Lynn Viehl

Books: Fantasy | Steampunk | Romance

Disenchanted & Co.: Disenchanted & Co., Part 1: Her Ladyship's Curse (2013), Disenchanted & Co., Part 2: His Lordship Possessed (2013)

Disenchanted & Co.

Disenchanted & Co., Part 1: Her Ladyship's Curse (2013)

This book has a gorgeous cover and a fabulous premise.

Unfortunately, for me, it lived up to neither.

Charmian Kittredge lives in Toriana, an alternate North America, one where there is no United States, because the Revolution failed. And one where magic seemingly works, although Charmain–who goes by Kit–is not a believer. After all, magic has never worked around her, ever.

Kit is being chased by Lucien Dredmore a deathmage who keeps trying to romance her, but she has no interest in him, believes he is a huge scam artist (since she is certain magic doesn't exist) and also thinks he's evil.

In fact, she repeats many times–both to him and to herself–how much she reviles Dredmore and thinks he's evil.

Which is why she is unable to control herself and succumbs to him, romantically.

W.T.F.? Seriously? She hates this guy but is so attracted to him she can't control herself?

I think I sprained my eyeballs they were rolling around so much.

The sad thing is that I found myself fascinated with the world in which they were living, as well as the mystery Kit was trying to solve. But the "romantic" scenes with Dredmore? Well, they felt far more like rape scenes than seduction scenes.

Ick.

Plus, the book (which, with the following, is also sold as a single book) ends with a pretty big cliffhanger.

Ugh.

But I'd already gotten the second book, and I really did want to know the solution to the mystery, so, onto Part II I went.

Published by Pocket Star

Rating: 4/10

Disenchanted & Co., Part 2: His Lordship Possessed (2013)

Again, gorgeous cover, and I love the world building, but the story?

Bletch.

She now moons over Lord Dredmore, who has, at least according to Kit, zero redeeming qualities.

Kit also seems to get dumber as the book goes on. Even though her friends have seen magic work, she refuses to believe them, despite the claim by many mages in the past that Kit is somehow blocking them, and the reactions many mages have to her.

She doesn't see it, she doesn't believe it.

But she's willing to bonk Dredmore, even though she has seen even LESS evidence that he is a decent human being that she has seen evidence of the existence of magic. She's willfully ignorant on many parts, and it's annoying as hell.

And then there was this bit, that I found profoundly irritating.

I felt no shame in playacting the strumpet. My garms may not have been to my personal taste, but I didn't consider myself superior to Rina or her gels. Had fate been only a fraction more unkind to me, I might have sold myself on the streets of Middy.

But to be marched along and obliged to behave like Dredmore's whore made me feel as if I'd poured several gallons of lamp oil over my head while standing next to a bonfire. It wouldn't take much of a spark to set me off.

Right. She isn't the least bit uncomfortable about parading around half-naked, even though the cultural sensibilities have women completely covered from head to toe, she's only bother by the fact that she has to play the whore with Dredmore–whom she has already boinked.

Whatever.

And then the world-building goes off the rails.

It was a constant "Wait? What? What the fuck?!" and the fact I was skimming to get the story over faster, because I was still curious as to what the solution was, well, it was a giant-ass deus ex machina. I mean seriously. I hate freaking time travel almost as much as I hate dream sequences. No, I take that back, after this BS, I believe I now hate time travel MORE than I hate dream sequences, and that's saying something.

On the other hand, it didn't matter that I had breezed through pages of text, because it didn't matter what had happened, and the unexplained bits she seemingly intuited?

Ugh. Bletch. Yuck.

Published by Pocket Star

Rating: 2/10