Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Fantasy Romance
Length: 381 pages
Author: Jessica Scarlett
Publisher: Oliver Heber Books
Release Date: July 1st, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In Victorian London, magic earns you a noose.

Eighteen-year-old Dorothy St. James can’t control her magic. To avoid arrest, she locks herself at home and buries her nose in her experiments. But a kidnapper called the Rook is on the loose, and his victims keep turning up insane. When Dorothy’s father is taken, she must exchange her beakers for bravery and find the Rook’s trail—the problem is, only one person ever has: a mysterious masked hero.

Ashley Gardner unabashedly casts illusions, using his charm to flit between the upper ton and the magical underbelly below. When Dorothy accuses him of knowing the masked hero’s identity, he flatly denies it. Until the clever beauty intercepts a communique he desperately needs.

They strike a bargain: she’ll give him the message in exchange for three clues to point her in the right direction. But Ashley won’t make them easy. In fact, he’ll make them impossible, because he has his own dangerous reasons for keeping Dorothy away—and Ashley always gets what he wants.

Through dazzling ballets, wild carnivals, and death-defying train rides, Dorothy must use her wits and magic to solve Ashley’s riddles and unravel her budding feelings for the illusionist mastermind behind them. The masked hero isn’t who she believes, and the Rook is closer than she suspects. While the game was always rigged against her, returning her father—mind intact—might just cheat her out of a heart too.

I LIKED IT.

I’ve read Scarlett’s regency books and was excited to hear she was trying out historical fantasy and I am here to say I am sat and ready for the next book. This was a lot of fun and an easy read to pick up.

I liked that it was multiple POV. While I’m still curious about a few of the additions besides the true MC’s, I think that will come in book two and look forward to getting to know all of them better. I really loved all of the sass and banter in the romance(s). It’s cheeky and swoony and a delight.

Some of the magic system components didn’t feel fully fleshed out and once again, I’m hopeful book two is a little more clear. There seemed to be a lack of boundaries overall.

Any who, solid historical fantasy. Definitely recommend!

Overall audience notes:

• Historical fantasy + romance
• Language: none
• Romance: kisses
• Violence: mild – moderate

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