What is Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall about?
Waiting for the Flood is a queer contemporary romance set in Oxford during a major flood, following Edwin, a quiet book conservator, as he rebuilds his life after a breakup and connects with Adam, an Environment Agency engineer working the flood response.
What is Chasing the Light, and how does it connect to Waiting for the Flood?
Chasing the Light is the companion novella that tells the other side of Edwin and Marius’s breakup from Marius’s point of view. Together, Waiting for the Flood and Chasing the Light form a two-part story about what happens after a long relationship ends.
What genre is Waiting for the Flood. Is it romance or literary fiction?
It is a contemporary MM romance with a reflective, literary-leaning style and a strong focus on character interiority, healing, and connection.
Is Waiting for the Flood part of a series?
Yes. Waiting for the Flood is part of Alexis Hall’s Spires series, which features standalone romances connected by setting and tone rather than one continuous plot.
Do I have to read other Spires books before Waiting for the Flood?
No. Waiting for the Flood works as a standalone romance, even though it sits within the wider Spires collection.
Does Waiting for the Flood have a happy ending?
Yes. Waiting for the Flood ends on a hopeful romantic resolution for Edwin.
Does this book include explicit sex scenes and high heat romance?
Yes. The combined edition includes graphic on-page sex and is best considered an adult romance with explicit sexual content.
What are the main content warnings for Waiting for the Flood and Chasing the Light?
Content guidance includes disability and ableism themes (including a stutter, Retinitis Pigmentosa, and remembered ableism), disordered eating thoughts, brief discussion of incarceration, ableist and misogynistic language, talk about sexual health, emotionally unavailable parents, mention of past drug use and reference to minor current drug use (off page), and brief mention of a past parental death via heart attack.
Where is Waiting for the Flood set?
It is set in Oxford, England, with the floodplain, river paths, and tight-knit neighborhood streets playing a central role in the story’s daily stakes.
Who are the main characters in Waiting for the Flood?
The story centers on Edwin Tully, who is reeling from the end of his relationship with Marius, and Adam Dacre, an Environment Agency engineer who enters Edwin’s life during the flood response.
What is the romance dynamic in Waiting for the Flood?
The romance builds from strangers-to-neighbors-to-lovers, with a steady, practical hero (Adam) and a more anxious, self-conscious narrator (Edwin) finding ease with each other in small moments.
Is the flood plot mostly background, or does it drive the story?
The flood is a real, present problem that shapes the pacing, the neighborhood community, and the way Edwin and Adam meet and spend time together.
Does Waiting for the Flood deal with breakup recovery and moving on?
Yes. A core thread of the story is Edwin learning how to live in the aftermath of a long relationship and letting himself want something new without erasing what came before.
If I like quiet, character-driven romances with a strong sense of place, will I like Waiting for the Flood?
Yes. This is a gentle, intimate story where the emotional shifts happen in conversations, routines, and small acts of care, grounded in a vividly rendered Oxford setting.
If I liked the ex-boyfriend Marius in Waiting for the Flood, will I get his perspective?
Yes. Chasing the Light is Marius’s point of view, including his experience of the breakup and what he is dealing with after Edwin.
What are some distinctive “Alexis Hall” touches in this book?
Expect precise attention to language and wordplay, a narrator with a strong inner voice, and a romance that leans on everyday intimacy like tea, neighborly rituals, and doing practical things together.
Does the edition include any bonus material?
Yes. It includes bonus material such as an elderflower wine recipe, a pierogi recipe, an “Aftermath” scene, and author annotations.
What is Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall about?
Waiting for the Flood is a queer contemporary romance set in Oxford during a major flood, following Edwin, a quiet book conservator, as he rebuilds his life after a breakup and connects with Adam, an Environment Agency engineer working the flood response.
What is Chasing the Light, and how does it connect to Waiting for the Flood?
Chasing the Light is the companion novella that tells the other side of Edwin and Marius’s breakup from Marius’s point of view. Together, Waiting for the Flood and Chasing the Light form a two-part story about what happens after a long relationship ends.
What genre is Waiting for the Flood. Is it romance or literary fiction?
It is a contemporary MM romance with a reflective, literary-leaning style and a strong focus on character interiority, healing, and connection.
Is Waiting for the Flood part of a series?
Yes. Waiting for the Flood is part of Alexis Hall’s Spires series, which features standalone romances connected by setting and tone rather than one continuous plot.
Do I have to read other Spires books before Waiting for the Flood?
No. Waiting for the Flood works as a standalone romance, even though it sits within the wider Spires collection.
Does Waiting for the Flood have a happy ending?
Yes. Waiting for the Flood ends on a hopeful romantic resolution for Edwin.
Does this book include explicit sex scenes and high heat romance?
Yes. The combined edition includes graphic on-page sex and is best considered an adult romance with explicit sexual content.
What are the main content warnings for Waiting for the Flood and Chasing the Light?
Content guidance includes disability and ableism themes (including a stutter, Retinitis Pigmentosa, and remembered ableism), disordered eating thoughts, brief discussion of incarceration, ableist and misogynistic language, talk about sexual health, emotionally unavailable parents, mention of past drug use and reference to minor current drug use (off page), and brief mention of a past parental death via heart attack.
Where is Waiting for the Flood set?
It is set in Oxford, England, with the floodplain, river paths, and tight-knit neighborhood streets playing a central role in the story’s daily stakes.
Who are the main characters in Waiting for the Flood?
The story centers on Edwin Tully, who is reeling from the end of his relationship with Marius, and Adam Dacre, an Environment Agency engineer who enters Edwin’s life during the flood response.
What is the romance dynamic in Waiting for the Flood?
The romance builds from strangers-to-neighbors-to-lovers, with a steady, practical hero (Adam) and a more anxious, self-conscious narrator (Edwin) finding ease with each other in small moments.
Is the flood plot mostly background, or does it drive the story?
The flood is a real, present problem that shapes the pacing, the neighborhood community, and the way Edwin and Adam meet and spend time together.
Does Waiting for the Flood deal with breakup recovery and moving on?
Yes. A core thread of the story is Edwin learning how to live in the aftermath of a long relationship and letting himself want something new without erasing what came before.
If I like quiet, character-driven romances with a strong sense of place, will I like Waiting for the Flood?
Yes. This is a gentle, intimate story where the emotional shifts happen in conversations, routines, and small acts of care, grounded in a vividly rendered Oxford setting.
If I liked the ex-boyfriend Marius in Waiting for the Flood, will I get his perspective?
Yes. Chasing the Light is Marius’s point of view, including his experience of the breakup and what he is dealing with after Edwin.
What are some distinctive “Alexis Hall” touches in this book?
Expect precise attention to language and wordplay, a narrator with a strong inner voice, and a romance that leans on everyday intimacy like tea, neighborly rituals, and doing practical things together.
Does the edition include any bonus material?
Yes. It includes bonus material such as an elderflower wine recipe, a pierogi recipe, an “Aftermath” scene, and author annotations.
