RogerBW's Blog

2017 fantasy romance. In Angland in the 19th century, gentlemen are magicians, while ladies wield political power. Cassandra Harwood was never one for following the rules.

But while she was indeed an excellent magician, something went awry and she burned out her ability to cast magic safely. What will she do now?

A lesser book would make this a story of Cassandra recovering her ability, and "you can do it if you only believe hard enough". I am very glad to say that this is not that sort of book, and while many things get better for Cassandra—including, no spoiler unless you've never read a romance before, a reconciliation with her jilted fiancé—a significant consideration throughout this book is working out how to live with a life-changing injury (in this case, in a world that thought you shouldn't in the first place have had the capability that you've now lost).

And then there are the fey, who are bound by ancient treaty to keep their hands off humans and vice versa except through specific channels, but that doesn't help when Cassandra goes out in the snow looking for some missing guests and runs into one of their lords who is entirely happy to lure a human into making unfortunate promises.

There's quite a bit going on here, though much of it comes down to an investigation of magically unseasonable weather. Minor characters are sometimes sketched in but their problems and the solutions they find feel like real ones. Altogether enjoyable.