Wow, this short story packs a lot in its 40ish pages.

The Lover reads like a dark fairytale retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Judith begrudgingly finds herself under her sister's care and influence as their Grandmother dies and she remains the only unmarried one of the two. Their relationship has always been strained, but even more so when Alice remarries and she chooses none other than Nathaniel, a handsome huntsman whom Judith believed to be her foretold lover. Between this forbidden love and a vagrant come to town during the brutal winter who keeps pestering her, what's Judith to do with herself?

Worth noting that Alice, Judith's sister, is probably the only one-dimensional character in this whole story. She's the epitome of the fairytale evil sister who neglects her sibling but showers herself and her husband in luxuries. Judith herself is a great character who goes through uncertainties, moral dilemmas, heartbreak and ultimately redemption.

Well worth a read of you're a fan of dark fairytale retellings, mystery, forbidden love and a bit of magic!

✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.

This was a very eclectic tale. It's a gothic tale reminiscent of a fairytale with a dark ending. It's intriguing and a bit confusing.

Thank you netgalley and Silvia Moreno-Garcia for the ecopy. I'm providing an honest review.

I've really come to appreciate short stories in between longer novels so this was a nice break.

I like adult fairy tales, I like dark adult fairy tales. And I love werewolves. I had a lot of fun with this. Sometimes I feel like we lose a lot of connection with shorter stories but I didn't personally feel that way here.

Ok, I fell o love with Silvia's writing at first line when I read Mexican gothic and I everytime I read something new I say: that's my favorite one.
And yes, that amazing short story is my new favorite!
I've been struggling about what to say because I think everything can be a spoiler and you should read this one without knowing anything. Trust me.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of the great Mexican Gothic, brings us now a perfect dark fairy tale.
Judith is our hero, who expects her lover to come from the forest; and her village and all the scenario are brilliantly depicted throughout the short story.
The only problem is this: it is only a short story. The author certainly leaves us craving for much more!

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon for access to this arc.

I liked this but I should have liked it more. It begins as many fairy tales do with innocence and wishes before turning darker. It has two sisters, one pretty and spoiled while the other is plainer and made to work hard. Alice has always been pampered and got what she wanted while Judith still waits for a man. When she thinks her true love has arrived, she learns differently. Does she get her revenge?

The story is dark and lush, sensuous and emotionally painful. I felt for poor Judith who has definitely gotten the short end of the stick. Yet I also wanted to shake Judith as she falls for sweet words and promises at the same time that she dismisses a person because of how he looks. Though to be honest, I’m not sure she’d get anything good from either man. I wanted this to turn the “waiting for a man to save me” trope on its head; I wanted Judith to become her own savior. The writing is lovely but the story ends up being fairly conventional. C+

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is amazing at painting a picture, atmosphere, and character to each through her writing. The Lover was haunting and really felt like a dark fairytale that’s shared over a fire. I wish we could have gotten more interactions between the main two characters, just a bit more despite being a novella. However, Silvia Moreno-Garcia was so successful in writing a really rounded short story and I highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of The Lover to read and review!

The Lover was very short and sweet, but I wanted more. Yes, this was a short story, not a novel, but there just wasn't enough intrigue to me in this. I wanted it to be eerier, creepier, but that just wasn't what this was. It was really only slightly mysterious. The writing was gorgeous, though! I would read from Moreno-Garcia again!

This is my first taste test of Silvia Morena - Garcia and It surely wont be my last.

Despite being small in stature, The Lover had an immersive and thought provoking plot that kept me engaged the entire time. I felt invested in the future of the MC, something that can be hard to pull off in such a short time! The Lover felt whimsical and dark with an evocative atmosphere that is ideal to read on a cold winters night.

The Lover is the best story Silvia Moreno-Garcia has written since Mexican Gothic. It's lush and unsettling, with a hardscrabble protagonist who isn't afraid to speak her mind (or of monsters). I'd highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a dark fairytale.

I love this author so much! This might be my favorite book or hers. This is a short novel and it is a quick read. Judith is in love with a man she should not be in love with.
This is a true fairy tale and I love is to much!

This was a fun and immersive short story. Silvia Moreno-Garcia's writing is so full. No matter the setting, I always feel like I am experiencing her stories so fully. This story had a fun, fairly-tale vibe. Even though I knew where the story was going, I enjoyed the journey from beginning to end. Even though it's a short story, I still think I would have liked it a little longer to further flesh out some of the relationships.

Warning to those who have read this story – apologies for multiple puns and double-entendres.

I loved this beautifully written, totally grim fairy tale.

Two strangers come to town at the same time, one a hunter (Hunter Stranger) obsessed with catching a large wolf he has been tracking in the forest, the other a vagrant wolf in disheveled clothing (Wolf). Two sisters rival for the love of Hunter Stranger. More beautiful, and recently widowed Rich Sister (RS) wins out. RS paid her dues, sticking to the ugly old geyser (OG) she married until he croaked. OG left his widow (RS) with a shop, an inn, a tavern, and a lot of loose change. Hunter Stranger seizes the opportunity and marries pretty young widow sister. Other sister is jealous of RS, but must play the part of Cinderella Sister (CS) to earn her keep. Wolf buys a lewd book from book peddler after the latter refuses to sell it to CS. Wolf claims his reward, pawing at CS, stealing a kiss, and trying to make it to third. CS rebuffs Wolf, but he keeps sniffing around. Despite her rejection, CS remains friends with Wolf and brings him bread and fruit preserves and other fancy stuff (forgive me PP&M), pilfered from RS’s shop. Hunter Husband of RS likes to play the field, hitting one home run after another, particularly with CS who believes the drivel he spews. Once CS realizes she’s been played she exacts her revenge together with Wolf in a deliciously twisty ending.

No frogs or other animals died in the writing of this review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories - I see now that it is available free to KU subscribers. Enjoy!

During a brutal winter, a young woman longing for love finds more than she expected in the woods, in this wickedly sensuous short story by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic

Silvia Moreno=Garcia is an auto-buy author for me and this short story is just further proof why. Her prose is amazing and I read this so quickly.

Alice was always the more beautiful sister and her family has always treated her younger sister judith like Cinderella. But Judith wants love. And as a reader I wanted it for her too. Her prince charming comes from the woods after she wishes for him. But what she gets is far more than she expected for herself. Super good and super short read.

I enjoyed this short story about Judith and her romances. While it seemed somewhat predictable, I found the ending to be satisfying.

Giving this 4 out of 5 stars.

I don't usually read short stories; I'm a fan of the larger novels or even 700+ pages of non-fiction. But I did enjoy The Lover. I'm going to put in a few spoilers, so beware if you haven't read it yet!

For a story only being 40 pages or so, Moreno-Garcia did a great job with the characters. With the exception of Alice, who is simply there to be the "mean sister who always gets what she wants," the other characters had a good amount of depth for the length of the story. I could feel the passion Judith had with Nathaniel, yet also feel whatever the heck was simmering underneath the surface between Judith and The Stranger.

I think my favorite is The Stranger. We have no idea if what he says is true throughout the whole story, and yet we obviously know *something* is true, which I found intriguing without rolling my eyes. And while I knew Judith and The Stranger would come together in the end, I wasn't expecting the extra facet of Nathaniel being involved. The story could've ended a few different ways, one of which is what I thought would happen: Judith, wearing the red ribbon in her hair, being lured by the call of the wolf to a river and finding her doom there. However, this ending was a... well, "delight" sounds like a weird word to use, but I'm using it.

I really liked "Mexican Gothic" but couldn't get into "The Daughter of Doctor Moreau" and DNF'ed it. Maybe I'll try again.

This is my first time reading anything from Silvia Moreno Garcia and it did not disappoint. I received an exit from NetGalley and providing my honest review of this short yet delightful story.

The Lover was a very short story about Judith, a young g woman who desires a lover of her own, but life has other plans for her. Instead of the beautiful hunter who she believes to be the man foretold that would come for her, she is met with disappointment as he marries her sister. But, things get even more interesting as the story continues and Judith makes decisions which though “morally wrong,”, who could blame her?

This read like a lyrical, very spicy, dark adult fairytale and I enjoyed it very much. So much was packed into such a short narrative. But I must confess that it reminded me a lot of the novel Like Water for Chocolate. It had a mean and controlling older sister, a weak and handsome man mistaken for the love interest, and then there is magic in the form of a lycanthrope which reminded me of Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver. I hope these are taken as the compliments they’re meant to be. I really enjoyed this story, the writing was lyrical and made me nostalgic for when I was a little girl and my mom would read to me and run her fingers through my hair, except that this one is spicy.

The Lover by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was a lovely delicious treat. It was a perfect cozy novella. If the publisher decides to release the book in physical form so I can add it to my Silvia Moreno-Garcia collection on my library.

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for this ARC.

A fantastic short story of a woman who takes a lover and finds more then she bargained or planned for.

Gothic, atmospheric, and with a depth to the characters not normally depicted in short stories this quick read was a great way to spend an afternoon.

I would pick this one up if you enjoy:
- Gothics
- Unexpected Lovers
- Quick Reads
- Monsters
- Horror
- Stories of women’s Revenge

I received and ARC of this book at no cost/for free, I am leaving this review voluntarily and all thoughts and opinions are wholly my own and unbiased.