A review by caitibeth
The Mystic Marriage by Heather Rose Jones

5.0

Alchemist Antunient Challizen has one burning goal in life: to restore the honor of her family name after the treason of her brother and the suicide of her mother left her all alone in the world. Yet she has no resources, and a personality which most of the world finds difficult to like. How will she accomplish her great work, and is there a hope for her to find happiness along the way?

This is a great continuation of the series, using secondary characters from the first book and giving them their own story. Antuniet is a brilliant character, a difficult genius of the type that is rarely given a female form in fiction. Absolutely dedicated to her work, yet she might find that she has a heart after all...

I continue to greatly enjoy the imaginative worldbuilding and the richly-detailed fictional kingdom of Alpennia.

Also, despite being Antunient and Jeanne's tale, the novel also has plenty of Margerit and Barbara from the first book. :)