Love at First Fright

This book is a little outside of my comfort zone, but I found it fun. Rosemary Shaw is a successful horror author that is having one of her books adapted for the big screen. As part of her contract, her agent has ensured that Rosemary is very involved in the process, including being on location for filming. She is not thrilled about the actor selected for the leading role, Ellis Finch. Ellis has been typecast and blackmailed by his agent to work on larger action films. This has caused some misperceptions about who he really is. 

I really enjoyed Rosemary and Ellis’ relationship; it starts rocky, but they are both able to see how misunderstanding has clouded their views of each other. They both hold secrets that they believe could push the other away. Rosemary’s is that she sees ghosts. There is a side quest of Rosemary aiding the two ghosts that have been haunting the scene location for hundreds of years. I enjoyed the way this was approached by the author, and the ghosts were intriguing characters. 

This book ended up being more of a slow burn, even though there was obvious attraction between the main characters. They have a very light dom/sub relationship, basically she prefers to give up control when being intimate. I loved the way the character banter and nerdiness, but I felt like the third act fell flat. The conflict was a little off for the way the characters had acted up until that point and the resolution was too quick in my opinion. Overall, it was a solid read and I will pick up future books by Nadia El-Fassi. 

Rating: 4/5  

Release Date: September 16, 2025

Traditionally published by Dell and available wherever books are sold.