Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Headmaster by Tiffany Reisz.

Oh how fun. If you need a quick, silly, gothic romance, this is exactly it. I love books like this because they know exactly what they are, and lean right into it.

Gwen is down on her luck and planning to sleep in her car, until a strangely fortunate accident lands her right into her dream job. Teaching at an all boys school. She is thrilled, as are they, but even more intriguing is the brooding, yet impossibly handsome headmaster Edwin. But Edwin has experienced his own tragedies and is hesitant to start a new relationship. Add to that, a white and wispy figure keeps making an appearance at the school, and Gwen has to wonder, is this school haunted?

This is so steamy, you've got some toe curling scenes in there that will make you blush in the best way. A minimal, yet interesting plot, and some squeal worthy, unexpected twists along the way. I enjoyed the heck out of this.

I can't believe this book is so short but still has the perfect pacing, character development, romance and mystery. This was a really well written, atmospheric and gothic mystery. I especially loved the characters! I'll definitely be rereading

4.5 ⭐
I went into the book with zero expectation and it blew me away. I have no words. All I could say is that she got me, I didn’t see that plot twist coming. Left me bamboozled. From contemporary romance (which was a wrong assumption as it’s not) it jumped into the genre horror and paranormal real quick. The characters didn’t have much to stand on, but the plot and writing kept me captivated enough. Can’t wait to read more from the author.

3.5 stars

This was the first book I've read from Tiffany Reisz and it was an interesting concept. I don't normally pick up gothic or paranormal stories, but this one definitely caught my interest from the blurb.

I liked the writing style and it was quite atmospheric. It is a full length book, but on the shorter side. I was hooked from the first chapter, but the story, character, and relationship development felt rushed with the shorter page count.

I really enjoy Tiffany Reisz and was excited to read this rerelease; however, this was not at all what I expected. I am not well versed in the gothic romance genre but characterizing this as erotica feels like a miss as the sex scenes weren’t anything close to previous erotica I’ve read from Reisz. I love the cover of this novel and the illustrations were a neat touch. I am disappointed to say that the story did not capture my attention. The instant lust that Gwen felt toward the Headmaster felt forced and I didn’t like the way she basically forced herself onto him. The boys at the school were charming and they added to the story in a fun way. I was shocked by the ending and feel like the mystery was done well. Overall I rate it 3.75 rounded up for the creativeness and unique storyline. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.

Fun quick read ! I breezed through this in one day and has great mystery and intrigue and some romance too!

I love the new anniversary edition too with serious Nancy Drew vibes.

♡ Gothic boarding school
♡ Headmaster + teacher
♡ Spooky vibes
♡ Suspense / mystery
📍 North Carolina
💕 Gwen + Edwin

Even though we're in summer, I've been craving autumnal reads 😅 and this delivered with it's spooky and mysterious Gothic setting.

I really enjoyed the main characters and their dynamic. Edwin is quite the uptight and honorable Englishman and I loved how Gwen broke down his walls. The students at the school were heartwarming and added a great dynamic to the story.

I can't say anymore without spoiling anything, but this was a really enjoyable read! And let's just say the mystery had me shooketh! 😅

My favourite quote from this book.. 🥺
"....my grandparents accused me of hiding in my books. But I wasn't hiding, I was healing. Those stories made me believe bad things happened for a reason and good things happened if you kept going all the way to the end. Hope and perseverance - that's what I learned from books."

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Important to note this is erotica!! And that is distinctly different from your straight-up romance and requires a lot of suspension of reality.

I loved the dark academia setting of this and how our heroine, Gwen, knows exactly what she wants and is unashamed of it. The actual smut scenes didn't actually do much for me, which is not very fun when reading erotica... I still think is a super fun romp that scratches a number of itches.

There’s something so satisfying in a novella. Dark academia is one of my favourite genres so reading this only felt right. I really enjoyed all the different literary references throughout the book (duh she’s an English teacher). The tone is very ominous but yet still romantic- love at first sight and all. The mystery hung throughout the novella like an axe just waiting to fall down on you. Overall very enjoyable and engaging.

I saw Tiffany Reid’s and gothic and thought, let’s give that a whirl. However, this book was solidly not for me. The whole academy set up is not one that I explore anymore. I’m sure that some people will love it. Be aware that it’s an anniversary edition so not a new book.

Entertaining gothic romance. I was sucked in by the retro, pulpy cover of this new edition and I didn't realize this was going to be a romance going into it but I enjoyed the spicy parts most of all! As as a gothic horror it has all the trappings: gorgeous building in the middle of nowhere, a strange school isolated from everyone else, a teacher that left under unclear circumstances, and sightings of a mysterious "bride." But it was NOT a horror in the sense that there wasn't anything really scary in this book. As a romance, who WOULDN"T fall in love with the good-looking and overly honorable but take-charge headmaster? I'd want him to rip my clothes off too. That's really where this book shines imo, though the relationship Gwen has with the boys in the school is also very sweet.

Fans of romance with a predilection towards classic gothic books like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights will love this book and I suspect someone purely looking for a thrill or a more literary story will be disappointed. It had a nice, though not really surprising, twist at the end. I saw it coming almost as soon as Gwen starts interacting with the boys, but it didn't take anything away from how much I enjoyed the book.

From the first chapter I felt an unknown uneasiness with a splash of dark academia. This created an atmospheric story from the beginning. Also, never having read this author, I found that I liked their writing style. It was easy to follow yet still dappled with some pretty prose. With that, I also thought that it was impressive that the writing had impressed that sense of uneasiness so early on, though perhaps the setting lends itself to it too. As far as characters go, Gwen was an easy character to like and follow. The plot surprised me (though part of that might be because I thought this was purely gothic/horror). Overall I enjoyed this read. It was different for me, so I thought the length was perfect! I also enjoyed the illustrations!

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

This was a DNF for me and that's fully and solely my fault. I expected this to be a historical romance book based off of the cover, hence the age old saying "Dont judge a book by its cover". From the few pages I read, the writing seems solid, and if anyone is interested in a modern gothic romance, this might be worth a read.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED Andrew Shaffer's graphics. Even with just the e-book proof, the illustrations were fabulous. Often in a novel, particularly the e-version, I find illustrations an "add-on" rather than part of the reading experience. Not so with this edition of Tiffany Reisz The Headmaster. I wasn't familiar with previous publications of this gothic "dark academia' novel, so the story was completely new to me.

In search of a new start in life, Gwen Ashby sets out across the country headed for Chicago. En-route she finds herself accepting a trial teaching position at William Marshall Academy, a gothic boarding school for young men. Gwen is quickly ensconced in a charming cottage on the edge of the grounds, charmed by eager young students, and seduced by the headmaster. Despite the magic of her new surroundings, there is something is not quite right at William Marshall Academy. A mystery that nobody is willing to explain. Gwen must get to the bottom of it before it is too late for her to leave.

The hook for this novel is a little trite but nicely conceived. I don't think I've read a racy gothic mystery before (possibly) so an intriguing change of pace. Nice and twisty. with very well structured chapters and entertaining dialogue throughout. Era appropriate names and dialogue helped to ground the plot. It wasn't quite clever enough to keep me guessing all the way to the end, although I I hadn't worked out every element of the story correctly before the details were laid out for all to see. Very satisfying.

The cover 100% got me and is why I wanted to read this. I have mixed feelings for this book. The only real positive is that the writing is alright. Now to what I didn’t love about the book. I didn’t get any chemistry from the main characters and they both felt very 2 dimensional. For the book being marketed as erotica, the sex scenes weren’t good and felt very bland and boring. I had a really big problem with the singular Black character being just that. The Black character, every time Samuel was mentioned it was pointed out that he was Black. You learn 2 things about him: he’s Black and he’s smart. I know it’s a novella but give me more than that please. I called the twist in chapter 1 but I did like ending. Overall not for me.

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC!

I'm a fan of Tiffany Reisz, and would definitely categorize her books more in the erotic romance category - so was intrigued to see this title with the flair of horror. I add that I love the cover, which feels so reminiscent of those old gothic horror covers!! This book was perfect in its balance of sexual and horror, with classic white lady ghost hovering around and an unexplainable mysterious boarding school that seems to operate in the past. This is not a genre I read frequently, and I would also not characterize as the dark romance that has taken over social media, and so for that, I give it points for creativity and uniqueness! And will remain memorable to me, earning it 3.5 stars from me!

With an intriguing plot and gothic aura The Headmaster was riveting and highly recommendable. The clues along the way make the mystery feel earned but still unexpected and the romance was so fun.

Dark academia, spicy, spooky and gothic? Sign me up. I read the 10th anniversary expanded edition and it was very fast paced and enjoyable. I’m not sure how much changed from the original, but the pictures in this edition are what actually spooked me!

The storyline was very intriguing and compelled me to keep reading. There were some surprises that I did not fully predict. I had suspicions, but the author still managed to surprise me. Some of them were funny while others were sad.

I’m a pretty slow reader, and I flew through this. I read about half of it in one sitting, which is not something I normally do. This was not a slow burn; the spice started pretty early on. It wasn’t too graphic, just the right amount of detail.

If you’re looking for a quick read, I’d recommend this! I’m definitely going to be picking up a physical copy when it releases because I love the cover.

When I requested this book off Netgalley, I hadn't read through the entire blurb - I literally saw the cover and went "Yes". But if I had read through the whole blurb, I would've seen that this was actually a 10th Anniversary expanded print edition! So that was actually a cool surprise - the prints were awesome and so fitting for the story.

Overall, I found The Headmaster to be such such a riveting read! I loved the whole boarding school setting, the gothic feel, the mystery, the banter, and the sizzling romance between the teacher and headmaster. I fell head over heels in love with the headmaster, Edwin Yorke, a gentleman who genuinely cares for his students? SWOON. I also really liked the heroine, Gwen Ashby, for relentlessly pursuing him.

Despite being a short story, The Headmaster really delivers! I'm just surprised that I hadn't come across this book before because horror romances are my jam. I'd highly recommend this book if you love some spookiness and romance. (Seriously though, why is there such a huge shortage of good horror romances??)

Rating: 4.5/5


Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author, Tiffany Reisz, for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest and fair review.