Shade Spells with Strangers

Shade Spells with Strangers (2025) Sarah Wallace & S. O. Callahan (Fae & Human Relations #3)

Set in London in 1814

The sequel to Fire Spells Between Friends starts at the wedding between Emrys Wrenwhistle and Torquil Pimpernel-Smith, where Silas Rook-Worth and his family are creating the protection spells and area for the wedding.

Silas’ father, Mr. Rook, took charge when talking to fae customers and Silas took charge when talking to human customers.

Keelan Cricket, there for the marriage of his best friend, is a hopeless romantic who has wanted for almost his entire left to fall in love and get married.

Keelan and Cricket come together briefly, and then assume they will never see one another again, no matter that the compatibility of their magics shocked both of them.

But Silas is half-fae/half-human and is one of the people Torquil Pimpernel-Smith communicated with when they started looking for half-fae/half-humans who would be willing to work with the Council for Fae & Human Relations to discover more about the magic of those who had previously been ignored and even shunned by society.

Briony and Quince’s mother had died when they were both very young. Mr. Rook later married Ruth, a human woman, and they’d had Silas.

Silas and Cricket meet again, only it has been set by Cricket’s mother that he will be partnered with the very eligible Miss Wilton-Reed in hopes a marriage can be arranged.

Miss Wilton-Reed is awful.

Father thought it essential that I make good use of this opportunity. He wants everyone to associate our names with progress and forward-thinking.

Cricket’s mother is also awful.

I had a hard time with parts of this story, with Cricket’s acceptance of the marriage his mother was arranging for him, with a woman with whom he has no interest.

Miss Wilton-Reed would love it, and he hoped that maybe if he wore something that pleased her, she would be nicer to him.

I mean… Just… she’s awful and he just accepts everything as inevitable.

Things of course work out in the end, but it was a bit hard to take.

Characters: Keelan Cricket, Silas Rook-Worth, Briony Rook, Quince Rook, Mr. Rook, Ruth, Miss Aveline Wrenwhistle, Mr. Wyndham Wrenwhistle, Mr. Roger Wrenwhistle, Mrs. Iris Wrenwhistle, Emrys Wrenwhistle, Torquil Pimpernel-Smith, Marten, Leonora Pimpernel, Mr. Hedge-Wyck, Mx. Ellery Badger-Thorp, Miss Anise Gloucester-Stone, Mr. Finkle-Finch, Mx. Fern Hillcrest, Mr. Benedict Brooks, Mr. Arlen Buckthorn, Miss Wilton-Reed, Councilmember Barnes, Mr. Sage Ravenwing, Sal Bailey

Cover by Caras Alexandra

Rating: 7.5/10

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