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annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
When people ask me about auto-buy authors, I always name the same ones. However, I should really be thinking about adding Roberts to that list. As soon as Bookspout lets me know that there is an ARC available, I click download. I don't read blurbs, I don't care about deadlines. I'll just make time! And today I didn't really feel like reading much after dinner, so I needed a quick and short read and all of a sudden I remembered I had this book on my iPad.
And what a lovely short story is this then! The atmosphere in this story is absolutely perfect and in a way also hilarious. Without info dumping or over-explaining Roberts manages to show us a lot of this society, its customs, its rules and the things that seem to be really important to those people. And even though there is an entire new world full of magic introduced to us, we have to discover the rules and what's what through observation. I love it.
On top of that there was quite a nice plot that helped demonstrate this world and its magic. Although it's only a short story, I never had the feeling that the plot moved too fast or that too much was crammed into too few pages. I quite enjoyed the pacing of the story. It skipped the parts that were not important or simply more of the same, but it took its time to show us the parts that were quite influential on our characters or our world.
Speaking of those characters. They were without a doubt my favorite part of this story. Of course, I haven't seen too much of each character and yet I already like how unique and different they all are. On top of that I already start to get quite attached to them. Especially our main heroine and the guy who might have captured her heart are quite enchanting and easy to like. Mostly because they are not simply following the rules, but are willing to challenge them when needed.
I would really love to see more of these awesome characters in this awesome world in the future!
And what a lovely short story is this then! The atmosphere in this story is absolutely perfect and in a way also hilarious. Without info dumping or over-explaining Roberts manages to show us a lot of this society, its customs, its rules and the things that seem to be really important to those people. And even though there is an entire new world full of magic introduced to us, we have to discover the rules and what's what through observation. I love it.
On top of that there was quite a nice plot that helped demonstrate this world and its magic. Although it's only a short story, I never had the feeling that the plot moved too fast or that too much was crammed into too few pages. I quite enjoyed the pacing of the story. It skipped the parts that were not important or simply more of the same, but it took its time to show us the parts that were quite influential on our characters or our world.
Speaking of those characters. They were without a doubt my favorite part of this story. Of course, I haven't seen too much of each character and yet I already like how unique and different they all are. On top of that I already start to get quite attached to them. Especially our main heroine and the guy who might have captured her heart are quite enchanting and easy to like. Mostly because they are not simply following the rules, but are willing to challenge them when needed.
I would really love to see more of these awesome characters in this awesome world in the future!
frysling's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
terapsina's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.75
violinknitter's review against another edition
5.0
This was utterly delightful! Somehow, even though I’ve listened to Tansy for years on the Verity podcast, I’d completely missed that she’s a writer as well. (Don’t ask me how, I’m dense like that.)
Anyway, this novelette regency romance romp with magic and possible Roman gods was completely my cup of tea!
Anyway, this novelette regency romance romp with magic and possible Roman gods was completely my cup of tea!
annerollins's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
halcyon_nights's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
frogie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was such a fun read! The plot itself was fairly straightforward but had an almost quirky, even frivolous level to it that kept it fresh and sometimes funny. The 'soft' magic system gave me a lot of questions but it never distracted me from the plot. The writing style was great; it was so easy to get hooked into the story. I do wish it was a bit longer so that the romance could have had a better chance to develop but I'm not dissatisfied with the note it reached by the end of the story. Guess I'll just have to read the sequel to find out where it goes from here!
cloodnook's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5