Gadriel is the fallen angel of petty temptations. When she takes a job to settle a debt, she quickly finds she’s gotten in over her head.

Miracles is the second of this year’s finalists I’ve read that I’d consider “cozy” fantasy, in that the stakes are relatively small and details the day-to-day travails of its protagonists. It's not really my niche or genre but Atwater’s easy prose style, with its understated humor, had me quickly engrossed. The characters are easy to like. Gadriel is confused and world-weary, but as a former guardian angel, also resourceful and determined. Other characters are a mixed bag, with some displaying layers and others being one-note to the point of being caricatures. There is a light romance element in the book but it’s not heavy-handed. For the most part, the book was paced well and the tale reached a logical, fitting climax.

Two things stood out to me. One, the angel society is peculiar and interesting. I found it clever that each angel was essentially androgynous and could assume any gender (or not) as their mood took them, which led to some amusing exchanges between Gadriel and her human charges or as a running joke with other angels. Two, I enjoyed the use of footnotes throughout, alongside the virtue/sin ranking system. I’m certain this technique will be polarizing among readers but it played right into my reading style.

I did have a few questions. The primary antagonist does not make an appearance or make themselves known until after the halfway point of the book and it was a somewhat jarring transition, since the entire tone of the book had been light and fluffy to that point, and this individual’s arrival overlaid a rather ominous tone over the whole thing. And—I’ll try not be spoiler-y here—while the resolution around that antagonist is handled well, one wonders why it couldn’t have occurred much earlier.

But those are minor nitpicks. Small Miracles is a well-written quick read that I enjoyed. I recommend for anyone who likes cozy and contemporary fantasy with light humor.