Visit The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities by Iris Lake for a fantasy romance that follows a curious magical shop owner and a heartless man on a mission. It’s bursting with dialogue as the characters lash out at each other, and it’s full of magic and mystery. While I merely window-shopped at this particular establishment, I believe those seeking a fun romance can find magic in this book.
The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities is filled with magical artifacts and items, but it lacks the most important thing: customers. When her parents decide to move away, Nepheli stays behind to run the magical shop in a town that is losing its magic by the day. Refusing to leave her beloved shop, Nepheli scrapes by and does her small part to keep magic alive in the city. But the shop receives an unexpected visitor that disrupts Nepheli’s quiet life. A man named Apollo bursts through the curiosity shop and brings a whole world of danger to Nepheli’s door. Torn from all she’s known, Nepheli is forced to partner with Apollo to awaken the magic in her town and within herself.
Fantasy romance fans will probably delight in this story. QTL readers know this genre is not my cup of tea, so while I became very tired of the cheesy tropes, I also imagine those who love the genre will enjoy and indulge in it. Try to keep it together, y’all, but there is an “only one bed” scene not even 60 pages into the book. Nepheli very much takes on the beautiful but sheltered persona, but instead of being overly sweet, she’s got a biting quality to her that does not put up with Apollo’s shenanigans. At first, Apollo is the overly charming, smarmy dude that flirts, but there’s little heart in it. As the book’s halfway mark closed in, my desire to put it down grew, and Apollo decided to put the final nail in himself. Instead of remaining snarky and mysterious, he adopted the “I’m pushing you away because I don’t want to hurt you” stance. His abrupt transformation into emo territory failed to create the desired romantic tension and dissolved the remaining patience I had with the clunky relationship.
Before the over-the-top romantasy elements of Little Shop started to wear me down, I liked the developing theme. Nepheli loves magic, so much so that she never leaves her magical curiosity shop. She has created a very safe, incredibly boring, and isolating existence. This is made even more apparent by the whirlwind that is Apollo as he crashes into Nepheli’s life. Apollo exacerbates how fearful, naive, and lonely Nepheli is, and Nepheli exposes how chaotic, unpredictable, and lonely Apollo’s life is. The characters are great foils for one another as they exist on the extreme ends of the introvert and extrovert spectrum. Since I stopped reading at the book’s 50% mark, I didn’t get to see these characters grow, but I could pick up what the book was putting down. There’s beauty in stepping outside your comfort zone and in living, just as much as when you slow down and enjoy the small moments with the ones you love. But it’s all about balance, baby.
There were many reasons that went into my decision to stop reading the book, but it was Apollo’s pining that finally slammed the door closed on this little shop. It did not take long for Apollo to devolve from a complicated, heartless character to a common romance interest who cannot have a thought that doesn’t revolve around Nepheli’s body. Showcasing attraction and developing the romance in a story can be a moving and meaningful part of a fantasy romance. However, I simply will not suffer through a degenerating POV that solely exists to comment on how hot the female protagonist is. Give me back the rogue of a man who stumbled into Nepheli’s shop and enhanced the story with his lack of morals and unpredictable nature.
I’m self-aware enough to know The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities was not for me, but it would absolutely be an otherwise charming fantasy romance for anyone else. So yes, I may not have read it to completion, but don’t let that be a bolt on the shop door for you. It has all the flirty banter and romance tropes to keep you entertained, so step over the threshold and meet the wide-eyed shop owner within.
Rating: The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities – DNF
-Brandee
