{"id":12928,"date":"2020-05-29T20:58:28","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T00:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=12928"},"modified":"2025-06-29T08:32:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T12:32:43","slug":"spellbound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12928","title":{"rendered":"Spellbound"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spellbound<\/a><\/em> (2019) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan)<\/p>\n

\"Spellbound\"<\/a>Set in New York in 1924.<\/p>\n

Rory Brodigan works for a woman he calls his aunt, helping assess the authenticity of antiques. But there is no science–only magic–behind his abilities.<\/p>\n

Arthur Kenzie needs someone who can read the history of objects, and he thinks Mrs Brodigan is the woman who can help him. She he brings her a test–to find out if she’s what he hopes–because he and his friends need someone who can read the history of objects to help them in dealing with unsavory characters.<\/p>\n

There is a LOT to like here. Arthur is a veteran of The Great War, and despite coming from wealth and privilege, defends his friends and family with everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuality gin doesn\u2019t run itself from Toronto.\u201d <\/p>\n

Arthur scoffed. \u201cFifth Avenue deserves rotgut. Half those arseholes call for segregation during the day then have the nerve to slither into Harlem for culture at night. Be nice to bounce those hypocrites straight out of your speakeasy and onto the street.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cExcept they\u2019d return with the police,\u201d she pointed out, \u201cbecause we\u2019re in America, where the law lets your people street my people, never the other way around.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This story is set in a very interesting time period–the roaring twenties, that era between the horrors of The Great War and the Great Depression.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wound me,\u201d said Arthur, as a waiter approached. \u201cI am the very model of a law-abiding citizen.\u201d <\/p>\n

The waiter set the drink down with a flourish. \u201cYour gin rickey, sir.\u201d <\/p>\n

The sisters exchanged smirks. <\/p>\n

\u201cOh, shut up,\u201d said Arthur. \u201cHalf this country\u2019s laws are travesties and Prohibition\u2019s not even the worst.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There were some weak parts here–the language was off. But that might be particularly obvious to me because I’ve been reading Agatha Christie, and the language just felt a little off and a little to modern (especially for a character who spent a great deal of time in Europe). But I like the historical parts. Not just the prohibition, but the fact that racism was against not just Blacks, but also Italians and other immigrants.<\/p>\n

And it’s nice to have good people–a good antidote to the current world.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people see suffering that isn\u2019t their own and still try to help, for no other reason than it\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another thing I thought interesting was the description not just of Rory’s powers, but his reactions to them. I can see how it would be easy to completely lose oneself in the history of an object.<\/p>\n

As a bonus, all the boinking was fade to black!<\/p>\n

Twas good! I liked it! I’ve got the next lined up to read!<\/p>\n

Publisher: Carina Press
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spellbound (2019) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan) Set in New York in 1924. Rory Brodigan works for a woman he calls his aunt, helping assess the authenticity of antiques. But there is no science–only magic–behind his abilities. Arthur Kenzie needs someone who can read the history of objects, and he thinks Mrs Brodigan is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,292,33,8,148,26,56,16],"tags":[335,546,544,872],"class_list":["post-12928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-ebook","category-historical","category-mystery","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","category-supernatural","tag-allie-therin","tag-interwar-period","tag-mm","tag-prohibition"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3mw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26519,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26519","url_meta":{"origin":12928,"position":0},"title":"Spellbound","author":"Michelle","date":"April 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Spellbound (2019) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan #1) Set in 1925 in NYC \u201cQuality gin doesn\u2019t run itself from Toronto.\u201d Arthur scoffed. \u201cFifth Avenue deserves rotgut. Half those arseholes call for segregation during the day then have the nerve to slither into Harlem for culture at night. Be nice to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spellbound","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Spellbound-189x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26516,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26516","url_meta":{"origin":12928,"position":1},"title":"Starcrossed","author":"Michelle","date":"April 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Starcrossed (2020) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan #2) Set in 1925 in NYC \"I\u2019ve had my every minute scheduled by my family. Clearly this trip was a wonderful decision on my part. I might even have seen Rory for two whole minutes the other day.\u201d \u201cSpeaking of children,\u201d Arthur said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alternate History"","block_context":{"text":"Alternate History","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy\/alternate-history"},"img":{"alt_text":"Starcrossed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Starcrossed-191x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24745,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24745","url_meta":{"origin":12928,"position":2},"title":"Viscounts & Villainy","author":"Michelle","date":"July 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Viscounts & Villainy (2025) Allie Therin (Roaring Twenties Magic #3) November 1925 Sebastian and Wesley are in New York after the events of the previous book, and Sebastian is trying to learn to live without magic. It's not going well. He's a pacifist who has relied upon his magic to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Viscounts & Villainy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Viscounts-Villainy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Viscounts-Villainy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Viscounts-Villainy.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Viscounts-Villainy.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Viscounts-Villainy.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Viscounts-Villainy.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26523,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26523","url_meta":{"origin":12928,"position":3},"title":"Wonderstruck","author":"Michelle","date":"April 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Wonderstruck (2021) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan #3) Set in New York, London, and Paris in 1925 Three tables had been pushed together in the middle to accommodate a big family, one toddler making an enormous mess as she gleefully ate spaghetti with her bare hands. \u201cWe don\u2019t owe our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wonderstruck","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Wonderstruck--187x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12934,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12934","url_meta":{"origin":12928,"position":4},"title":"Starcrossed","author":"Michelle","date":"May 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Starcrossed (2020) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan) Set in New York in 1925. This is set immediately after the events of the first book. Rory and Arthur are in Hyde Park where Rory is helping to authenticate some of Arthur's brother's supposedly antique compasses, and Arthur is visiting his family.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Starcrossed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Starcrossed.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21120,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21120","url_meta":{"origin":12928,"position":5},"title":"Proper Scoundrels","author":"Michelle","date":"November 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Proper Scoundrels (2021) Allie Therin (Roaring Twenties Magic) Set in England in 1925. Me: I really liked this first series that this book is a spin-off of. Obviously I should not read it. (Repeat time and again for author after author) Sebastian de Leon spent the past three years enthralled,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Proper Scoundrels","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Proper_Scoundrels.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12928\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}