Set in Edwardian England, this queer romantic fantasy follows Robin Blyth, who learns of the existence of magic and is placed under a curse over the course of one life-changing evening. Edwin Courcey steps in to whisk Robin away to a private estate where they can work together to break the spell.

This book blended all of my favorite things together: fantasy, historical romance, and queer joy. I really enjoyed following as Robin and Edwin grew closer to each other while working to break the spell, and I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

It was my first time listening to David Thorpe's narration, and I really enjoyed it.

The prose was beautiful and the idea was interesting. I also enjoyed Edwin a lot. Sadly it was quite slow for me and although the narrator is quite talented I just kept wandering while I listened…

Ok, I was NOT expecting this to be a spicy novel! Nothing in the synopsis prepared me for that, Freya Marske, you made me BLUSH at parts and be very thankful I was listening to this alone in my car.

A MARVELLOUS LIGHT takes readers to Edwardian England, but where there are people walking around who can secretly use magic. It does take a bit to understand what's going on in this world and who the players are, stick with it because I do think it pays off in the end. While I enjoyed the romance and the growing relationship between Robin and Edwin, I wish Marske gave more space on the pages to Robin's secretary Adelaide and her sister Kitty. Maybe those ladies will get more time in future books in this series, one can only hope.

Overall David Thorpe does a decent job with the audiobook narration, though I felt like there was not enough of a difference between his voices for Robin and Edwin so it did get a little confusing at times trying to figure out the POV of some chapters. Depending on the ethnicity of Thorpe, the Indian accent they do for Adelaide could be potentially problematic though.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! A promising start to a new series. The audio book itself was well narrated and a fun listen.

I have tried to start this audio many times and have given up. While I do like the narration the story is hard to follow. The humor is hit or miss and might not be for everyone. I found many parts of the story dragging.

The narrator did a great job with what was available.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this copy in exchange for an honest review. I just wish I was able to get into the story enough to see it to the end.

this story was funny and interesting but the writing fell flat at times. the audiobook narrator however, is truly wonderful.

I have tried to read this book on several occasions now, and I can't bring myself to get further than 50%. I think the humor of the storyline is really good, but that's really all this story has going for it. I don't find myself drawn to the characters or even care about what's happening. A shame.

DNF

I did not enjoy the narrator which prevented me from getting into the story. Still intrigued by the premise and willing to pick up this book physically though!

I am just all the way here for all the magic-fueled historical m/m mystery romances. Honestly, I cannot get enough of them. If you love The Magpie Lord or the Magic in Manhattan series, this will be right up your alley.

Due to a clerical error, Robin Blyth ends up with a job as the liaison for the magical society he never even knew existed. He is soon entrenched in the magical elite of Edwardian England and a world filled with magical contracts and fae conspiracies. Robin must lean on his magical liaison Edwin Courcey and together they must try to survive the mystery of what happened to Robin's predecessor and survive Robin's own family.

Sigh, I am just here for this book and hopefully soon-to-be off-the-charts series. I apparently have a niche in the book world and this just speaks to all my loves. First, I love the blustering, bumbling trying to catch up in a strange new world thing that Robin has going on. Second, I love that Edwin is not the strongest, best ever of the magical community and is working towards his skill in the practice of magic. I love underdogs and Robin and Edwin just really have that going for them.

The romance aspect is a fairly slow burn, as with most historical romances among men, they have to ease into their relationship, and really you couldn't be as open back then. But, that's not to say that the ahem... action parts aren't quite engaging, because they are quite delicious.

The magical world was pretty interesting and I really liked the author's methodology for spell creation and casting. Plus, I am just always down for magical/sentient houses. However, I felt most scenes were really heavy in descriptiveness, and that lead to sort of a lag in the action-adventure aspect of the story.

David Thorpe did a wonderful job as narrator. His character voices were distinct and I felt his pacing was pretty spot on.

I am absolutely on board with whatever comes for this series next. Definitely recommend for those, like me, who love magical mystery historical gay romances!!!

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

An absolutely marvelous book (pun intended). I had a hard time following along with the audiobook because I tend to multi-task and kept losing track of which lead was speaking. I ended up buying the hardcover when it came out. I absolutely recommend it to those who like alternative history, fantasy or romance

4 stars

Mazes & magical hedges! Grumpy civil servants! A magical curse! This is a really fun adventure story with a heartwarming romance. I look forward to book two!

[What I liked:]

•The magical system is pretty interesting, & well developed as part of the world building. It’s cool how spells are built in phrases, sort of like there’s a grammar or mathematical formula you can apply to mix & match & create new elements. It’s also interesting how the blood connection to land magic works, all the curse/foresight/tongue binding stuff, etc. Ooh, & plant magic! There is much to explore in future books!

•The plot is decently full of twists, spanners in the works, creative solutions to problems, & narrative tension. This book strikes a good balance between resolving the main conflicts by the end while also opening up longer term problems to pursue in the next book.

•Robin & Edwin have a very convincing romantic & personal connection. They both get to grow as people over the course of the story, are vulnerable with one another, own up to mistakes & try better, & seem to really care for one another. Plus, they have some cute/snarky dialogue moments.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•Some of the side characters (particularly Robin’s sister & Edwin’s older brother) felt a bit one dimensional. Hopefully that will be remedied in book two, since I expect both will show up again.

•Some of the dialogue is a bit awkward or on the nose. It isn’t terrible, but there is room for improvement.

CW: sexism, homophobia, murder, physical violence, racism, torture

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I hadn't listened to it. I did not care for the audiobook narrator. The voices he chose for the women in the story were strange choices to make and really took me out of it. The story itself was interesting and I eventually started to like the romance but initially I thought Edwin was being a jerk to Robin. I was really worried that it was going to be hard for me to like Edwin. He eventually turned it around. I will say that I am not a fan of the time period chosen for this story but I am not usually a fan of historical fiction so that's probably why I did not like the time period.

This was a such a cool magic system and I adored how even at the end we don't find out that suddenly our main characters have all the magic in the world. I also appreciated the relationships in this book, from the budding romance to the family dynamics from the ostracized members perspective.

This one was, in a word, boring. Too much "comedy of manners" and not enough brilliant, intricate magic. Both Robin and Edwin are rather boring characters, and while we start with them in an interesting situation, we are so often distracted from the actual plot (curses! attempted murder! mysterious magical artifacts!) with what felt to me like unimportant nonsense.

The descriptions were lavish and I appreciated how we got to see the tiniest pictures of how differently magic looks for the upper class (ie Edwin's family playing practical jokes and getting up to mischief) versus the lower classes (ie maids healing cuts and lighting fires and mending clothes), but they were tiny and other than some very vague explanations, we have no idea how magic works, how one learns it, what kind of specialties there are, or even what it looks like outside of England.

And we are supposed to be chasing this artifact (or artifacts?) without knowing what it does, who wants it, and what it means. We were taking the magnifying glass to what felt to me like all the wrong things.

I am a huge fan of the magical house trope and this book did not disappoint! I would call this a top tier historical romantic fantasy. It’s gorgeously written, fun and has a good amount of steamy romance that I enjoyed.

Even though in my opinion this book does start out slow and the first part was hard for me to get into, it definitely picks up and the story that we are given is rich. Everything from characters to plot had me captivated. I would recommend this to my customers without a doubt and have even purchased it for a few friends who I know will love it.

I received this as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me access.

I have a love/hate relationship with this book. Let me break it down.

LOVE:
- The storyline
- The characters
- The cover
- The smut
- Queer representation

HATE:
- The word c*ck being used as a descriptive word every other word in ever sex scene.

I am all for queer smut, but please for the love of all things, use more than one word to describe the male appendage. This just turned me away from it and ruined the story for me. Hopefully the next book uses more adjectives, otherwise I won't be able to continue.

I guess I should have realized that this book was going to seem so "historical" and such fantasy but I didn't, so it took me a little while to realize what I was in for and get comfortable but I really enjoyed this book. I"d caution anyone about the high "steam" level before I recommended it to them, but overall I found it to be slightly out of my comfort zone but very enjoyable. There is something that feels a little reserved though... definitely not the actual steam in the book, but maybe its just the overall historical feeling of it that kept me from feeling extremely connected to the characters. Would love to read about Robin's sister in her own book.

Thank you to NetGalley for your ARC of this book

Set in an alternate magical, historical England this was a bit adventure, a bit romance, and overall lovely.
I really enjoying the magical system, it was not something I had read before and was explained well. I could practically picture the Edwin using his string to conjure with. World building was well done also, I had a good sense of how magic fit into the "regular" world without feeling like it was dumped on my in few over wrought pages of packed information.
Narrator was good overall, but there could have been a little more distinction between main characters, as the action switched between them

I did wish that some of the minor female characters were explored a little more- Adelaide and her sister especially could fill a whole book with their own adventures I think!

I bounced off of this book and could not get into the story, unfortunately. The premise really intrigued me, but I had difficulty staying invested in the proceedings. I found the narration to be a bit stilted and that may have contributed to my difficulty with this one.

A sexy, thrilling yet funny paranormal (essentially). This is like KJ Charles with Susanna Clarke. The homoeroticism comes hard and fast (pun intended). I loved the humor, but found the violence a little too much to be honest. I would recommend this to fans of gay romance.