Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House Book 1)

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To summarize, Keeper of Enchanted Rooms is a dark, cozy read without being twisted or scary. Owein is adorable, so that’s a plus. While some elements of magic have been handled with care, a few seem to be left without much attention. Also, the villain needs a better arc. There is potential to make him dangerous (not just physically), but that’s what we get.

Magic is an inherent part of the plot and a common phenomenon. Those who don’t have it also know about it (and, in fact, study it at school). In a Nutshell: A lovely continuation to the Whimbrel House series. While not as creepy as Book One, this sequel was still enjoyable, though it took me a while to get into the plot this time around. Merritt wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but the mention of a house had him distracted. “I’ve never heard of it. A real house?” Despite his ever-growing curiosity, Merritt did not spend the extra money to take the kinetic tram out to Rhode Island; he took a train, a wagon, and then a boat. By the time he crossed a good portion of the Narragansett Bay and reached Blaugdone Island, he understood why no one had bothered to live there. It was vastly out of the way. There was something uncomfortable yet incredibly appealing about how out of the way it was.This book is supposed to take place in the early to mid 19th century. Other than seeing the word ‘pianoforte’ once, you’d never know it. The magical world she is building is really interesting and I appreciate the fact she’s trying to include a clean romance aspect too, bc we probably don’t have enough of those, and mixed with magic — I think that’s cool, perhaps a bit unique.

She tugged a few times before the latch gave and the door swung in, and then she returned the crowbar to her bag. Reading about the house’s antics and trying to figure out its intentions regarding its new inhabitants is delightful. Merritt and Hulda are likable characters as both have experienced betrayal and now wonder if they ever will find a family of their own. However, Hulda is at Whimbrel House as the temporary housekeeper, and she is quite conscious of her status as a sort of employee, although technically she is employed by BIKER. So the attraction between them builds slowly. I’ve been reading Andrew Taylor this summer. That could be part of the problem (but definitely not all of it). He really writes HF well. Really well. You feel like you’ve completely slipped into a time warp when you read him. And he writes in many different eras! Of course, they’re realistic and not sci-fi but you know what I mean. As the author explores two completely dissimilar people in two utterly dissimilar places, the writing may initially seem a little muddled and disconnected. however, you don't want to put it down once the action truly gets going. The events that followed will stir your curiosity. The earth was moist beneath his shoes, the local plant life wild and untouched. He recognized some of it: weeping cherries, golden aster, autumn olive. He thought he smelled chrysanthemums as well, which had the effect of relaxing his shoulders. He hadn’t realized they’d been tense. Crouching, he pinched some soil between his fingers. It looked rich; if he started a garden now, he might be able to wheedle some garlic, onions, and carrots out of it before the frost hit.

Heir of Uncertain Magic

Things get messy and complicated as couple of the year, Hulda and Merritt digging the past and look for Myra. Someone is/or are using illegal magic! I worried about Merritt and Hulda and their naivety. Even once they had discerned that shadiness was afoot at Biker, they, especially Hulda, just goes about her business there, with less care for her safety than I would like. Yes, she wants the director's job at Biker but magic is a real thing in this world and it seems you can never trust what you think is going on when there could be someone around you manipulating emotions, senses, everything. In the end, almost everyone needs saving. What have you done, Myra? Hulda wants to trust her friend/former boss but she and her friends may be paying for Myra's misdeeds. When I say this story is confusing, it makes sense because confusion is one of the spells that get used in this story. Thank you, Anita,” he murmured, reaching out and touching the wall. There was a portrait there of a British woman, though nothing else to denote who she might have been. She seemed to look at him, wondering about the transition of ownership just as much as he did.

Hulda: Hulda, on the other hand, seemed to regress in this book. I loved her and her professionalism in the first book. But in this one it seemed like she could hardly even function on her own. Without Myra, she almost fell apart. It didn't seem plausible for the women we met in book one to be rendered so powerless without her boss.His stomach plummeted. “You were dismissed?” No wonder he was so drunk. Both of Silas’s parents were members of the King’s League of Magicians. They’d practically been groomed for it from birth. He shrugged. “I’m not one for superstition, Mr. Fernsby, but it does state here that the previous tenant claimed the place was haunted.”