Reviews

Spells and Sensibility by K.S. Murphy, K.L. Noone

inadequacyinabucket's review

emotional lighthearted mysterious 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

4.5

A lovely little spicy gay romance between a librarian with realistically-represented OCD and penchant for being dominant in bed and a golden retriever ex-soldier with PTSD who wants nothing more than to be told how good a boy he is.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, and Blood

Moderate: Violence, Murder, War, Death, Grief, Gore, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol

sabrina7's review

emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.0

meghanreadsmm's review

3.0

I liked this story and basic components but... The characters have a LOT of internal dialog, much of it about each other. I find too much of it boring. More world & magic development, more interactions with other characters would help.

daniellesalwaysreading's review

3.0

It could have been a bit shorter, but I will happily read more with these characters or in this universe.

craftyhilary's review

emotional funny hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

This was an incredibly sweet story. It spends at least as much time on the growing bond between a strong-willed librarian and a wounded former soldier as it does on the magical mysteries they must face together. These two are so clever and kind and tender. I'm very much looking forward to the sequel.

hamalee's review

1.0

I usually like meandering character studies, but this was just... repetitive inner monologue after repetitive inner monologue. I like both the characters, but there was no room to tell an actual *story* here because of all the repetitive monologues. An editor slashing at least a third of this with a red pen would tighten it all up to create some actual relationship development and then there'd be room for plot advancement too.

ofliterarynature's review

4.0

3.5 stars

Very charming as-is, but I admit there’s a part of me that really wants the slow-burn version where the romance is the secondary plot because oh man is the magic stuff fascinating? Please tell me more? Also the great joy of period fiction is the politeness and manners and slowly growing intimacy, which this just jumps straight over. I’m incredibly intrigued by the authors’ note saying this is to be the first in a trilogy, so I think I’ll have to keep my eyes out.

rachalgarcia1's review

lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

nnof's review

3.0

This was pretty great with good tension crippled with a horrible ending. Why couldn’t this have ended with Henry learning to use his magic again and start recovering from the war? Why did this have to start a bunch of conspiracy nonsense against the college? It already laid great groundwork in the potential of Theo meeting Henry’s family (which was horribly rushed and made no sense) and Henry finding his place in the world again.

This should have been a self-contained story with a HFN ending. Instead we get this massive conspiracy looming over the ending to spin up a new trilogy. After finishing this, I just feel cheated.

books_songs_tea's review

emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5