Reviews

Breeze Spells and Bridegrooms by S.O. Callahan, Sarah Wallace

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spetestar's review

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lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

cloreadsbooks1364's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

THIS BOOK! How could it be so sweet! Every single chapter was so heartwarming and I never wanted to stop reading it, it could've gone on forever! It was just so amazing, please read it if you like cozy historical mlm fantasies!

Breeze Spells and Bridegrooms
By Sarah Wallace and S.O. Callahan
5/5⭐️

This book features two protagonists, Roger (30) a human, and Wyndham (29) a fae. When they are 12, every child is tested on magical ability and given a score which determines their marriage prospects and whether they inherit from their parents over their siblings. Roger has a solution to this, and the Council partner him with a fae, Wyndham. They are shocked as they hate each other, but after a paper publishes an announcement that the two are engaged, they start to fall in love.

Roger was a hardworking character who loves having a challenge to set his mind to. He was awkward, anxious, dependable, caring, and altogether just so lovable as a protagonist. He was also a plus-sized character, and I hope that plus-sized folks found him to be good representation.
Wyndham was hardworking too, sarcastic and curious. He had a strong fashion sense, and I loved how he kept urging Roger to change his wardrobe. He quickly lost energy in social situations, and I loved how Roger so quickly became supportive and noticed when he needed a break. (The authors have confirmed that Wyn has social anxiety disorder.)
The slow-burn romance between the pair was incredibly adorable, and I was beyond delighted to find no dreaded third-act breakup.

In the world of the book, fae had magic inside them while humans used sigils drawn on spell-paper. Roger and Wyn experimented with many aspects of the magic together, and I found those scenes very gripping.

Possibly my favourite thing about this book was the Queernormative society, where people of all sexualities and genders were accepted.
This was a historical fiction book, set in 1800s England.

So I guess you could say I liked this book.... I LOVED IT! Highly recommend it, can't wait to see what Wallace and Callahan write next!

Queer rep:
Queernormative society
Pan demisexual mc (Roger)
Gay mc (Wyn)
Achillean characters
Sapphic characters
Non-binary characters

TWs: bullying, sexusl content, classism, cursing, emotional abuse, gaslighting

Content Warnings

k_a_r_e_n_b's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

shksprsis's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is so sweet and romantic. I wasn’t sure I could be convinced that Wyn deserved Roger, but the authors show such an innate understanding of how being with the right person makes us better, that I fell in love with both of them.

The world building is so smart, similar to the Meddle and Mend books, and the descriptions of how a one size fits all test is horrifically unfair to anyone who doesn’t fit a particular mold was perfect. AND when Wyn describes how hard it is to be among people when he has to control his magic and emotions at the same time? It hit home so hard.

bea__reads's review against another edition

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3.0

I really liked Roger a lot. I wish there was more just about Roger studying and working with magic! So much went into crafting these really cool magic systems and I enjoyed those parts the most.

We start off with the idea that Fae and Humans seem to dislike each other, or are at least very segregated. There's a lot of stereotyping between them and it's really not addressed?

Wyn and Roger getting married is supposed to "help" with relations between humans and fae, but it's very much a systemic issue within this society.

Then we find out that they all take a very limited test at age 13 that defines their prospects for the entire rest of their lives. Wyn and especially Roger didn't score well enough to have important roles in society, but somehow are tasked with reinventing the entire testing system on their own.

It constantly felt like Roger was being belittled throughout this book and the constant teasing in regards to sexual and romantic matters made me upset for him, considering he is demi. Wyn was nasty to him from the start and this really was not addressed well enough for me.

I couldn't get into the romance because it just went from 0 to 100 all of a sudden with no acknowledgement of past animosity. Roger seemed to have put Wyn on a pedestal. There was also some pretty consistent application of gender roles to Roger and Wyn that I won't go into, but it really took away from the queernormative setup of this society to still see these roles so strictly adhered to.

Content Warnings

lazareen's review

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thegreatmanda's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is Bridgerton, if the enemies-to-lovers begin their story writing barely-anonymous letters complaining about each other to Lady Whistledown.

It was tough to picture this pair coming to appreciate each other until they started working together in earnest. It was gratifying to see them each start to understand the way the other man thinks, having spent their young lives looking askance at and avoiding one another. Wyn, especially, starts out with an awful attitude that turns out to be a cover for his bone-deep sense of inadequacy. His gradual realization that it’s safe to be fully himself (maybe for the first time in his life) with Roger felt like getting a long hug from a friend.

I was so invested in their delicate, burgeoning friendship that

I felt like crying over both of their hurts when Sage Ravenwing stuck his nose in and threw his emotional punches, and then I felt like crying from relief as Wyn and Roger got through it and moved on

. In general, I like my romance with more/earlier “spice” than this, but the two of them are so sweet and charming as they get to know each other and fall in love that I didn’t feel like anything was missing. The way they come to rely on and care for one another is such an appropriate, organic response to the events of their lives, and it was joyfully rewarding to read.

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