Alexis Hall is an auto-read for me and this book did not disappoint. Like every romance reader, I'm here for the fantasy, but I appreciate that the author makes their characters are realistic and relatable. Did I want to shake Edwin until he believed in himself? You betcha. Did I want Marius to snap out of his spiral? Of course. But I enjoyed watching their growth with the right people.

And as a Polish person, I appreciated the representation and the description of the food made me hungry. Nitpicky note that the singular for pierogi is pierog but I thank the author for not saying pierogis when pierogi is already plural. Great explanation of Wigilia and oplatek.

Would highly recommend this book. A delight and I can't wait to see what's next from Alexis Hall!

I’m so glad this new editions combines both stories, because they are kind of one.

I’ve read romance novels before that start with a break up, the MC finding a new love during the book. But I’ve never read anything quite like this.
Two people breaking up a long term relationship. Sometimes you just grow apart, it just doesn’t work out, no matter how much you want it to. No one is the villain, but there is still pain and grief and loss.
I think it’s so cleverly done, that this book includes both stories, because none of the two were “responsible” that the relationship didn’t work out. None of them is “the bad one”. It just didn’t work and now there are new paths to find.

Waiting for the Flood tells the story of Edwin, who’s still alone two years after the breakup, lonely and believing he’s not capable to love again.
But then he meets Adam, the nice civil engineer who helps him while his house is suffering a flood.
This story was so melancholic and beautifully written, my heart ached. It’s so hard to let yourself open up again after a decade sharing your life with someone. I would have loved to read even more!

Chasing the Light tells Marius story, full of self hatred and unspoken secrets.
I don’t know how he and Edwin ever were a couple, because while Edwin is soft and sweet Marius is the exact opposite and often quite mean.
When he slip and fell on an ice patch and needed to be rescued by a stranger living on a boat I rejoiced because he kinda deserved it.
This story was filled with much more passion and steam, Marius being completely closed off from his feelings.
But in the end he finally thawed and opened up as well.

I love that the audio also includes the “Aftermath” story, because I think it again adds so much more closure to the story, same as it did in Glitterland.
The two MCs meeting again, showing how their lives progressed apart from each other, while still staying in each other’s lives, just not as a couple.
I hope the paperback includes this story as well!

I wanted to like this book. But at this time, I just couldn't get into it. The flow and style wasn't working for me. If I try again, I'll update my review.

This updated edition of Waiting for the Flood contains Edwin’s story but also includes a new companion novella, Chasing the Light, which is Marius’s story. Plus a bonus short story epilogue titled Aftermath. Edwin and Marius had been together for 10yrs until one day Marius suddenly ended it. Edwin had spent the better part of the last 2yrs suspended in this state of wanting to move on but not quite being able to. Until a storm came and the threat of flood brought civil engineer, Adam, into his life.

Waiting for the Flood is Edwin and Adam’s story and it’s lovely. The writing is beautiful. There were many times when I’d read a line that made me stop and say “wow”. Edwin was so sweet and my heart hurt for him and how lonely he had become. He so badly wanted someone he could share a life with. He thought he had that with Marius and was having difficulty coming to terms with the reality that wasn’t going to happen. But then Adam shows up and Edwin sees new possibilities for his future for the first time in a long time. Edwin was so scared to open himself up again but Adam was patient and persistent. Persistence that ultimately pays off.

Chasing the Light lets us get to know Marius better. All we knew of him was that he left Edwin brokenhearted with little to explanation. Whereas Edwin was easy to love, Marius was a bit more complicated. After injuring himself on Christmas Eve, he is rescued by Leo and ends up spending a few days with him on Leo’s narrowboat while he recovers. We see how self-sabotaging and prickly he can be in the face of kindness. It gave us a taste of how things might have been between him and Edwin. We do see glimpses of the vulnerability that he works so hard to keep hidden, though, and I better understand the bits of Marius that Edwin once loved. Leo was a great guy, I loved the little life he built for himself on his narrowboat. I loved how kind he was to Marius, even when he maybe didn’t deserve it.

Both novellas show Edwin and Marius moving on from their breakup but it also provides closure between them. I thought this was a beautiful scene between them near the end there. I think that conversation gave them both the freedom they needed to pursue their new relationships with open hearts. I also enjoyed the bonus epilogue to see a little further into how things were going for all these men. It was interesting to see what changed but also what had stayed the same.

Oh, how I love Alexis Hall. Thank you, NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for this ARC. I think I must have smiled through the entire first part of this book = Edwin and Adam's story. It was just so damn charming and adorable. The rest of the story - Marius and Leo - is classic brilliant Alexis Hall writing. With humor, intelligence, incredibly hot sexy scenes, and a poignancy that nearly rips your heart out, these love stories are the kind that make you want to call in sick for work so you can stay home and read all day.

I'm so glad the Spires series is getting a re-release so others can have more time with the gorgeous characters Alexis Hall has created and the simply wonderful dialog that makes me laugh hard and cry even harder.

This is the second book that I’ve read by Alexis Hall and I think I need to accept that he’s not the author for me.

I enjoyed the premise of the book and I enjoyed the chemistry building relationship but both of the novellas felt very lack luster.

This may also be when I accept that novellas aren’t my preferred reading because I am always left feeling as though they don’t give enough time for the story to truly develop.

For those that want a good cozy rom-com, you may enjoy this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This second installment of the series brought more emotional depth and vulnerability that the first book was missing in my opinion compared to the author’s more recent work. More enjoyable story and relatable characters as a result.

These two novellas are a part of the Spires series. The books in the series are in the same universe but they’re total standalones.

WFTF is a story of Edwin and Adam. Edwin was dumped a couple of years ago after a decade long relationship, and he’s not having the best time dealing with it, basically thinking he’s unlovable. Until he meets Adam, a Civil Engineer who is the most special person in the world (can you guess I loved Adam?) The story is quite short, to the point that I was surprised when it ended, even though it had a definite conclusion. Everything literally happens in a matter of days — a tiny slice of an ordinary life. And by “everything” I mean a mild non-life-threatening flood. But it’s written with a sort of quiet beauty that makes you smile at every page. I’ve learned enough about Edwin and Adam to fall in love with them completely and helplessly. Also, I’ve never seen a personal struggle of a hero — a stutter in this case — written into the story in such a caring and imaginative way.

CTL is the story of the guy who did the dumping mentioned in WFTF. He is lost, angry and generally has a personality of a wounded dog: he lashes out at everyone who tries to help, including himself. He lost his art, which is a scary thing to happen to an artist. I don’t have a problem with a wounded hero. I have a problem when said hero dumps all his shit on an angel of a person who just wants to love him. I wanted way more grovelling from Marius, but I still enjoyed this raw and beautiful story.

Oh and I got the audio too! What a delight to listen to Will Watt bring Edwin, Adam, Marius and Leo to life in his comforting melodic style! Perfection as usual, made me smile all over again, even through tears sometimes 🫠

Additionally, the audio version contained an hour of bonus material that was somehow missing from my eARC. It had a wonderful epilogue scene with Edwin and Adam that I believe belongs in the main story.

Rating WFTF:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️ (fade to black but quite hot)
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

CTL:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️
❤️❤️❤️❤️

I was unaware this was originally published in 2015 until after I finished it, so I don't know why it's showing up on Netgalley with a 2024 release date.

I go back and forth on liking Hall's work. This, unfortunately, is one of the ones where I'm not enjoying it as much as I had hoped. I think it if was just a novella that ended with Edwin's story, I'd like it more. Having someone learn to love again after being broken. Throwing in Marius' story with how kind of awful he was to everyone (yes, I know, hurt people hurt people) was kind of a let down.

Edwin and Adam were super cute and their story was very sweet. Instalove aside, I enjoyed it a lot. Marius and Leo are doomed to fail if that's how their story began.

This is an unusual book, in that it is in fact two novellas, following two people in the aftermath of their relationship. While the two stories were very different in many ways, they also complemented each other in many ways.

First we have the original Waiting for the Flood, which tells the story of the nervous, bookish Edwin. His unexpected meeting with civil engineer Adam shakes up his life following the end of his decade-long relationship, and he soon finds himself falling for Adam.

Edwin’s story was so heartfelt and tender, and I couldn’t help but feel for him at every turn! Their romance was so compelling, and it was the sort of story where you could lose yourself in the book completely. The writing style was much more lyrical than Alexis Hall’s usual style, and I really enjoyed it – and it provided a pleasant contrast to the other story.

Speaking of! Chasing the Light follows Marius, Edwin’s ex-boyfriend. With Edwin being clearly the wronged party, I was dubious going into this story, but luckily Alexis Hall is excellent at writing an unlikeable protagonist! Even though he made me angry and frustrated, I couldn’t help but root for him and want him to figure things out. His romance was in many ways a lot more tentative, with a lot more missteps (both literally and figuratively), and this gave him a really strong character arc.

This is an excellent pair of novellas, about second chances in love.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

I’m so confused by this book. Is it a character study? But which character? I thought it was going to be about Edwin but then it’s about Marius, but I couldn’t get invested in Marius’ story. I’m really not sure what to make of this book.

I have been a huge fans of Alexis Hall’s work and loved Glitterland, the first book in the Spires Series. I was so excited for this book and was thrilled when I was approved to read it early. However, I was very let down by this book. The story was boring to me and moved at a snails pace. I found the characters to be pretentious and a little un-developed. I realize that this was a novella, but the story and the plot seemed unresolved. The guiding light for this book was the new novella inside, “Chasing the Light.” I loved “Chasing The Light” and much preferred the writing and the story it better than Waiting for the Flood. I almost wish that Waiting for the Flood was written like “Chasing the Light.” Waiting for the Flood and “Chasing the Light,” seemed like they could fit together very well into one cohesive novel.

Overall, I was disappointed with Waiting for the Flood, but was very impressed with “Chasing the Light.”

It is important to note that this is a review of the 2024 Sourcebooks Casablanca version of Waiting for the Flood. It contains an extra novella and a follow-up short story, as well as other bonus content. I'll start by saying that the bonus content makes this new version a must buy. The new novella and short story really rounded out the character arcs and made everything much more satisfying. I loved the inclusion of the recipe at the end, and definitely plan to try it out. I enjoy when extra stuff is included because it draws me deeper into the world. The annotations were also great and added context to the author's choices for the characters.

The original novella, Waiting for the Flood, followed Edwin as he coped with the loss of his long-term relationship. He was incredibly lonely and haunted by the past. He kept people at a distance because he didn't want to be hurt again, but Adam immediately caught Edwin's eye because he's kind, sincere, and helped Edwin find his voice again. At first, Edwin resisted getting close to him, but he slowly came to realize that just because something good ends doesn't mean it wasn't worthwhile. Their relationship was a bit too instalove for me, but I did love the writing and the intimate feel of the story. The friendship between Edwin and his neighbor was probably my favorite part.

The new novella, Chasing the Light, was a great follow up to Waiting for the Flood. I went into it hating Marius for what he did to Edwin. He came across as somewhat of a dick at first, but I ended up loving him most of all. He was all over the place and a free spirit. It quickly became obvious why he was not a good fit for Edwin, and I really related to his thoughts about being unworthy of love. This story was more fleshed out than Edwin's, and I appreciated that it included scenes between Edwin and Marius that allowed the conflict between them to reach a resolution, while introducing a great new love interest for Marius.

I loved the setting and setup of both novellas. Waiting for the Flood happened amidst a natural disaster, with the love interest coming to the rescue in more ways than one. Chasing the Light started with a physical injury that led to Marius and his new beau being stuck on a small boat together. I'm always a sucker for a good forced proximity story. I also liked that the tone of the stories was pretty different, with the first being more somber and emotional and the latter being humorous and sexy. They paired well together, and I liked getting to see both perspectives of how they healed from the breakup.

I can't wrap up this review without mentioning Marius's parents. They were HILARIOUS. There's a scene where they showed up on the boat unexpectedly, and it will live rent free in my mind forever. I was cackling the entire time I read it. Overall, Waiting for the Flood (and its bonus content) was another great read from Alexis Hall with relatable characters, witty humor, and plenty of emotion to tug on the heartstrings. Therefore, I give it a rating of 4.25 out of 5 stars.

Edwin is still mourning a relationship that ended a few years ago, damaging his self confidence in the process. He's turned inward focusing on his job, hobby and neighbor. When a flood brings a dashing civil engineer to his door he's a bit afraid of letting him in, but slowly let's go.

Then we meet Marius, Edwin's ex who left their relationship. Of course we're set up to take Edwin's side, but Marius is also a prickly sort, quick to be mean to keep others at arms length. However he lucks into meeting someone just patient enough to wait through BS to get to the core of him.

This new edition features a couple of recipes from items featured in the story, but also an epilogue of sorts where we get to see the two couples a bit further down the road into their relationships.

At it's core this is a romance, but it feels deeper without most tropes and full of flaws.

This was ok but I mean the beginning was ok but I found I didn’t really like the MC .

I really struggled with this book and I almost didn’t finish it.

This one just wasn’t for me I guess l

WOW! Alexis Hall does it again. While the Spires Series was his first published novels, these pack the full emotional punch I have come to expect from Hall with his classic wit and humor. Best of all - they are companion novels so there is no need to read them in any order what-so-ever (meaning you can pick this book up on release day even if you haven't read Glittlerland yet)

As far as romance novels go, this takes dual POV to an interesting place because it was originally two separate novels brought together into one release. Waiting for the Flood shows two sides of a 10 year relationship that has ended - the reasons, the recovery, and new possibilities. If you gravitate towards anxiety/mental health or disability rep this definitely has you covered.

One thing I wasn't expecting was how much I would crave pierogis while reading this.

"Waiting for the Flood" is absolutely magical. The softest, loveliest book I've read in quite a while, and I think it might be my favourite Alexis Hall to date.

I started this book and immediately broke down in tears; yes, seriously.
Edwin is so near and dear to me: he's, quite possibly, the most relatable character I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, and his thoughts felt like my thoughts, and I spent half of the book either crying or smiling in helpless affection and hope. As a person who struggles with anxiety and self-consciosness and self-doubt a whole lot, his thoughts and feelings and fears and hopes felt plucked straight from my head, even though he struggles with something a bit different.

(Also, coincidence, I'm doing a masters on something similar to what his profession is, and reading this book, and meeting him, felt a bit like serendipity.)

Edwin's just, so damned real, and also, pretty much adorable and sweet and lovely, and I loved him to bits. And Adam; how does one find an Adam in life? I really want to know. Adam's the best. I think I spent half of the book swooning because of how charming and good and gentle he is (ALSO, HOW COMPETENT!!) and the rest, shipping him and Edwin together like I've suddenly teleported back to my teenage years: the next few days will involve a lot of giddy smiling and daydreaming. They're just so damned cute together, I LOVED THEM.

< He grinned, teeth and dimples and freckles moving, like dust in a ray of sunlight. “Ayup, petal.” Oh. >

"Oh" in romances: my roman empire. AND PETAL!!!!!!!! My favourite term of endearment ever.

< “Thank you.” I said. More marbles. P had once rebelled against me, so please was dangerous, but I was good at thank you. I could carry out whole conversations with it. >


I loved this book to bits. It had a magical, dream-like quality to it: fragile and hopeful, romantic and heartwrenching, wholly enthralling and enchanting. And the writing was lovely, absolutely gorgeous and I highlighted half of the book (that is, if I rememebered to do it amongst all the swooning and sobbing going on.)

< This is the story of my life: standing on the edges of things and worrying, when I’m supposed to just walk through them. >

Like half of Alexis Hall's books, "Waiting for the Flood" has a really abrupt ending: I felt like screaming when I saw that dreaded "The End". I'm not docking any stars because this book meant so much to me, but I was so heartbroken. Especially considering I was at 35% and "Chasing the Light" was... well, okay, I know I'm probably meant to rate and review that one too, since it's all in the same book, but I'll do it seperately because otherwise it would have impacted on the star rating too much. I'll just say, I disliked it. Quite a lot.

ANYWAY, I loved this romance and I SO hope fanfiction writers have been busy these past few years because I need my fix; I might die otherwise. I loved Adam and Edwin to absolute bits: I love Alexis Hall the most when he writes thoughtful, gut-wrenching, sweetly romantic and painfully hopeful gems like this one (and its predecessor "Glitterland"), and needless to say, I can't wait to read "For Real" when it's finally re-published.

Waiting for the Flood is really only half of this book, which also contains the story Chasing the Light. Each story features one half of an ex-couple. As with all Alexis Hall books the MCs have something that makes them "different" and that they struggle with. Waiting for the Flood focuses on Edwin, who has a stutter. Chasing the Light is about Marius, an artist who is struggling with a medical diagnosis (among other issues). I enjoyed both novellas. Edwin is very easy to sympathize with and his partner fits him very well. But I liked Chasing the Light better. Marius, while a self admitted dick, I found was also very lovable. Also, I love pierogi, and after reading this I really need to eat some.

Alexis Hall always delivers. I love these released older novels. I didn't realize going in that this novel has two tales in one. I love how it showed the two different perspectives of a breakup and how there are two sides to every story. Loved it!

Breathless. That's how I felt finishing this book. After chapter 1 I had to go and have a little pause to prepare myself because I could already tell this story was going to break me, and I was right - for anyone who's been in a long term relationship there's some deeply familiar and emotional angst waiting for you. Alexis's writing is so lyrical, so poetic even in its crudest moments. I've seen a few critiques saying the writing is pretentious, and while I definitely can't argue it's very involved and perhaps a touch heavy with metaphor and segues into intellectual concepts, that's very much in character for the MC Edwin whose mental narration we're following. In the integrated bonus novella, Chasing The Light, which follows and slightly overlaps WFTF with a focus on Edwin's ex, Marius, the tone is different, reflecting their different personalities, whilst still being poetically beautiful. There's great humour there too, so many moments to make you smile wistfully or laugh out loud. I must have highlighted more than a dozen perfect quotes in what is a fairly short book. Highly recommended, just maybe don't read it on a day you're already feeling emotionally fragile!