When the description of the book said that Cecilia is a thief that flies around England getting into mischief, I didn’t think they meant literally, and that’s one me. So warning to other readers, there is magic (low level, nothing crazy), but Holton tosses you right in and you get the hang of it pretty quick.

I read this one as an audiobook, and I think it made me enjoy it even more! The narrator, Elizabeth Knowelden, kills it. Absolutely smashes the dialogue. Holton wrote “grin while you’re reading” banter, and Knowelden delivers it so well. It lowkey reminded me of Gilmore Girls. 

Was it campy? Yes. Did I eat it up? 110%. Can’t wait to read the next one.

Memorable quotes:

“Call me Ned.” He nudged her with an elbow as if they were old friends.
“I shall do no such thing. Your manners are dreadful and your cologne cheap. Go away.”

“You servants have been sent away with severance pay”
“What do you mean, severance pay? Did you cut off their hands?”
“No.”

“Marry me,” Ned whispered to Cecelia. 
“Over Freddy’s dead body,” she muttered in reply.
“This afternoon then,” Ned said. “The poor chap is about to expire from hysterics.”

“I’m thinking of starting a Society of Gentlemen Scoundrels.”
“You’re a millennia too late. It already exists and it’s called the patriarchy.”