Snowspelled

Pros: interesting politics and worldbuilding, fun romance

Cons:

Cassandra's first social event after losing her ability to work magic and breaking up with her fiance starts off poorly. A carriage of ladies has been stopped by trolls and forced to walk in the snow, getting lost. While helping look for them, Cassandra's ex shows up just as she wakes another troll and makes an unfortunate promise. Now she has a week to find out who's cast an impossible weather spell or be imprisoned by an angry elf lord.

This is a fun novella with romance and fantasy elements. The setting is an England where Queen Boudicca ran off the Romans and her descendants made a peace pact after warring with the elves. Politics is a woman's game, and the pact demands rituals be performed perfectly.

Cassandra was the first female magic practitioner, but after a mysterious event, she can no longer use magic. She's a headstrong character that you can't help but sympathize with, who learns a few lessons about her own privilege even as her life hasn't turned out as she planned.

The romance is fun and engaging.

Magic is sparingly used, but interesting when it comes up.

This is the start of a series but can be read as a standalone.

I enjoyed reading this and plan to continue reading the series.

Snowspelled is delightful, lighthearted romantic fantasy set in an alternate version of England in which Boudicca's rebellion against the Romans succeeded, leading to a tradition of matriarchal rule. While only women handle politics, magic is considered the domain of men. However, Cassandra Harwood has always dreamed of being a magician and becomes the first woman to enter this male-dominated sphere–until an incident leaves her unable to cast the simplest spell without risking her life.

This novella picks up four months after this occurred and follows Cassandra as she contends with her loss, a devious elf-lord, and the ex-fiance she believed to be better off without her. Though Cassandra's devastation is palpable, it still remains a fairly light, optimistic novel since a lot of the focus is on moving forward and societal progression (and this is further enhanced by fun dialogue and a great romance!). It's a little too straightforward and predictable to be a book that sticks with me despite admiring the author's ability (thus the 3 1/2 star rating), but I still found it very enjoyable: the perfect match when in the mood for a fairly short, diverting, engaging tale.

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