Wards of the Roses

Mysterious Charm #4

by Celia Lake

Collaboration and curiosity can get through the thickest thorns.

Giles Lefton has an excellent life. He enjoys his mathematics, his teaching at the University, and his cryptography assignments. When a manor missing for centuries suddenly reappears in the middle of Oxfordshire, Giles is glad to take on the project. Figuring out magical puzzles and patterns is one of his specialities, after all. Blinded during the Great War, he knows he needs an assistant to help. One who meets his standards.

Kate Davies can be relied on to do her duty without complaint. A full member of Albion's Guard, she is glad to serve where she is assigned. While she is glad the Great War is over, she quietly misses the greater range of duties she had while so many men were overseas. Now limited to portal duty and seeing to minor scuffles about the local river traffic, she isn't sure what to make of her new assignment. Or the fact she keeps failing at what Major Lefton expects of her.

Together, Kate and Giles tumble into a maze of historical investigation, obscure folklore, and more than a touch of magics neither of them understand.

Wards of the Roses is a standalone romance of 63,000 words with a happy ending (no cliffhangers). The Mysterious Charm series explores the magical community of the British Isles in the 1920s and can be read in any order.

Face the roses with Kate and Giles in 1920 Oxfordshire, and discover the mysteries of the manor.

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Historical, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction

294 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 8, 2019

About the author

Celia Lake spends her days as a librarian in the Boston (MA) metro area, and her nights and weekends at home happily writing, reading, and researching.

Born and raised in Massachusetts to British parents, she naturally embraced British spelling, classic mysteries, and the Oxford comma before she learned there were any other options.

Reviews

[Sara R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Purely based on enjoyment, and how I've given 3 stars to several traditionally-published romances I've read this year which I enjoyed just enough - 4 stars for this very gentle, understated magical romance.

Mind, it's so understated sometimes it's almost anticlimactic, and there are faults which I think could be helped with a bit more editing: mainly, though the writing is beautiful, it's a bit repetitive (the number of times people wave a hand or cough before speaking is staggering); the one sex scene was sadly a bit cringe (he calls her a 'gorgeous Amazon' and I died a little); sometimes the magical technicalities were drawn out.

But it does so many things well! It's a proper slow-burn, where two people are strangers at first, then come to trust and rely on each other, and then fall in love. It was believable and beautiful. By the time they get together their connection is palpable, and as someone who hates lust-at-first-sight, I enjoyed it a lot.
It handles many things sensitively and beautifully - a lot of research has clearly gone into the main character's blindness, and it's mindful of class differences and what it would mean to be a woman in the 20s. It's also really atmospheric and strangely gripping.

[Lark of The Bookwyrm's Hoard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This is one of my favorite Albion novels. I loved the mysterious reappearing manor! Also Kate and Giles. Full review to come.

Reread for the Love & Libraries readathon (COYER) in February 2023

[SeasaltRose · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books continue to improve. The plot with the mysterious rose house and the magical exploration of it was very well done.

I did enjoy the main couple as well.

[Frances Sharp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite a strong start, I found this book ultimately disappointing. It was trying to be two things - a magical mystery and a romance - and doing neither particularly well.
I was primarily in it for the romance. And that made no sense at all. The FMC went from fretting about the MMC possibly thinking he could take advantage of her to jumping his bones the minute they make accidental full body contact. There was no explanation of her change of heart. And there was no chemistry. The climactic sex scene felt completely out of place.
And sadly the fantasy portion was no better. I was fascinated by the premise of a blind MC and the idea of them solving a mystery. And while I think she did an interesting job talking about how the MMC adjusted and navigated the world as a blind veteran, she spent ENTIRELY too much time on the minutiae of solving a mystery that ultimately had no stakes outside of professional pride. It seemed all these tiny - to me BORING - details were her greatest focus. And look I come not to praise Rowling but to bury her (allegorically speaking) but the best thing she did in her books was not make explaining how the magic worked a priority. I know some people really love books that make explaining their magic system a central feature. But I don’t feel like romantasy readers are a huge percentage of that group. She either needed more action or more romance. Less talking about their magical college and magical theories and intramural sports that don’t even get played in the book.

[ReadKnitHoard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magical puzzle solving, low-key, smart, gentle, feel-good. Even better on the second read, upping stars from 3 to 4.

[Johanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Giles is blind (blinded as an adult during ww1). For the first 20% or so the language is spot on and then the Americanisms creep in. There's also a lot of "we cannot mix with other classes" which feels more convincing coming from the side characters than the central ones (looking at you Giles). BUT mostly the interaction is logical, there's no big miscommunication plot, the mystery has enough stages while clearly not being the main point of the plot, and it's the nice happy read I wanted. The kiss about halfway through feels abrupt (some in character thoughts around this mitigate it) and Mrs Hitchcock has a sudden attitude change without enough on page warning. The descriptions are multisensory, and not just for Giles, which I appreciate. The contemporary strategies for blind people were well researched (including Braille, using people as a guide, etc).
Very modern attitudes to sex and relationships (which I like but is out of keeping with the setting).
So I was enjoying it… and then I hit the not-with-a-bang-but-a-whimper ending. The conclusion just didn't feel like it existed - there wasn't much payoff for the romance or for the mystery and it was all a bit loose.
Meh.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4 because I really did enjoy the ending. It is entirely my fault for starting this series in the middle (although it does claim to be standalone) but I picked up this for a reading challenge of a fantasy book with disability representation. While I am not blind or visually impaired, beyond glasses the majority of my life, I felt the representation was well done, but I am very aware I do not have this particular disability. I liked the couple although it did take awhile to really get in to them, mostly because it took awhile for them to move past the MMC being blind and the class difference. And really, it was the class difference and power imbalance in terms of ranking that were the bigger issue, but the MMC always assumed it was his blindness, while the MFC was just trying to not cross any boundaries or speak out of turn to a ranking officer. It took me a very long time (like months) to get through the first 60% and then I read the last 40% in two days. A lot of that was reading slumps that I have been going in and out of throughout the entire year, but I do feel it was very slow moving for the first half, hence the 3.5 stars.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, gentle and thoughtful magical mystery set in an alt-history version of the 1920s and including a quiet slowburn romance between an aristocratic mathematician who lost his sight in the Great War and a lower-class female guardswoman assigned to serve as his assistant (which quickly turns to partner) in solving the puzzle of a newly-reappeared old manor house guarded by roses.

As always, Celia Lake writes disability beautifully and intelligently, and both characters are great. I was occasionally a little taken aback by the pacing decisions, but of course that's an entirely subjective matter (so YMMV), and I enjoyed the whole book very much. It was also fun to read in metaphorical conversation with two other books I've read that use the disappearing-house trope (Charlotte English's Modern Magick and Thea Harrison's Moonshadow).

PS: This book is listed as Mysterious Charm Book 4, but I hadn't read any earlier books in the series, and it worked just fine as a standalone.

[Kimberley Stafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Story of Two People Finding Where They Fit in a Post-War World

Giles lost his eyesight in a magical gas attack at Flanders during WWI. Kate has been in The Guard since before the War. During the war, she fulfilled varied duties, but since the men returned home, she’s been relegated to portal patrols and the like. A superior officer, recognizing her unused talents, pairs her up with Giles to investigate the sudden reappearance of a manor home that disappeared in the late 1400s.

Through their work, Giles and Kate learn how to interact with each other, and by doing so, fall in love. It’s a lovely story about magic and finding your best place in a unwelcoming world and finding love through respect and acknowledgment of each other’s gifts. I am loving making my way through the world of Albion.

[David H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure I've read a romance that was as slow-burn as this one. It was nice, in terms of a realistic relationship, but I still would've liked some more chemistry. The dialogue still had most of the quirks that annoy me, but the central mystery (a manor house reappearing after multiple centuries) was interesting. Major kudos to the male lead being blind, the author avoided several disability-related pitfalls that I appreciated. This is also something of a prequel to the rest of the Mysterious Charm books, as it's set in 1920 (vs. the 1924-25 timeframe of the other books).

[Anne Libera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, I'm finding Lake's series of novels set in a magical early twentieth-century Great Britain to be a perfect fit for my reading mood and focus. As with her other books, the mystery and plotting elements are very much beside the point, they seem to be there to support the building of character relationships and world creation. But that's what I'm here for.

[Linda Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

I am thoroughly enjoying this series. The stories are well-written, full of interesting snippets of history and folklore, and have a well-developed magical system. Best of all, there are some lovely characters who live in your imagination.

[Virginia Rounds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Celia Lake, though not a standout for me (though I like them all so much that it's hard to stand out.)

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

TLDR: I am enjoying this series but really want it to be edited.

https://klishis.com/reading/archives/...

[LowBrowReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quiet mustery

This book is very much a matter of taste. If you like quiet, slow writing style where romance by no means taking over the plot, then you have a very high chance of enjoying this. I enjoy all that very much, my only complaint being a sense of vagueness about the whole thing. Compared to the previous books in the series, the mystery was presented a lot better, with more details and more descriptive process of solving it.
Anyways, it's a magical mystery with sudden reappearance of a house that has been gone for about 600 years ago I was kinda bound to like it.
If you are looking for action heavy narrative then look elsewhere though as you are just setting yourself up for a disappointment and possibly also to a totally unwarranted rant in the reviews. 😁 Go in if you enjoy the slice of life books and mysteries that are more about thought process than fast moving events and action. I don't think there's a single fight in this book.
Also, to whom it matters, there is one explicit intimacy scene so if you prefer totally closed doors in your books, also not for you.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Capt. Kate Davies of the Albion Guard (Great Britain's magical police force) is assigned to help with the investigation of a locked manor house which just reappeared in 1920 after disappearing in 1485. The leader, Major Giles Lefton, is a professor of mathematics & crytographer blinded in the Great War. When they become trapped in the house, they solve their way out, falling in love in the process.

[Margaret Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the series, like the book.

Kate Davies appears in the other books in the series as a super competent, matter of fact, leader in the Guard, and I had hoped to learn more about how she became that person. Instead we see her as a smart but insecure young Guard member and get little insight into her growth and advancement at a time when that was less usual for women. I still love the magical world the action takes place in, the post war magic/ not magic England with the effects of the war very apparent

[Allison Henle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just utterly charming and I love how the happy ending didn't involve the hero (Giles) regaining his sight. I think I've seen glimpses of these two in other novels that take place chronologically later, and they continue to delight as they get older.