Cozy Fantasy of Manners on the Continent

The Grand Tour by Patricia C. Wrede
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the first book, and I think I liked this one a bit more.

Like the first, this is told through letters, but also through diary entries and some other writings. It works quite well; a few scenes are told through multiple points of view, and I liked seeing the action that way.

I like Cece and Kate, but I have to admit that, two books in, I still mix up their husbands. I almost need to draw myself some pictures or get action figures to help me differentiate the guys. They might almost be Man 1 and Man 2. But that's not too central to my enjoyment in reading this, as it's the female characters who are most interesting and narrate the story.

I like the mix of manners and action. The mystery and even violence have a gentler feel, more of a cozy mystery sensibility. There are real stakes (as there are in cozy mysteries), but I don't get too agitated. It's chill, a pleasant read, and suitable for just before bedtime. (Am I the only one who won't read some genres other than horror before going to sleep? Also, I don't want to work so hard...) I like the way characters sit down to breakfast to have toast and talk about the day and then go do magic and fight off highwaymen.

Jane Austen meets Sir Walter Scott, sorta.

Which is perfect for me.

Recommended if you like your action with ☕ and antiquities.

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A Cozy Regency Romance Fantasy Action Adventure. Epistolary.

Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've had the sequel to this novel for a long time and finally tracked down this first book so I could read them. Glad I did.

Set in a magical 19th Century England soon after the Napoleonic wars, this is a fun novel that came out of a really cool process--two authors writing letters back and forth in character. Apparently it started as a game that became a novel. :)

I don't usually have the patience for epistolary novels, but this worked for me. It tells an interesting story with plenty of pace (in the football sense), intrigue, and action, and I liked the main characters. Though it has the lightness of a Regency romance throughout most of the story (which I consider a good thing, to be clear), the mystery elements and magical awakenings of the main characters spice it up considerably, and the life-or-death stakes gives it enough weight that it feels quite substantial by the end. To me, anyway.

Nicely done and fair play to both authors.

I'll admit that there was one sticking point for me: I lost track of and confused several characters and their relationships right up to the end ("Wait--that's his aunt?" and "How did they meet again?"). I wish some of that had been clearer to me. The two pretty girls and the two clever boys remained a jumble in my head until near the end, though I just plowed ahead hoping it would become clearer. Probably my fault, of course, but I coulda used some more help from the story.

That said--overall, lots of fun, plenty to see, and I'm going straight on to the sequel. Recommended for fantasy readers who also like Jane Austen or the like. Marketed as YA, which is fine, but I feel that it has much broader appeal.

YMMV.



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