A raunchy M/M romantasy in 19th England when the dispossessed wastrel son of an earl returns from exile to take over a property not so much encumbered by debt as by malign magic and finds himself dependent on the son of a family his father and brother ruined. And likes it. Mostly. Except for the death magic parts. This pair spend a bit of time circling each other, then read signals and blast ahead. ( )

Cute, fun, surprisingly high body count! Will definitely keep reading these. ( )

An absolutely lovely read, and an excellent start to a series! I loved both the leads and the side cast of characters, particularly Merrick, the main dynamic was lovely, and the plot was a lot of fun, and it was funny, too! It's also quite short, and currently legally free to read on Kobo, Books (iOS), and Kindle, so that's awesome!

The magic system is also pretty neat, and I'm really curious about it!

My one criticism isn't that large and I can see why it's used, but the fact that it popped up so much made it more uncomfortably obvious. There are moments where a character says, "Tell me a story", and another character does, but rather than really listening to it, we get a vague summary of what the second character is saying. It's possibly a time-saving technique or just so the writer doesn't have to come up with something that would produce the first character's reaction of awe or humor, allowing the reader to fill in the blanks for themselves. This also means that if the real story isn't as funny/interesting as it's supposed to be, the reader isn't disappointed or wondering why the reacting character finds it funnier/more interesting than it is. I do it a lot, I get it. Eliding is a useful technique. But it happens... a lot. And it's kind of like... For someone who wants us to know these characters had interesting lives and are funny, we aren't actually seeing that on-page, just other characters reacting to what we're told is funny and/or smart.

It also feels a little fast in places? But that might just be because she was pressed for time with the length.

Overall, though, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series, and already started book 2! ( )

4,5 stars ( )

2022 reading:
I am stunned and thrilled to report that this is somehow even better with a second reading. Definitely some kind of magic at work!

I'd forgotten that the last bit is a short story continuation, like an epilogue only better. Marvelous.


Original review (2016)
A great writer begins a great world here. Wow.

This was one of those stories I started reading thinking I'd read a couple chapters, then go read something else. Haha. I ended up reading it straight through and will be reading every book in this series. This author has my number: magic, history, love interest, and I'm never certain what these people will say or do next. It's perfect. :) ( )