Tea and Sympathetic Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Tea and Sympathetic Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts is a short novella set in a new fantasy world that I believe the author is planning to come back to. I actually started reading this in the middle of the night after finishing my previous book and having a bout of insomnia. It's so short I finished it the same night and even managed to get some sleep afterwards. (Not enough, but still.)

Meet Miss Mnemosyne Seabourne, the one lady in the Teacup Isles who doesn't want to marry the Duke. Meet Mr Thornbury, a spellcracker whose job is protecting the Duke from the love charms of eligible ladies. Together, they fight elopements!

Featuring croquet, libraries, enchantresses, teacups, portals and cake.

We have a protagonist who has no interest in marrying her ducal cousin but who is unfortunately in possession of a mother who is very keen on the idea. We also have a magic steeped world, with croquet reminiscent of the Disney Alice in Wonderland cartoon (but without the Red Queen), and portals for men to travel through (but not women). And of course there's the non-landed spellcracker who Mneme finds far more interesting than the cousin her mother wants her to marry.

All in all, a very fun read. The climax was dramatic, to say the least, and the plot was exciting when it needed to be and amusing most of the time. I am certainly interested in reading more stories in this world.

I highly recommend Tea and Sympathetic Magic to fans of Roberts' other light-hearted fantasy stories. It's a new setting, but I don't think anyone will be disappointed, except, perhaps, by the fact there isn't more.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: December 2018, via Patreon
Series: Yes? I think so.
Format read: ePub
Source: Tansy Rayner Roberts' Patreon
Disclaimer: Although the author is a friend, I have endeavoured to write an unbiased review