Grace & Favour

by Wendy Palmer

Leo Sweetwater holds a coveted licence for daguerreotype at Hampton Court Palace, surrounded by genteelly impoverished grace-and-favour residents and crowds of eager day-trippers.

He also holds three closely-guarded secrets: his affections lie with men, he’s in love with his best friend, Cole, and he’s been haunted since childhood by the ghosts of the Palace.

An affair with an earl’s son is probably not the best idea for a man with a reputation to protect and so many things to hide, but Leo’s lonely and Harry’s very handsome. When the ill-advised fling has unexpected repercussions, secrets are threatened, shades of the past stir, and Leo must contend with malign forces, both from beyond the veil and among the living.

Luckily, he’s got Cole, his dog, and a friendly ghost on his side.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Romance

266 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 2025

About the author

Wendy Palmer lives in Bridgetown, Western Australia with her partner, son, dogs, goats, alpacas, bees and chickens. She's patted tigers, ridden elephants, dog-sledded across glaciers, faced down lions in the Serengeti, swum with whale sharks, and camped in the Sahara, but she not-so-secretly prefers curling up with a good book.

She writes fantasy fiction with entertaining characters, enjoyably perilous adventures, romantic entanglements, some dark undertones, but always happy, hopeful endings.

Now over at StoryGraph.

Reviews

[Kathleen in Oslo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baffling and regrettable choice to make chapter 1 an impenetrable thicket of names and family relationships and grievances that nearly made me quit 3 times and ultimately didn't matter a whit to the story. Classic case of an author too in love with their own research -- the author's note stretches many pages -- and unable or unwilling to see that it buries rather than enriches the story. I quite liked Leo, Cole, Polly and the Fitzhenrys (and of course, the true hero: Max), but oh, for a sterner editorial hand!

[Talya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so glad that Bloody Stupid Johnson really was a Discworld reference! I enjoyed this but, as a fluent French speaker, I wish the author had taken more care with the inclusion of French ― it’s possible that two close friends in the 19th century would address each other using vous (formal) instead of tu (informal), but they wouldn’t switch back and forth between vouvoiement and tutoiement, especially not within the same conversation. There were a couple other minor French errors as well, nothing as egregious but not the standard I expect from Palmer.

[ancientreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

One must reconcile oneself to inevitability: even the best writers stumble.

I thought Little Wolf and the Witch, Wendy Palmer's previous book, was just about perfect, no notes, but this one does its best to push readers away with what @Kathleen correctly characterizes (and you might as well read her review, linked) as "an impenetrable thicket of names and family relationships and grievances" in the opening chapter, not to mention the detailed descriptions of play in whist, a game probably even 99% of histrom fans don't know the rules of.

Also, for once in a Wendy Palmer book the sex is kind of dull.

All of this is a pity, because the actual story, featuring a haunted palace and a protagonist, Leo, who sees ghosts and for whose safety it's essential that they not see him, is pretty great, with a whole thematic thing going on about secrecy, honesty, fear, loneliness, how these conditions limit his ability to connect with people. And Leo's love interest, Cole, is a sweetheart, appeal readily understood, etc., not to mention the heroic dog Max, aka Mr Fluffy Face.

Damn that opening chapter, anyway.

[Notforgoodgirls · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s Wendy Palmer so you should just read it. It’s also Wendy Palmer flirting with the cosy ghost story genre, while never falling into twee. In fact, I think this might almost be a story about Polly, my favourite ever fictional (or not) ghost, with a lovely little love story as a delicious snack on the side.

[Lynn P · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun read

I enjoyed all the grace and favor characters. I could just imagine that community ripe with gossip and competition. The pace on this book was slow and steady.