Tiffany Reisz’s The Headmaster is a hauntingly beautiful blend of romance and gothic horror that grips you from the very first page and refuses to let go. I went into this story with no idea that it was a reprint, and honestly? That just makes it even more impressive. Whether you're discovering it for the first time or revisiting it, this book feels timeless in the best way possible.

Set in an eerie boarding school steeped in mystery, the story follows a heroine whose arrival sparks an intriguing and chilling romance with the enigmatic headmaster. Reisz masterfully crafts a tale filled with suspense, passion, and a creeping sense of unease that keeps you guessing until the very end. Her writing is atmospheric, pulling you into a world that’s as unsettling as it is intoxicating.

One of the standout aspects of The Headmaster is how well it bridges the gap between horror and romance—two genres that are criminally underexplored together. Why is there such a shortage of horror romances? If more books like this existed, I’d read them all in a heartbeat. Reisz’s ability to weave genuine romantic tension into a narrative tinged with fear and the supernatural is nothing short of brilliant.

For a reprint, the story holds up remarkably well. It doesn’t feel dated or out of place in today’s literary landscape. In fact, it feels like the kind of book we need more of—something that pushes the boundaries of genre while still delivering an emotionally satisfying experience.

Whether you’re a fan of gothic fiction, romance, or psychological horror, The Headmaster is an absolute must-read. Tiffany Reisz has created a story that’s chilling, captivating, and heartbreakingly romantic. If you’ve been searching for a book that proves horror and romance can coexist beautifully, look no further.

I enjoyed this. It moved at a good pace and kept my interest. The characters are all well written and entertaining. If you enjoy Gothic romance, I think you will enjoy this. Special Thank You to Tiffany Reisz, 8th Circle Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

thank you to net-galley and the publisher for gifting me an advanced reader copy.

I had no idea when I requested this book that it was a 10th anniversary edition! the cover is what drew me and honestly it’s still my favorite part of the book!

The romance is this one is soooo swoon worthy and spicy! There were definitely parts of this book that were so enthralling and I had a hard time putting it down. Definitely not my favorite romance but this book absolutely deserved the 10th anniversary edition! I can see why this book and author has a lot of fans. Overall I would recommend. The gothic vibes and mystery make it so fun!

I have never read anything from this author before this short story. This short story balances romance and some (cozy) horror.
I didnt particularly liked the characters or the romance. I wish the horror elements would play out more in the story. The ending wasn't a surprise.

I absolutely loved this novella! Set in Appalachia, a woman finds and all boys boarding school in need of a teacher. Everything seems a little off to her though. No phones, no computers, and the Headmaster seems like he’s from another time. Did I mention the woman in white who walks the grounds at night? This was short and sweet. A perfect fall read. It has some dark academia, some romance, and some thrills also. I didn’t see the ending of this coming and the story wrapped up nicely. I’m definitely a fan of this author and one of my favorite books of hers was The Night Mark. I’ll be adding The Headmaster to my shelf right next to it!

Gwendolyn Ashby has left her job and home at Savannah and is now driving to Chicago. She’s planning to crash at a friend’s house for a while and find a brand new job as an English and Literature teacher but well She is jobless and penniless too.

She reaches Appalachian Mountains along her way and decides to take a break from driving. She goes into a pub, where she hears about an all-boys boarding school called Marshal School and learns from one of the waitresses that they’re hiring new teachers. Because she’s a teacher and that she’s currently jobless, she thinks to go there. But Marshal School is nothing like she has expected at all.

Marshal school is A heart-stoppingly beautiful old English castle which is love aged in the deep in the woods. She finds a the Headmaster Edwin Yorke. Throughly the book, the overwhelming attraction between the Headmaster and Gwen is palpable from the very start but eventually, she get to know that Edwin and the whole school has many secrets.

A very well-written, unique and hauntingly Gothic story, with fast paced plot. This has a likeable characters as well. This was my first Tiffany Reisz read and I can't wait to read her other books!

A fabulous little spooky season read! "The Headmaster" combines a haunting mystery with a burning romance. Headmaster Edwin Yorke steals the show as the perfect starchy romance hero, obsessed with being honorable.

The story is a little predictable, but the details make it and there is a fantastically strong sense of emotion.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

I didn't enjoy the book. At the first it seemed so interesting and misterious, but then I found it so cringe and I wasn't able to go on without laugh at some pages and some thoughts of the protagonist who has an immediate crush on the principal of this strange school.
It believe that this book has a great idea at the base, but its realisation didn't convince me sp much, but if you are in search of something to pass your free time you have to read it. You'll have a fun time.

I applied for this ARC because I my friend loves this author, and I’m so happy I did! This book was delightful 😍 It’s kind of short so super fast to read, but that didn’t affect the plot or the characters development for me at all.

It’s a gothic mystical story of a teacher who stumbles upon a boys school in the middle of the woods on her way to Chicago. She instantly loves the place so much that she wants to stay forever. It’s her luck that the school needs a new teacher! No small part in her decision is played by the handsome buttoned up British headmaster who keeps refusing her advances because he’s a gentleman 😏😏 But her quick attachment to the school and its inhabitants is questioned when she starts noticing weird things going on at her new place of work.

I won’t say more because I don’t want to spoil anything. Let me just tell you I had a main theory of what was going on, but I only guessed the final twist at 80% — that’s good writing as far as I’m concerned!

Speaking about writing: it was superb! I had a very hard time picking quotes for this review. The banter between Gwen and Edwin is just perfection, especially when you know he’s being dead serious and not just flirting (credits to my friend for pointing that out). Gwen, on the other hand, flirts a lot and makes him blush so much — I love that woman! It’s a bit insta-lovey from her side but I honestly loved it so much, there wouldn’t be this amazing banter if she didn’t want him from the beginning.

Another notable part — the boys! They’re adorable and mischievous and so so sweet 🥹 The damn book made me cry because the author managed to make me fall in love with these characters in such a short amount of time. Although I admit the ending was somewhat controversial for me (reality wise not romance, don’t worry, it’s an HEA).

I recommend this book to everyone! Not only during the spooky season (it wasn’t scary really) but just when you want a quick read and a smile and some top notch banter.

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

The book is out now! I received an advanced copy from #netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This book had an interesting storyline that piqued my interest, with its ghostly lady, then there was Gwen's attraction to the headmaster, who was and isn’t. This book is full of complexities, Gwen falls in love with a ghost and teaches ghosts boys, it's enough to give you a headache. The story was okay but it went over the edge in the last chapter.

I would not consider this horror but liked the book's romance. This is a nice interesting romance book.

Contemporary romance is always a hit or miss with me. It’s hard finding one that I really like and that keeps me reading. This book had we all lost and yet I was completely sucked in.

I was surprised by The Headmaster as the cover is what drew me to it, but the actual book does not match. It is marketed as a dark academia romance when from the start it feels very light and fluffy with the backdrop of a school being the only real academia aspect of this story.

I felt this all happened way too fast for me as well, I'm not much for the love at first sight trope. I found myself a bit more annoyed at the protagonist as well rather than relating with her or finding her charming.

The spice was pretty good and the twist was really good, but there just wasn't enough build up to it to make it feel like it has any sort of pay off. It felt like a Trisha Paytas "Oh....OK" ending.

I'm finding that hetero romance may just not be for me.

This author got me, she got me good! This is a spicy thriller novel where a woman with nothing left travels to find a job. She happens to go to a town with a notorious all boys academy to apply for a job. On her way there she gets into an accident and wakes up there. Her even applying for the job sets off some alarms, but moving through the story you can’t tell what it is. The author leads the story on as if it is a ghost story, murder, ex-lover problem story, then a humanitarian story, then at the end it all comes together and it’s one big dilemma. Will she stay or go?

This story is excellently written and will have your mind going thirty different ways before you finally get the actual issue of the story in the last 50ish pages of the book. Also, I was NOT expecting all the spice in this story at all, but it was great!

Spice 4/5
Plot 5/5

Story is 230 pages, so it is a quick read.

First of all I love the book cover. It's really catchy. This was well written and interesting enough for me to finish the book. It has a little bit of suspence added to it with some spicy scenes. The school setting was good. It is an enjoyable read.

This was an interesting story. I really loved the setting of the school. It had a nice dark atmosphere that I vibed with. The story was short and because of that it fell short for me in some ways. The main one is that the romance felt rushed. I didn’t really feel a connection between the two of them because there wasn’t any buildup.
I did like the twist at the end of the story. I won’t say much because I don’t want to spoil it, but I didn’t expect where the story ended up going. I also liked that she was able to make a choice.
Overall not my favorite read but I’m still glad I read it.

Spicy twisty turny romance with a well executed ending. Very quick read and not my favorite work from Tiffany Reisz (The Red is one of my top reads ever). This one didn't quite connect with me but I'm glad I read it.

When I started reading The Headmaster I was expecting a quick, smutty read…. come on its Tiffany Reisz, I can be forgiven for my mind going where it did! Instead I got a wonderfully atmospheric and emotional short story as Gwendolyn Ashby set to start a new life in Chicago. Along the way she happened across Marshall Academy, a gothic school hidden away in the Appalachian Mountains and she was drawn to its headmaster Edwin Laird.

This was just such a beautifully written tale of love and loyalty set over two weeks as Gwen fell not only for Edwin but for his endearing students as well. But even as she became increasingly entranced with the life, she could have there with him, there were vibes that not everything was as it seemed. For all the brevity of this book there was a surprising depth to, not only the hero and heroine but the secondary characters as well especially Laird and Christopher, the class pranksters and there was something especially poignant about their own personal story. Even those this book is not what I was expecting, I’m so glad I read it.

I went into this book blind and WOW what a wild ride.

Things I loved:
The Brigadoon x Nancy Drew x Scooby Doo x Riverdale vibe.
The setting was PHENOMENAL and I felt like I could really *feel* like I was there as I was reading.
The illustrations in wood-cut style format
The reveal of everything at the end was worth staying up to midnight to finish.

Things that felt dated:
Weird instalust/instalove but you just kind of have to go with it.
This is a book from over a decade ago and the prose is a bit lacking, in addition to the lack of conversation about STIs.
The way that our lovely heroine just JUMPS into this world of teaching without a second thought takes a little suspension of belief.

I had a hard time keeping my interest with this book, it just wasn't the book for me. But the premise is great and should be interesting to others.