Review: Spellmaker

Spellmaker by Charlie N. Holmberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A strong continuation of the enjoyable first book (it's definitely a continuation, too, with minimal "previously-on"; don't start here). The romance is clean, sweet, and involves two likeable people. The mystery... progress on it stalls for a while, and when it restarts it's helped along by a slight bit of coincidence (or authorial meddling), and the team gain a new ally or two in a way that I felt was too easy and convenient. But I've seen it done a lot worse, and mostly the plot progresses through protagonism. There are some suspenseful scenes, and the climactic confrontation shows the heroine at her best, capable and intelligent.

The author really doesn't have that strong a grasp on the Victorian era, particularly class and gender relations; it's something I've noted before about her other books. But if you can overlook that, these are enjoyable stories, well written, well edited, with sound structure and a positive feel to them.

I received a copy from Netgalley for review.

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