Bryn Donovan's Her Knight at the Museum

⭐ (5)
🌶️​ (3)
This story was so well-written, I found myself shaking my head in silent awe and appreciation SEVERAL times. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a steamy romcom with so many feelings and so much to root for. The ‘rom’ sizzles, and the ‘com’ is on point––I laughed out loud throughout.

Cursed by a mortal enemy, Griffin de Beauford is sentenced to eternity as a stone statue––but he can feel, see, hear, and even visit people in their dreams. He ends up at a Chicago museum under Emily Porter’s care as she struggles to pick up the pieces after a difficult divorce, not the least of these pieces being her professional career. If she can just do a good job with the symposium and restoration, she might be able to come on full-time and gain a little more financial stability in her life. Just before her witchy friend Rose gifts her a magic stone, Emily begins to hear Griffin’s thoughts, and even dreams of him (I won’t give too much away, there!), and a day later, holding the stone, Emily kisses Griffin’s statue, because what the heck, amirite? Griffin comes to life, eternally devoted to his lady Emily, endearingly unacquainted with the modern world, and with plenty of swoonworthy, knight-like language to color Emily’s world a new shade of romance. But a rowdy man barging out of the conservation lab wearing medieval armor––not to mention a now missing statue––happens to be a humongous problem, and Emily feels all eyes and iphones are on her as she hides Griffin, and his armor, in her small Chicago apartment. Things heat up both in the bedroom and later in the boardroom, as the FBI questions the conservationists. Emily isn’t sure there’s a safe way out of this, but she knows she’s no thief–– unless you count the handsome son of an earl sleeping in her bed as stolen property!
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With excellent character development, genuine surprises, plot twists, and laugh-out-loud moments, Bryn Donovan delivers an emotional, uplifting, and inspiring love story, that’s also a love letter to Chicago. I was rooting for Griffin, feeling so bad for him being trapped as a statue, and I was cheering on Emily as her insecurities gave way to her HEA. Even though I don’t read sex scenes (I skim a few parts in order to skip them––personal choice), there is PLENTY to love for “wholesome” readers like myself, and for those who love the steam, I’m sure they’ll relish the long, detailed depictions of Emily’s encounters with Griffin! All in all, I’m overjoyed to give this book five well-earned stars. You will not be disappointed if you pick this one up!