Tag: LGBTGIA fantasy mystery romance

Review: The Courtship of Julian St Albans (Consulting Magic Book 1) by Amy Crook

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Courtship of Julian St Albans (Consulting Magic Book 1) by Amy Crook is this author’s first published novel and it’s an absolute delight.  A steampunk murder mystery romance, it’s got a grand cast of characters, an intriguing system of magic, and a combination of historical and cultural influences  in the narrative that make the atmosphere and situations so different.  

The ritual around courtship and Suitors is given its own special treatment here when Julian St Albans’ longtime Suitor is found dead. It restarts the process of finding Julian, the heir to substantial lands and fortunes, a new Suitor to run the family and take over the titles. 

Alexander Benedict is a magical investigator and consultant to the police, especially in high profile cases or where magic is used.  Julian’s case involves both.

Crook’s take on an historical murder mystery and romance is a cleverly crafted story. Steampunk narrative is threaded throughout with fantasy characters and elements to my absolute delight.  The author dives into the details of her magical world, from the magical bespoke clothing worn to balls to the dangerous and fascinating crafted instruments used by the villain to threaten and destroy.

The slowly developing relationship between Julian and Alex is lovely. Determined by the rituals of Courtship and the fact that Alex realizes he’s falling for Julian, not just because he’s involved in the case, draws out the romantic tension. 

How it ends , for Julian and Alex, and sets up the next step in their relationship is so satisfying.  I’m thrilled to have found a new author and series to recommend and read. 

Check it out.  Series is complete!

Consulting Magic series:

The Courtship of Julian St Albans #1

The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans #2

The Guardianship of Julian St. Albans #3

A Flutter of Fae #4

I love the simplicity of design of these covers. Beautiful, important to the story (that’s Horace) and elegant. 

Buy link

        The Courtship of Julian St. Albans (Consulting Magic)

    

Blurb 

Alexander Benedict is a misanthropic thirtysomething magical consultant, working with the Agency’s top homicide detective, and perfectly content with his life, thank you very much. 

Julian St. Albans is the youthful heir to his family’s fortune and affiancéd to his beloved Cecil Mandeville, a family friend as well as Julian’s lover. 

When Mandeville is murdered using magical means, Alex is brought in on the case. It’s the worst day of Julian’s life, but until they meet, it’s just another case for Alex. Neither of them have any idea how their lives are about to change.

Alex has to disentangle the magical threads until he can catch the murderer, and to do that he has to put himself right in the thick of things. His long-denied family connections get him invited to participate in Julian’s Courtship as a Suitor, where he can observe the suspects firsthand. He just has to stay alive long enough to figure out which of the competition thinks Julian is a prize worth killing for.

  • Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc. (June 25, 2013)
  • Publication date: June 25, 2013
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 361 pages

Review:  Back In The Hunt: A Nelson & MacIlwraith Mystery (Moon Murder Mysteries) by K. Sterling

Rating: 4🌈

Back In The Hunt both continues the overall themes and universe started with the Moon Murder Mysteries (3 book series) that introduces the characters, locations and incredible complex mythologies and cultural linguistic concepts/elements that are at the heart of everything here.

That each book needs at the beginning of the story its own introduction to the various aspects of the mythologies in use, the translations of the old Gaelic terms in casual usage, witch lore is testament to Sterling’s dedication to a well crafted universe and the depth of detail and development that’s being explored here.

This achievement of increasingly complex concepts and character dimensions does several things to this story and new series.  It makes it necessary for a reader to have read the preceding Moon Murder Mysteries before arriving here so they have the right background information and understanding of the circle of characters that is the basis for this book and group of people.  

The other aspect of this densely packed narrative is that you must be able to carry that knowledge with you throughout the story, so even that minutiae from a prior book is available to pull out when a character, say Merlin, mentions it in a throw away bit of conversation here. 

For me, it engages my brain in absolute appreciation even if I’m not completely emotionally attached to the characters.  Odd how that has worked out, at least for me.  I’m so fascinated by the conceptual context and issues that it’s removed me from the emotional connection. 

Did I enjoy reading this? Absolutely. Thought the entire aspect of the changeling and how Sterling saw them was imaginative and well constructed.  

I did find that it was resolved too quickly and in a way we didn’t quite find out what happened to the two “troublesome “ beings. That felt unsatisfying to me.  Perhaps in the future stories we will find some further resolution.

Until the next book, which I’m really anticipating, I am content to leave the group of Prof Lennox ‘Nox’ MacIlwraith ,FBI Agent Grady Nelson,

Merlin Oglethorpe ,Prof Darrach Clancy , Bryn Cadwallader and Everly Wells, Bryn’s twin brother, Arawn, surgeon, married to

Dr Fletcher Bixby, gathered together as yet another personal case is ready for their attention. 

I’m definitely recommending this but please ignore that sentence in the description that states it can be read as a standalone. No. Why do they keep putting those things on books that absolutely aren’t standalone stories. SMH. 

Cover Art isn’t credited but I love it.

Moon Murder Mysteries (3 book series):

  • Nelson & MacIlwraith #1, 2, and 3

A Nelson & MacIlwraith Mystery (Moon Murder Mysteries related)

  • Back In The Hunt #1
  • The Tides of March #2 – March 15,2025

Buy link:

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Back-…Back In The Hunt: A Nelson & MacIlwraith Mystery (Moon Murder Mysteries)

Your soul is his to take. And he takes that very seriously.

After a string of gutting losses, Everly Wells has given up on life. But a near-death experience and an encounter with a cocky paramedic with glowing green eyes, gives Everly a new reason to live…and powerful allies fighting to keep him out of danger.

Bryn Cadwallader and his twin brother might be descended from the hounds of the Wild Hunt, but there are limits to their powers. When Bryn saves Everly’s life, refusing to take the lost mortal’s soul onwards, he realises darker, stranger forces are at work. Rattled but determined to save Everly’s life, Bryn looks to a very different, but uniquely qualified pair of investigators.

FBI Agent Grady Nelson and Professor Nox MacIlwraith.

To track a foe who uses both modern and ancient means, Nelson and Nox must use their knowledge of the occult and experience fighting crime and evil to help Bryn thwart this new, mystical threat. Can they save Everly, or will Bryn be cursed to an eternity hunting for his lost love?

Formerly listed as The Case of the Curious Cadwallader, Back In The Hunt is a hurt-comfort, paranormal mystery romance. It overlaps with the epilogue of Nelson & MacIlwraith: Moon Murder Mysteries #3, and references some events from the Moon Murder Mysteries trilogy, but can be read as a stand alone.

*From me: no, just no. They absolutely can’t be read as a standalone. Why do they insist on putting this in? SMH