Felipe has spent weeks planning a vacation to whisk Oliver away from the Paranormal Society for a few days. The problem is he still needs to convince Oliver to go. Notoriously vacation- and change-averse, Oliver is dubious about spending a few days in Coney Island, but when Felipe’s plans start to fall apart, Oliver refuses to let Felipe’s hard work go to waste, even if it means a less than romantic trip. There is one surprise Oliver doesn’t know about, the true reason Felipe wants to have him all to himself. Can Felipe pull it off or will all his scheming be for nought?
“An Unexpected Question” is a 20k novella that comes a few months after the events of The Reanimator’s Soul (TRM #2). Please read book 2 before reading this story to avoid spoilers and confusion.
Kara Jorgensen (they/them) is a queer, nonbinary oddball with a penchant for all things antiquated, morbid, or just plain strange. While in college, they realized they no longer wanted to be Victor Frankenstein but instead wanted to write like Mary Shelley and thus abandoned their future career in science for writing. Kara melds their passions through their books and graduated with an MFA in Creative and Professional Writing in 2016. When not writing, they can be found hanging out with their dogs watching period dramas or trying to convince their students to cite their sources.
Historical Fantasy/Steampunk Novels The Ingenious Mechanical Devices: The Earl of Brass (IMD #1) The Winter Garden (IMD #2) "An Oxford Holiday" (short story) The Earl and the Artificer (IMD #3) "The Errant Earl" (short story) Dead Magic (IMD #4) Selkie Cove (IMD #5) The Wolf Witch (IMD #6)
The Reanimator Mysteries The Reanimator's Heart (TRM #1) "An Unexpected Valentine" (TRM #1.5) The Reanimator's Soul (TRM #2) "An Unexpected Question" (TRM #2.5) The Reanimator's Remains (TRM #3 FORTHCOMING 2024)
A Paranormal Society Romance Kinship and Kindness (PSR #1) Trousers and Trouble (PSR #2) (FORTHCOMING) Tempests and Temptation (PSR#3) (FORTHCOMING) Untitled (PSR #4) (FORTHCOMING)
"An Unexpected Question" is a newsletter freebie about Oliver and Felipe's first vacation for newsletter subscribers. Or you can download it here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/jr2e5web4e CWs: Brief allusion to past sexual trauma, on page sexual intimacy, depictions of anxiety, mentions of the ocean
I received this as a freebie due to being a newsletter subscriber.
This is a very sweet and romantic story. Without being too sickly, it adds a nice little flourish to Oliver and Felipe's story. Although, I'd already kind of guessed what would happen, it was still nice to see how it all came about and the very real emotional reactions of the characters.
I'm not an overly romantic person, but Oliver and Felipe are so relatable and their love story endearing. This was a sweet treat in between full-length books. An excellent addition to the series.
Come for Oliver and Felipe being the most adorable couple in the known universe, stay for Oliver's unintentionally hilarious description/review of Dracula.
This was the perfect little story to hold me over until book three, and despite being a short novella it packs a lot of heart, humor, and all of the things I love so dearly about this couple. I would read an infinite amount of side adventure stories about these two if Kara kept writing them. And I'm serious about the Dracula thing - as someone who counts it among my favorite classics, the way Oliver describes the plot to Felipe had me snort-laughing. Just delightful.
Not such an unexpected question for the readers, I suppose, but still.
Anyway. I grabbed this for free on the author's website, because it is suggested to read this before the third book in the series. You don't have to, as the third book directly references this book and tells you what happened, but if you like the books, there's no reason not to. (And, I must say, for as much as I appreciate how much attention is devoted to the plot in the novels, it is rather nice to see Filipe and Oliver just existing.)
He hoped Felipe could feel through the tether how much he loved him, how much he wanted him, how he moved through the world thinking of things that made him happy.
🥹🫀🥹🫀🥹 oh my GOSH!! This short is everything. It's SO soft and sweet, Oliver and Felipe’s relationship and feelings for each other shine through. This is how you build characters, this is how you build a couple. They're SO GOOD for each other, and I adore them both. This short is a freaking gift.
I’m not even someone who believes in overly coddling people; and I still always think Felipe is kind of inconsiderate of Oliver’s needs. It’s good for people to expand their comfort zone but it feels like for plot reasons every once in a while he just completely forget’s Oliver’s entire personality. Otherwise it was cute.
Well, I am a blubbering mess. That was absolutely perfect, and I loved it, just like I love Oliver and Felipe. Seriously, I’m weeping right now. (CWs listed in front of book.)