Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Where Foxes Say Goodnight
AUTHOR: Sam Burns
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 231 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 5, 2023
BLURB:
It should have been the start of something wonderful . . .
Max is living the screenwriter dream. He’s not even thirty, he’s just won an Oscar, and he’s dating the gorgeous star of his movie. But after that one magical night, everything crumbles. The movie star dumps him, and his latest screenplay is a blank document that stubbornly refuses to write itself.
So Max decides to disappear into the middle of nowhere, and maybe obscurity. He’s just getting settled into his new life when suddenly someone is trying to kill him.
Gorgeous Gentry Fox seems like he wants to help, but the way he keeps showing up at just the right times is suspicious. Is he the aw-shucks good ol’ boy he seems, or part of the plot to kill Max? Just as importantly, is he single?
Where Foxes Say Goodnight is a paranormal romance featuring one heartbroken screenwriter, one down-on-his-luck hunk, some missing jewels, and a grandmother’s meddling ghost. It’s a standalone novel with a guaranteed HEA.
REVIEW:
In her latest standalone, Where Foxes Say Goodnight, Sam Burns beguiles us with a clever, captivating, paranormal-lite mystery romance about a lonely screenwriter who’s uber-talented and receiving the highest of professional accolades, yet feels like an outsider and an imposter. His path forward is unclear and he’s terrified TBH, and to add insult to injury, his actor boyfriend of a year unceremoniously dumps him. So Max pulls up stakes and heads cross-country to the rural coast of North Carolina, but finds himself just as isolated, frustrated, scared and alone as before … But then things change quickly for him, and not in the way you might expect.
The premise of Foxes is creative and absorbing, with colorful, engaging characters inhabiting the storyline. Max is adorable, sweet and, when we meet him, so damn sad. The fundamental wrongness of such a kind soul, a generous and caring man, being used and left behind time and again will have you rallying for him from the very first chapter. Gentry is his perfect foil – and he’s got some surprises up his sleeve too. Burns does a terrific job with the side characters as well, like Gentry’s brother and Joe his best friend, and Nadia the nosy ghost inhabiting Max’s house. She’s healing comfort for Max and their interactions will warm the cockles of your heart.
Burns has a unique way of creating hurt/comfort with humor and keeping even heavy events light through incisive, witty, descriptive writing. The plot is a mashup of magic, mystery, and subtextual messaging about making peace with your past and standing up for yourself. Max and Gentry do both and Burns adeptly conveys that even through Max’s single narrator viewpoint.
I truly adored this lovely gem of a book. Where Foxes Say Goodnight gives you warm and cozy feels, falling-in-love and found-family vibes, with just a sprinkling of sexy times. While subtle and understated, it’s remarkably different and superbly executed – pretty much par for the course for Burns’ stories. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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