Best Laid Plaids

Best Laid Plaids is an amazing debut. It’s fun, sexy, charming, and heart-warming and so much more. Ainsley and Joachim are two unique academics each in search of a new beginning as well as someone to truly understand them. The slightly eccentric ADD Ainsley’s career was cut short due to his insistence of the existence of the supernatural (Ainsley is a wonderfully hilarious character who at times overestimates his own power but is somehow still extremely endearing due to massive amounts of wit, charm, and sexiness. You want to shake your head at him, but also want to both laugh and kiss him. The balance in creating him and making him both venial and likable is something to behold.).

Anyway, while Ainsley doesn’t need to work due to his family’s wealth, after quite a bit of time doing everything healthy and un not to be sad, he needs purpose, almost as much as he needs to overcome his own guilt over his brother’s death.

Joachim is a former WWI solider from a much more modest background, who is working hard to be a credible academic and help his own family. He’s cautious, caring, and conscientious, but with a quiet but wicked sense of humor, and his own stern sexiness. He’s fighting both guilt from his love’s death and PTSD as well as a whole lot of feelings of inadequacy when he comes to “study” Ainsley.

What starts out as two men ostensibly using each other (Ainsley feeling far less guilt that Joachim) becomes a journey through the world of both the supernatural and their own healing. It has a bunch of surprises in store for skeptic Joachim as well as commitment-phone Ainsley.

The build of their relationship is a joy to watch. The banter in this book is the absolute best as are the teasing and sly jokes. There are also just so many funny moments, both clever and slapstick. The side characters are all unique and weird and interesting and hilarious. As are the ghosts. Everyone needs ghosts. And Violet is the best of good dogs.

What’s even better is the writing. First, there is the atmospheric quality that the voice, the writing, and the details create. Its everything. It feels 1920s but in all the best was, the tone, the fun, the little bit of underlying sadness. It’s just fabulous.

And second, the voice is so incredibly unique and delightful and delicious, it is just everything. No one writes like this. It’s signature. You will be able to tell a Ella Stainton book a million miles away in the future, in the best way possible. It’s a star voice.

Anyway, all I can say is READ THIS BOOK. Seriously. It will make your entire year. Thank you so much Carina and NetGalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!