This book is a delight and a half in its crossbreed of Jane Austen language and Harry Potter events! Cousins and dear friends Cecelia and Kate, separated by distance, write letters to each other to keep up the correspondence. From the start, things do not seem to be right. For instance, at Sir Hilary’s induction into the Royal College of Wizards, Kate wanders through a doorway and into a magical garden, where a witch by the name of Miranda confuses her for a wizard named Thomas and tries to poison her with chocolate from a chocolate pot. After escaping, Kate actually meets Thomas, the Mysterious Marquis of Schofield, whose impudence puts her on her guard, and even more so when, after a few more near-death moments, he makes an offer of marriage to her, so that he will have some protection from the charms of a young lady whom Miranda wants to set upon him.

Meanwhile, outside of London, Cecy befriends Dorothea, the shy girl whose stepmother, the malevolent witch Miranda, placed a charm spell on her so that every guy in her vicinity will fall heads over heels. Dorothea refuses to stand up to Miranda, and it is during one of their strolls that Cecy notices they are being watched by a not-so-subtle James Tarleton, a dark and elegant man who, it turns out, is good friends with Thomas. He warns Cecy not to meddle in the Marquis’ affairs with Sir Hilary and Miranda, but of course Cecy doesn’t heed him, and finds herself sneaking spellbooks out of Sir Hilary’s library and trying to understand more about magic and the significance of a chocolate pot that was once Thomas’ but is now possessed by Sir Hilary for sinister reasons.

SORCERY AND CECELIA was written as an unplanned, unscripted letter game between two authors, and so the beginning may seem slow and hard to get into. But persevere, and you will be greatly rewarded by a pleasing, adventurous, and romantic story.

The book started out as a Letter Game between Wrede and Stevermer, in which both authors would write, in character, to each other. No discussion of plot was formed; they simply wrote and responded to one another’s letters.
I really enjoyed the story, the characters were all fun and the commentary between Kate and Cecy was witty and entertaining. I liked the magic throughout, it wasn’t overdone and felt believable. Definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys mystery, magic, and romance.

I have read this book many, many times. When it was out of print, I mailed my paperback copy the UK and to New Zealand. I am thrilled that it is available again.

This is the ridiculously fun story of the cousins Kate and Cecilia. One is having her Season in London, but the other is forced to remain home and have her Season next year. Unknown to them, two powerful magicians are plotting to destroy another. And once Kate and Cecy get involved, nothing will go as planned.

This book is a delight, and I love every single page. It's a true comfort book in that it never fails to make me smile.

This has been on my list for so very, very long. I think I've seen it on various lists through the years, as I had this nearly guilty feeling that I'd never gotten around to it plus extremely high expectations. A la this post's title, those expectations were not met.


Again, the lack of focus in this book comes down largely to world-building. The notes at the back that explain how the book was initailly structured to much to explain why the book is the way it is, but that doesn't really excuse it. The main characters jumpto conclusions or discuss matters in a way that would only make sense if they were hving outside discussions not shared with the reader-- which is not at all the structure of the book. The book may have started as a writiing exercise, but the authors certainly had time to go back and add the relevant details in places that made sense.

I decided slightly over half-way through that I wanted to put it down and not finish, but then decided I would, because it was a YA book and easy read, even if not particularly brilliant, and it would allow me to check off one of my 2017 to-do boxes, and one I had thought I would have difficulty with. So I finished, but I can't recommend it.