A charming, funny, and very Ontario-centered novel, Direct Descendent is a cozy Canadian love story with a demonic twist.

I love Tanya Huff. Her Confederation novels are one of my favourite sci-fi series and inspired me heavily in how to craft detailed alien species. So, when I saw this book pop up on NetGalley, I let out a very dramatic gasp. This sounded right up my alley, and it was, for the most part.

To get this out of the way, it’s not perfect. The story is a tad predictable, and the stakes weren’t high enough; I think more focus on the worldbuilding, perhaps before Melanie showed up, would have made that stronger.

The main thing that I didn't love about it was the love story. This is a preference thing, but it is insta-love, which I’m not a fan of. It’s very much a “they see each other across the room and they are in love” thing; the small amount of tension between them arises due to not so much a miscommunication trope but an “omission of the truth, and one gets mad” sort of thing, which wasn’t the most interesting romance plot to me.

Yet, I thought they were a cute couple, and I liked them both individually enough to want them to “get the girl,” so to speak, if only for their own happiness. I didn't dislike their love story, I just wasn't enthusiastic about how fast they fell for one another (I'm more into enemies-to-lovers).

The characters are very fun. We have Cass, having recently come into her role as one of the conduits for the eldritch entity living under the town, and Melanie, a school teacher laid off for speaking up for trans kids. Melanie needs money and accepts a weird job from an older lady to investigate the disappearance of a young guy named Travis. That’s the reason she goes to the town. Cass is trying to figure out why the young man sacrificed himself and what that means for the town.

The story moves at a languid pace, but that fits with the cozy theme. And the rest of the town is full of fun characters who aren’t deep but are quirky (a witch bookstore owner, a 40-year-old man-child who antagonizes Cass like a brother, “Alice” whom I won’t spoil, a cute little demon creature, a grouchy hotel owner), and there are a bunch of queer characters. This is a very queer-focused and inclusive book, which I loved too.

Huff has a certain style to her writing that might not appear to everyone - she’s more about describing situations than getting deep into characters’ heads (though it's not like there aren't internal struggles). The Confederation books are like this, too, and given she tends to write action-heavy stories, that might be where this comes from. I personally like it.

I also really liked the setting/concept of a town making a deal with an eldritch entity and all that it entailed. I don’t want to get into it, as it's more fun to experience as you go, but the plot is fun. There’s a bit of mystery, and there was a twist I sort of suspected (but not in the way it unravelled), which made sense, and how everything tied together was well done. It just takes time to get there.

Huff is also an expert at action sequences, and while there really only is one at the climax, it is a doozy and very fun.

Lastly, the thing I loved most was all the references to where I live. Now, I’m not as far north as the book is set, but I vacation up north and I love northern Ontario. And the book is just peppered with jokes and references about Ontario, our culture, the traffic in Toronto, and Tim Hortons. I found it so fun, as normally books are set in Toronto (as if nowhere else in Ontario exists), so I loved that we barely saw the city, and most of the book is set outside of it. I have done the drive Melanie does many times. I was just recently stuck on the 400 at Barrie. All of these things were so incredibly fun they overshadowed the lacklustre love story.

While not my favourite Huff novel, I enjoyed reading it and would love another set Lake Argen. But more banter and less insta-love, please. More of a Craig and Torin, if you will.

Direct Descendant is a fun, quick romp with lots of laughs, quirky characters, and unapologetic queerness. The magic system is fun, and I really enjoyed the relationship between Cassie and Melanie. The stakes didn’t feel very high, but to be fair, that’s to be expected in any cozy story. The magical creatures — the guardians and T’geyer — were especially fun. I was really glad to see that everything wrapped up quite nicely in the end. It was very predictable, but it definitely delivered on all of its promises. All in all, it was a cute book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC!

"This cozy horror novel set in modern-day Toronto includes phenomenal characters, fantastic writing, and a queer romance - the perfect balance of dark and delightful.

This stand-alone novel from the bestselling author of the Peacekeeper novels mixes the creepy with the charming for plenty of snarky, queer fun - for fans of T. Kingfisher, Grady Hendrix, Sangu Mandanna, and Erin Sterling.

Generations ago, the founders of the idyllic town of Lake Argen made a deal with a dark force. In exchange for their service, the town will stay prosperous and successful, and keep outsiders out. And for generations, it's worked out great. Until a visitor goes missing, and his wealthy family sends a private investigator to find him, and everything abruptly goes sideways.

Now, Cassidy Prewitt, town baker and part-time servant of the dark force (it's a family business) has to contend with a rising army of darkness, a very frustrated town, and a very cute PI who she might just be falling for…and who might just be falling for her. And if they can survive their own home-grown apocalypse, they might even just find happiness together.

Queer, cozy, and with a touch of eldritch horror mixed in just for fun, this is a charming love story about a small-town baker, a quick-witted PI, and, yes, an ancient evil."

A love just a touch of eldritch horror!

DNF'd.... readers are just dropped into a plot already in action without any clues as to who anyone is, or what is happening. I'm ok with some vagueness at the start of a book but you need to give readers something more than just the synopsis. For a book being promoted as a cozy horror, there was nothing cozy about this. The characters are unlikeable, and the humor doesn't hit. Saying readers of T. Kingfisher will enjoy this is setting them up for disappointment.

This book was really weird. Normally I don’t mind that kind of thing, but apparently there is a limit to how much I can take. The writing didn’t jive with me also.

4.5 stars, rounded up

This was absolutely delightful. I adored the small town setting and all the characters and the world. If you were a fan of Welcome to Night Vale this is absolutely the book for you.

My only complaint is the romance - they meet at about the halfway mark of the book, and then the entire romantic subplot, complete with third-act break-up is crammed in that space. I did like the characters together, I just wish we had been given more space to see them interact as a couple before the drama starts. Kind of a shame, because the other book I read by this author, The Fire's Stone had an absolutely lovely slow-born romance.

All in all, though, I absolutely recommend this, just come for the cozy, Gilmore-Girls-meets-Chtulu vibes (never thought I would have found Eldritch abominations adorable).

I really wanted to like this book. The summary, the other reviews, the genre bending mixture of cozy and horror - it all sounded like it was right up my alley. But the combination of too-little-explanation and too-slow plot combined with the hard to follow writing style just made this one so hard to get through. Everyone has different tastes in writing styles though so it would be worth it to try a sample to see if the style fits better with your preferences than mine!

This book is such a wild ride. I’m so grateful I had the chance to read it and genuinely enjoyed the storyline. The characters are funny and relatable and the world is just the right balance you want for quirky//cozy fantasy (also, loved the LGBTQIA+ representation ✨). My one complaint would be the massively long list of characters and the way they are introduced throughout the book. I counted thirteen (before I stopped keeping track of them) introduced just in the beginning of the book with no real idea of who would make a reappearance in any significant way. Otherwise, I loved it. The story easily carries you through with characters you enjoy.

I’ve been a fan of Tanya Huff since I first discovered her Vicki Nelson books back in my Forever Knight days, and her Quarters series back in my Xena: Warrior Princess days. She’s one of those authors I am always excited to see appearing on the shelves, so when I saw advance copies of Direct Descendant were available, I jumped at the chance.

I can honestly say this is one of the most unique stories I’ve come across in recent memory. The cover blurb promises cozy horror that’s creepy, charming, snarky, and queer all at once, but just how perfectly this delivers on all of that is delightful. It could have gone so wrong so easily. Seriously, coming out of the first few chapters, I found myself feeling tense, worried that the incongruous tones would become exasperating or infuriating, but Huff’s confidence, her unwavering commitment to the story, navigates any such pitfalls.

Lake Argen is a small town in Northern Ontario that’s equal parts Twin Peaks and Dog River, and to say it has its share of secrets would be an understatement. There’s something in the water (literally), a dead ground upon the hill, a mysterious basement, a remarkable silver mine, a coven of witches, and a quartet of servants of the Dark. Most everyone in town is related through the founders of the town, and visitors either find themselves keenly interested in staying . . . or finding it altogether forgettable.

The story opens with a magical sacrifice that promises dark (or should that be Dark) days ahead, but while that takes its time to develop, it shifts into a missing person’s mystery that introduces the meet-cute sapphic romance that pulls it all together. Along the way, we meet the residents of Lake Argen, including children who gleefully challenge shadows with silver-tipped skewers. It’s as bizarre as it sounds, but it all fits . . . all meshes . . . and all makes sense. By the time we meet the cute little tentacled beastie who may just hold the key to it all, we’re so committed to seeing Cassie and Melanie work out, we’ll accept anything that moves us deeper into the Dark.

Were this not cozy and cute, I’d say the pacing was a bit off, but really, it moves how it needs to, and the uneven pacing is more a result of genres mixing that any narrative weakness. More importantly, for a story to which horror and romance are so important, the relationship challenges are well-resolved and the climax – often a weak spot in the genre – more than pays off.

Direct Descendant is told in dual POVs. Cassidy is the first point-of-view we get. She's a resident of Lake Argen and someone with close ties to the town's ancient dark force. Early one morning, she witnesses someone make a ritual sacrifice and knows that something big must be coming for her strange, reclusive town.

Our second POV is Melanie, who is visiting Lake Argen to investigate the recent disappearance of a wealthy woman's grandson. That missing grandson was the ritual sacrifice that Cassidy witnessed, by the way, so things are complicated.

Further complicating this dynamic is that Cassidy and Melanie are both completely smitten with each other at first sight.

The humor in this book is great; I genuinely laughed out loud at a few lines! There is plenty of sillyness and funny references, but there's also some smart and pointed progressive humor. Melanie, in particular, has very strong opinions about the current harmful push of anti-trans policies.

While the book is being pitched as "cozy horror," it is light on horror, in my opinion. If you go in hoping for scares, you might end up disappointed; if you want something funny, dark, fantastical, and romantic, you may really like it. I'd recommend this most to fans who've enjoyed other books that blend cozy sci-fi/fantasy with light horror and gore, like Someone You Can Build A Nest In by John Wiswell.

I really enjoyed Direct Descendant. It is smartly hilarious, with quirky characters in a fast-paced plot. Plus, there's an incredibly sweet and emotional Sapphic romance between the two main characters. I love books that defy genre labels, and this one blends a lot of my favorites together in a way that really worked for me.

I saw this cover and "cozy horror" and was instantly intrigued. Unfortunately the follow through left me wanting. The plot was hidden under layers of HP Lovecraft-esque horror but set in slow motion. Cozy keeps getting confused with slow and it's painful. I love cozy reads. The characters, the vibes and the pacing. But when a book advertises itself as cozy and then proceed to simply lack a plot it irks me.

Im also not a fan if "insta love" so it was hard for me to really root for the romance.
It got to the point where I skimmed this just to see if it picked up - alas it didn't.

2.5 stars rounded up
Thanks to NetGalley and DAW Books for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

For me, this didn’t do enough to really establish the world or set the right mood. I definitely needed more back story rather than just being tossed in to the story. I didn’t know what was going on for most of the book, and while the characters were fine they didn’t really do enough to stand out either. The best part of this was the Eldritch aspect, I thought those and communication with them was the ray of light that kept this book interesting enough to finish.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book but unfortunately could not get through the prose. Most of the time I was confused and the plot and characters weren't saving grace enough for me to care about them.

Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers over at DAW publishing for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Direct Descendant is a cozy horror novel that follows one of the children of the founding families whose real job as a baker is often disrupted by her duties to the Dark and making sure no monsters make it to this world from the otherside. Being the Mouth of the Dark is still somewhat new to Cassie, but her responsibilities are shoved forward when a visitor goes missing, possibly having sacrificed himself to the Dark. In this small, quirky Canadian town, the towns people know how to keep a secret, but what happens when Cassie's heart won't listen? Direct Descendant comes out on April 1st and is available for preorder now.

When I first read the synopsis for this one, I wasn't 100% sure that it would work for me. A lot of cozy is hit-or-miss simply because the tension and the stakes aren't ever fully there. The reason that I think this works more than others, besides the campy nature of the story telling and this small town and its residents, is the story finds tension in other ways. In certain relationships between a main character and a side character and in the relationship between our two main characters. There's also a moral question given Cassie's powers--with the ability to make anything and anyone do what you say, what's to keep you from abusing your power? I liked the town and how it truly felt like a small town. Everyone from a small town knows that the depictions aren't always right. But everyone knowing your business before you've even seen them for the day, the rumors, the town's one quirky guy that everyone knows and tolerates, the undertone of racism that the town was founded upon. The small town was done very well. I also liked the characters. I could easily see there being enough of a foundation for another novel in the future.

The parts of the story that I didn't enjoy do mostly come from the cozy nature of the story. There were stakes in the story, but it never felt like there were stakes in the story, if that makes sense. In the final fight, people were getting injured and bad things were happening, but none of it ever felt permanent or serious. And some of the things that happened in that fight sequence, did get reversed by the end of the novel which wasn't my favorite. The stories I most thrust upon my reader friends are the ones that hurt me and make me bleed (emotionally...or a paper cut I suppose) that just light a fire inside me to get the Good Word of the book spread. I also wish we had gotten a little bit more horror for our buck. It did have some elements of horror, but, for something that was pitched as a cozy horror novel, I was expecting a little more.

Overall, this was a good, quick read that served as an excellent distraction from the real world pain and grief I'm currently going through. I think it would be great for fans of the cozy subgenre in general. It's also good for fans of LGBTQIA+ romance and things that go bump in the night.

Direct Descendant is a cozy horror novel that I absolutely love, especially the cover, which made me request it immediately. I usually avoid horror books because I get scared easily, but I wanted to give this one a try. I really enjoyed the story. I liked the humorous tone of the story and the romance between Cassie and Melanie was so cute. If you enjoy small town horror stories with a bit of humor, I definitely recommend picking this book up. I will also be checking out the author's other books too. Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I'll post my review closer to the publication date.

Generations ago, the founders of the idyllic town of Lake Argen made a deal with a dark force. In exchange for their service, the town will stay prosperous and successful, and keep outsiders out. And for generations, it's worked out great. Until a visitor goes missing, and his wealthy family sends a private investigator to find him, and everything abruptly goes sideways.
Now, Cassidy Prewitt, town baker and part-time servant of the dark force (it's a family business) has to contend with a rising army of darkness, a very frustrated town, and a very cute Pl who she might just be falling for...and who might just be falling for her. And if they can survive their own home-grown apocalypse, they might even just find happiness together.
Queer, cozy, and with a touch of eldritch horror mixed in just for fun, this is a charming love story about a small-town baker, a quick-witted Pl, and, yes, an ancient evil.


OH. MY. GOD. the last line of this book is what got it a four stars! i was going to rate this 3.5 as its such a fun read and really pulls you in but THAT LAST LINE GOT ME

Direct Descendant is a standalone cozy horror story from Canadian writer, Tanya Huff. I've been trying to read more canadian fiction lately, and this delightful queer story is set in Toronto and I just loved it!

Cassidy "Cassie" Prewitt is one of the four protectors of the Dark Force in her small town, Lake Argen. Their job is to keep strangers out. However, when one wanders literally into their world, and his wealthy family come looking for him, Cassie must work with a PI to stop an apocalypse from happening.

I've read a few cozy fantasy books, with Discworld and Legends and Lattes being my favourites, and I absolutely ate this up! Cassie is a part-time baker and part-time protector and it was a delight to see her PI, Melanie, try to work together to stop Armageddon!!! I loved watching the relationship bloom between the two of them, and I especially loved the Canadian-isms....

"Moose could be assholes" only in Canada!!!!!!

The reader is thrown into the story straight up, with the action happening practically from page 1. As much as I love a slow world building, I loved this even more!!! You eventually learn what the town is all about, and it was really interesting to read about the protectors and the Dark! Add wit, sarcasm and a healthy dose of romance and I was absolutely hooked!

If you love cozy fantasy, you need to add Direct Descendant to your Spring reading list!!!! It's the perfect book to curl up with, as we come out of the cold winter months.

A quirky paranormal romance story. Some dark elements but overall a fun and intriguing read with some good twists and turns. At times humorous and romantic as well.

3.5 stars

I'm not going to lie, I almost DNFd this book when I had no clue what was going on after 15% but I decided to give it until a quarter of the way through to see if it was worth finishing and I'm glad I did as it ended up being a lot of fun.

The initial issue I had with it (and the reason I couldn't give it a 4-star rating even though it was lots of fun) is that there was no real explanations about what was happening. You jump straight into the action, which is fine if this is accompanied by clear and understandable explanations that let you get to grips with the magic and the characters. The guest few chapters were more a stream of consciousness and all I could gather was that Cassie had some major shit going on in her life.

Things started to make more sense with the introduction of the second POV, who wasn't from the town so had no idea what was going on. From this point, Cassie's POV also started explaining a bit more too.

Once I knew what was happening, I was able to enjoy how fun and silly the book was. It really is a cosy fantasy set in modern times. While there's some horror elements, they're mostly daft so there's no real scare element. I also enjoyed the characters, all of whom were fairly bizarre in various ways.

The romance side of things was a bit meh. It was very insta-love with no real development but it was cute. You knew what was going to happen, but that ties in with cosy, which usually has a happy ending and fairly low stakes.

I would say once you make it past the initial 3 confusing chapters, this book is a good read. It kept me turning pages and I would happily return to the town in a future book.

So, I really like Tanya Huff; I grew up reading Tanya Huff, and while I don't know her as a person (hi Tanya, would love to chat someday!) I feel like I have a strong sense of the things Huff likes to write about and the tropes and topics she cares for.

About three chapters into this one I had the thought of, oh. This is a pandemic comfort write, isn't it? I did one of those myself, and at some point life is going so wild around you that you open a doc that's titled something like "Have fun with" and you throw in everything you love: whimsical small towns with weird people, eldritch horrors who are also cute and cuddly, big stakes but make it cozy, a whirlwind lesbian romance, and toss a climactic final battle in there. Make it all comfortable, though, because life is uncomfortable. When I got to the end and saw that this was inspired by pandemic-reading Jordan Hawk's Widdershins series (something I've also read all of) I think I said "Ohhh, that makes sense" aloud!

And viewing that as the goal, I think this novel works super well. It balances all those elements really nicely and makes something that feels like it'd be a lovely comfort read. It's quirky and whimsical and funny and sweet and the characters are really charming. I want to go live in Lake Argen. I'd live over the bookstore. It's that sort of read.

I think that it's a bit uneven in other ways. The dark fighting the dark felt like it wasn't fully explained by the end, and the relationship was a bit rushed; so much of the story relied on this romance to be sold to us, but because they were in lust so quickly and the entire conversation where they learned about each other was offscreened (in a "we talked all afternoon and I barely remember about what" way), I don't know if I could say what exactly they loved about each other other than their bodies. I would have preferred the backstory be given to us slowly by Cassie over the front half of the book more explicitly so THAT part could have been summed up with "I told her about x and y" and we could have seen more of them actually getting to know each other as people. I want to hear about Cassie loving Melanie's stubbornness or her intelligence or her care for children specifically because she *sees* it and hears about it and engages with it. Vice versa, I want to see Melanie loving Cassie's care for her community, and find her scattered personality charming. I believe these must be the things they loved in each other, but when we saw flashbacks or them thinking of each other, it was mostly to kissing or sex. And again, that's fine, there's nothing wrong with a sexy lesbian romance, but since the back half of the story leaned on it, I just wanted a touch more there.

But all in all, a solid read and I can see myself coming back to it as a comfort read. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to DAW and to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.