A perfect conclusion to a wonderful saga.
How I loved them both! Together and as individuals. Wesley all grumpy and stuffy but full of love and Sebastian so sweet.
It was sad to see Sebastian without his magic but at least he had Wesley with him along the way. I really enjoyed them trying to find solutions to the situation and persevering until the end. It was lovely to see the characters from the previous books making appearances too.

Heat Factor: There’s plenty of time to get busy, even when they’ve got to keep it under the radar and solve a mystery
Character Chemistry: I can’t stand how much I love their dynamic. “How dare you make me feel things!” “You’re the sweetest grumpy man. 😍” Ugh, feed it to me with a serving spoon.
Plot: Someone is trying to destroy magic, and our favorite band of magic defenders can’t let that happen.
Overall: I think this seals Allie Therin as an “obviously I’m going to read that” author for me.

The short version is this: I loved the adventure with a robust cast of supporting characters, and the way Therin writes burgeoning feelings hits me right every time. In this trilogy especially, the way Wesley deals with his discomfort about his feelings for Sebastian is perfection. (“Look, I know that you think the stupid little pests are cute and charming, and you hate the whole idea of fox hunts, and you were so sad about the whole thing, and obviously I won’t stand for anything making you sad.” “You sabotaged the fox hunt? For me?” [emphasis mine] *le swoon*) It is so obvious how smitten he is, even as he avoids his feelings as much as humanly possible, and I can’t stand it!

The longer version has mostly to do with the fact that this is the third book in a trilogy.

Okay, so, after the first book in this trilogy, Proper Scoundrels, I thought it was just going to be a one-off spin-off story from the Magic in Manhattan trilogy. Then book two, Once a Rogue came out, and I realized we’re doing a trilogy thing again. But it’s been two years since then, and I’ll be honest, I remember basically nothing because I have read seven hundred (not joking) books in the interim. So, I think I’ll start by saying that, as a rule, I still don’t love a series featuring the same couple, because if I can’t immediately pick up the next book, by the time it finally gets released, 1) I’ve read so much that the urgency is either no longer there or, 2) if I’m still excited about the series, I can’t remember anything that happened.

That said, apparently Allie Therin only writes trilogies, which I absolutely love to read, so
be warned. If you don’t like the trilogy/ongoing series thing, look elsewhere. Or if you get easily side-tracked but usually like to finish the trilogy, wait until they’re all published before you start.

Although a new reader could probably figure out enough of the world-building to understand what’s going on in this particular book, Therin doesn’t spend a lot of time on re-introducing the secondary characters, and the time spent on plot recaps is pretty minimal except where it directly impacts what the characters are deciding to do in this book. I went back and read my reviews of this series, and I’d said that maybe reading the other books isn’t strictly necessary, but I think I’ve now reached a point where I really can’t recommend reading this book without first reading the rest (and, honestly, the Magic in Manhattan trilogy where Wesley and Sebastian are introduced).

Without getting too involved in the plot, the masterminds causing the trouble in Once a Rogue need to be found, so our team of Manhattan magic protectors (though neither Wesley nor Sebastian are from Manhattan…) goes to find them. The steam ship road trip lands Wesley and Sebastian at a country house party (site of the aforementioned fox hunt), and much murder and mayhem ensues. Our protagonists must grapple with the possiblitiy that the man they love could die (insupportable!), and everyone must converge in a delightful, climactic moment. It’s definitely a plot-driven romance, but as I think about it and compare the capers of Sebasatian and Wesley with other plot-driven and character-driven romances, I have to give more props to Therin for creating a pretty well-balanced action to relationship develiopment ratio. Not every author can do that well, and this book (and series) succeeded.

Finally, the ARC I received for this book was the audio, and it was great. Joel Froomkin (a.k.a. Joel Leslie) was perfect casting for this narration and was fun to listen to. I even listened to the book at 1x speed and didn’t want to pull out my hair because it was soooo slow, so really an excellent recording.

I’m sorry to see these characters go, but I can’t wait to see what Therin comes up with next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

The story was 5 stars. Wesley and Sebastian are awesome together. The entire cast of supporting characters is well developed and multi dimensional. I hope the author keeps writing more books in this magical world.
The narrator was 3 stars. He has a warble to his voice that is over the top. I feel like he's trying to do too much theatrics with his cadence.
Thank you to Harlequin Audio for the copy of this book. Opinions are my own.

Prior to this book, I have read both the 2 others in this series and all 3 of the books from the first series. Readers who have not read the previous Roaring 20s books may not enjoy this as a standalone, as the plotline and characters build from those.

This book is a great conclusion to a fun series. I love the characters of Wesley & Sebastian. This book brings together beloved characters from the previous books (Roaring 20s Magic & Magic in Manhattan series), and I enjoyed seeing their stories woven into this one. Allie Therin has built a rich world integrating aspects of historical 1920s with magical fantasy. This was one of those stories I finished and immediately wanted to go back a reread just to spend a little more time in this world with these characters.

I enjoyed the narrator and felt he did well differentiating characters and bringing humor and personality to each.

Love these guys - I had to do the audio, as I read the first 2 on audio & couldn't get the narrator's voice out of my head, so absolutely had to listen to the third installment.

Seb and Lord Fine continue in their adventures, with their friends, tracking down magical objects and those who want to use them for nefarioius purposes. The plot on this one was a little bit thin, but still enjoyable. The thing that really came to the fore and was the true pleasure of the book were the characters of Lord Fine and Sebastian and their hilarious, cute, heartwarming personalities & how they interacted - Fine with his severe allergy to emotion of any kind and Sebastian with his cheekiness and soft-heartedness for cute animals of all kinds. It was just super fun and sweet to read.

I'd unhesitatingly pick up anything by Allie Therin and know you're going to get a good read.

4.5

This series finale is so satisfying! I fell in love with Seb and Wes in the first book and I’m so proud of them. The way they learned to love each other’s…
And I’m quite happy for everything else: the worldbuiling, the mystery… everything is so well written.
I’m a little sad these series ended but I can’t wait to discover the next series written by this wonderful author!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I loved this mystery/romance, the magic, mystery, and literary references made for a fantastic story. Add to that the band of intriguing characters and perfect main characters and it was phenomenal. Sebastian and Wesley were perfect and their love is so sweet. This is a must read/listen.
The narrator did such a fantastic job I would have believed that there were multiple narrators instead of just one.

A phenomenal conclusion to this series, action-packed and with so much intrigue. I thought the narration also really worked—Joel Froomkin did a great job with it!