Reviewed by Lesley
TITLE: Pearly Gates
AUTHOR: Bonnie Solomon
PUBLISHER: Bonsol Press
LENGTH: 352 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2025
BLURB:
A dead drag queen. A cozy café. A shady deal—and an unexpected family.
Deceased drag queen Pearly Gates has the worst job in the afterlife: cosmic sanitation worker. When her soulmate leaves her, claiming she’s incapable of growth, Pearly hatches a plan to win him back. By striking an illicit deal to take over the caseload of a burnt-out spirit guide, she’ll prove she’s worthy of love—and a second chance.
Her mission takes her to Thunderbolt Books & Coffee, a small-town Midwestern bookshop café haunted by a 1920s burlesque dancer. Tasked with guiding a grieving young widow, a terminally ill college graduate, and a trans woman searching for purpose, Pearly uses her magic (and charm) to help them heal and connect. But when she discovers the café’s owner is her soulmate reincarnated, her plans take an unexpected turn.
As one of Pearly’s charges falls for the café owner, she faces a dilemma – be the good guide she promised to become or sabotage the relationship. Between saving the café, dodging celestial detectives, and surviving a lip-sync battle with her own body double, Pearly must decide what matters most. At risk: her second chance, her soulmate—even her soul.
Pearly Gates is a humorous, heartwarming LGBTQ+ fantasy celebrating found family, new love, and self-discovery—even after life’s final curtain call.
REVIEW:
I know I have said it before, but one of the best things about reviewing books for Love Bytes Reviews is finding new authors and I am glad I found Bonnie Solomon. If I am really honest this is not a book, I would normally buy due to it being about a soul. When I was reading the first chapter, I did struggle a bit with the souls all appearing in different ways, but I persevered hoping that it would all make sense, and I am so glad I did.
This is a really good story about a soul finding themselves and evolving whilst helping their human charges do the same. Pearly Gates was a drag queen in past life and their soul mate, Thunder, cuts their soul bond with her after accusing her of not evolving each lifetime as he had. He may have a point, she now works in the waste disposal section of heaven, chasing toxic soul waste. In a bar one evening she manages to convince Malcolm a higher being to go on holiday and let her look after his charges back on Earth.
Malcolm’s charges all have issues of their own. There is Hannah a young widow who cannot get over the loss of her husband three years prior. Then there is Sam who is only 23 and has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and he is estranged from his controlling family. Finally, there is Danielle who is struggling with their gender identity.
To add in a further complication the first place where Pearly stops to get coffee back on Earth, she runs into her former soulmate who has been reincarnated as Charlie the owner of a newly opened coffee shop. None let’s not forget Ruby the twenty 20s flapper who is haunting Charlie shop Thunderbolt books and coffee and causing mayhem who is a ghost.
Whilst this book has an underlying seriousness to it, it is also quite humorous. You have characters like Diesel the bartender at Pearly’s favourite dive bar in the afterlife, who may or may not have been Jesus. Or like Dumb Pearly who has 5% of Pearly’s intelligence and many others dotted through the book.
This is a really well written story about found family and building communities in unlikely places. It’s about what you can achieve when you put the effort in and think about others rather than yourself. I cannot wait to see what Bonnie comes up with next.
RATING: 
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