Time to move along with my finalists after a very busy couple of weeks!
Miss Audrey Clune longs to be Robin Renegade, the fearless heroine from the old adventure stories. In real life, however, her choices are rather limited. Before accepting a sudden proposal from the man of her grandmother’s choosing, Audrey sets out on one last journey to visit her beloved aunt. But when her carriage is ambushed by two mysterious highwaymen, she embraces a novel world of industry and magic with opportunity for adventure far greater than she imagined.
As both Audrey and Art playact different roles in society, the “honest truth” is a precious commodity, especially when dangerous secrets come to light and power has terrible consequences.
Of Mages and Makers is the story of Arthur Keays, who is more than he appears to be. Art would love everyone to think that he is an utterly useless aristocrat, when the truth is that he is anything but. As the other main character, Audrey Clune comes on the scene, you can instantly feel a connection between the two. Before Audrey agrees to marry the man that her strict grandmother wants here to, it is time for Audrey to have one last adventure as the Robin Renegade she has always dreamed of being. Someone has stolen no only the blueprints for Art’s sister’s ingenious make, they’ve stolen the whole sister as well, and it is up to Art and Audrey to save her!
I enjoyed this one a lot. It definitely felt like a cozy mystery with fantasy elements included. It’s a bit gaslamp, or a bit steampunk (or both really, as they are adjacent). There is just enough romance that it satisfied the romance reader in me, but not so much that the romance subplot overshadowed the rest of the story and the mystery elements of it.
The mystery was suitably mysterious throughout the story, and while my inklings were more or less correct, the way that the mystery resolved was presented in a way that I didn’t expect, which honestly, is usually more than enough for me.
The worldbuilding was well done. I thought that this world of steampunk inventions and magical shenanigans that combined itself with a bit of fantasy of manners-esque world of the intricacies of social etiquette was easy for me to imagine and immerse myself in.
All told, I had 8/10 stars of fun with Of Mages and Makers. I hope that I can one day read the next book in the series, which I believe is based around the aforementioned ingenious sister.
Goodreads
Amazon
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