A world of enchanted injustice needs a disenchanting woman in an all-new fantasy series by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Paper Magician.

The orphaned Elsie Camden learned as a girl that there were two kinds of wizards in the world: those who pay for the power to cast spells and those, like her, born with the ability to break them. But as an unlicensed magic user, her gift is a crime. Commissioned by an underground group known as the Cowls, Elsie uses her spellbreaking to push back against the aristocrats and help the common man. She always did love the tale of Robin Hood.

Elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey is one elusive spell away from his mastership when he catches Elsie breaking an enchantment. To protect her secret, Elsie strikes a bargain. She’ll help Bacchus fix unruly spells around his estate if he doesn’t turn her in. Working together, Elsie’s trust in—and fondness for—the handsome stranger grows. So does her trepidation about the rise in the murders of wizards and the theft of the spellbooks their bodies leave behind.

For a rogue spellbreaker like Elsie, there’s so much to learn about her powers, her family, the intriguing Bacchus, and the untold dangers shadowing every step of a journey she’s destined to complete. But will she uncover the mystery before it’s too late to save everything she loves?

Taken from the workhouse as a small child, Elise is a spellbreaker, one of those who can see the magic and unravel the spells. Those who rescued her from the workhouse, she calls them the Cowls, send her on secret missions to unravel spells and fight the injustice of the rich vs the poor. But she is not registered with the authorities so every time she risks exposure, capture and arrest. Then, on the day she is caught trying to help the Duke of Kent’s servants, Bacchus Kelsey agrees to keep her secret if she helps him find and remove problem spells on the Duke’s estate.  Little by little Elsie grows to question what the Cowls are telling her until she faces a devastating betrayal.

I really enjoyed this take on an alternate Victorian England where magic is commonplace and regulated. Elsie is a wonderful character, at times very confident and at other times hesitant about her actions and what the future will bring. I look forward to the next book in this series, Spellmaker, due out in March of next year. High recommended. ~~ Stephanie L Bannon

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