This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend. Read the full disclosure here.
Book: “Reap and Sow” by Charlotte B. Plumb
Publishing Info: Berkley XO, October 2026
Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: The penniless in Blackbridge have only two choices: Sell the body or sell the soul. And thanks to Eda Shaw, business is booming.
Indentured to a capricious demon known as Mr. Night, Eda and her brothers arrange illicit Pacts on his behalf, luring the city’s most desperate into trading years of their lives for their deepest desires. When a Pact goes awry and her brothers are arrested, Eda realizes she’ll need an infernal ally of her own: Kit’rath, an infuriating demon with a curious penchant for humanity and the only being in Blackbridge that Mr. Night seems to fear. As they race to rescue her family and save the city from ruin, an undeniable connection sparks between mortal and demon.
But Kit’s help doesn’t come cheap. Now, Eda risks losing her heart to the one who claims her years—and saving herself may prove the steepest cost of all.
Review: I honestly can’t even remember how this ended up on my TBR list. I mean, the cover art is pretty, but not particularly memorable. And then the general description sounds fairly familiar. Honestly, there was a period this month where I was having a really hard time connecting with any book I picked up, so I think I was probably just cycling through my backlist on NetGalley and randomly opened this one. And this right here, folks, is a good lesson in sometimes giving those unknowns a fighting chance, because boy did I enjoy this one!
Something about the writing clicked with me right away. Honestly, part of it could come down to my desperate wish for third-person perspective to come back into fashion, so any book that chooses this style starts out a step ahead. But beyond that, from the very start, Plumb writes in a smooth, confident style that easily draws the reader into this world. The plotting and pacing throughout were tight, with the book deftly maneuvering between fast-moving and thrilling action scenes and then lulling back into heartfelt and often very comedic character beats. Many of these story beats are indeed familiar: young woman must save her siblings from danger, promptly gets in over her head in a magical setting, proceeds to become emotionally attached to an unavailable or inappropriate love interest. But man, somehow it all felt fresh and new in Plumb’s hands!
What’s more, the narrative voice and the dialogue were superb! Way too many romantasy authors essentially write something like “characters then banter banteringly” and call it good. But here, Plumb had me laughing out loud more than once and then swooning the very next moment. It also helped that the romance itself developed in what felt like a natural manner. Eda and Kit are never enemies, per se, but more reluctant allies. This dynamic worked incredibly well, and even while they drew closer together, it was a delight watching them still rub each other the wrong way with their own particularities.
I also really enjoyed the cast of side characters and the various villainous characters the book had to offer. This was particularly fun with one specific character who, when first introduced, I was worried would go in a certain, very currently popular romantasy direction. But instead, the book went the complete opposite route and even used Eda’s own perceptions of this character as an important arc of self-reflection for her to follow. I also really liked the dynamics between Eda and her brothers. We don’t get a ton of them all together (naturally, since the brothers still need to be rescued for much of the book), but I did like the bits we did see.
And, of course, Eda was a fantastic lead. Her story is one of learning to recognize her own strengths, but also to come to understand and appreciate those around her. Her love story with Kit is a delicious slow burn, and by the time I got to the end, I was sighing with happiness.
And then came the last paragraph…
Seriously, this was such an odd moment. The book felt fully wrapped up, a nice stand-alone story tied up in a perfect bow. And I’m not sure what happened? It honestly feels like the publisher recognized that this book and the author had a ton of potential and shot off a quick note to the author saying, “Hey, how about we make this a duology??” And the author was like, “Sure!” and then just tacked on this random selection of like three sentences that are just soul-crushing and called it a day. I mean, I’m excited to spend more time in this world and with these characters. But this last paragraph felt so disconnected from the rest of the book, lacking any foreshadowing or really anything to tie in to the book actually in hand, that the entire thing felt off.
I still enjoyed the heck out of this book, so it doesn’t affect my rating, but I couldn’t end without noting that there is a massive cliffhanger now. Of course, you could simply read the book and skip the last paragraph and honestly you’d be perfectly fine! Then just pick it back up and read that last bit right before the sequel releases!
Rating 9: If this is what comes from making a deal with a demon, sign me up! A delightfully charming romantasy that I can’t recommend enough!
Reader’s Advisory:
“Reap and Sow” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2026 Most Anticipated Romantasy & Fantasy Romance Releases
