This was a cute romantasy with modern and olden themes. Alard is a lawyer who comes across Raz, a handsome businessman in NOLA for a conference. After a passionate hook-up, the two come to find they are linked together in a way Raz wasn't expecting and Alard didn't mean to happen. Complete with fairies and magic, this story is fun to read and even more fun to imagine yourself in!

I did enjoy reading this book, though I feel the story lacked a bit of depth. The characters were fun, there were a few plot twists I wasn't expecting, and I did care about the story and have a good time...but it felt a little flat/dull if I'm being honest.

Definitely a great choice for anyone new to romantasy or looking for an easy enjoyable read!

What can I say about ‘A Happy Beginning’. Well, when I first requested this book, I didn’t look at the genre or plot (my mistake) and was just pulled in by the cover. It turned out this book included romantasy. I’m not much of a romantasy reader so when these very passionate smut scenes cropped up (between Alard and Raz) I did very quickly skip over these in a hope to get on with the remainder of the book. If someone else who enjoyed smut were reading, I think they would have enjoyed it however it did also feel very quick to action between these two, I mean they had basically just met.

Aside from that, I did enjoy this book. It was a good fantasy book including both the human and fairy realm and the LGBTQIAP+ subject, including characters who truly cared for each other’s happiness in the end. The fact that my favourite female character (Meyda of course) had a strong sense of leadership and wanted Alard to be happy and have true love did make me melt a little inside.

The ending of the book was good but I do feel some of the plot did end up becoming a bit long winded or even a bit too quick to action but the adventure made up for it all the same.

I do recommend this book to any romantasy and LGBTQIAP+ readers who love smut, however due to the fact that it can become quite passionate in these smut scenes I do believe this book is not for the faint hearted (unless you quickly skip over them like I did).

(This is my first proper book review so I apologise if it isn’t great…)

This is a debut novel and, well, it kind of reads like one. Now, I don’t necessarily mean that in a rude or degrading way. I simply mean as a seasoned reader, it’s pretty easy picking out new authors because their voice is more on the flatter scale and their writing style is either all over the place or nonexistent—sometimes at the same time.

A Happy Beginning was truly a unique and interesting love story. An urban fantasy that felt kind of retro with very human problems. I really liked Alard and Raz at the beginning and at the end, but the meat of the story was a bit slow and disjointed. I’m all about details in relationships on page and they just weren’t there with this story. And that’s okay.

Overall, I enjoyed this new novel by a debut author. And I’m looking forward to what they write next.

{I received a complimentary copy of this book.}

DNF at 20%

The premise of this book is highly intriguing, but it just didn’t fit my personal tastes. I had high hopes for this queer romantasy set in New Orleans, featuring accidental marriage. I’m not a fan of urban fantasy and the instant love trope just didn’t feel genuine to me. I also sometimes felt the amount of description was a little excessive, bogging down my reading pace. I think the idea has a lot of potential, but the execution wasn’t my style.

This book is perfect for readers looking for fae stories in urban settings, quick love arcs, and unique magic systems. It wasn’t my personal taste, but I hope you still give it a try!

Thank you to NetGalley, City Owl Press, & B. A. Richards for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Stay tuned for the release of A Happy Beginning on January 20, 2025.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and B.A. Richards for providing me with an ARC of A Happy Beginning in exchange for my honest review.

A Happy Beginning is an urban romantasy with a queer twist, set in the vibrant city of New Orleans. The story follows Alard, a fairy prince, and Raz, a human, as they navigate their magical bond following a night of passion. Alard is betrothed to Meyda, a princess from another realm, making his love for a human a potential catalyst for political disaster and inter-realm conflict.

The writing style is simplistic and accessible, making it easy for readers to follow. The seamless blend of urban and fantasy elements is executed well, immersing the reader in a world that feels both magical and grounded. The relationships between the characters are thoughtfully constructed, adding depth to the narrative.

However, the story fell a little flat for me. The "insta-love" trope didn’t resonate, and I found myself wishing for more development in the romance. While the premise has potential, it doesn’t feel particularly unique within the romantasy genre, leaving me yearning for a more distinctive or surprising narrative.

Overall, while A Happy Beginning offers an intriguing setting and diverse representation, it ultimately didn’t fully deliver on its promise for me. With further development, this story could truly shine.

Such a cool book!!!
A Happy Beginning by B.A. Richards is a masterpiece! Such a cool book. The plot and characters are so cool! I loved reading this story.

I loved this book. The writing is impeccable. The author writes in a way that's both accessible and thoughtful. The story flows well, and there are no slow parts. The chemistry between Alard and Raz is excellent. Each has his own voice and personality that make you believe they're real.

The author in spots gets caught overdescribing, but it didn't affect pacing that much. Aspects of the world building weren't fleshed out (such as the vampires and werewolves), so that caused the story to suffer. The story could have done with a fewer side characters. That would have allowed the author to tighten the writing more.

I really enjoyed how the story arc split itself between the two realms. The introduction of Meyda gave new energy to the story that helped balance the unlikable parents.

Overall, this is a fun book. I hope the author gives more stories of Alard, Raz, and Meyda. Even with the book's shortcomings, it still deserves five stars.

This is an ambitious book that I thought needed more work. I'm rounding up to four stars because it had a lot of good, interesting ingredients (three cheers for ace representation!). I hope a lot of the misspellings (lay lines for ley lines and parlay for parley are two that spring to mind) and punctuation errors (I love semicolons, but they need to be used correctly) will get caught before publication. I'm definitely side-eyeing some minor choices (using the Salvation Army as an example of goodness; getting a kitten from a pet store rather than a shelter), too. But my main issue is that I'm not persuaded the story made sense. I'm not sure I ever bought the insta-love, for starters. Then, as the story progressed, there was just too much going on, and the MCs seemed to alternate between being easily overpowered and being close to omnipotent. Moreover, I'd like to have learned more about Ray's background, in particular, in a more elegant way (we got a few doses, but they verged on info dumps). And finally, we occasionally jumped into another character's POV (I think we got Catherine at one point?), which was odd and seemed like taking the easy way out.

So, yeah, I liked the concept, but I thought the story needed a lot more editing (developmental and otherwise) before it was ready to go out into the world.

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

Ok so I made it to 10% into this book. I really wanted to love it, and I think it's well-written and romantasy lovers will enjoy this one.

I have realized I am not a huge smut lover or romantasy lover in general, so this book just was not for me. The smut is basically immediate, so if that is what you want, this is amazing!! I should have probably known from the title "A Happy Beginning" ;) LOL.

If you enjoy romantasy, I heavily recommend picking this one up!

Fantastic take on the myths and legends on New Orleans
With vampires werewolves and fae this will be great for any fantasy readers

This book will suit people looking for a urban fantasy romance, with creatures of legend. Set in New Orleans, we follow our two heros as they meet and accidentely ends up married. They need to find a way to break the bond, because one of them is supposed to get married back home, in fairy land.

It's a fun book. Not something I would pick again, not because it is bad or anything, but simply because it isn't for me anymore. It feels like I've read the story many times, with the "villains" being a little too flat for me, but working good enough for the story the author wanted to tell. Similarly, the worldbuilding is quite common, or at least I get that feeling. Classical fairy realm, hidden creatures in our world and such.

That being said, the romance is cute, though quick. The characters are your typical urban fantasy romance, overly very nice and good, a little sexy and fun. The supporting characters are present, with their quirks. Highlight to the aroace rep !

This was such a great take on fantasy. New Orleans, full of creatures many don't know exist outside of legends. Razi is pulled in so deep after what he thinks is just a one night stand, but it becomes so much more.

This is a fantasy book that has for the most part Fae but also vampires, werewolves, and fairy godmothers. The conflict is very cute, very oh no we got married in Las Vegas vibes. The poly relationship along with the ace side of it was very cool, I enjoyed it. Overall I 100% enjoy this read and will be recommending it.