Spellswept

The Harwood Spellbook #0.5

by Stephanie Burgis

In the world of the Harwood Spellbook, 19th-century Angland is ruled by a powerful group of women known as the Boudiccate - but in order to become a member of that elite group, any ambitious young politician must satisfy tradition by taking a gentleman mage for her husband.

Amy Standish is a born politician...but Jonathan Harwood is her greatest temptation. On the night of the Harwoods' Spring Solstice Ball, in an underwater ballroom full of sparkling fey lights and danger, Amy will have to fight the greatest political battle of her life to win a family and a future that she could never have imagined.

It will take an entirely unexpected kind of magic to keep everything from crashing down around her.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Novella, Fantasy Romance, Short Stories, Magic, Historical

90 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 30, 2018

About the author

I grew up in America, but now I live in Wales with my husband, fellow writer Patrick Samphire, our two sons, and our sweet (and extremely vocal) tabby cat, Pebbles. I write fantasy rom-coms for adults (most recently Claws and Contrivances and Good Neighbors) and fun MG fantasy adventure novels, too (most recently The Raven Crown duology). My next series will be the adult romantasy trilogy The Queens of Villainy, published by Tor Bramble, starting in 2025 with Wooing the Witch Queen.

To get early sneak peeks at new stories and novels, sign up for my newsletter here: stephanieburgis.com/newsletter.

To join my Dragons' Book Club and get early copies of every ebook that I put out myself (so, all of my novellas, short story ebooks, etc!), check out my Patreon page, where I also published a series of fantasy rom-coms (Good Neighbors) across 2020-2021.

I only rate and review the books that I like, which is why all of my ratings are 4 or 5 stars.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Rating: 3.75* of five

Quite an enchanting tale of the reversal of gender roles in a magjickqal England.

I've mentioned before that I take careful note of the identity of a book's blurbers. Praise from someone whose work I don't like is an effective warn-off; in this case, two authors whose work I very much appreciate (K.J. Charles, Aliette de Bodard) blurbed this book. My tasteful friend Roni, however, gets all the credit for making me aware that it existed at all!

This short fantasy novella set in a Britain ruled by a Boudiccate of powerful women supported by magical, but emotionally volatile man-mages, is a refreshing and very amusing start of series. I'll be on the ride with Author Burgis. Coming along?

[Stephanie]

ETA: And Spellswept is available NOW as an individual ebook! (With a paperback edition to follow within a week.) Huzzah! :)

Spellswept is Jonathan's and Amy's story, and it was SO much fun to write! It contains forbidden romance, dangerous magic, and political intrigue in an underwater ballroom...so, you know: What could possibly go wrong? ;)

(It's a prequel to Snowspelled, set several years earlier and from a different perspective, so it should be a perfectly fine entryway to the series for new readers - but I hope readers of Snowspelled will enjoy the chance to see familiar characters earlier in their lives!)

You can read it right now in the anthology The Underwater Ballroom Society (which I co-edited!), which also includes fabulous stories by Ysabeau S. Wilce, Iona Sharma, Y.S. Lee, Tiffany Trent, Jenny Moss, Shveta Thakrar, Laura Anne Gilman, Cassandra Khaw, and Patrick Samphire.

Or you can buy the individual ebook (or paperback) on October 30th! You can see the gorgeous cover (by Ravven) at Love In Panels now. I love it so much! The ebook is available to preorder now at Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. (It'll be up on Amazon and elsewhere very soon.)

Isn't the cover (by Ravven) beautiful? I love it! <3

[Veronique · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25*

Amy was already a beloved character in Snowspelled but to hear her voice was an added bonus. Her focus in what she wants to achieve is masterly but she doesn’t let this blinker her from other facts, important ones, either. She is able to weight them and make the difficult and courageous decisions She has to become the Ruler!!!.

This short story/novella is pretty much Amy and Jonathan’s ‘story’, while giving us more details on this world and how it functions. It is also great to see a younger Cassandra, and how it all started I loved to see her in all her magical power! Gave me goosebumps!. And let’s face it - an underwater ball! :0)

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars--I really liked it.

The Harwood Spellbook series of novellas is light fantasy, with lots of romance--enjoyable, quick books that make me smile. This prequel was a fun introduction to the setting and a fast read. Not earth-shattering literature, but sometimes you just want a happy, feel-good story about magic and nobles and love. Recommended for romance readers.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oooh, I liked the romance in this a lot. I mean, it's a novella, so you don't get a lot, but it's GREAT.

Not 100% sure about the world. It still is a lot of men telling women they can't do things!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful

I've been a fan of fantasy romance for some time and it's often difficult to find stories which so perfectly combine the genres while remaining true to each of them. Stephanie Burgis is one of the best authors out there writing fantasy romance so I definitely recommend checking out her work.

[Jassmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

She had never touched him on any of those walks. Amy's gloved fingers flexed restlessly at her sides, now, at the thought of it. They'd stayed safely within view of Harwood house every time, and Amy had carefully kept her hands to herself, forcing herself to resist every moment of temptation. She would never - could never - allow herself to dishonor him in that way.

I really liked this one better than Snowspelled. It might be just because it's shorter, more cohesive and romance focused. Might also be because I lowered my expectations, I definitely had less issues with the worldbuilding here, although my complains still apply here (there was just less place = less oportunity to truly annoy me). I also love reading politicking stories and this one was set in ballroom on the bottom of the lake. It's true that I can't understand why would Amy ever consider Llewelyn as a potential husband - magic isn't everything! But otherwise? Pretty dang cute read! Loved the pining, loved the family dynamics, loved the dancing and politicking and gentlemen-swoons! Can be read both before or after Snowspelled.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

I liked this look at Amy, and her relationship with Jonathan, but I found the happy ending a little hollow given what I know happens to Amy’s political career anyway. I like the idea of the political power being in the hands of women in this world, but I’m not sure it feels like the power dynamics are truly flipped, or even equal. These are nice, easy to read stories, but I do feel myself wanting more from them.

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I was definitely Spellswept by this story! (get it?)

We follow Amy Standish during the night where she will propose marriage to the man she doesn't love, and she doesn't let herself admit it. In a world where women are the leaders and men the mages, she must marry a mage in order to be accepted by the elite government group. As most stories go, the Harwood ball doesn't exactly go as she predicted...

This was a short story but I was immediately hooked. My only complaint is there weren't any moments between Amy and Jonathan, I wanted to swoon over them!

[Jen (That's What I'm Talking About) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella is packaged with Snowspelled, the first book in the series, in the audiobook produced by Tantor Audio (2019).

Spellswept is the prequel to the Harwood Spellbook series. It is shared in the third person POV of Amy. The world is an alternate dimension/timeline fantasy Angland where men have magic abilities and women are shrewd politicians. Amy, an orphan, earned a prestigious position as the assistant to Miranda Harwood, a powerful member of the ruling Boudiccate. Amy adores her mentor and her two children. She’s even a bit smitten with Jonathan, but in order to pursue her political ambitions, she must marry a mage, and Jonathan broke with tradition and refuses to study magic.

Spellswept provides a wonderful start to a promising series. I love how the author builds her world, giving listeners insight into the rules while introducing and developing the characters. It’s subtle and effective. I also enjoy the slow burn revelations of feelings between Amy and Jonathan. The story is the perfect blend of coming-of-age and romance. We witness Amy make life decisions over the course of a single night, and the romance is very much part of that without being the only thing.

Emma Newman provides the sublime narration for the story. Her crisp British accent is suitable for the location and setting, but also the genre; there is something about a British accent that brings to life a good fantasy. She uses a clear, female voice for the narrator and Amy, altering the dialogue for each character. She adds just enough emotion to benefit the story without overwhelming it. Her male voices are slightly deeper, and she also alters her voices based on the age of the character.

In the end, I throughly enjoyed Spellswept, brought to life by Emma Newman's performance. I look forward to hearing more tales set in this interesting fantasy world.

My Ratings:
Story: A-
Narration: A-

Review copy provided by author.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a shorter novella that fills in the background a few years earlier from the wonderful Snowspelled. In that story the main character is Cassandra Harwood, and she's present here as a teenager who is hiding her skill at magic, but the main story is about Amy Standish, the protégé of Miranda Harwood. In this world upper class men are expected to become wizards and upper class women politicians, with the ultimate objective to be part of Angland's ruling council, the Boudiccate. Boudiccate members are by convention married to wizards. Which is a problem for Amy, because while she's ambitious, she's in love with Jonathan Harwood, who has no interest in magic.

I love this world, and I love this series. It's very interesting to see strict gender roles challenged when separated from our world's notions of sexism, racism and homophobia.

I recommend the entire series (I'm writing this review after having read books 2 and 2.5).

[katayoun Masoodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very delightful short story, telling the amy and jonathan's story, set in the most exciting world of hardwood spellbook series, can't wait for the second hardwood book to come out and now i can see why amy was so delightful the few times we get to see her in snowspelled and hope to see more of her and jonothan in thornbound
The short story is out alone but it's also available in The Underwater Ballroom Society collection.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amy is an orphan but she managed to earn a job as personal assistant to Miranda Harwood, a respected member of the Angland parliament. As she's a natural politician it is expected that Amy will follow in her mentor's footsteps and join the Boudiccate but to do that first she must marry a respected magician. Tonight at the Harwood's Spring Solstice Ball she is expected to announce her engagement but really her heart is set on the one man she can never have, Miranda's son Jonathan. It would be a respectable match if only Jonathan hadn't refused to train as a magician, instead preferring to focus his studies on history. Now Amy needs to decide whether to follow her head or her heart, or perhaps she can figure out a way to get everything she's ever wanted.

Although Spellswept is technically a prequel to the Harwood Spellbook series I actually read it after reading the first book, Snowspelled, and I think I enjoyed it all the more because I was already familiar with the characters involved. It was lovely to see the beginning of Amy and Jonathan's relationship first hand and I also really enjoyed getting to meet a teenage version of Cassandra. I love the sibling relationship between Jonathan and Cassandra, he is so protective of his sister and a lot of the life choices he's made become much clearer when Amy discovers a huge secret that Cassandra has been keeping.

Stephanie Burgis has created a really fun world for her historical fantasy series, one where the sensible women are in charge of the government while the more whimsical and emotional men are free to pursue careers as magicians. The gender lines are firmly drawn but the complete opposite to what we're used to and it's really refreshing to see such a different take on society.

[Anne - Books of My Heart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
 

Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
 
I was VERY excited to get Snowspelled on Audio because the author had offered me the ebook to review when I was first starting this blog and I just couldn't do it at the time. But I wanted it.  When I started listening, it was a prequel novella and I thought, ok.  But it was better than ok, it was amazing!

It is about a third of the audiobook, so at least a couple hours.  I loved the world, the characters, and of course, magic!  It is set in the 19th century so it's historical fantasy with romance.  I really appreciated having characters who could think for themselves, who weren't always right or make the best decision (they were human) but they cared about others and were trying to do the right thing. The social conventions of the day didn't make their lives simple.

Narration:
Emma Newman did a great job with the voices, as she was easy and comfortable listening at my usual 1.5x speed.  The primary character in each story was a female and she felt right for their thoughts telling the story.  There was a bit of an accent and historical wordings which I enjoyed.  There is a bit of distinction between characters with the male voices a bit lower.  I like the feelings infused into the dialogue.

Listen to a clip:  HERE 


COYER: Read a book with a POC as MC. PTS: 1

[Linniegayl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute short story/novella prequel to the Harwood Spellbook. It's definitely very short (well, novella/short story) but gives a great feel for the world and key characters in the Harwood Spellbook series. I love the world Ms Burgis has developed, in which women are the politicians and rulers. Each ruling woman MUST marry a mage; that's just the way it is, and NO woman is a mage. Well, this prequel begins to turn the world upside down. I can't wait to read book #1 in the series to see what happens next.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read Jonathan and Amy’s prequel story (novelette?) after reading Snowspelled last year, and I liked it OK. The underwater ballroom was pretty cool, and the romance was sweet. I remain unconvinced by the flipped social roles of men and women in this alternate Regency-esque England. Something about it doesn’t work, and I think it’s that men are still throwing their weight around about/with magic, so the reversed power structure doesn’t really hold up. I like the idea of it, but I don’t think it worked. Or maybe it just didn’t work for my brain.

[TheGeekishBrunette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5

Since it's very short its hard to really feel anything for the characters or the world the author has created. I do like the writing though.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, entirely adorable. I love Amy and Jonathan SO much and honestly would love to see them progressing as a power couple? SO wholesome and sweet and despite fully knowing who ended up with who (this is a prequel novella) I was still horrified and unsure at the prospect that Amy would end up with the wrong person. Just a delight.

[Jadey (the Bookish) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

This was definitely my favourite out of the series! I really wish more time was given to describing the setting (an underwater ballroom) though because what a magical place! Would have loved to be able to recreate it in my mind with more detail.

[Genna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why does history think that magic and women dont work well? If there’s anything we have learned in all if our existence, its that women can do everything and then some 💪🏼

[Sydney S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always have a good time with this author, her writing just works for me. She writes cozy fantasy well. This one is not my favorite of hers, but still good, and short enough to easily read in a day. My main complaint is the romance. It comes out of nowhere and it’s hard to believe.

[WS_BOOKCLUB]

Spellswept is a prequel to The Harwood Spellbook series, which I have not read. I can say that you don’t need to read the series to understand the prequel. The author did a very good job of making sure that the prequel stands on its own.

This novella focuses on Amy Standish, a natural politician. Her dreams of joining the Boudiccate – the powerful political class of women- has one small snag: in order to be a part of the Boudiccate, she must marry a magician. Unfortunately, the one man Amy would like to marry most definitely does not fit that requirement. This is the cornerstone on which the novella is built: the question of whether Amy will choose love or politics.

Those of you who have read my blog for long will wonder how I did with the romance aspect of the story. I’m not generally a fan of romance, especially when it’s tangled, but it was done well here. It never veered into annoying territory, instead being used to showcase the world in which Spellswept (and the book series, The Harwood Spellbook) takes place.

In fact, the world and its “rules” were my favorite part of the novella. The author did a wonderful job of showing the rules of the society, which made the circumnavigation and rule-breaking matter more. I do think that readers who have enjoyed the series, which I have not yet read, will feel the emotional resonance of certain parts more deeply than I did. However, I was still able to follow and understand why some goings-on (I’m trying to avoid spoilers) elicited the emotions that they did.

The cast of characters is on the small side, which is a smart choice when it comes to novellas. We have Amy, who has until the end of an underwater ball- which is a very cool idea- to announce her engagement to a magician named Lord Llewellyn. Llewellyn was stuffy. Llewellyn was boring. Llewellyn was a jerk. I quite enjoyed disliking him, which I did with gusto.

There were also the Harwoods. Miranda Harwood is a woman of great renown, high up in the Boudiccate and an accomplished politician. She is also the mother of two: Cassandra Harwood, a teen with a secret of her own; and Jonathan Harwood, Miranda’s adult son. Jonathan is who Amy would rather be announcing her engagement to, but to do so, she would have to say goodbye to her dream of joining the Boudiccate. He has made it very clear that he has no interest in magic at all and, what with the way the society is set up, marrying him would mean the end of Amy’s career before it even starts.

My favorite character was Cassandra. She was full of spunk and fire. I also thought her secret was intriguing and could change the dynamics of the society far more than the relationship plight of Amy and Jonathan. I almost wish the novella followed her, although basing it around Amy allowed for a more complete picture of Angland (where the story takes place) to be painted.

If you’re looking for a book laden with action, this is not the novella for you. It has a slow build, and it took me to around the 30% mark to feel any real tension other than that of a romantic nature. That being said, if you enjoy sidelong glances, political dealings, and a society on the brink of change, Spellswept will check all the right boxes.

[Eli A · Rating 3 out of 5]

The romance & magical elements of this story were very charming, & it was nice to see Amy & Jonathan at an earlier point in their relationship, but the gender flipped world seemed more tenuous here than in the 1st story. For instance, this story really harps on how women aren't allowed to practice magic, but as the dominant sex, shouldn't they be? Maybe they would be seen condescendingly as more "in touch with their emotions" (just like men doing traditionally female jobs in our world), but wouldn't they also be automatically lauded and treated like experts in the field? The other issue with the gender flipping in this particular story is that Burgis obviously does not care about politics, since despite this story actually starring a politically minded heroine, there's a lot of "ladies over there were discussing Politics" without ever bothering to bring up any specific issues that were on the table (other than a vague understanding that human-Fey relations are tenuous). Without any specific political agenda to push, Amy ends up coming off as little other than a glorified hostess. Despite this wealth of frustrating fridge logic, nothing was actually a deal breaker, and I'll be reading Thornbound and hoping we will be seeing more magic there, since that's obviously what we (and Burgis) are really here for.

[Isa (Pages Full of Stars) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this short story set in The Hardwood Spellbook :) Amy is one of my favourite characters from the series, so it was lovely to see more of her! And of course, the idea of the underwater ballroom is out of this world :D

The reason why I haven't rated it higher though, is that I somehow felt like for the most part of the story not much happened. In the last pages the pacing picked up, but otherwise it felt quite slow to me.

But overall, I liked this addition to the series and seeing the beginning of Amy and Jonathan's relationship and younger Cassandra (the scene with her at the end was fantastic! no spoilers, but I really loved it and thought it was powerful).

Now, on to the next book!

[Nicole (bookwyrm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun prequel novelette that takes place before Snowspelled and shows us the official start of Amy and Jonathan's relationship. I really enjoyed how the stakes were completely focused on the family for this one. It was also great to see some of Miranda (Cassandra & Jonathan's mother) in this book. There's also magic, and dancing, and romance, but the best part is the family dynamic.

I greatly appreciate the cover making it clear that our main character, Amy, is a woman of color. There was a brief mention of her dark skin in the story, but not much more than that. I guess in such a short piece not much more was needed, but it does help my mental images of the characters in this alternate world.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably would have enjoyed this more as a full length novel where I got to witness Amy's growing up, and her introduction to and relationship with the Harwoods. It also might have been better if I had read the rest of the series first so I had a better grasp on the intricacies of this world, its politics, culture and magic, it is a lot to take in in less than 100 pages. Still the characters were delightful and the setting was beautiful.
2021 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable to see Amy and Jonathan's courtship and a young Cassandra. Just what I needed while waiting for Thornbound to come out.

[Kathryn Baron · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pleasant enough prequel to the series. The world seems interesting, with some role reversal (men are seen as too emotional to be politicians) and a regency romance sensibility.

After I read the sequels I may care more about the characters and this story - right now this is OK, but no more.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun prequel short story to Snowspelled, telling how Cassandra’s brother Jonathan and sister-in-law Amy decided they were meant for each other.

[Justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing and so sweet! Emma Newman's audio narration is top notch. Full review to come.