Culture on My Mind
“A Happy Beginning” by B.A. Richards
January 22, 2025

Thanks to NetGalley, City Owl Press, and B.A. Richards for providing an advance reader copy. I was invited to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Happy Beginning is an urban fantasy romance novel, and the debut novel from B.A. Richards. It is a (literal) fairy tale about an instant connection between Alard, a New Orleans-based lawyer, and Raz, a businessman in town for a conference. What was expected to be a one-night hook-up transforms into an accidental bond that has major repercussions in both of their worlds.

This is a world with vampires, werewolves, and the fae. Richards weaves a beautiful tapestry of vibrant and magical worldbuilding, combining the world we know with another just the other side of the looking glass. It combines classic themes of royal marriages and palace politics with modern diversity and LGBTQ+ representation from across the spectrum. It is an easy and enjoyable read, comparable to a fun popcorn flick or a young adult novel, and sets the hook with enough temptation to read just one more chapter. Who needs sleep anyway?

This is a benefit for someone who doesn’t read a lot of fantasy or gets lost in the flood of details found in something like Game of Thrones or The Wheel of Time. My wife is familiar with the fantasy genre, but I often find it frustrating. This story is easy to follow and has relatable characters drawn from all walks of life. (Given her familiarity with urban fantasy and its subgenres, my wife was a good reference for those genre elements that made me stumble.)

The romance between the main characters does include erotic content, something that I wish had been more “closed door” or “fade to black” style given this novel’s tone. The magical relationship remains believable, but the spicy scenes presented an abrupt tonal shift, pulling this novel away from one that I could recommend to older family members as an entry point to discuss LGBTQ+ issues. Without those scenes, this could easily become a YA novel.

I do wish that this world was more fully fleshed out. Main characters like Alard, Raz, and Meyda have depth but secondary characters (such as the story’s antagonist) often don’t. The majority of the story ends up being told from Raz’s point of view, giving us the fish out of water perspective like John Crichton of Farscape. In fact, the prose shines in that exploration – a favorite chapter was a trip to a major metropolis told from the perspective of a character unfamiliar with the human world – and exemplifies the concept of “drinking from the fire hose” for Raz as he learns a whole new reality in a short period of time. But the tale falls flat in filling the magical world as much as it does the human world, often whisking the reader over interstitial spaces and leaving empty a world that we’re told is full of good, honest, caring people.

The drawbacks don’t detract from the potential provided by worldbuilding and thematic exploration. These are huge strengths, and since this is Richards’s debut work, it shows room for them to grow as they hone their craft. I enjoyed this read and would love to see more from them in the future, especially in these realms.

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For more from City Owl Press, please visit their website. For more about B.A. Richards, please visit their author profile.

A Happy Beginning is available via City Owl Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million as of January 21, 2025. If it’s not in your local store, ask for a special order!

The ebook is available for $0.99 from January 21 through 25, 2025.

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Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

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