Status Updates From This Rough Magic (A Shot in...

What there was of the romance worked well (minus the whole CHEATING THING 🙃🙃🙃🙃) and the mystery plot made for more of a character study than anything else, but it worked. There ended up being a few twists that kept the plot engaging. The vast majority of the characters — including the two leads — are pretty morally grey so culprits and motives were abound

3.5

I would have liked this more if the engagement didn’t last literally right until the end. We don’t get the “I love you”s until the last few pages, which made it more of a beginning than an end (which, actually, is what one of the characters says, too). I’d really like to have a sequel to this, hopefully without, uh, any engagements or questionable racial stereotypes

Uuggghhh. We were doing so well without any incorrect - albeit historically used - racial terms. The dude’s name is known at this point, why would you have one of the heroes refer to him as “the Or**ntal”. UGH

I’m enjoying this but I wish Brett and Neil’s budding romance wasn’t going on while Brett is still engaged to Juliet. They crossed the line into cheating a loooong time ago. (Historical constraints on a character’s sexuality don’t make cheating any less, well, cheating).

Something changed in Brett’s face. He reached out, brushing fingertips across the scar on Rafferty’s cheekbone. Rafferty realized that he was kneeling in front of him, in front of the sofa. He didn’t recall getting on his knees like a Victorian suitor—or a penitent—but there he was, kneeling close enough to lean in for a kiss.

I don't know why when I first picked this up last year I DNF'd. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood. I am enjoying it now.

I'm not in the right headspace for this book. 40 pages in and i'm not inspired. I may come back to it.