Category: Historical Paranormal/Fantasy

Entrancing The Earl by Patricia Rice

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

Entrancing the Earl (School of Magic, #5)Entrancing the Earl by Patricia Rice
Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: School of Magic
Publication Date: 5/18/21
Period: Victorian
Number of Pages: 300

As a through-and-through, logical, unemotional Ives male, Gerard, Earl of Ives and Wystan, avoids Wystan Castle as much as he possibly can. Why? Well, because it is filled to the brim with those lovely but pesky Malcolm women who like to manage him. It is his responsibility to care for and provide for the dears, but his coffers are all but drained and he has absolutely no idea how he’ll manage to keep the castle and lands going. If only he could find the treasure that the voice from the old Roman coin keeps talking about, he could do the necessary repairs and preserve Wystan – but if he can’t … Maybe he should just find an heiress to marry. He could do that – as long as she isn’t a Malcolm – he couldn’t do that. He just isn’t ready for marriage yet and since his father isn’t pushing him – well – he can wait.

Lady Iona Malcolm Ross and her twin sister Isobel have fled Craigmore, their home in Scotland because their debauched and evil step-father has usurped the title Earl of Craigmore. That title rightly belongs to Iona, but since she is a young female, nobody questions him. He has gone through all of their funds and is now planning to sell Iona to an American who wants a title. That American has more money than sense and has absolutely no idea how their Scottish title works. The American thinks he is buying a title for himself. Iona and Isobel have assumed new names and are well hidden within different Malcolm households – they should be safe. They were, safe that is, until their nasty step-father – using the American’s money – goes public with a tale of woe about his daughters having run away and offering a large reward for anybody finding them.

I always love all of the quirky ‘talents’ that manifest themselves in the Malcolms. Iona’s talent is that she talks to bees. That might not sound like much of a talent – but when it is needed to save the day – well – we find it might be more valuable than we realized.

The Malcolm I most appreciated in this book was Gerard. Poor man – can you imagine how conflicted he is? Yes – he is both a Malcolm and an Ives – and that pretty much puts him at war within himself. His logical, scientific, Ives mind absolutely cannot fathom that he has a voice talking to him in his head – so he often thinks he must be insane. Can he come to accept and embrace his Malcolm gifts as well as his Ives brilliance?

I really enjoyed Gerard! His conflicts within himself are really well done. Iona, on the other hand, wasn’t my favorite Malcolm. I loved that she calmed Gerard and seemed to amplify and focus his emerging gifts – but I just didn’t love her personally. She was strong and independent but didn’t trust anybody and I can understand that given her life over the last few years. Still, she was much too headstrong and often put herself – and perhaps others – at risk. Even when she was presented with logical alternatives, she still went her own way without caring a whit about what her decisions did to others – particularly Gerard. So, I liked Iona – and I liked Iona and Gerard together – but I didn’t love Iona.

I can definitely recommend this book and this series. I hope you’ll give it a try and will love it as much as I did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Ghost and Miss Miranda by Jane Charles

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, Novella, Paranormal / Fantasy, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Ghost and Miss Miranda (Magic and Mayhem, #4)The Ghost and Miss Miranda by Jane Charles

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Magic and Mayhem, #4 (Previously published in Wicked Liaisons Anthology)

Release Date: March 16, 2021

When Wesley Claxton, Marquess of Epworth first met Miss Miranda Vail, he assumed she was a silly girl because she believed in ghosts, but in time he realized that he was wrong about her and the two formed a strong friendship, but Wesley longs for a deeper connection and has spent the last three years trying to court her without actually declaring his intentions. Finally, an opportunity to test the waters arrives when they both attend a wedding at Castle Keyvnor. He finds Miranda alone by a wishing well and when she makes her wish, she stumbles – he saves her and initiates a kiss. He is sure she returns his feelings and makes her promise to meet him later at the ball and asks her to save a waltz for him. But when she doesn’t show and her family makes lame excuses as to why, he assumes she was turned off by his kiss and decides they aren’t meant to be, so despite breaking his heart, he vows to stay away from her.

Three months later, Miranda still can’t understand why she hasn’t heard from Wesley. They shared a passionate kiss and she thought he might return her feelings – she was disappointed that her wish to meet a ghost at Keyvnor turned ugly and the ghost forced her to leave the castle grounds immediately under the threat of death. She knows Wesley doesn’t believe in ghosts, but the entity she encountered was pure evil and she knew if she didn’t leave, the ghost would kill her. Still, she hoped that he would call on her and give her a chance to explain, but he doesn’t and she believes that she was mistaken about his intentions. She vows she will forget him and tries to concentrate on her sister’s upcoming wedding.

Wesley still hasn’t gotten over Miranda but refuses to attend her sister’s wedding, that is until his father says he can’t go and his grandmother insists he goes in his father’s stead. He both dreads and longs to see Miranda again – but their reunion is marred by a shipwreck and the threat of revenge between their villages and his refusal to believe Miranda’s reason for not attending the ball. It appears that HEA is not in the cards for these two, despite being in love. But thanks to interfering relatives – both dead and alive, these two may get their HEA after all.

This was a well-written, nicely-paced story with a large helping of the supernatural. The book has ghosts, both benign and evil, witches, sea gods that need appeasing, heartache, a lot of miscommunication, erroneous assumptions, kissing, and a HEA with an epilogue that is both sad and sweet. Personally, I felt the lack of communication between Wesley and Miranda dragged on a little too long and got to be a bit tiresome, but it all works out in the end and overall I felt the story was very good, interesting, and a little bit spooky. This is the fourth book in the series and has ties to the Castle Keyvnor anthologies (it was also previously released in the Wicked Liaison Anthology) – but it can easily be read as a standalone title without issue.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*