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Cecelia and Kate #1–3
The Cecelia and Kate Novels: Sorcery & Cecelia, The Grand Tour, and The Mislaid Magician
Courageous cousins are forced to do battle with magical foes in this series, collected here in a single volume
In Sorcery & Cecelia, cousins Kate and Cecelia have been inseparable since childhood. But in 1817, as they approach adulthood, their families force them to spend a summer apart. As Cecelia fights boredom in her small country town, Kate visits London to mingle with the brightest lights of English society. At the initiation of a powerful magician into the Royal College of Wizards, Kate finds herself alone with a mysterious witch who offers her a sip from a chocolate pot. When Kate refuses the drink, the chocolate burns through her dress and the witch disappears. It seems that strange forces are convening to destroy a beloved wizard, and only Kate and Cecelia can stop the plot. But for two girls who have to contend with the pressures of choosing dresses and beaux for their debuts, deadly magic is only one of their concerns.
In The Grand Tour, seasickness during the Channel crossing is the price Cecelia must pay for her budding magical skill. As her nausea ebbs, she is comforted by her new husband, James, and the knowledge that at long last they are on their honeymoon. In their company is Cecelia’s cousin Kate, newly minted as the Marchioness of Schofield, and her husband, Thomas. The shared journey guarantees the two couples a happy start to married life, if they can survive the perils of the Continent. In Calais, a mysterious woman visits Cecelia with a package intended for Thomas’s mother. Inside is an alabaster flask of noble manufacture, one of the royal artifacts that have been vanishing all over Europe as part of a magical plot against the French crown. This is no simple honeymoon: On their tour of Europe, Kate and Cecelia must save the monarchy from an emperor-in-exile named Napoleon.
In The Mislaid Magician, it’s been a decade since Kate and Cecelia foiled Napoleon’s plot to reclaim the French crown. The cousins now have estates, children, and a place at the height of wizarding society. It is 1828, and though magic remains at the heart of the British Empire, a new power has begun to make itself felt across England: the steam engine. As iron tracks crisscross the countryside, the shaking of the locomotives begins to disrupt the workings of English magic, threatening the very foundations of the Empire. A foreign wizard on a diplomatic mission to England vanishes, and the Prime Minister sends Cecelia’s husband to investigate. In order to accompany her husband to the north of England, Cecelia leaves her children in Kate’s care. As Cecelia and James fight for the future of magic, Kate is left with a no less daunting problem: how to care for a gaggle of disobedient, spell-casting tots.
In Sorcery & Cecelia, cousins Kate and Cecelia have been inseparable since childhood. But in 1817, as they approach adulthood, their families force them to spend a summer apart. As Cecelia fights boredom in her small country town, Kate visits London to mingle with the brightest lights of English society. At the initiation of a powerful magician into the Royal College of Wizards, Kate finds herself alone with a mysterious witch who offers her a sip from a chocolate pot. When Kate refuses the drink, the chocolate burns through her dress and the witch disappears. It seems that strange forces are convening to destroy a beloved wizard, and only Kate and Cecelia can stop the plot. But for two girls who have to contend with the pressures of choosing dresses and beaux for their debuts, deadly magic is only one of their concerns.
In The Grand Tour, seasickness during the Channel crossing is the price Cecelia must pay for her budding magical skill. As her nausea ebbs, she is comforted by her new husband, James, and the knowledge that at long last they are on their honeymoon. In their company is Cecelia’s cousin Kate, newly minted as the Marchioness of Schofield, and her husband, Thomas. The shared journey guarantees the two couples a happy start to married life, if they can survive the perils of the Continent. In Calais, a mysterious woman visits Cecelia with a package intended for Thomas’s mother. Inside is an alabaster flask of noble manufacture, one of the royal artifacts that have been vanishing all over Europe as part of a magical plot against the French crown. This is no simple honeymoon: On their tour of Europe, Kate and Cecelia must save the monarchy from an emperor-in-exile named Napoleon.
In The Mislaid Magician, it’s been a decade since Kate and Cecelia foiled Napoleon’s plot to reclaim the French crown. The cousins now have estates, children, and a place at the height of wizarding society. It is 1828, and though magic remains at the heart of the British Empire, a new power has begun to make itself felt across England: the steam engine. As iron tracks crisscross the countryside, the shaking of the locomotives begins to disrupt the workings of English magic, threatening the very foundations of the Empire. A foreign wizard on a diplomatic mission to England vanishes, and the Prime Minister sends Cecelia’s husband to investigate. In order to accompany her husband to the north of England, Cecelia leaves her children in Kate’s care. As Cecelia and James fight for the future of magic, Kate is left with a no less daunting problem: how to care for a gaggle of disobedient, spell-casting tots.
1067 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
376 people are currently reading
671 people want to read
About the author
Patricia C. Wrede
67 books3,999 followersPatricia Collins Wrede was born in Chicago, Illinois and is the eldest of five children. She started writing in seventh grade. She attended Carleton College in Minnesota, where she majored in Biology and managed to avoid taking any English courses at all. She began work on her first novel, Shadow Magic, just after graduating from college in 1974. She finished it five years later and started her second book at once, having become permanently hooked on writing by this time.
Patricia received her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1977.
She worked for several years as a financial analyst and accountant, first with the Minnesota Hospital Association, then with B. Dalton Booksellers, and finally at the Dayton Hudson Corporation headquarters.
Patricia finished her first novel in late 1978. In January, 1980, Pamela Dean, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Steven Brust, Nate Bucklin, and Patricia Wrede -- all, at that point, hopeful but unpublished -- formed the writer's group that later became known as "The Scribblies." Several years later, they were joined by Kara Dalkey. In April of 1980, Patricia's first novel sold to Ace Books. It came out at last in 1982, which is the year she met Lillian Stewart Carl (who introduced her to Lois McMaster Bujold by mail).
In 1985, shortly before the publication of her fifth book, she left the world of the gainfully employed to try winging it on her own.
Her interests include sewing, embroidery, desultory attempts at gardening, chocolate, not mowing the lawn, High Tea, and, of course, reading.
She is a vegetarian, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her cat Karma. She has no children.
Patricia received her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1977.
She worked for several years as a financial analyst and accountant, first with the Minnesota Hospital Association, then with B. Dalton Booksellers, and finally at the Dayton Hudson Corporation headquarters.
Patricia finished her first novel in late 1978. In January, 1980, Pamela Dean, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Steven Brust, Nate Bucklin, and Patricia Wrede -- all, at that point, hopeful but unpublished -- formed the writer's group that later became known as "The Scribblies." Several years later, they were joined by Kara Dalkey. In April of 1980, Patricia's first novel sold to Ace Books. It came out at last in 1982, which is the year she met Lillian Stewart Carl (who introduced her to Lois McMaster Bujold by mail).
In 1985, shortly before the publication of her fifth book, she left the world of the gainfully employed to try winging it on her own.
Her interests include sewing, embroidery, desultory attempts at gardening, chocolate, not mowing the lawn, High Tea, and, of course, reading.
She is a vegetarian, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her cat Karma. She has no children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
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February 16, 20182/16/18 All three books together on sale for Kindle for $2.99.
Fantasy, magic, regency romance. Really enjoyed these, most especially the first one.
Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot
The Grand Tour
The Mislaid Magician: or Ten Years After
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NVZPCUE/
Fantasy, magic, regency romance. Really enjoyed these, most especially the first one.
Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot
The Grand Tour
The Mislaid Magician: or Ten Years After
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NVZPCUE/
January 3, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed these three stories, published together as a boxed set. They are a fun combination of a Regency novel with magic and wizards imposed on top of real historical detail. The first book, Sorcery & Cecilia was composed entirely of letters between two cousins, one in London coming out into society, and the other back home in the country. Both fall in love with strong willed young men, and magic abounds. In the second volume the two couples are on their honeymoons (along with one of the men's mothers) and trying to solve a mystery for the Duke of Wellington. What fun to read about traveling around Europe in the post Napoleonic period by coach and horses! And finally the third installment, again organized by letters between the two cousins (and now their husbands too) tell of their attempts to solve a magical mystery, as well as a more prosaic mystery of what happened to a railway surveyor. In this last one the couples' children also get involved as they temporarily take custody of Drina, a kidnapped girl who turns out eventually to be Princess Alexandrina Victoria. Unfortunately this is the last in this series, because I would have looked for more!
Read
November 15, 2025absolutely delightful, can't believe i never read them as a young adult
May 15, 2015
I liked the first book well enough, but the second and third books just dragged. I had a hard time caring what was going on in the Mislaid Magician and really just finished the book because it was the last of the three.
September 22, 2016
I read the first book, Sorcery & Cecelia (The Chocolate Pot) when it first came out and was thoroughly enchanted. Enough to write Ms. Wrede and tell her so.
Somehow, I missed knowing that there were sequels, but when I found out about them and learned they were all available together, I wasted no time. Alas, as others discovered before me, the 2nd and 3rd novels were not up to the same standard as the first.
The honeymoon trip seemed to me to be bogged down by fascination with ancient times and artifacts. And I can't believe I'm saying that, because I was a history major and thought at one time to become either an archaeologist or historian myself. But the details - which ended up being not so important - caused the story to lag in many places. In addition, there were references to the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but the most to come out of it was learning to code messages by knitting badly. I would have much preferred a story based on something related to the League than what we ended up with.
The third book had some interesting bits about it - persons unexpectedly becoming non-humans - and the use of ink pots as scrying mechanisms, but the plot was pretty standard and too much time was spent investigating blind alleys. In fact, there seemed little derring do to be done by either Kate or Cecilia and Kate's husband Thomas was mainly left to complain in his letters to his BIL, James.
This is not to say that the trio isn't worth reading. The writing is often lively, and the authors certainly know what they're talking about when it comes to the manners and mores of post-Napoleonic England.
I did enjoy all of them, I just enjoyed the first one the most.
Somehow, I missed knowing that there were sequels, but when I found out about them and learned they were all available together, I wasted no time. Alas, as others discovered before me, the 2nd and 3rd novels were not up to the same standard as the first.
The honeymoon trip seemed to me to be bogged down by fascination with ancient times and artifacts. And I can't believe I'm saying that, because I was a history major and thought at one time to become either an archaeologist or historian myself. But the details - which ended up being not so important - caused the story to lag in many places. In addition, there were references to the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but the most to come out of it was learning to code messages by knitting badly. I would have much preferred a story based on something related to the League than what we ended up with.
The third book had some interesting bits about it - persons unexpectedly becoming non-humans - and the use of ink pots as scrying mechanisms, but the plot was pretty standard and too much time was spent investigating blind alleys. In fact, there seemed little derring do to be done by either Kate or Cecilia and Kate's husband Thomas was mainly left to complain in his letters to his BIL, James.
This is not to say that the trio isn't worth reading. The writing is often lively, and the authors certainly know what they're talking about when it comes to the manners and mores of post-Napoleonic England.
I did enjoy all of them, I just enjoyed the first one the most.
October 7, 2016
This is a Keeper
A second reading was even more enjoyable than the first. The deft characterisations, the humour, the shift from magical romance to marriage dims not the charm. Ludicrous mysteries, in the best sense of the word are further enlivened by coopting historical figures and events, and the children in the final novel are so engaging it is easy to forget that we only know of them via the correspondence. It's as different from Wredes magical frontier novels as you can get but imbued with the same charm in her chapters. I shall have to further my knowledge of her co-author.
A second reading was even more enjoyable than the first. The deft characterisations, the humour, the shift from magical romance to marriage dims not the charm. Ludicrous mysteries, in the best sense of the word are further enlivened by coopting historical figures and events, and the children in the final novel are so engaging it is easy to forget that we only know of them via the correspondence. It's as different from Wredes magical frontier novels as you can get but imbued with the same charm in her chapters. I shall have to further my knowledge of her co-author.
December 26, 2019
Well written. Book 2 The Grand Tours drags a little in the middle
July 17, 2022
A charming collection full of fun, magic, and delight.
June 19, 2024
Extremely light & lighthearted fantasy. On the one hand, it’s very charming due to its protagonists’ voices, but for me, the conflicts aren’t conflicting enough and the world building doesn’t really elaborate on its most interesting possibilities. Like, there’s no stakes. Now, if you’re looking for something light to read and to simply enjoy, then look no further - nothing wrong with a light book(s), but I felt there was something missing the whole time. I can’t be too harsh, however; the first book inspired my best friend and me to write our own novel at the age of fourteen, epistolary but true fantasy, when we first read it. 😊
The characters purely exist within their own socially expected spheres here, i.e., these well-to-do ladies don’t much challenge the status quo of sexism, classism, etc., which personally is a disappointment. I don’t need them to be completely out of alignment with the time period, but some level of interesting pushback would have been way more intriguing imo and upped the stakes. For example, it’s never explained but implied that women aren’t allowed at the Royal College of Wizards, yet there are lots of female wizards. How? All of the ones we do meet are all above a certain station, so are the lower classes prevented from learning as usual? Etc., etc. I’m sure I’m overthinking this lighthearted romp, but I can’t help it. This is the kind of thing I’d expect from good world building. Additionally, there is lots of mention of how certain magics work, but somehow it still feels…vague??? Like, one of the magical characters can be literally engaged in a magical fight, but you have very little idea what he’s actually *doing*.
The first book was charming, the second somehow dragged/was boring for me, which i have a hard time defining, but i liked the third/last again. I think i enjoyed the aesthetic of English countryside with frolicking children/domestic bliss.
The (female) narrator of the audiobook was great; her voices for each character were pretty distinct, including the male characters.
So, overall, the series gets a 3 stars from me; enjoyable and you have to be in the mood to enjoy it for what it is. Authors are good writers; it just doesn’t personally check all my boxes.
The characters purely exist within their own socially expected spheres here, i.e., these well-to-do ladies don’t much challenge the status quo of sexism, classism, etc., which personally is a disappointment. I don’t need them to be completely out of alignment with the time period, but some level of interesting pushback would have been way more intriguing imo and upped the stakes. For example, it’s never explained but implied that women aren’t allowed at the Royal College of Wizards, yet there are lots of female wizards. How? All of the ones we do meet are all above a certain station, so are the lower classes prevented from learning as usual? Etc., etc. I’m sure I’m overthinking this lighthearted romp, but I can’t help it. This is the kind of thing I’d expect from good world building. Additionally, there is lots of mention of how certain magics work, but somehow it still feels…vague??? Like, one of the magical characters can be literally engaged in a magical fight, but you have very little idea what he’s actually *doing*.
The first book was charming, the second somehow dragged/was boring for me, which i have a hard time defining, but i liked the third/last again. I think i enjoyed the aesthetic of English countryside with frolicking children/domestic bliss.
The (female) narrator of the audiobook was great; her voices for each character were pretty distinct, including the male characters.
So, overall, the series gets a 3 stars from me; enjoyable and you have to be in the mood to enjoy it for what it is. Authors are good writers; it just doesn’t personally check all my boxes.
August 24, 2025
Another reread this week, after a very long time. The books hold up wonderfully well. It's been long enough that I had forgotten many of the important details and plot twists, which gave me the pleasure of discovering the surprises all over again with the confidence that I was going to get a good read.
Set in a Regency world where magic works, it's similar to the one in the Mairelon books, though possibly not identical. The first two books are immediate sequels, the third is set, as the title says, 10 years after, when many changes have taken place both in the characters' lives and the now proto-Victorian world they inhabit. The authors take full advantage of these possibilities. Keeping up the epistolary style of the first book across the next two was a challenge, especially in the second volume when the characters are all traveling together. The second alternates a deposition with a diary; the third separates the two couples on two different halves of the mystery/ies, and adds some pretty delightful letters from the fellows, giving all their own voices.
I was very glad to find this e-collection, both for the convenience of having all the tales together, and the usual of being able to enlarge to type to my current eyesight
Ta, L.
August 6, 2017
3 novels:
Book one is in an unusual format. Sorcery & Cecelia. It was a bit slow to get into, what kept me going was the amount of vocabulary words I learned from this novel, as well as the pithy dialogue betwixt cousins. I further had to give the first work a through observation, as one of my new favorite authors has a hand at this piece of literary divinity.
Book two: The Grand Tour starts off where the first prose concluded. I eased into this peculiar work and was further ensorcelled by each of the bespoke familiars from the character inception. There was one page of description that seemed to have for an instant lost her voice; again the verbage and turn of phrase was most delightful
Book three: The Mislaid Magician Again this book was slow to get out of the shoot, it nearly hit the rails... wait for the read of this to get the pun. Well worth staying on board for the journey. Written much after the last novel and especially after the foundation novel, I could feel the ladies laying on their bonnets to be conversant as they enliven their ink wells. Once The Mislaid Magician got on track it did pickup speed and came to a smashing end.
Book one is in an unusual format. Sorcery & Cecelia. It was a bit slow to get into, what kept me going was the amount of vocabulary words I learned from this novel, as well as the pithy dialogue betwixt cousins. I further had to give the first work a through observation, as one of my new favorite authors has a hand at this piece of literary divinity.
Book two: The Grand Tour starts off where the first prose concluded. I eased into this peculiar work and was further ensorcelled by each of the bespoke familiars from the character inception. There was one page of description that seemed to have for an instant lost her voice; again the verbage and turn of phrase was most delightful
Book three: The Mislaid Magician Again this book was slow to get out of the shoot, it nearly hit the rails... wait for the read of this to get the pun. Well worth staying on board for the journey. Written much after the last novel and especially after the foundation novel, I could feel the ladies laying on their bonnets to be conversant as they enliven their ink wells. Once The Mislaid Magician got on track it did pickup speed and came to a smashing end.
February 13, 2022
Jane Austin meets Harry Potter. If you love Austin's regency manners and the importance of young ladies having their "Season", this is the book for you. In the regency era of the cousins Kate and Cecelia magic is common place and is used by the government, and the military. It's written in epistlory style. The cousins, Kate and Cecy, exchange letters about the magical going ons happening around them while Kate's in London for her Season and Cecy has remained home. The cousins discover their own abilities and help solve mysteries of" great importance ". That's just the first book. The subsequent novels follow the cousins on their wedding trip and then ten years later as matrons protecting their families and loved ones.
June 4, 2017
Fun read for fans of fantasy and Regency era fiction
I picked up this collection of three novels because one of the authors went to Bryn Mawr. The books follow two cousins on their adventures in Regency England - transformed by the conceit that magic is real and many English people are trained magicians and wizards. The heroines are strong and independent minded, but still live well within the confines of a woman's life in England. The adventures are fun and told with a sense of humor.
I picked up this collection of three novels because one of the authors went to Bryn Mawr. The books follow two cousins on their adventures in Regency England - transformed by the conceit that magic is real and many English people are trained magicians and wizards. The heroines are strong and independent minded, but still live well within the confines of a woman's life in England. The adventures are fun and told with a sense of humor.
February 12, 2022
Bought these on a whim. When I started reading, I thought I wouldn't really like them as the first and last books are written as a series of letters between cousins and it comes across as quite light & fluffy. But I got into the first a bit and ended up reading them all straight through (not in one sitting!).
Kate and Cecilia are young (17ish) ladies in early 1800s England. Think Jane Austen types. Add a bit of magic to the mix and mysteries to solve. Turned out to be a quite enjoyable romp - still light and fluffy, but not cloyingly so.
Kate and Cecilia are young (17ish) ladies in early 1800s England. Think Jane Austen types. Add a bit of magic to the mix and mysteries to solve. Turned out to be a quite enjoyable romp - still light and fluffy, but not cloyingly so.
December 18, 2017
I was surprised and impressed that the first book was written as the two authors exchanging letters with each other, with no set plot! I didn't particularly care for how the three stories were written, i.e. in letter format, but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the stories enough to count against them.
January 27, 2022
After years of contemplation I finally got around to reading this series (assisted considerably in a fantastic deal for the box set).
I found it a little hard to start not having realised it was written in correspondence format, but once I settled into the style I really enjoyed the books.
Enough twists, turns and magic to keep it interesting whilst still having the feel of a recency novel.
I found it a little hard to start not having realised it was written in correspondence format, but once I settled into the style I really enjoyed the books.
Enough twists, turns and magic to keep it interesting whilst still having the feel of a recency novel.
August 17, 2018
Fun Read
Neat approach with each author taking on role of one of major characters and books then being letters written to each other. Much more interesting than such an approach would seem to be.
Neat approach with each author taking on role of one of major characters and books then being letters written to each other. Much more interesting than such an approach would seem to be.
March 1, 2020
Unique Storytelling
This book was cute. The thing that was most intriguing was how these two authors could do such wonderful world building through a back and forth dialogue. It is such a unique format!
This book was cute. The thing that was most intriguing was how these two authors could do such wonderful world building through a back and forth dialogue. It is such a unique format!
September 10, 2020
I enjoyed all three of these books very much. Likable heroines and an interesting format given that the stories are written in the form of letters between the two heroines. It was like you were snooping in the mail!
January 4, 2021
What a Delight!
I thoroughly enjoyed this romp through a magical Regency England. Well-written and full of twists and turns, the Cecelia and Kate novels included in this compilation provide hours of enjoyment.
I thoroughly enjoyed this romp through a magical Regency England. Well-written and full of twists and turns, the Cecelia and Kate novels included in this compilation provide hours of enjoyment.
October 17, 2017
3.5 stars.
October 25, 2017
I read them separately and in paper format but I found them fun and charming. They started as letters back and forth so the first one is super fun in that way!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
April 24, 2018
3.5 stars.
May 8, 2018
Wonderful lighthearted fantasy
Three witty and delightful stones told in letters between two best friends. Magical fantasy with terrific world building guaranteed to cheer you up.
Three witty and delightful stones told in letters between two best friends. Magical fantasy with terrific world building guaranteed to cheer you up.
April 20, 2020
I liked all three books, but the third one really drew out too long.
August 21, 2020
Perfect reading for These Challenging Times. And Kate’s adventures in trying to write letters with 7 kids underfoot (in book 3) are extremely relatable.
April 7, 2021
I've been reading these since the first one came out, and enjoyed each of them.
It's a pity there are no more anticipated.
It's a pity there are no more anticipated.
November 6, 2021
Amazing
This is a fabulous series. Magic, mayhem, best friends and romance. plus the way that Wrede and Stevermer write them back and forth is so cool.
This is a fabulous series. Magic, mayhem, best friends and romance. plus the way that Wrede and Stevermer write them back and forth is so cool.
December 14, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyable
Nicely lighthearted mix of romance, mystery, and magical adventure.
I only wish they were longer and that they went deeper into the world and the characters.
Nicely lighthearted mix of romance, mystery, and magical adventure.
I only wish they were longer and that they went deeper into the world and the characters.
March 29, 2024
You know, the first book was quite entertaining and interesting, but the next two were quite the opposite. Anyway, my recognition for the effort.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews