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If ever “aching” was a perfect description for a book, it is for this one. The whole thing is beautiful, simmering tension. You can feel the ache and loss and anger in Raegan. You can feel the dark shadows and leashed emotion that is the King. Honestly, the whole book just makes you feel.

Beyond the Aching Door is a story of folklore and legend, playing out in urban fantasy. It gives us Raegan, trying to find herself and figure out how to live in the world when she knows that something is missing. And when Raegan meets the King – a fae that holds more knowledge about her past than she can even imagine – she plunges headlong into a journey that both breaks her down and breaks her open.

I actually saw a fair amount of myself in Raegan. Her layers of protection around herself. The desire and want for more, but the immediate pulling back and closing ranks when hurt. My hear felt squeezed and hurt through so much of this book at what Raegan was going through. I felt her in my marrow. Still do.

There is a cliffhanger, and I am anxious for Book 2. I don’t want the story to end, but I want to see where Reagan goes. I loved ❤️ this book and this world and the magic that it wove around my heart.

I read this book as an ARC from the author. All opinions are my own.

Book Summary:

All Raegan Maeve Overhill wants is to survive another October. It’s the anniversary of the worst thing that ever happened to the unsolved disappearance of her father nearly two decades ago. But when mysterious drownings grip the city of Philadelphia, Raegan sets her mourning rituals aside for a career-making opportunity to lead her newspaper’s investigation.

Her hunt for answers takes her to the city’s shadowy places where magical beings appear in puddles, the Fair Folk offer bargains, and magic is very, very real. When Raegan uncovers a startling connection to her father’s disappearance, she knows she can’t just return to her normal life without uncovering the truth. To get it, though, she’ll need to make a deal with the dark, deadly and alluring Unseelie Fae King—and do her best to ignore their dangerous attraction to one another.