. In order to win, all they have to do is sell particular items and hope there are clues to escape their respective prisons.

*Thoughts* This is a book where you have to have patience to finish. Patience is a must because most of the revelations take place slowly. Camille has a much easier time with Mr. Sampson than Ward has with Madam Selene. While Sampson is slowly losing his memories, it seems Selene is pushing Ward to his breaking point. One that you will finally get once it is revealed. When you get to the ending, you learn some very unusual twists. Twists that include two immortals called Time and Chaos. The story is filled with ghosts, magic, antiques, and immortal bargains.

Fun, unique second chance romance. Opposites attract with touches of forbidden romance that were gripping from the very beginning.

A whimsical feeling romance like nothing I’ve ever read before.

Thank you for the free book Berkley Pub and Ace!

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐲
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐦
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ward and Camille broke up to pursue their own careers on opposite sides of the country. It’s not until years later when the two reconnect while interviewing in London for similar jobs. Almost immediately, the love and attraction between the two comes back. It seems like fate that they both got the same job in London, working opposite shifts. When Ward clocks out at the end of his first day, he finds himself trapped in the building with the door locked. The same happens to Camille after her shift ends. However, the two discover they are able o talk to one another for a brief period of time before dawn. Caught in the middle of a war with the gods, their choices will decide the outcome. Will Ward and Camilla be able to defy the odds and find get their second chance at love?

I found the entire premise of this book to be so interesting and unique. It’s not often that I read fantasy, so it did take me some time to wrap my head around what was happening, but I was pleasantly surprise at how much I enjoyed this one.

🗝️Fantasy Romance
🗝️Star-Crossed Lovers
🗝️Dual POV
🗝️Second Chances
🗝️Opposites Attract
🗝️Escape Room Vibes

Posted on Goodreads on February 14, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around February 20, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on February 20, 2024
**-will post on designated date

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

I started this one and got a couple of chapters in, left it for weeks, then came back to read it and finished it in one day. Beautifully written, smart, sexy, and poignant, Night for Day is a fantastic read! Strongly recommend this one if you're a fan of romances, mythology, and mysteries, as it hits all three at once.

For sensitive readers, this book contains some graphic sexuality, descriptions of violence mostly secondhand, and imprisonment.

Thank you to Roselle Lim, Ace Books, and NetGalley for an ARC of Night for Day. All opinions are my own.

The blurb of this book sounded promising, but the reality was like reading about someone else’s nonsensical dream. I spent the first few chapters feeling like I had somehow accidentally skipped a bunch of content before realizing that was just the way the book was written. There is very little explanation of the characters and their motivations, and most of the interactions had about as much subtlety as a hammer. It felt like this book missed editing entirely, and was just copied directly from a journal entry about a weird dream.

Night for Day by Roselle Lim is an unusual and different kind of standalone fantasy novel. The story begins with an epic war between the Gods (Western and Eastern) that has been around for many years, and the gods decide to try using mortals to find a way to stop the war, which will continue until a resolution. We meet Camille Buhay and Ward Dunbar, who after breaking up their relationship two years ago, they both meet again in London, applying for jobs at the same company. Both Camille and Ward realize that they still love each other, and decide to resume their relationship. Ward applies for the day shift, and Camille applies for the night shift.

They meet their new bosses, with Camille becoming close to the elderly Mr. Samson; and Ward must deal with the testy and angry, Ms. Selene. Ward starts the day shift, enjoying seeing the immortal clientele unusual and dazzling; but when he clocks out at the end of the day, the door is locked, with him trapped in the building. During the night shift, Camille deals with gods and ghosts, and when she plans to leave, she too us unable to escape; with both of them trapped in an alternate reality, unable to leave. On occasion, they are able to communicate with each other, trying to solve whatever riddles need to be revealed, as they each have to choose the outcome.

Besides Samson and Selene, the constant visitors (beside Camille meeting ghosts), are gods, such as Mr. King, Theo, Din and Eryna. Both Camille and Ward, are not sure who to trust; especially with both of them rarely unable to communicate with each other. Ward likes and trusts Theo, with Din; and Camille slowly begins to trust Mr. King. When things get closer to the end, will they be able to solve the riddles and choose correctly on stopping the Gods war? There was a surprising twist at the end with the Gods voting.

Night for Day is wild, dangerous and magical alternate reality, with no escape; unless the gods can free them. Their journey is also about their love for each other, and finding a way to freedom. Night for Day was very well written by Roselle Lim. I will say this was an interesting fantasy, entirely different from any other book I have read.

A cozy adjacent spicy romantasy about two people as different as night and day who, as they try to work out their rekindled relationship after a chance meeting, instead find themselves trapped with no way to contact each other, embroiled in a game of war between gods. This story full of ghosts, magic, antiques, and immortal bargains was really fun. I enjoyed this escape-room type plot and all the mischievous personalities who came in and out of the shops. The plot twist(s) had me reeling so hard my reaction was quite visceral. I had to re-read chapters multiple times cause I couldn’t honestly believe what I was reading and wished I paid a little more attention as I was reading the first half of the book.This story was incredibly creative and I really had a blast reading this. I loved the discussions on morality, the struggles of those who need to fight their way to be heard versus those that are born with a silver spoon, the very unapologetically Filipino FMC, and the nonbinary ghosts. I do think this would’ve worked if the stakes were a lot higher, rather than the cozy-adjacent vibes I was getting. I wished the pacing was more even, and the plot was a lot more riskier as I feel like it would've captured my interest a lot more.

Camille and Ward have been caught in a romantic dance for years. They’re together one moment, and pulling away the next. They’ve experienced everything together, from so much joy, to incredible pain. But when they find themselves in the same city once again, both of them starting new jobs, they think now is their chance to try again, and this time make it work. There’s only one problem, though. They’ve both been caught up in a divine war, and are destined to be separated for as long as it lasts. Can Camille and Ward find a way to be together when the fates themselves want to tear them apart?

I received an advanced reading copy of Night for Day in exchange for an honest review.

Night for Day is a fantasy novel by Roselle Lim. I’ve loved Lim’s other books, and have, in fact, reviewed them all on this blog. Up until this book, Lim had been writing a distinct style, sort of magical realism, which pulled me in very quickly. This was Lim’s first published full fantasy, and I was so excited to see how she would pull it off.

In the beginning, I was curious about the set-up. This book is narrated through both Ward and Camille’s POV, and Lim cleverly used third person for Ward’s and first person for Camille’s, making them easily distinguishable. And having these two POVs is very necessary to the book, especially as very early on they get separated and are forced to stay apart. While they’re apart, they’re forced to run two magical shops, which serve ghosts and gods and other fantasy beings. And it was the shops that were honestly my favorite part of the whole book. They had specific rules, and the different ways they worked and the magic infusing them was just fascinating. They didn’t always make sense, but I thought that worked with the world we were presented here.

But, as the two characters were separated for so much of the book, it made the characterization difficult for me. I love characters and development, and a lot of the central theme to this story was the romance it revolved around, and the question of whether Ward and Camille would be able to reunite. But, they only spend a chapter or two together before they’re forced to separate, and from there, the only moments we see them together is when one is thinking about the other, especially in a memory. While I liked the set-up, I think this ended up working against the romantic aspect of this book, because rather than learning what the couple was like through watching them go through different moments together, the romance turned into a lot of telling. Camille would think about Ward’s flaws and vice versa, and we got an explanation about why they had broken up through that. Part of me wonders if the romance would have been more effective if we’d gone back in time for a few scenes, almost like a dual timeline novel, but that probably would have gotten too complicated too quickly, considering what the original set-up is.

But while I struggled with the romance aspect of this book, I very much enjoyed the riddles, the world (as I already mentioned), and the other characters that Camille and Ward meet along the way. They’re all incredibly varied, and with their various quirks they keep the narrative going and our main characters from getting too lonely. As for the particular gods involved in this story, I liked that they were kept deliberately vague as to who they were, although I might be able to hazard a few guesses.

Night for Day wasn’t necessarily for me, but I would recommend it to lovers of more quiet fantasies, who love magically strange settings, escape-room scenarios, and godlike beings who love to meddle in human affairs.

Night for Day will be published on February 20. You can preorder your copy from Ace here.