General Fiction (Adult) / Romance / Fantasy
Pub date: 15 September 2026
5/5 ⭐️
Summary:
A reaper and an angel walk into a bar …
Darcy Moore is tired of death. Which would be fine…if she wasn’t the Grim Reaper.
Gabriel Aetos is determined to protect his little corner of the world like his angel wings depend on it.
When Darcy shows up to Gabriel’s faded old bar, she is hell-bent on outrunning her reputation as a villain. She won’t be dragging her next assignment to the underworld. She’ll be saving him instead.
But Gabriel is convinced that Darcy is as deadly as it gets. And if protecting his people means staying close – very close – to this rogue reaper, then that’s exactly what he’ll do.
Only, magic never comes without consequences…and these two spirits may just be forced to reap what they sow.
Trigger warnings:
- discussions of death and grief
- child loss
- animal injury/death
- car accidents
Review:
I don’t want to be there at the final moments. I want- I want the middle ones. Lazy mornings in bed and cups od coffee gone cold. Flowers in bloom and lipstick smudged on the edge of a glass. (…) My entire existence is defined by the end. I want the beginning back.
I have read everything BK has written twice over, so I knew we were in safe hands when it comes to this story. But damn, I don’t think I will ever be able to describe adequately how much I loved this book.
I absolutely DEVOURED it. I enjoyed Good Spirits, but Grim Tidings was just on another level. It might just BK’s best. But equally the most devastating. She had crying merely 20% in, surely that’s some kind of record.
It’s a hauntingly beautiful exploration of death, grief, guilt and overwhelming weight of responsibility. Darcy is my sweet baby girl and I’m glad she’s treated as such. Gabriel’s main role is supporting women’s rights and women’s wrongs, and I fully respect that.
There aren’t many supporting characters, this is very much Darcy’s story, but the ones we do get are absolutely delightful. The Frank type of character, wise cracking elder, is such a staple in Borison’s writing. I just want to put Nate in my pocket and keep him safe (and I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing more of Gideon and a certain poltergeist btw, wink wink nudge nudge BK).
My only gripe with the story is Gabriel’s initial animosity towards Darcy. Considering how long he’s been around for you’d think he would be a little bit more open minded. But it makes sense when you realise that this man has barely read the Guardian handbook. He sometimes only has two brain cells, and that’s okay 😌
If you’ve read Good Spirits the timeline might be confusing at first but what a delicious twist it is (and the appearance of the music box had me GASPING at 1am in my bed).
DO take care of yourself when reading this book though. Especially if you’ve been dealing with loss recently. I’m assuming that Becs is going to add a trigger warning page, it’s definitely needed.
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