SUCH A DELIGHT.

And a great way to kick off reading for this holiday season since it's not about Christmas at all, but set around it with snow.

Cassandra was resourceful, stubborn and clever in her thoughts and words. I did side eye the miscommunication element between her and her ex-fiance, but Wrexham being utterly open about his feelings on the matter helped.

I do wish we learned a bit more about him - serious minded, driven, stubborn, intelligent, hard working...we saw much of this on display, but for the life of me I can't remember a single hobby or leisure activity he enjoyed? Or how he proposed to Cassandra? We're thrown into the middle of their history together with a lot of lamentations and 'just don't understand why' conversations.

Otherwise I quite enjoyed the secondary characters, as much as this was Cassandra's book, they had lives and histories and lessons to learn as well. The good natured teasing from her older brother and his wife, the way too candid Mr. Samson and the convinction of Miss Bell to fight for a brilliant future for her and her girlfriend...it was all engaging.

I wonder though if Cassandra will be quite so eager to make rash promises in the future... ( )

A winter storm, a stormy romance, and unwise bargains with the fae. This was a delightful and magical story and I'm looking forwards to the rest of the series! ( )

I was attracted to this one because of the reversed roles of men and women in an alternative Regency England, but it turned out the characters and magic appealed to me more. I liked Cassandra’s first person narration as a strong but flawed woman, dealing with loss caused pretty much entirely by her own pride. She’s paying dearly for a terrible mistake in judgment, and I like how she comes to terms with the fallout.
In the first Burgis book I read, I thought the plot was better than the characterization. In this one, I thought the characters, especially Cassandra, were the strongest part of the book. I enjoyed the magic too, especially how it was used during the unnatural winter storm. I was pleased all Cassandra’s problems weren’t solved and tied up with a ribbon at the end, and that she found a way forward to a different version of a happy, fulfilling life.
The role reversal thing wasn’t convincing to me. Even though the men aren’t the governmental power, and they’re the ones who need to be on their guard for compromising situations, they still held a great deal of power where magic was concerned, and one the central conflicts was still women trying to break into a vocation accepted by society as one for men. So that wasn’t as fun or as much of a revelation as I thought it would be.
I did really like where things were going concerning Cassandra and the magic school by the end of the book, and I’m very curious about the side characters’ stories, so I am probably destined to buy the whole series. ( )

I loved how much was packed into this novella: a heroine whose ambition caused her to be reckless and lose her magic, an angsty love with her long-time beau, imminent danger from a nasty elf lord… The world was charming, and I loved how the heroine outsmarted the bad guy. ( )

I normally hate Regency-style novels, and I'm not very fond of romances. I have hated many books that I am pretty sure are supposed to be better than this (the list of shame includes Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, the Parasol Protectorate, Servant of the Crown, and Sorcerer to the Crown, just to give an idea of how widespread my distaste is).

The modern writing style is definitely a factor in this enjoyment, and so was mixing up where prejudices lie. I really appreciated that Burgis didn't eliminate all prejudice and make the world completely anemic.

The romance was super cute, I liked that I could be invested and not be concerned for the long-term mental or physical health of either character. Except for them both being a bit fatalistic, but that's the only way to make their lack of communication work out, I think.


Anyway, I finished and mostly liked this! Take this as praise or condemnation as necessary! ( )