Bearly a Lady is a cute, breezy novella, with chatty first-person narration and a refreshing way of portraying the supernatural-the author describes it as a "paranormal rom-com," which certainly rings true. Zelda is an enjoyable character-her running commentary is endearing. And the supernatural chick lit angle is a lot of fun: the novella isn't overly dramatic or self-important about the Fae in a way that feels welcome, and lets the cheerful romance go hand in hand with this casual conception of the paranormal. Plus I just love the idea of there being all kinds of were-animals running around.
As a novella, it's quick read - I definitely felt like I would enjoy reading more of this story, and in fact there were moments where things felt a little convoluted and lacking in detail or connections, likely because of the novella format. I would have loved to see things a little more fleshed out - more details about the Fae and descriptions of the characters (especially Benedict, who is a bit of a flat antagonist), some more of Zelda's backstory with both Jake and Janine than the little that is alluded to...
Bearly a Lady is a fun, lively supernatural romance-the little snags in the story are outweighed by the enjoyable world that Khaw has built, and the feel-good romantic ending (spoiler alert: she gets the girl!). Give it a try-supernatural chick lit is the genre you didn't even know you needed.