ARC Book Review: Cleaning Spells Before Courtship by Sarah Wallace and S.O. Callahan

The authors put out a call for ARC (advanced reader copy) readers for their upcoming book earlier this month, and I jumped at the chance. I was chosen to receive a digital ARC (the first 100 to sign up got accepted), which is so exciting and makes me feel like a real bookstagrammer/book blogger! 🤩

Official book summary:

To look at someone and to truly see them were entirely different.

Summer 1814: Moody fae Sage Ravenwing is on his way to the country estate of Wyndham and Roger Wrenwhistle - and very confused as to why he was even invited.

Still pining after Wyndham and nursing a grudge against Roger, Sage reluctantly joins the raucous house party, which soon adds a mysterious guest to their number.

Conrad Moore has come a long way from the docks of Bristol. Armed with a humble education, middling magical skill, and a great deal of audacity, he journeys to the Wrenwhistle estate to inquire about the open position on the Council.

Thrown together in the only remaining available room, the surly fae and cheerful human establish a tentative acquaintanceship. As they learn surprising lessons from each other - riding, swimming, and mending a broken heart - a tender friendship blooms and an explosive magical connection forms.

But just as Sage starts to yearn for a new future with Conrad, he discovers that the hardest lesson of all will lie in atoning for his mistakes and scrubbing his messy past clean.

The Fae & Human Relations series is one where you absolutely have to read every book in order, as each one builds on the one that came before. Cleaning Spells Before Courtship is the fourth and last book in the series (😭), but its establishing events took place in the first book. Sage and Wyn were fuck buddies, but Sage was in love with Wyn (without Wyn knowing) and took Wyn and Roger's whirlwind romance really badly (leading to the "light stalking by an ex" in my review's trigger warnings list for BSaBG). Sage said some really mean things to Roger and Wyn told Sage that unless he apologized to Roger, they wouldn't be in each other's lives anymore. I'm going off of what was recapped in the book, because it's been a while since I read the first one and I've kind of already forgotten  what went down between Sage and Roger. In the second and third books of the FaHR series, Sage is randomly mentioned in the Torquil Tribune gossip paper as having attended parties and events and sneaked off with various random men, which gives him a reputation. From these brief mentions, it was obvious that Sage was trying to make Wyn jealous and get over him, and I was sad for him and hoped that he would find happiness and love, so I was glad to see that this book is just that.

 

Anyway, Roger invites Sage to his and Wyn's country estate, ostensibly for a weeks-long house party they're having with their friends, but mostly so Sage can help Roger plan Wyn's surprise 30th birthday party and hopefully reconcile with him. The reason Roger gives for this is because if Wyn saw/knew Roger meeting one on one with one of their friends, Wyn would suspect Roger of planning a surprise party for his birthday. I understand Roger wanting his husband to reconcile with one of his oldest ex-friends, but asking the man who is still heartbroken and pining after Wyn to plan his birthday party is kind of callous. Sage reluctantly accepts. 

 

The house party consists mostly of Roger's friends that we met in book one and then kind of never spent time with again, apart from mentions in the gossip column (understandably, since the romantic leads in books two and three didn't know them). Speaking of, Torquil and Emrys and Silas and Keelan are part of the party too, and the friends are all having a great time... while Sage watches from the sidelines. Luckily he doesn't have to be the sole single person for long, because Conrad Moore arrives. 

 

Conrad is a dockworker who learned about the open position in the Council for Fae and Human Relations (which Wyn, Roger, Torquil, and I think Silas are all on), and decided to travel to meet with Roger and Wyn to hopefully be allowed to interview for the position. Like, he doesn't know anyone, doesn't write a letter of introduction, just shows up. Pretty ballsy. He's a friendly and eager to please person, and Roger and Wyn are nice, so they invite him to stay with them and join their house party, only, wouldn't you know it? All of their rooms are filled up, so he'll just have to room with Sage. What a surprising coinkidink. You'll be shocked, just shocked, to learn that there's only one bed!!! Sage is pissed at this turn of events, then pleasantly surprised to see that Conrad is hot and ripped, then pissed again as his hints to hook up just go winging over Conrad's smiling head. 

 

The couples (and one throuple) at the house party start to do the whole wink-wink, nudge-nudge, jokey-jokey thing at the two of them, so Conrad and Sage decide to fake-date to get them off their backs. I think you can gather what happens after this decision is made. 

 

Besides the couple machinations and Roger and Conrad doing magic, this book consists of the friends just hanging out, eating, and having fun together. It was a nice change from the last book, which was all "working on magic at & for the Council" and stressful due to Keelan's unwanted engagement. It was sweet to see how our two leads become close and fall in love, with Sage learning to trust and be vulnerable and Conrad enjoying taking care of and protecting Sage. Sage also slowly befriends everyone and apologizes to Roger (hopefully that's not a spoiler since "atoning for his mistakes" is in the summary). 

 

I'm sad the series is over, but I've really enjoyed visiting this world and cheering on its couples. I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes Regency romances and queer love stories. Cleaning Spells Before Courtship comes out on October 4.

 

Score: ★★★★.5 out of 5 stars
Spice score: 🌶🌶
Read in: September 12
From: digital ARC

Genres/classification: romantasy, cozy fantasy, Regency romance

Representation: gay MMC who is a man of color, asexual MMC, 2 nonbinary side characters who use they/them pronouns, a side sapphic character who is masc/butch (wears men's clothes), 1 poly triad, queernorm and racially diverse society with lots of queer side and minor characters, Roger has anxiety

Spoilers past this point

Tropes: close proximity, and they were roommates, only one bed, waking up wrapped around each other, rich x poor, grumpy x sunshine, morning person x night person, height difference (smol & tol), fake dating, they already think we're dating/fucking so we may as well pretend, catching real feelings while fake dating, found family

Trigger warnings: a character had hookups to feel wanted/avoid negative emotions and was not treated with respect (past), a character struggles with low self-esteem and feeling unwanted, unrequited love, past sex-shaming, food instability mentions, poverty mentions, amatonormativity

Book Review: Shade Spells with Strangers by Sarah Wallace and S.O. Callahan

London, 1814: hopelessly romantic fae Keelan Cricket has grown listless since returning to town. He agrees to help the Council study fae-human magic, eager to erase the memory of his passionate encounter in the country.

But the man he can't forget is now in London and, even worse, joining the project too.

Silas Rook-Worth hates London. His magic won't behave and he's weary of the prejudice he faces against fae-humans like himself. He's counting down the days until he can return to his hard-working, close-knit family — but he can't ignore the pull he feels toward Keelan Cricket, the man he slept with, and unkindly dismissed, a month ago.

As the two men gradually reunite, their mutual attraction blossoms into romance. But even a powerful magical connection cannot change Keelan's duty to his family or Silas' impending departure — and falling in love on borrowed time will force both of them to decide what truly matters.

I bought the third book in this series because I was chosen to receive an ARC of the fourth!!! Like the previous book, you do have to read every book in this series in order or you won't get what's going on. 

At Emrys and Torquil's wedding (the couple from book #2), a buff handsome workman, Silas, catches the eye of Emrys' best friend Keelan (a gentleman), and they hook up during the reception party. They part ways but can't stop thinking about each other. Silas is one of the fae-humans who writes to Torquil about his magic, and Torquil invites him and several other fae-humans to London to have their magic tested by the rubric Torquil et al. drew up in book #2. Obviously Keelan (a fae) is asked by his friends to help do the testing, and they meet again. It's super awkward but they're just drawn to each other, feel each other's presence in the room like a magnet, etc.

However, Keelan's mother (who is on the Council) sets him up with one of the fae-humans doing the rubric testing, a selfish and controlling rich girl from a good family who just wants a stupid arm-candy husband. Neither Keelan's mom nor the awful girl care if Keelan wants the marriage to happen or not, and both ignore or are oblivious to how he's suffering and how mean the girl is to him even though it's obvious to literally everyone else who sees them interact. I  couldn't believe that Keelan wasn't willing to stand up for himself and tell his mom and the girl that he didn't want to marry her. He was just waiting for someone else to save him from the marriage! Like I get that Keelan has a gentle personality, but the man is in his thirties. Stand up for yourself!

Luckily all is resolved, even the stupid third-act breakup that happened for no reason. There is an interesting lack of meddling in this book; it's mostly just Emrys and Wyn's grandma and Torquil's grandma making pointed comments to Silas about his 'secret' relationship with Keelan. That's practically nothing, compared to the first two.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot even if I thought Keelan was a doormat. This is a fun world to live in for a bit. 

Score: ★★★★ out of 5 stars
Spice score: 🌶🌶/🌶
Read in: September 4
From: B&N Nook

Genres/classification: romantasy, cozy fantasy, Regency romance

Representation: bi MMC, gay Black MMC, 2 nonbinary side characters who use they/them pronouns, queernorm and racially diverse society with lots of queer side and minor characters, I'm pretty sure Keelan's dad is autistic

Spoilers past this point

Tropes: initially rude love interest, that hookup you can't forget, they keep staring/trying not to stare at each other from across the room, I'm engaged to another but in love with you, let's make the most of it (sexually) until I have to get married, arranged engagement to horrible controlling person, we can never be together because we're from different social classes/standings, forbidden romance, rich x poor, secret couple think they're hiding their secret relationship/feelings successfully but their loved ones suspect something/become aware/totally know

Trigger warnings: controlling and emotionally neglectful parent, verbally abusive and controlling girlfriend/fiancee, a character is forced into an arranged marriage engagement without his consent, racism/speciesism against fae-humans, classism, mentions of working-class family struggling financially

Book Review: The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields

Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow to any of the suitors who've tried to woo her. So when her grandmother whisks her away to the family cottage on the tiny Isle of Innisfree with an offer to train her as the next Honey Witch, she accepts immediately. But her newfound magic and independence come with a price: No one can fall in love with the Honey Witch.

When Lottie Burke, a notoriously grumpy skeptic who doesn't believe in magic, shows up on her doorstep, Marigold can't resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. But soon, Marigold begins to care for Lottie in ways she never expected. And when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her new home--at the risk of losing her magic and her heart.

I was able to read this ebook by borrowing it from my public library via Libby, and read it in the Kindle app since that's how Libby works. I'm always here for queer cozy romantasy, and was excited to read this. Overall, I'd describe this book as Chalice by Robin McKinley meets Bridgerton, but gayer. I'd recommend Chalice to people who enjoyed the honey magic and cottagecore stuff of this book, although its romance is heterosexual. 

The good: Shields writes beautifully most of the time, and I really enjoyed the Claudes' slice of life stuff, the cottagecore vibes, the lovely setting with the plants and bees, the magic, and the fact that it's gay. The yearning and chemistry between Marigold and Lottie is good, even if both are really slow to cotton on as to why they feel the way they do about the other girl. I liked the relationships between Marigold and her family (apart from her mother) and the friendships as well.

We're told this book is set in the 1830s, and the Isle of Innisfree is a real place (though uninhabited if Wikipedia is correct), but since the early Victorian norms are only vaguely held, and the fashion and hairstyles don't seem to add up (we're told Marigold's ballgown is huge and poofy, which would not have been the case in our 1830s, and that her hair was pulled back super tightly from her face, which ditto), then I don't see the point in giving the book a time setting if you're going to ignore the conventions and just go off vibes. This just confused me, especially since sometimes the language used is jarringly modern. People say "okay" and stuff. We're also told a lot, rather than being shown. Marigold has a lot of beliefs and sayings that she holds and says without telling us why or how she knows/believes them. 

I also got annoyed at the repetitiveness throughout the book. Marigold laments that she'll never be able to fall in love and have a partner because of the curse her family is under what felt like thousands of times, which, we get it. It's especially annoying because you just know what's going to happen. 

Stuff I want to complain about that is spoilery (highlight to read): the thing with tattoos that kind of goes nowhere. Like sure, having Lottie tattoo Mari with her clothes off is super sexual tension-y, but if there's such a huge taboo against tattoos then why would Mari get tattoos and let Lottie get into a situation where someone would see her tattoos and blackmail her for them? Marigold was able to resolve that by magically erasing the blackmailer's memory, but like. What was the point.

re: the anachronisms that were jarringly modern to me: I cannot believe that people in the Victorian era went around saying "good girl" to each other in bed. I just refuse to believe it, and it took me out of the book to read that. 

Also the whole "cursed to never fall in love" thing, but Marigold still falls in love with Lottie, and it's obvious that Lottie falls in love with her too. Although supposedly Lottie couldn't feel it until the curse was broken, but their connection felt like more than lust to me, so then what was the difference? My denseness and borderline-aromanticism rear their heads again. The girls screaming in pain for each other during the third-act breakup also seemed really dramatic to me. Per usual in these things, Marigold's reason for breaking up with Lottie made no sense. 

It was super obvious to me who Lottie was going to turn out to be: the evil ash witch's granddaughter. Not to be constantly comparing Chalice to The Honey Witch, but the romance in that book is also between a honey-magic-user and a fire-magic-user.  Once Marigold saw that something (obviously her good magic's evil counterpart) was turning the isle's magical guardians evil, the first thing she should have thought to do was check the magical honey wards around the island and see if any of them had been removed, but she didn't think to do that! Hello??? What a stupid way to lose against an evil enemy. I was really sad that the cottage and its library burned down, and that so many bees died. :( Overall the magical battle was too uneven and catastrophic for my liking. The first 3/4ths of the book is so cozy and sweet and slow-paced, so the violent heartbreaking climax is jarring to read after that, rather atonal. We're told (telling again) that Marigold is a powerful honey witch, yet she's no match for the immortal ash witch. It made no sense to me that the evil ash witch was destroyed by fire. Hello, she's an ash witch??? It would have made more sense to draw her out of the house then drown her in the river. But whatever, we get a happy ending for the girls.

Quick last complaint: Marigold's best friend and her little brother are soulmates, but they're 22? and 18 so I felt a bit uncomfy at the age gap. 

Overall, I guess I did mostly like this book despite everything I've complained about above, and would recommend it to anyone interested in sapphic cottagecore cozy romantasy with spice and dramatic stakes. Check it out from the library though. 

Score: ★★★.5 out of 5 stars (Blogger, return to me the half star special character! 😠)
Spice score: 🌶🌶/🌶 
Read in: June 11
From: my public library - borrowed via Libby, read in Kindle app

Spoilers past this point

Tropes: forbidden romance, star-crossed lovers, "we can never be together" stuff, grumpy x sunshine, character who can never fall in love does so anyway, character with a family x orphan, only one bed, third act breakup, a character has mysterious origins that turn out to be very important to the plot, characters don't recognize that they're into each other leading to this song from Wicked, enemies to lovers in a way, that Romeo & Juliet thing where their families are historical enemies but the kids from those families fall in love

Representation: bisexual/pansexual fmc and lesbian (I think) fmc in sapphic relationship, side mlm/achillean couple (one of which is also bi I think), queernorm society, I don't remember if everyone is white (British isles) or if it's also a race-blind society

Trigger warnings: murder, death, a child is burned severely all over her body (past), gore, magical degloving injury leading to lots of blood, violence, kidnapping, a character is imprisoned and starved, manipulation, memory loss (both magical and trauma-related), orphaned character with trauma, bees death, controlling parent who withholds information (out of fear rather than just sucking)

Book Review: Fire Spells Between Friends by Sarah Wallace & S.O. Callahan

London, 1813—fae and humans alike are abuzz whenever Torquil's Tribune drops a juicy new tidbit. At the center of the gossip is handsome fae, Emrys Wrenwhistle, heir to his family's fortune. As speculation over his prospects grows, the search for a suitable spouse begins.

The trouble is, Emrys can't find anyone who measures up to the person he's been secretly seeing for years: the Tribune's witty society writer.

Torquil Pimpernel-Smith is accustomed to using the force of gossip to pull the strings of social influence. So when they are offered a position as the Council's first fae-human member, they readily accept.

However, their first project plunges Torquil into upper class circles rife with snobbery. Facing prejudice head-on is hard enough, without having to hide their true feelings for the eligible Emrys.

As the line of suitors starts to form, the Wrenwhistle family is intent on making a worthy match. Emrys and Torquil's passion burns perfectly in private, but navigating society together will determine if their love is a blaze—or in danger of being extinguished.

I adore Sarah Wallace's Meddle & Mend series and also really liked the first book in this series (despite my criticisms lol), so I snapped this ebook up when it went on sale. (I reread Breeze Spells and Bridegrooms first before reading this one, of course.) This book takes place right after the events of BS&Bg, so you do need to read it first as Roger & Wyn and their rubrics feature heavily in this book (yay!). Emrys is Wyn's older brother, and Torquil is the gossip columnist/editor who, in book 1, was like:

you know what would be hilarious? and posts that [Wyn & Roger] are engaged. They of course visit the editor to demand they retract the engagement announcement, but [Torquil is] like "no + deal with it + you two are cute together :)"

Poor Torquil, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, faces so much racism (speciesism?) because they're half fae, half human. They and their parents were shunned from society and disowned by Torquil's fae mother's rich and influential family; both the human and fae schools refused to accept them or test their magic, so they're basically without status or prospects in this magic-based society. My first paragraph in my BS&Bg review talks about this world a bit more and includes my thoughts. Torquil is poor and used to being alone and looked down on/discriminated against. 

By contrast, Emrys is the heir to his rich, influential elf family, one of the most eligible gentlemen in society, and wants for nothing... except that he can't put off his enterprising mama who will accept nothing but the best (aka rich and from a good family) spouse for her son, and keeps setting him up and making him go on dates even though he's less than enthusiastic. I was sort of surprised at Emrys having grudgingly-yet-long-accepted that his marriage would be arranged for him, instead of hoping to marry for love (I guess that's pretty common in this era). The way Torquil and Emrys meet (plus a short backstory for Torquil) is detailed in a short story (free if you sign up for the authors' email newsletters); basically they've been hooking up for years in a no-strings-attached to friends-with-benefits situationship. They both know they're from different social classes and financial situations, and that there's no way they could marry. 

Torquil is asked to join the Fae-Human Relations Council as its first fae-human member, and accepts in order to hopefully better things for themself and other fae-humans. However, they have to deal with prejudice from several council members and society folk, as being on the Council gets them invited to society events (Wyn's grandma gets them  the invites and makes them join society, much like she meddles in Wyn and Roger's lives). Roger and Wyn's new human and fae magic (respectively)-measuring rubrics are accepted, and it is decided a new rubric is needed for children like Torquil who have one fae parent and one human parent. Consequently, Torquil, Wyn, and Roger are entrusted to test out Torquil's magic and figure out a rubric that is both similar to the fae & human rubrics and that will work for the magic abilities of human-fae people. 

There's that classic SW "a character is cared for/given gifts against their will" thing, and that thing from book 1 about a newlyweds' wedding spell showing how much they're in love/compatible is expanded on in an ~interesting~ way. Much of this book takes place during December/Yule/Generic Winter Holiday That Is Definitely Not Christmas (Except It Totally Is) and would be perfect for a cozy winter/winter holidays read. I think I'll reread this in December for that reason. 

Some spoiler-y thoughts I want to talk about (highlight to read): I thought it was sad how Torquil's parents had zero qualms about buying Toquil the press and bouncing. They left them alone! :( I was so happy for Torquil when they got letters from other fae-humans like them, showing how they weren't the only one! I was shocked by that bombshell that Torquil's grandma actually didn't want to disown her daughter for marrying a working-class human but had to pretend to go along with it and wait until her husband/Torquil's grandfather died to publicly accept them as their family! Poor Torquil grew up thinking their grandmother hated them and wanted nothing to do with them.  I think it was wrong of Torquil's mom to keep that from her child; at least, she should have told them before she and Torquil's dad left for the continent. But at least they're not alone anymore, and being part of the rich and influential Pimpernel family means they can marry Emrys after all! We love to see an alone/unloved character end up with so much love and loved ones. However, I did find it kind of ridiculous that even after Torquil is publicly part of the Pimpernel family again, they and Emrys are still like "we can never be together" because of Emrys' social standing-obsessed mother. Hello? Torquil is a catch now that they're a Pimpernel officially. Get it together, kids. I'm a bit sad that Torquil had to give up their gossip newspaper, but at least it's in good hands. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and rooted for the two romantic leads to end up together. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series!

Score: ★★★★.5 out of 5 stars (Blogger, return to me the half star special character! 😠)
Spice score: 🌶🌶 
Read in: May 14
From: B&N Nook

Everything from this point on is spoilery 

Tropes: forbidden romance, "society would never accept our love", rich x poor, outcast x rich/famous/society darling etc., proud poor character who won't accept gifts/money from their rich lover, catching feelings during what is supposed to be a sex-only arrangement, "this perfect-on-paper suitor leaves me cold but I can't stop thinking about my forbidden lover", "I'll hide how I'm in love with them because we can never marry, never", rags to riches, long-lost/previously unknown rich family/family member who shows up and makes the character part of their family and fixes their social/financial situation, hurt/comfort (sick/comfort?), that thing where one character collapses and their "secret" lover freaks out making it super obvious he's in love with them, secret couple think they're hiding their secret relationship/feelings successfully but their loved ones suspect something/become aware/totally know

Representation: nonbinary character who uses they/them pronouns, bisexual/pansexual characters including both main characters, I think Roger and his family are Hispanic/Latinx, probably some other characters of color, queernorm, non-sexist & racism-free society; poor character

Trigger warnings: racism/speciesism, including microaggressions and bigoted language;  classism, poverty, a man in his mid-thirties briefly courts an 18-year-old girl who is into him (he's not into her. Several people point out their age gap is gross and he breaks up with her), hunger/food insecurity. (the authors give trigger warnings at the beginning of the book)

Book Reviews (ish): The Meddle & Mend series by Sarah Wallace redux

I heard about the Meddle & Mend series by Sarah Wallace from a bookstagrammer I follow who loves and promotes the books almost more than the author does. The first one was free, and as it was billed as a Regency cozy queer romance, I obviously downloaded it. I read them during my big summer East coast trip where I went from my annual conference to visit my aunt in Maryland and then stay with my sister and her family for a week during their trip to New York. Reader, I loved the book so much I immediately downloaded the next ebook, and repeated this (read & downloaded the next) for each book in the series. I almost never do that! The rapidity with which this became one of my favorite series is remarkable, as is them becoming one of my comfort series despite only having read them once. Since last July I've been fighting the urge to reread the series at least once a month, which also never happens. Here's a meme I made depicting my monthly struggle: 

I finally gave in to the urge last month because the sixth book in the series was released! I reread all five M&M books over the weekend, and then (after a struggle with stupid B&N who had put a hold on my account for no reason) downloaded and read the sixth book. I thought I'd do a mini rundown review (such as it is) of each book since I didn't have time or space to do so last time I reviewed them. All of the books take place in the same world: a sort of alternate Regency England that has magic and is queernorm, racism-free (and consequently racially diverse), and mostly free of sexism. Classism and poverty still exist, and birth order has replaced patriarchy: firstborns take the place of eldest brothers in terms of inheritance and heading the family after the parents die, plus having more freedom re: reputation. I appreciate the lack of sexism and homophobia etc. as a socially conscious reader, but at some point the genre (Regency historical romance) stops being what it is, plus it raises questions* about the world-building.

Mild spoilers throughout because that's who I am as a person

Letters to Half Moon Street - (synopsis) The first book in the series is an epistolary novel, consisting mainly of letters between Gavin Hartford, who is lonely and bored in London, and his sister Gerry, who is visiting family in Tutting-on-Cress (a country village), plus a few between Gavin and his new friend Charles Kentworthy, who Gerry thinks may be interested in her brother... Gavin is very introverted, shy, antisocial, and terrified of other people (mood), so it is up to charming extrovert Charles to make the friendship happen and make Gavin leave the house and do stuff around London. I enjoyed watching their relationship develop, but I didn't see why Charles needed to be so pushy (why make Gavin take up boxing when he hates it? Why didn't Gavin stand up for himself and say no?). Charles basically made the entire relationship happen himself, and he had to force Gavin every step of the way. Despite my frustrations with the characters, I really liked this book. The story is a bit slow-moving, but in a nice calm way; it's an enjoyable world to live in for a bit. Gay and pan rep, I believe. ★★★★, 0 chili peppers as there's no spice, just kissing and sex work mentions

 

One Good Turn - (synopsis) The second book is written in third person limited (I think), as is most of the rest of the series. Poor, barely-working-class Nell protects a rich man (Charles) from being robbed, kicking off a series of events that change her life. The crimelord, not happy that Nell's sympathy cost him money, sends her and her best friend Pip (who is the crimelord's lover) to steal a magical artifact from a viscount who happens to be Charles's best friend Bertie (we meet him in book 1 but he's not a big part of it). Bertie recognizes Nell's and Pip's magic abilities and offers them a chance to live and study magic with him. Nell jumps at the chance, and begins the life she always dreamed of. She also has to figure out her relationship with her friend with benefits (whose name I of course forgot), a single mother who has no time to go out with her (Nell is ridiculously slow at understanding this). Nell is, as far as I can tell, an aromantic lesbian who is allosexual; the representation is on-page but of course those terms are not used. She's also fat but I didn't pick up on this while reading the book; it may just be a throwaway mention. This book talks about sex much more frankly and frequently since it's from Nell's POV and poor people are not protected from reality the way upper-class people are (there are sex worker characters). This book is sadder and more angry-making than book 1 (it's implied that Pip was groomed into being the crimelord's lover; he basically raised Nell and Pip so that skeeved me out). There is a list of trigger topics in the beginning of the book, plus you can ask me for specifics. ★★★.5 (affectionate), 🌶🌶

The Education of Pip - (synopsis) Don't worry, Pip is rescued from the awful crimelord who groomed him into a sexual relationship after having basically raised him and, it turns out, forced him into sex work. Pip is thrown in jail, which gives Bertie an opportunity to whisk him away from London and his abuser, and takes Pip to live with Charles, Gavin, & Gerry in Tutting-on-Cress (Bertie has a house there too). Like Nell, Pip is taught to read and write and about magic, but he has a lot of healing to do. The T-O-C gang and their staff are so gentle, patient, and understanding with Pip; for him to finally be treated with care and love after everything he went through is so important to me! Part of the reason for Pip being in T-O-C is for him to be Gerry's assistant at her spell shop, which was very interesting to read about. Pip's relationship with Bertie slowly begins to develop as well. This book is pretty heartrending but it does have a happy ending. Gay rep as well as PTSD from everything Pip went through. There is a list of trigger topics in the beginning of the book, plus you can ask me for specifics. ★★★.5 (affectionate), 🌶🌶

Dear Bartleby - (synopsis) Gavin and Gerry have a younger brother, Sebastian; we meet him in the first book when he writes to Gavin to ask him for a loan for his gambling debts. Unsurprisingly, Seb's wildness and pranks cause him to be pulled from Oxford and sent to live with his older siblings and brother-in-law in Tutting-on-Cress. His father gives him a journal to encourage reflection; Seb christens it Bartleby so he can pretend he's writing to a friend so journaling will feel less boring. These journal entries make up the book, which I guess makes this book an epistolary novel despite epistle meaning letter and not diary entry, but whatever. Seb writes about his day, being bored, his pranks, and his attempted seductions. He's kind of annoying at first, but his older siblings and brother-in-law learn how to best love and support him, and he matures, even getting a love interest of his own (a wonderful trans man named Laurence). Also in this story is Bertie's search for a new Royal Magician; he hires Seb as his assistant, so he's very involved in the process. Some of Pip's past comes up as well, so trigger warnings for that. I also really enjoyed this book despite the sad parts. Gay and trans rep. ★★★★, 🌶🌶

The Spellmaster of Tutting-on-Cress - (synopsis) It's Gerry's turn to have a book, a love interest, and her family and friends' meddling. Gerry took over the Tutting-on-Cress spell shop when the previous spellmaster retired, and she's very happy despite it being a step down in society. Everyone in her life thinks it's high time she met someone and settled down, so they all force her to endure blind date teas and, you guessed it, meddling. Basil Thorne has just moved to T-O-C after losing his father to step in as the new head of the family to his much-younger half-siblings (who are just delightful) and stepmother. He's never been part of a big, loud family before, and, on a sibling-demanded trip to the village, has his head turned by the kind, pretty spellmaster...

Skip this part if you don't want to read spoilers or my rants. I ranted about the lack of consent and amatonormativity from the meddling in this other blog post:

everyone kept trying to set up the heroine with this guy she obviously liked even though she explicitly asked them all to not do that and respect her wishes re: not being set up because it's cringey and embarrassing. The whole "it's for your own good! otherwise you'd be single forever!" excuses being used to ignore said wishes just felt gross. It's the lack of respect and ignoring of consent for me. 😠 The lack of apology and/or realization that the setting-up was being pushed on people without their consent is very annoying to me. And the whole smug "see? I was right!" thing when the couples invariably ended up together used to justify it! Ugh. It's not cute or funny, and it smacks of amatonormativity. Not everyone needs to be paired up, and single people aren't tragic! 

The reason it bothers me to read about this amatonormativity and lack of consent is because this series is so otherwise respectful, queer- and trans-friendly; it throws me for a loop. You expect this sort of thing from regular cishet romance novels, you know? In book 2 Nell's aromanticism is respected, although they kind of have her "end up" with someone too. Gerry is basically the sole straight in the series, but she discusses maybe being demi-romantic with her friends and family since she likes Basil (who is pan and in love with her) but doesn't feel a romantic spark and isn't swept off her feet like she expected. They kind of lost me there, since the chemistry between her and Basil was swoony, and reading about how she interacted with him and felt about it didn't feel that different than the way reading about other romantic pairings have felt. Shit, Gerry and Basil have more romantic chemistry and cute interactions than Gavin & Charles and Bertie & Pip combined! Am I on the aromantic spectrum? Who even knows. 

Another sublot is that the Kentworthys host the eldest Hartford brother John and his wife Veronica (and their child who we never see because Veronica believes children should be unseen and unheard???). They are the worst and I hate them. Charles starts his signature loving psychology on John and he starts to improve. Literally how did the Hartford parents fuck up their kids so much that Gerry is the only one who doesn't hate herself and/or is a jerk in the beginning??? Shoutout to Basil's transfem bestie Modesty who is one of my favorite characters in the entire series; she's so awesome and I hope SW writes a book about her or at least that she shows up in all future books. I loved all the kids, even if some of them were written a bit too old and a bit too young sometimes; maybe we'll get a spinoff series about them finding love after they grow up?  This review has gotten way too long so I'll end it here. ★★★.5 (affectionate), 0 chili peppers (just kissing)

The Viscount Says Yes - (synopsis) This book wraps up Pip and Bertie's love story, which started in book 2 (1GT) when Pip flirted with Bertie after being caught trying to steal from him, and Bertie fell in love with him immediately. Their relationship developed very slowly over the next few books, each one giving us a little glimpse into how they felt about one another (how is them just looking at each other without touching in the garden at dusk so gd romantic??). The slow pace was necessary due to Pip's sad history that he needed to heal from (this book takes place about 2 years after TEoP). Bertie and everyone else had always taken great care to avoid touching Pip and asking for consent before doing so etc., and Pip decides he's ready to start initiating physical acts of affection with Bertie as he (B) never would initiate out of respect, and starts thinking about proposing to Bertie for the same reason... Charles, now that he has seen all his other friends and relations settled or about to be, sets his sights on Pip and Bertie, but at least his meddling is proportionally gentler due to Pip's history. I like Charles a lot but with all the meddling, he's basically as controlling as Veronica. Like just let your friends find love their own way and on their own timelines, dude! Anyway, with that title you can guess what happens in the book. Wallace wrote a little note at the end saying they've burned themself out writing the M&M series so they're wrapping up the series with this book. I hope it's a pause and not a full ending, and that she heals from the burnout soon because I need like 1000 more books in this series! ★★★★, maybe half a chili pepper due to sex mentions? dealer's choice

I know I've complained a bunch about the characters and their decisions, but I really do love this series. The magic is very interesting to read about. All the books are kind of slow, but in a nice cozy way; I enjoyed all the time we spent with the characters. If you like cozy fantasy and Regency romance books, especially ones with lots of LGBTQ+ rep, give this series a try!

*If it's a mostly non-sexist and queernorm society, then why do they still care about reputations (basically a code word for virginity)? What does reputation even mean/matter for people/couples who can't get pregnant? Why the heavy emphasis on birth order when being the oldest sibling doesn't automatically mean you're the most responsible and reliable? (I'm the oldest and my siblings are all more responsible and reliable than me. I should NOT be the head of my family.) Why should the laterborn spouse in a firstborn-laterborn marriage take on the 'wife' role (running the household, raising children, etc.) just because they're a laterborn, while the firstborn spouse takes on the 'husband' role (being in charge of the family and finances etc.)? Shouldn't it be based on personality and interests, and/or shouldn't the roles be shared? Why are there still social classes and poverty? How does capitalism still exist without white supremacy and the patriarchy there to support it?

Book Review: Until the Last Petal Falls by Viano Oniomoh

When Eru was eleven years old, he met an unforgettable boy.

Only a few weeks after, he forgot all about that boy.

Ten years later, after his parents’ sudden deaths, all Eru wants is to find a way out of the village he was supposed to leave behind, and escape the abuse of his grieving grandmother. When he receives a summons from Able Mummy, the wife of the High Chief, it seems all of his prayers have been answered.

Able Mummy needs his help. But she and the High Chief have a secret.

Once Eru uncovers the truth, he finds that the fate of the village, and that of the boy he’d been made to forget, could lie solely in his hands.

Cosy, sweet, and intimate, Until the Last Petal Falls is a character-driven Nigerian queerplatonic retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

 

Of all the genres I love fantasy the most; of all the fantasy stories I love fairytales the most; of all the fairytales I love Beauty and the Beast the most, and of all the retellings out there I love diverse and LGBTQ+ retellings the most, so I added this book to my TBR list with a quickness. I heard about Until the Last Petal Falls through Bookstagram, and bought the ebook during a stuff-your-kindle sale. I broke my "no shopping on Amazon" rule to buy this as it's not available anywhere else. 

I really liked this book. The setting (modern-day Nigeria but with gods and witch doctor magic) was very interesting to read about, as was the way Oniomoh reinvents the tale as old as time. Like all* Beautys, Eru hands over his life and future to help someone else; like some other Beasts, Esioghene goes from angry and closed-off to open and loving. Both men are aromantic, and the queerplatonic relationship that develops between them is very sweet and tender. Most of the general BatB characteristics are there: big palace/house hidden by magic, roses with petals falling counting the days, curses, etc. I would consider this book to be cozy despite the difficult things the characters go through (both are abused).

Score: ★★★★⯨ out of 5 stars
Spice score: 0
Read in: February 21
From: Amazon

Genres/classification: fantasy, cozy fantasy, fairytale retelling, modern retelling, not quite fabulism but close, adult book I think, monster romance only without the romance

Tropes: forced proximity, magically bound to each other, found family, love conquers all, true love breaks the curse, love saves the day (all platonic love btw)

Representation: aromantic (both MMCs), gay queerplatonic relationship, all the characters are Nigerian as the book is set in Nigeria, ace vibes as well imo; author is (as far as I can tell) a Nigerian LGBTQ+ woman

Trigger warnings: child abuse, child neglect, domestic abuse, physical & verbal abuse, abusive & controlling parents and grandparent, depression, grief, parental loss (I think it was due to a car accident but I may be wrong), manipulation/deceit, memories magically erased

*ok probably not all

Book review: A Sorceress and Scones by Allie Leigh

The rumours should have been enough to send her running, but when the opportunity to study magic under the Lady Elliane presents itself, Korinne can't say no. Even if people do think the lady sorceress has terrifying fangs, fearsome claws, and a tendency to eat hearts.

She'd planned to focus upon her studies, but life at the sorceress's castle isn't what she'd expected. Though she hides herself away, Elliane doesn't live alone. There's Arycelle, a spirited girl from beyond the valley, and Wick, a demon who seems more interested in performances and pastries than any sort of eldritch pact. Along with living shadows, poetic statues, and an opinionated stove, Korinne isn't sure what to make of the strange world she's stumbled into.

But when Elliane, Arycelle, and Wick learn of her feelings for Ninette—a sweet baker and her dearest friend—they decide to take responsibility for ensuring she gets a happily ever after, and Korinne finds she has much more than magic on her mind.

I downloaded this book from B&N Nook for free late last year, and decided to read it for Black History Month as the girl (Korinne) on the cover is Black; however, the author is white and Canadian, which I didn't realize, so I don't think this counts. 

This book was less cozy than suggested by the summary, although it's cozy enough that I don't really feel I was tricked. The fantasy world this book is set in is race- and queer-normative, although social classes are a thing and Korinne's bastard birth status dictates her life and what she can wear. The pain Korinne feels at being shunned by her father (as if she chose to be born! screw that dude) is a big part of her character, even indirectly driving some of the plot. Elliane's outsider status is also painful to her, and Korinne, Elliane, Arycelle, and Wick (a demon child with no evil but plenty of rambunctiousness) form a found family. 

Korinne's struggles with her magical studies take up a large part of the book. The castle with its sentient statues and oven has Beauty and the Beast vibes, while the living shadows made me think of soot sprites. The part about the friends trying to get Korinne  together with Ninette is smaller than it sounds, but still sweet. What I wouldn't give to eat some of her pastries. There's some really cool magic towards the end that I really liked but won't talk about because it's a spoiler.

Overall, I really liked this book despite the sad/angry-making stuff and I do recommend it. I can't wait to read the (unpublished) sequel, which sounds like it deals with Arycelle's and Wick's story. The cover is beautiful, although for some reason isn't showing up right now.

Score: ★★★★ out of 5 stars
Spice score: 0
Read in: February 2
From: B&N Nook

Tropes: their friends ship them and try to get them to confess/date, being sent on an errand specifically so they'll run into their crush, etc., magical castle with sentient objects/appliances & invisible/non-human servants

Representation: sapphic pairing, Korinne appears to be Black, Arycelle? appears to be a woman/girl of color (the world is fairly colorblind/race neutral), background LGBTQ+ characters

Trigger warnings: manipulation, betrayal, implied psychological torture through dreams, terminal illness, emotional trauma and pain, othering, sick fantasy animal

Arrowmount Books series, books 1 & 2

I bought these ebooks during one of those free/on sale [genre] ebooks blowout sales that I hear about on bookstagram every so often. These two books are cozy fantasy stories set in a cute, closely-knit seaside town in a sort of D&D universe with lots of different fantasy races plus humans. They are both by J.A. Collignon.

A Second Story

After falling for one another as adventurers, Arileas Damaris and Finnean Goldmark begin a life together traveling around the realm. Almost a year later, they decide to take a vacation in a town called Arrowmount, where the sea and sun calls to them. Once there, they fall in love with the place and its people. Ari and Finn take a leap together and buy the local bookstore and start a life amidst the sun-soaked cobblestones. From water damage and renovations to Finn's old life haunting them, life in Arrowmount is not quite as calm as they thought. However, with some help from the locals, Ari and Finn might just find their place along the sea.

Michelle buys a book about a bookstore; water is wet. We get a bit of Arileas and Finn as adventurers, where they are in love with each other unknowingly but don't think the other person does/could ever love them. Then we skip ahead to when they are an established couple, enter Arrowmount and fall in love with the town and decide to buy the bookstore. The book is mainly them meeting the various townspeople and renovating the bookstore with local artisans/craftspeople's help. It's very slow-paced, and the only tension is the couple's fear that the king will realize Finn, his shadow assassin, faked his death and is still alive, plus an argument about adventuring vs. settling down. Finn and Arileas are cute together, but I couldn't help but wish we got more of their "getting together" story. Also, with how nice and sunny Finn is, I couldn't connect that with his previous life as an assassin for a corrupt king. Wouldn't that affect him, harden him? I felt that we swept past that and the method Finn used to fake his death (which affected Arileas) fairly quickly. That stuff didn't really mesh well with the otherwise cozy, nice story. Not being familiar with D&D and their fantasy races, I struggled to picture what some of the people in this book looked like. I liked this book, though, and would recommend it to people who like cozy books where not a whole lot happens. ★★★⯪ (3.5 stars)/🌶 (don't remember much if any spice)

 

A Little Luck

After the biggest job of her life goes sideways, magical artifact thief Lottie Luck is out of, well, luck. With no job on the horizon and only the clothes on her back, she makes a snap decision to head to Arrowmount, where her estranged sister lives, to regroup and figure out where she's going next.
Kirandir Dulra, a favored Arrowmount town bard, is happy enough with the way her life is. By day, she's a dishwasher for the local bar, and by night she performs for the regular townsfolk who frequent the Old 'n Narrow. The routine works, but she dreams of more: a life in arcane lights with crowds calling her name.
However, everything is turned upside down when these two strangers get thrown together to organize the entertainment for an upcoming festival as emergency replacements one month out.
As the two try and find a rhythm together, Lottie unearths truths about herself and Kir's dream starts to become more realistic. In a story full of chilly autumnal nights and the golden glow of lantern light, these two women might just find more in each other than they bargained for.

This one had that romantic "getting together" story that I like, plus much more action. Lottie and Kir are instantly attracted to each other, but Kir's shy and Lottie isn't planning on staying. She also has someone after her due to an artifact she stole, and she's not sure how she's going to wiggle out of that one. Kir's not sure how to tell her family she wants to leave and travel the world as a bard, and isn't sure if Lottie actually likes her or is just flirting. Lottie also has to find a way to make up with her sister after not talking to her for 10 years. Oh, and some old ladies corralled the two of them into being in charge of the autumn festival's entertainment, which means spending a lot of time together... This story was also soft and cozy even though way more happened. We see Arileas and Finn again, plus a lot of the townspeople from the first book (duh, same town). I enjoyed this one even though we barely saw the bookstore. ★★★⯪/🌶 (kissing and sex mentions)

Book Review: Breeze Spells & Bridegrooms by Sarah Wallace & S.O. Callahan

Fae and humans alike are returning to London for the Season, but the excitement is marred by the growing poverty rate among humans with low magical scores.

Tenacious Roger Barnes proposes a new rubric for testing magic to the Council, hoping to resolve the predicament for his fellow humans. But when he is paired with Wyndham Wrenwhistle, a dashing fae who has disliked him since childhood, the project seems destined to fail. Even after reaching a tentative truce, their fragile partnership crumbles due to malicious lies.

Adding to the disarray, a popular gossip column unexpectedly announces that Roger and Wyn are engaged. Obliged to go along with the falsehood to save their families from scandal, they are forced to reconcile their differences for the sake of the rubric — and for their impending marriage. As the project bleeds into their wedding plans, the pressure to flawlessly execute both mounts even higher.

Together, they have the chance to solve a crisis decades in the making — but they'll need more than magic to succeed.

One of this book's co-authors wrote the Meddle & Mend series, which I adored, so I snapped this book up when it went on sale for 99 cents.  It's set in a similar universe as the Meddle & Mend series (Regency England but magical & queernorm as well as non-racist) but with the addition of a fae population probably around the same size as the human population. They coexist fairly well, but rarely intermarry. Magical ability is very important, and inheritance goes to the child with the highest magical score rather than going to the oldest son (oh yeah, the society is non-sexist too). Humans with low magical scores are usually ignored by suitors and passed over for jobs. Low-magic humans are sometimes kicked out to starve by their parents as soon as they reach adulthood. This is very sad and pretty jarring for an otherwise-cozy fantasy book. Roger is trying to change this by implementing a new scoring rubric so children are less likely to score low, but to me it's the society that needs to change. They should stop caring how people score on a hugely important magic test they take once at age twelve that determines the rest of their lives. Roger scored low because he was nervous, and to me the test and its grading are hugely unfair. It was kind of whiplash-y to read about such a prejudiced society and then have the rest of the book basically be like "anyhoo, on to the cute romance!!"

Roger is paired with former classmate Wyndham Wrenwhistle, a fae who also scored rather low on the fae magic test, which is supposed to be similar/analogous to the human test, hence why they have to work together. They don't like each other, mostly because Wyn is and has been a huge jerk to Roger, but Wyn's grandma (who is on the fae-human relations council with Roger's dad) makes him do it. It's obvious that she did that because she thinks Wyn's into Roger. They're trying to work on the rubric but keep clashing, and in their anger both write disparaging letters about the other to the gossip paper. The editor of the paper is like, you know what would be hilarious? and posts that the two are engaged. They of course visit the editor to demand they retract the engagement announcement, but they're like "no + deal with it + you two are cute together :)"

Since it's Regency England, the two dummies can't say they aren't engaged because Wyn made the huge mistake of gifting Roger a nice teapot since he only has one non-cracked one, and you can't bring gifts to boys you're not engaged to, the scandal!!! Also almost everyone is super into them being together because a fae-human marriage is So Good For Our Society since historically fae-human marriages were/kinda still are frowned upon. Imagine being forced to marry your childhood bully (sort of) because It Will Change Society For the Better. Yikes. Don't worry, they start falling in love for real! 

I dislike the "it's okay when people set you up/force you to spend time together with someone because they think you like each other/would be cute together and because they think it's in your best interest" sentiment of this book. It also showed up in Wallace's latest book The Spellmaster of Tutting-on-Cress, where everyone kept trying to set up the heroine with this guy she obviously liked even though she explicitly asked them all to not do that and respect her wishes re: not being set up because it's cringey and embarrassing. The whole "it's for your own good! otherwise you'd be single forever!" excuses being used to ignore said wishes just felt gross. It's the lack of respect and ignoring of consent for me. 😠 The lack of apology and/or realization that the setting-up was being pushed on people without their consent is very annoying to me. And the whole smug "see? I was right!" thing when the couples invariably ended up together used to justify it! Ugh. It's not cute or funny, and it smacks of amatonormativity. Not everyone needs to be paired up, and single people aren't tragic!

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book and found the romance to be very sweet. They're very gentle and kind to each other (even Wyn once he mellows out). Sarah Wallace is an insta-buy author for me, and I'll have to check out more of what S.O. Callahan has written. 

Score: ★★★★ out of 5 stars
Spice score: 🌶🌶 out of 5 chilies
Read in: October 24-25
From: B&N Nook

Tropes: close proximity, betrothed against their will/we have to get engaged to avoid scandal, assigned engaged by gossip column (is that a trope?), fake dating (sort of), "we have to sell this relationship/act like we're in love", rivals to lovers, rivals to friends to lovers, childhood bully romance (sort of), opposites attract, everyone ships them, family/friends meddling, being meddled into a relationship, slow burn, height difference (smol & tol), I'll Take Care of You, socialite x academic, fashionista x academic, popular x nerd, flirty x flustered, whatever it's called when they knew each other since childhood and one or both of them kinda liked the other ever since then, the magic of love/love makes magic stronger or whatever

Representation: gay MMCs, demisexual MMC, nonbinary character who uses they/them pronouns, sapphic minor character, neurodivergent MCs (both ADHD and autistic vibes imo), anxiety rep, fat MMC, Roger looks Hispanic to me but that might be due to his passing resemblance to Harvey Guillen, I think there's other side characters of color but the physical descriptions are a bit lacking, aesthetic attraction is mentioned

Trigger warnings: prejudice built into the unequal system that leads to othering & poverty, a prejudiced character is vocally negative about a human and fae marrying, mild stalking by an ex