Rating: 4🌈
The Coachman by V.L. Locey is a new historical paranormal story along the lines of angels and devils romances.
Vividly told, conversationally on point for its era, Locey has crafted a narrative of two wildly opposite men who, despite their vastly different existences, still find love with each other.
I found Livingston and Hamiel’s story interesting, the horse fantastic, and several other elements absolutely intriguing. But I never quite got the chemistry between Hamiel and Livingston. Their relationship was sweet but not quite “enough “ for all that surrounds them.
I think it’s the lack of background on Hamiel. He’s just an ephemeral person. And Livingston is undeserving of his role. So there’s an underlying issue or feeling of dissatisfaction with the overall predicament here that’s never fully resolved.
The Coachman by V.L. Locey has some wonderfully descriptive writing, terrific universe building, and interesting characters. It’s the main character’s roles and relationships that I didn’t fully invest in.
However, I find it entertaining and an enjoyable read.
Cover by Dawne Dominique”
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Blurb
As you draw your final breath, the coachman waits…
Awakening in a dreary, unknown cabin with no recollection of how he arrived there, Livingstone Wright is about to discover that hell is just a coach ride away.
Mysteriously cursed to serve the dark lord, he is now responsible for ferrying freshly freed souls to the fiery depths. As he struggles to come to terms with being resurrected, given a home in purgatory, and learning a new profession, he discovers that he is not the only servant of a higher being biding their time as death creeps closer.
For if the devil is waiting to lay claim to a soul, then so too must the Almighty be.
It’s during the sometimes long wait for a person to breathe their last and the final judgment be made that Livingstone meets Hamiel, the light to his dark. The rainbow walker is fair-skinned with golden locks and wide amber eyes behind wire-rimmed spectacles, a soothing aura, and a highly inquisitive mind. The two soon become unlikely friends and then much more as they set out to unravel how it was that Livingstone came to be in Lucifer’s employ.
The Coachman is an M/M historical paranormal romance with two leading men who could not be more dissimilar, a horse with a need for unearthly speed, a manservant who would rather poke holes in reality than mend them in trousers, a hellacious boss, stolen moments in a nether carriage, and a heavenly happy ending.
Content Warning: This story has references to off-page child and adult death.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 