Gifts of the Fairy Queen

Consulting Magic #3.5

by Amy Crook

After the events of The Guardianship of Julian St. Albans, Alex and Julian take a few weeks to rest and recover before diving into the new challenges ahead.

This is a warm, domestic novella in the same vein as Rosemary for the Holidays, where we check in with our beloved characters but do not, for once, have a murder to solve. However, the Queens have seen fit to give gifts to our boys, and like all gifts from such personages, there are strings attached.

Genres: Magic, Fantasy, M M Romance, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

109 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 8, 2022

About the author

Amy Crook has passed straight from maiden to crone; her final form will be a cryptid that lurks in the liminal spaces, joining all the cats who reside there. They will become her feral army of spoilt, self-serving fluff beasts. Amy is aro/ace, uses she/they, and prefers textual communication. She has made friends with the house ghosts in upstate NY, and the old monster under the bed came along on the move and still holds hands with her at night.

She specializes in writing magical worlds, boys in love, delicious meals, adult communication, and happy endings. She also paints cats, crows, and other small, strange wonders. You can find more about Amy, her artwork, and her eight cats at her website.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun epilogue to the previous books

This is a fun little coda to the Guardianship of Julian St Albans. It won't make much sense if you haven't read the earlier books. It also seems to be laying some groundwork for the next story -- I can't wait to find out how the fairy gifts will end up being needed in their next adventure.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's great to see another book by Amy Crook, seems like forever and I've missed her writing. This is just a simple little story but I loved every word of it. More, PLEASE!

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, how is this SO much better than 1-3? Maybe thanks to Kathleen Kayembe's and Dr. Corinne's, who are mentioned in the acknowledgement, input. Or just maturety and experience, good critique and editing?
Anyways, really good, happy to see more of Alys and Nat, Alex and Julien are more equals now, Julien isn't meek, hardly any ridiculousness, no need to fill the segways with descriptions of 'teasing' and what not. Kinda nice with less characters, more focus on the story, the now and here.

[Aric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amy is favorite!

I love hearing more about Alex and Julian and their magical world. I love this sign that more will be coming.

[isthisakink · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5. A nice little slice-of-life break before the next book. These novellas for sure aren’t ones you should skip if you want to follow the romance as closely as the plots in each book. Still super hella messy, but it was cute. I still don’t enjoy it as much from Julian’s brain, but I just like Alex’s character voice better.

[...]

DNF @33% - I've really enjoyed this series, but this particular installment has now been sitting, partially read, on my Kindle for months. I think I just burned out on the cozy vibe, so I'm officially calling it for now so I can free up a spot in my KU account, but that's totally a me/mood thing, and no reflection on the warm-hug vibe of this whole cozy series 🥰

[Bookbeard · Rating 4 out of 5]

story line: ***
main characters: ****
side characters: ****
world building: ****
editing: *****

[ReadKnitHoard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exploring the new house… and magical kitties!

[Jenn (not Lily) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very gentle for a change with this pair, no big bad for them to fight off, just working on their magic and settling in to their lives together. Lovely!