Lessons in Enchantment

I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers in the hopes of a fair and honest review.

I squeed with delight when I learnt I was going to be sent this novel which is another instalment in Patricia Rice's long running and much loved Malcolm women world. It didn't disappoint. Reading any other of the series isn't at all necessary as - like all of the series - this book stands alone. It is, however, fun to have an awareness of the Malcolm women's various eccentricities and to enjoy, as always, their effect on the relentlessly practical and rational men who cross their paths. Lady Phoebe Douglas is a particularly marvellous heroine - the image of her in a divided skirt, atop a penny farthing bicycle, wearing a porkpie show more hat trimmed with real roses in an era of women wearing crinoline cages to emphasise their decorative useleness tells the reader from the start that they are in the presence of another stubbornly independent Malcolm heroine. Lady Phoebe has the gift of understanding animals and wants to study to be able to minister their needs, however, she is hampered both by her sex, her poverty and Edinburgh's veterinary schools' resistance to teaching women (and their equal resistance to ministering to any animal smaller than a horse). Circumstances (and her Malcolm aunts) send her into the household of Mr Andrew Blair, an engineer saddled with his gifted nieces and nephew, trying to provide for not only the family under his roof but also his extended family. He wants a conventional society wife to further his ambitions. Lady Phoebe is the reverse of what he thinks he needs in a woman. Sparks fly and hijinks ensue.

Patricia Rice is one of my favourite romance writers - her humour and her feisty stubborn heroines who can survive alone but know they live their best lives in company always make me happy. I don't read her books: I devour them, often at one sitting (as I did this one). This book is another in her usual vein and is a perfect escape for these troublesome times. The writing is assured and skilful and the editing, as always, matches so that nothing jarring disturbs the smooth reading and flow of the tale. The touches of Scottish dialect are superb - just enough to give the story a tang without causing confusion - and the characters are appealing (and you can play, as I do, the guessing game of who will be the star of the next in volume in the series - I was right from the teaser at the end!). If you want a fun, lively romance with quirky characters and an adorable family, this book is perfect. Strongly recommend. show less

OH! What a perfectly perfect read. This fast-paced, well written, well-plotted first book in the School of Magic series is filled with excitement, danger, and sigh-worthy romance. The characters are memorable and you’ll quickly come to love them. Each of the main characters is strong, independent, self-reliant, and very wrong about what they think they want in life. So, it is a good thing they are both open-minded and accepting of things that don’t necessarily fit with their version of ‘normal’. I have absolutely adored the Malcolm family through all of the various series and I know this one will just add to that – especially if this book is an example of what is to come. I did keep waiting for a member of the Ives family to show more make a showing, but they stayed hidden.

While Lady Phoebe Malcolm Duncan is the daughter of an earl, she lives in a tenement inside the medieval walls of the old town in Edinburgh. She has been living on her own for years – since her mother’s ill health caused her to move to France. Phoebe loves her life, loves the vibrancy of her neighborhood, and loves her neighbors. The only thing that would make it better would be for the veterinary schools to let her take classes. You see, Phoebe can communicate with animals and she is always rescuing them.

Andrew (Drew) Blair is an inventor, builder, and investor. He comes from very humble beginnings and has worked really hard to get to where he is in life. He made a good bit of money from inventing a few things for the railroads – and now he has a tidy sum of that money invested in a consortium that plans to rebuild the old town tenements into modern terraced buildings. However, Drew’s world has been flipped on end for most of the last year. His cousin’s wife died in an accident that almost killed his cousin and their children as well. Only, it wasn’t an accident. His cousin’s wife and three children have the Malcolm gifts – and now the three children are living with Drew. He knows nothing of children and he can’t seem to keep a governess/tutor for any length of time. Where can he find someone who can handle and be accepting of three small children who have special abilities?

Phoebe meets Drew after Drew writes to her aunt’s School of Magic and asks for a tutor for his wards. Phoebe is available because the entire front wall of her tenement building just crumpled and fell away leaving her and the other tenants with no place to live. Just as soon as she arrives at her aunt’s school, they send her out to act as an instructor for Drew’s wards.

I love the interactions between Drew and Phoebe. She is straight-forward, direct, and totally unintimidated by anyone or anything – yet she treats his wards with tenderness, understanding, and care. When danger rears its ugly head and the children are in danger, Drew discovers an appreciation for things he never thought he wanted in life.

I enjoyed this fun and exciting read so much that I couldn’t put it down and read it straight through. One of the very best things about the book – NO, none, nada, zip angst. Dear author, I thank you for that. I hope you love it as much as I did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. show less

This was an interesting-sounding Victorian fantasy with potential, but in the end, the Romance tropes did me in. The strong physical attraction at first meeting, the continued fantasies of both parties at odds with their established characters, and the obligatory explicit sexual interaction (2 of them) overwhelmed the possibilities of Edinburgh and atypical characters (one of the side characters is asexual, the male protagonist is a self-made man and the female protagonist is an unruly mess with interesting family). To me, it seemed like the author threw all the pieces together, gave them a stir, and spit them out without any depth or even, at times, probability. This Heyer lover was unable to stomach it with any pleasure.

I'm billing this as a stupid romance novel with an interesting plot. Partly my fault for requesting an early-reviewer book by Patricia Rice, because I was unfamiliar with her genre and style.

Having mentioned these caveats, the ideas behind the story were intriguing but could not overtake the silly romance and the artificially unpredictable Phoebe. Aside from being so glaringly out of sync with the era, there was no artful development in Phoebe and Andrew's relationship. Their behaviour was so precipitous that it became comic.

The other great flaws were the very superficial details on the bullying by a group of mine owners, The Association which was responsible for Letitia's death. The characters who are The Bad Men are shallow and the show more narrative had little to contribute to what should have been a wonderfully suspenseful plot.

The best characters were Phoebe, her ability with animals, and supporting characters such as Enoch, Catherine and Clare, the children she was teaching. The interlude where Phoebe takes Dahlia Higginbotham into the milliner's shop was very engaging and showcases how well Patricia could write if she'd just leave off the interludes of sexual attraction between the main characters. Yes, I dislike blatantly sexual descriptions in murder mysteries; kind of like, I aim to give a miss to horror and gruesome murder details.

If you fancy a shallow, fast read with a continuation of a series about the Malcolm family, this book would be for you. show less

Nice example of Patricia Rice's Malcolm books. Phoebe is gifted, of course (she can speak to and understand animals), and aristocratic (when she wants to be), but not rich. Andrew is a boy from the wrong side of town, who is also a gifted inventor and has climbed by his own abilities to...well, solid middle class, with eccentricities. His cousin's children are with him because of a threat to them - their mother was killed, possibly intentionally. The children are also gifted (the boy can levitate things, the twin girls can see spirits, including their mother's ghost), and in some desperation Andrew asks for help from the School of Malcolms and gets Phoebe. The side-plot about her home collapsing, in a building owned by Andrew and a show more consortium who planned to tear it down and build new places anyway, gets exceedingly convoluted - it takes them 3/4ths of the book to each realize the other's connection to the place. The overwhelming lust drawing them together...is as boring as it usually is in romances; here, though, it's an important factor but not the only reason they want to be together. Andrew's proposal, and temporary ring, are a lovely example of that. The major storyline is the threat to the children - who, and why, and what to do about it. It's not solved, by the end of this book - I suspect The Association are going to be the Big Bad throughout this series - but the immediate problem is dealt with, on several levels. Fun read, not totally fluffy. I'm interested in reading the next book (and probably the whole series, eventually). show less

I received Lessons in Enchantment through Library Thing Early Reviewers.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable trip into Patricia Rice’s world of historic romance blended with magic! It was unusual in that neither the hero or the heroine came from money and both had to succeed by their own abilities. Lady Phoebe uses her ability to communicate with animals while Andrew succeeds by the use of his engineering abilities. Both want different things out of life but shared adversity brings them together. I’m looking forward to the next installment in this series.

Lessons in Enchantment (School of Magic Book 1) by Patricia Rice.
Lessons in Enchantment is a nice, light read. Cute animals, cute children, true love. It’s a historical (Victorian era) fantasy-romance featuring a woman who can communicate with animals, a curmudgeonly engineer, three adorable magically-gifted children, and a dastardly plot. A little consensual sex, too. Lady Phoebe (the aristocratic governess) wants to be a veterinarian, but can’t afford it yet. Andrew (the engineer) just wants someone to keep his nieces and nephew out of his way and teach them how to not attract attention with their magic. The kids miss their dead mom and absent father, and may or may not have information that the baddies need. Good fun.
Reviewed show more from an electronic copy received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program in return for an honest review. show less