First book in a fascinating new romantic historical fantasy series set in Edwardian England (Downton Abbey times)! Perfect for fans of KJ Charles, CJ Polk, and adult readers of Mackenzi Lee. There's room for discussion about whether this is a fantasy with a strong romance subplot or a romance in a beautifully realized historical fantasy setting, but in truth it's a perfect blend — satisfying amounts of fascinating magic, gorgeous historical detail, and steamy romance. And when all of those elements come together in one scene — oof. *fans oneself with William Morris wallpaper sampler*

As his name suggests, Robin Blyth is a relatively carefree charmer who has suddenly had a world of care dropped in his lap: his glitterati parents have died and left him with the responsibilities of a title, estate, and younger sister; and through mild malice and administrative error, his new civil service position has thrown him into working with an element of society he didn't know existed — one with actual magic.

Bookish Edwin Courcey was born into magic, but not born with enough of it to matter. He has learned not to react to the pain of this position, but he can certainly indulge in annoyance. To add inconvenience to this life of insult and injury, his new liaison in nonmagical society is apparently a know-nothing mistake. But what happened to the previous liaison and if Sir Blyth is a know-nothing then why did someone bother to threaten his life with an excruciating and lethal curse?

Something is afoot and our ill-matched pair of civil servants from opposite sides of the magical divide will have to work together to figure it out. 

With beautiful writing and character development and clever worldbuilding, this tropetastic adventure (see below) still feels fresh and intriguing. The system of magic is based on the familiar (cat's cradle string game) and the fae (magic entered world as a contract with the departing Fae), and the peril is high stakes on both a personal and society level. I've heard that subsequent books in the series will follow different main characters while we sort out this magical mystery mess, which is fine (there are some great characters set up for further development) but I'd also be along for the ride if it continued to keep Robin and Edwin at the center. They are opposites-attract GOLD. 

Here's some of the superb historical/fantasy/romance catnip! 
Historical-fiction tropes: House party shenanigans! Upper-class bullies! City life/country life! Era of suffragettes! Impoverished title inheritance! Overlooked, marginalized members of society have strength/perspectives/pivotal roles! 
World-of-magic tropes: A deadly hedge maze! A sentient magic-imbued house! A curse tattoo! Magic world bureaucracy! A magic-enhanced two-story library! Faceless adversaries! Blood oaths! Magic house party games! Hidden objects of power!
World-of-romance tropes: Forbidden love! Opposites attract! Athlete/scholar grumpy/sunshine pairing! Waist coats and forearms! Hurt/comfort! Secret yearning! Men loving men! Workplace meet cute! Sensory enhanced foreplay!

Topics and themes explored: power, love, consent, magic, haves and have nots, social responsibility, inheritance, contracts, curses, conspiracies, civil servants, mystery, quest, introversion/extraversion 

Content notes and warnings: death, fantasy violence/torture for information, knife threat, mind control/nonconsensual behavior-changing magic, blood magic/blood oaths (briefly described), near-drowning, explicit sex scenes, family bullying and abuse, Edwardian era sexism and bigotry