It is said that Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel FRANKENSTEIN (The Modern Prometheus) is considered the very first science fiction story.

At the time, stories like this were in a genre called Romanticism.

What if Frankenstein was a Romance story?

That is the premise of Sally Thorne’s 2022 novel ANGELIKA FRANKENSTEIN MAKES HER MATCH.

I had been at the book store looking for another book. When I couldn’t find it, I turned to leave, the cover of this book caught my eye. Reading back cover I found it intriguing and picked it up. I’m in my romance phase right now, not science fiction, and certainly not horror, but this book hit all the right buttons for me. Lightning struck the laboratory and I began to read it once I was out of the store.

In the world of this story, Angelika is the sister to Victor Frankenstein. As he is pursuing his greatest scientific discovery. She is his assistant, and probably equally intelligent, and is a great help in stitching everything back together.

For Angelika she’s in it for something entirely different. She’s unable to find Mr. Right, so she decides to make one. When Mr. Right awakens from the operating table, he is everything she wanted him to be, but he can’t love her until he knows who he is, who he is, or at least who he was. Perhaps he was married before.

Angelika discovers new things about herself along the way.

This is a really enjoyable book to read. A romance story, even a romantic comedy, set against the back drop of what should be a horror story.

I won’t go more into the story for fear of Spoilers.

As I said, this wasn’t the book that I was looking for when I went into the store, but it was truly the story I needed and enjoyed.