Red Blossom is Snow is here! The previous book in the series, The Hidden Moon, was one of my favorite reads of 2020, so I was super excited to get my hands on an early copy of the sequel. Plus I’m always here for more historicals set outside of Regency England!

In Red Blossom in Snow, Magistrate Li Chen and courtesan Song Yi reconnect to solve a murder that happened near the House of Heavenly Peaches, the pleasure house where Song Yi is indentured. The two had been slowly forming an attachment that both knew could never grow into something more, before Li Chen withdrew and stopped courting Song Yi several months before the story opened. But now that her livelihood is in danger, Song Yi must put her feelings aside and work with Li Chen to untangle mysteries from their past and catch a killer.

I love what Jeannie Lin does with her Pingkang Li romances set in Tang Dynasty China so much! They’re such beautiful stories with lots of longing and forbidden romance, and then to pair them with a mystery that the couple has to solve? I can’t get enough! 

While I think The Hidden Moon is still my favorite in the series, Red Blossom in Snow is such an excellent addition. It’s a slower paced story, but it’s just sooooooo romantic with sooooooo much yearning. It’s impossible not to get swept up in Song Yi and Li Chen’s romance and wonder how on earth they’re going to get their happily ever after when their positions are seemingly so far apart. 

I don’t want to give too much away about the murder they’re trying to solve, but I love how Song Yi and Li Chen slowly come to realize how intertwined their pasts are, from when they first arrived in the capital and weren’t yet introduced to their childhoods back in Yuzhou. It just pairs perfectly to them realizing how much deeper their feelings are for each other than they initially realized.

I wish I had more to say about this book, but it’s one of those stories where I’m like, yes, I loved this and you need to read it, and that’s all I can coherently tell you! Just know that it’s a stunning romance and a beautiful addition to the series, though I think you can easily read this without having read the others. And that cover!! It’s gorgeous, and I can’t wait to put this on my keeper shelf!

I highly recommend picking up a copy of Red Blossom in Snow, though definitely be prepared to devour the rest of the series once you’re done!

I received an arc of Red Blossom in Snow from the author and purchased my own final copy of the ebook.