Spellmaker

After uncovering Lily Merton, the master spellmaker who manipulated their actions, Elsie Camden and Bacchus Kelsey now have to find and expose her to the larger magical community in England. Elsie is a highly skilled spellbreaker, but an unregistered one; once exposed, she is jailed. Bacchus works quickly to get her released, but in order to provide credibility to the story he tells to get her out, Elsie must be trained as if she knows nothing about spell-breaking--and they must get married. Although they have grown close and are attached to one another, they skipped a few steps by getting engaged in such a way. As if exposing the evildoer wasn't stressful enough, now they have to plan a wedding. Additionally, Lily wants the talented Elsie working for her. Lily will use her skills, both magic and otherwise, to lure Elsie to her side. The romance between Elsie and Bacchus, combined with the fantasy of magic and good fighting evil, will appeal to fans of the previous Spellbreaker novel (Spellbreaker, 2020) and to fans of Naomi Novik or Katherine Arden's Winternight trilogy.

Holmberg concludes her Spellbreaker duology (after Spellbreaker) with this immersive but rushed gaslamp fantasy set in 1895 England. Unlicensed spellbreaker Elsie Camden is still reeling from the discovery that "cheery old" Lily Merton is the mastermind behind a recent rash of wizard murders when Merton tips off the authorities to Elsie's unlawful use of magic, leading to Elsie's arrest. To get her out of jail, Elsie's lover, the well-connected Bacchus Kelsey, pleads her case to the magistrate, convincing him that a wedding is in the works to prove his validity as a character witness. Released, Elsie must juggle preparations for her unplanned wedding with her search for Merton, who won't stop murdering wizards until she obtains a powerful spell. Though the magic system is as imaginative and well-defined as ever, the plot feels overstuffed, with Elsie's wedding taking time away from the central mystery on the way to a climax that strains credulity. Series fans will be pleased to return to Elsie's world, but will long for more magical action. Agent: Marlene Stringer, the Stringer Literary Agency. (Mar.)