Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House, #1)
Heir of Uncertain Magic (Whimbrel House, #2)
By: Charlie N. Holmberg
My Rating: Four out of Five Stars
Best for: 14 and up

A magic house? A mystery? A romance? Yes, please!

Somehow I discovered yet another alternative history story where magic exists and is accepted among us normal folk. The two Whimbrel House stories were perfectly sweet, perfectly fun, and perfectly magical–and maybe a little bit slow too.

Book one is Keeper of Enchanted Rooms. Book two is Heir of Uncertain Magic. Book three will be Boy of Chaotic Making when it’s released sometime in 2024. Luckily, the first two books have stories that are relatively contained, so I didn’t feel any frustration starting a series that wasn’t finished yet.

These books are set in the 1840’s. Magic exists, and it’s passed genetically from parent to child. It’s become diluted over time, so wizards don’t have nearly as much power to do magical things as they did in the olden days, but it’s still around. So are some nifty magical items like boats and carriages that travel under their own power, self-cooking ovens, and magicked stones that can be used like telephones. There’s a nifty magic system in the story too. All stuff the nerdiest of book nerds love to find inside of their stories!

When our hero, an author with a tragic and colored past, unexpectedly learns he’s inherited a grand old house–and the island off the coast of Rhode Island it sits on–he’s thrilled! He’s finally gotten the break he deserves! He moves in with only a passing curiosity as to why an old, vacant house is in such great condition. Of course, it doesn’t take long to figure it out: the house is magic. It’s got a mind of its own, and it does NOT want its new owner to leave.

Luckily for him, our heroine works for BIKER: the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms. They specialize in taming magic houses, and when they learn someone’s moved into Whimbrel house, they send their best–our heroine. She’s stiff and proper to the extreme, kind as can be, pretty good with some magic herself, and primed to fall in love with a messy, non-conventional, and slightly damaged author who happens to be trapped inside his magic house.

Let the fun begin!

There’s a pretty diabolical bad guy involved, and there’s plenty of adventure to be had as the mystery reveals itself. I enjoyed the magic and the characters. The plot was a bit plodding for me, and there were times I wished it would have moved faster. I commented that those books were the longest sub-300 page books I’ve ever read! But I suspect that was tied to the slow burn (and very sweet) love story that develops over the course of the two books.

No language or explicit content. There is some violence, and the bad guy is pretty creepy. 14 and up is about right for these stories.

Happy Reading!