A review by cupiscent
Mage Heart by Jane Routley

3.0

I'm quite ambivalent about this book. There's plenty about it that I enjoyed egregiously - the "women's politics" court-and-courtesan setting and trappings are precisely my cup of tea, and I loved loved loved Kitten Avignon, who was a complex and intriguing and charismatic lady of business (with a sword, but without the ability to read and write). But I find myself less-than-whelmed with the of-the-Book nature of the religious system, and especially the demons (and I'm not really sure why; this is something I'm quizzing myself on but it seems more subjective than objective, so let's not call that a fault with the book but rather with me). And an unfortunately large percentage of the second half of the book is given over to our heroine resisting the heavily-pressed suit of Virile Sexyman - which has significant story-importance, but was sadly quite tedious to read, especially since he was unpleasant for reasons both of his non-book context (he's quite a '90s love interest) and his behaviour (enough grab-assery, mister). I would note that the heroine's power caused an occasional nose-wrinkle, but overall worked pretty well in the story for me.

So, I really don't know. I feel like this might fit in nicely with those who enjoyed Anne Bishop's Black Jewels, or Kushiel's wossnames - it's very heavy on the magic/desire linkages, especially through sensuality and worldliness - and I found it more fun to read than I did either of those series.