The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner delivered an engaging historical fantasy with magic, suspense, and romance. Waggoner pulled me in and held me captive.

Dellaria Wells is a petty thief and sometimes drunk who is living in Leiscourt. She has two immediate goals. Get her mother off the drip and pay the landlord the rent before she breaks out in boils. Dellaria is a fire witch, and when she sees an advert for a bodyguard, it seems like a dream come true. She joins a team of other women, to protect a rich young lady from mysterious assassins.

From the world to the assorted group of females, I loved this story. Part investigative mystery, and part magic, it offered a delightful slow-burning LGBT romance that fans of historical fantasy will want to add to their shelf.

Most of the characters are female, from the landlord to the villain. Each woman on their team brought unique magic skills. The threat was freaky and involved the use of necromancy. Perhaps my favorite character was of all things a rat… but I will let you learn about that on your own.

We see character growth, friendships develop, and watch the romance between Dellaria and Winn. Their relationship felt genuine, as did the struggles Dellaria went through. Winn was a peach.

I would love to see this gang get together again, but loved how the story wrapped up. This was my first experience with C.M. Waggoner. I would not hesitate to read her again.

Thank you, NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group, for the chance to read and review this book.

Dellaria Wells is a con artist, a fire witch and an occasional thief. Since she's behind her rent, when she sees a "wanted" sign, looking for Female Person to guard a Lady, prior to the celebration of her Marriage, she decides to try. Delly is convinced this job will be easy, when she sets her sights on one of her companions, Winn Cynnallum, but soon enough she will understand things are more complicated and deadly she thought they would be. Between a deadly conspiracy, romance, a necromancer, shapeshifters, Delly and Winn have to join forces against a dangerous adversary and magic.

I really loved reading this book! It was funny, full of plot twists and adventures and Dellaria is a magnificent main character. She's complex, brilliant and I absolutely loved her at first read! Winn is another amazing character and their interactions are well written and a pleasure to read. I was involved in the story right away and it was difficult to stop reading it.
I loved the setting, the magic, the intrigues, the romance and the story is so intriguing it feels like I was there with them chapter after chapter.

I definitely recommend this book to those who love a captivating story, a brilliant and thrilling writing style, well rounded characters, plot twists and magic!

whimsical. Magical. Fantastical. C. M. Waggoner completely pulled me into this enchanting story with her quirky and unique writing style. before you start this book I think it is important that you are aware of the fact that the dialogue in the story is highly original. It is almost as if they are speaking a different language but they aren’t. At first this threw me off a little but by the end of the book I was completely acclimated to the style. I have to think The colorful language drew me into this world even more. The colorful language also was perfectly suited for our antiheroine Delly. Delly is a sharp, spunky, spirited fire witch who is in need of funds fast. When Delly sees an ad for a job as a bodyguard of a rich lady in need of being guarded before her wedding she is eager to apply. How hard can this be? Delly is certain the lady is exaggerating her peril. But Delly soon finds out the threat is real and it has put herself and her new friends in danger. because Delly never anticipated making new friends and meeting a possible romantic interest.

This was just so much fun! Definitely not my usual genre but it was such an enjoyable story. loved the relationship between Delly and Winn. Winn was half troll half female and one of the most kind caring characters I’ve ever read. The characters in the story were so accepting. Everything was so fluid your appearance, your gender, your sexuality. The mystery was interesting and made even more complex by everyone’s ability to change their appearance. A little magic... a little historical fiction... a little romance... a little mystery... and a whole lotta fun!

This book in emojis 🧙🏻‍♂️ 💰 🧪 🚰 🐭

*** Big thank you to Berkley for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

I loved this book! The writing is quirky and once you get used to it (which is fairly quickly), you won't be able to put it down. I connected with Delly immediately and absolutely loved her. I was cracking up out loud at certain parts Seeing her character grow and be happy just made me like the story all the more. I loved how the author combined so many genres and weaved this story seamlessly The world building is pristine. My only complaint is that I wish the author would have explained what certain words meant. I found myself very confused because sometimes the context clues for the word would contradict what it had said previously. Overall, I definitely recommend everyone picking this up!

Delly is "an ill-mannered, ill-tempered, money-hungry slattern with a decidedly potato-like aspect to her personal appearance" (but same, though). She constantly gets herself into trouble and then talks her way back out of it. Used to roughing it alone, she looks out for herself first and foremost with a canny eye for business opportunities.

She joins a "merry band of female catastrophes" (bodyguards) for a high society lady facing death threats leading up to her wedding. Delly needs the money for rent and to help get her mother treatment for a drug addiction. Not particularly keen on actually risking her life, she still manages to get sucked into the danger when only her skill as a fire witch can protect the crew from a necromancer's hideous creations. Her new position will test her in unexpected ways, especially when she catches sight of one of her fellow bodyguard, Winn. Winn's half-troll, a good shot, and a ray of fucking sunshine. Her wealth and disposition make her a particularly enticing target for a long con, but Delly's in danger of catching real feelings.

There was so much I loved in this book. The laugh out loud humor first and foremost. Delly makes up words to fit every situation (a trait I empathize with). It's tricky to get used to at first, but it adds to the ridiculous atmosphere in all the right ways. Her flippant, scheming attitude is so rarely depicted in female characters, and she's the evidence for why that's a crying shame. The found family of odd but fantastic ladies was a delight, and their disturbing mascot left me cackling: a necromancer trapped in the body of a skeletal mouse.

I highly recommend this as one of the rare humorous fantasies that actually hits the mark, an adorable WLW romance, and a silly romp following an honorable yet vaguely criminal band of misfits.

This was such an unexpected surprise! I didn't know about this release initially, but I am so so so happy that I was able to read it! I loved all the characters--each one had such a unique voice. The plot was also something that sparked my interest and only continued to grow as the book progressed. I cannot praise this wonderful book enough! There were moments where I was left speechless, where I laughed and cried! Thank you for allowing me to read early!

If you'd like to see my coverage on Frolic, you can find it at the following link: https://frolic.media/perfect-pairings-books-and-sam-smith-songs/

Dellaria Wells is a con artist and needs to pay her rent. When an ad for a bodyguard appears for an important lady she figures this as a way out of her problems. She helps make up a small group of women who are interesting in their own ways, and all with different kinds of skills. The setting and the quirkiness of the characters and writing remind me a bit of Gail Carriger books, but rough around the edges.

The worldbuilding is probably the best part about the book and the pace is kind of varying but for the most part the mystery is intriguing. It is also set in the same world as Waggoner’s Unnatural Magic, but you don’t need to read it to get what’s going on here. If Victorian type mysteries with action is your type of fun then I definitely recommend it.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

How can you not love a book that throws you into a whole new magical world, complete with a language and society of its own? Where “gull” means “girl,” a “gallop” refers to a satisfactory shag, a “bolt-for” is your residence, “thinkmeat” is your brain, and a “barnfucker” is … well, that’s self-explanatory. By Elgar, it’s a relefting good time, is what it is.

This book is set in the same world as the author’s first book, Unnatural Magic, but it’s not a sequel. However, I would recommend starting with the first book if possible, just because I felt like I missed out on some of the fantastic world-building. I was able to catch up quickly, though.

This is a historical fantasy about a hard-drinking petty thief and talented fire witch, Dellaria. She’s down on her luck until she sees a want ad for a female bodyguard. She fast-talks her way into the high-paying job. Along with a team of other women of magical abilities, she’s meant to protect a rich young lady from mysterious assassins. However, soon she’s thrown into a scheme bigger than she ever imagined, up against a deadly and powerful magical foe.

At its core, this is a story about a bunch of bad-ass, mismatched women banding together to defeat a common enemy. It’s everything I wanted from The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires but didn’t get. There is also a tender sapphic love story that develops between Delly, who is gun-shy to say the least, and Winn, one of the other bodyguards. I absolutely adored Winn, who is part troll, and would love to see more of her in future books! I could totally relate to her obsession about planning her next meal. :)

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of the book.

‘The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry’ is not a book I would have picked up myself and that my friends is the beauty of Buddyreads . I enjoyed this book and having no idea what to expect made it all the more enjoyable.

In a world where magic and creatures of all kinds exist side by side, we meet Delly, who has been scraping a not so law abiding or angelic existence since she was very young. Her Mum has gone AWOL (again) and the rent is way past due. In a bid to escape the law and earn a pot of cash, Delly ends up part of a band of women tasked with keeping a well-bred bride-to-be safe, in the run up to her wedding day. As they travel cross-country and reach their destination more and more danger and violence pursues them. While a sweet love interest forms for Delly, she fights to keep herself and her charge alive. As events unfold, Delly and her band end up tracking a nefarious group of criminals and pitting themselves against them. All events culminating in a nail-biting finale.

The writing style of C.M. Waggoner is quirky but I really enjoyed it, it was conversational in feel and made me feel like part of the story rather than a bystander. I liked Delly, and many of the other characters. More than once, I laughed out loud as conversations happened and witty sarcastic remarks flew around. The only small downside I had was that the middle part of the book dragged in places. This was interspersed with lots of excitement, so it wasn’t a total dirge, but in places I just wanted to hear less about brewing techniques and long scouting missions and more about magic and explanations. All in all an enjoyable read and I will be looking out for the new books in the series.

The summary of this book, and the pretty cover had me drawn in from the start. At first I wasn't sure where the book was headed, but once about 1/4 into the story I was hooked! It is charming and hilarious at times. It was a little slower at points and might be better with a bit faster paced plot, but I enjoyed it overall!

I liked this one but didn't love it, unfortunately. The good things are very, very good - unique magic system in pseudo-Victorian London, f/f romance between certified bicon Dellaria Wells, con artist turned bodyguard-for-hire, and Winn, a titled half-troll woman working on the same bodyguard team, plus a cast of fun and interesting supporting characters - but the pacing leaves a lot to be desired.

The first chunk of the book was super engaging (though the narrative voice took me a second to get used to) but once they end their bodyguarding duties and move into the drug ring scheme to find the villain things really slowed down and felt stilted at times. I didn't mind the slow burn romance between Delly and Winn but the slow burn of a plot that lends itself so well to high-octane crime solving shenanigans left me wanting a bit more out of the book. Overall, I had a fun enough time that I would read another book by the author, especially if it were about the further adventures of any of the gang from this one.

All I knew about this book before diving in was that it is fantasy and there was a bisexual protagonist and a sapphic relationship. But, oh man, was I hooked from the first chapter. Dellaria Wells (Delly for short) is behind on her rent (spending her little money on gin and cigarettes), has an addict mother, and just wants to be householded to someone wealthy enough to take care of her and cushion life a bit.

Delly is a hot mess, but I love a hot mess. Through a series of happy accidents (though she probably wouldn’t count being thrown in jail ‘happy’), Delly lands herself a temporary bodyguard gig to a wealthy young woman traveling to her intended’s house for her wedding. And then there is a murder, a plot to overthrow historical type drug trafficking, and a skeletal mouse who goes ‘bong’.

And kissing ladies. Did I mention the kissing ladies?!?!

Delightful, whimsical, witchy fun!

Hard-drinking petty thief Dellaria Wells is down on her luck in the city of Leiscourt—again. Then she sees a want ad for a female bodyguard, and she fast-talks her way into the high-paying job. Along with a team of other women, she’s meant to protect a rich young lady from mysterious assassins.

At first Delly thinks the danger is exaggerated, but a series of attacks shows there’s much to fear. Then she begins to fall for Winn, one of the other bodyguards, and the women team up against a mysterious, magical foe who seems to have allies everywhere.

This was just a breath of fresh air. Right of the bat, I loved the writing style and magical world within this story. I’m always a sucker for historical fiction, paired with fantastical elements. I loved Delly’s spunk, and everything about this book to be utterly enchanting. Would definitely pick this one up if you’re looking for a fluffy read!

Big thank you to Berkley Publishing Group + Netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of this book!

This book was a really decent palette cleanser. There is nothing heavy or overly moving in it but it’s gray for a chuckle every once in a while. I can honestly say it made me laugh out loud a few times.

This is a murder mystery set in a fictional equivalent to Victorian London. The made up street slang and the way characters talked annoyed me a little bit but that’s entirely personal preference.

Overall it’s good but not great and I had fun reading it.

So I requested this book not knowing that it was part of a wider universe of books. I say that because I am not sure if that fact added to my mild dislike of this book. I'm not saying that this was a bad book just maybe not the the book for me.
The premise of this book was solid and honestly rather interesting. I really enjoyed the plot of this book. The writing style and pacing is what sis this book in for me. I felt like this book was dragging out just for the purpose of making it longer which made the story drag. I got bored in places because I felt like it was honestly just to wordy for me.
I did really enjoy the romance. I always love a good sapphic romance and this one was indeed solid. I did feel like it dragged but that was probably due to how I felt the book dragged in general.
Overall this was a solid fantasy and I think plenty of people will enjoy it. The book just fell a little flat for me because it dragged on. Again my opinion my also be different because I did not read the original book in this series.

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry is an adult historical fantasy novel that takes place in a pseudo-Victorian setting which has been turned on its head. Picture a noir-inspired protagonist starring in a quirky regency romance with witches and trolls and you’ll have the beginnings of an understanding of this colourful, whimsically inventive story. 

While the author has previously published a novel Unnatural Magic which first establishes the world in which we meet our ruthless heroine Dellaria Wells, this book can easily be read as a standalone. Delly is a self-described gutterwitch who grew up in the poor part of town and was raised by a neglectful mother too focused on her drug addiction to worry about her daughter. The author adopts a unique writing style to match Delly’s crass street cadence and tendency to mash together words making up non-existent terms like ‘considerationary’ or ‘productivication’ which may be off-putting to some readers at first, but I quickly acclimatised and found it made the reading experience much more immersive. 

Unfortunately but entirely understandably, Delly grows up into an irresponsible adult indulging in alcoholism and petty thievery with not much in the way to recommend her aside from a heart of gold buried under several layers of cunning, deceit and opportunism plus a handy talent for magically setting things on fire. When she hits rock bottom, the latter talent scores her a temporary bodyguard role that promises to pay off all her debts and settle her mother in a health retreat where she can recover from her addiction.

Of course, when something seems too good to be true, it invariably proves to be just so. Rather than a cushy gig looking after a rich young woman with an overprotective family and imaginary threats, it turns out that Delly’s client is the target of very real, very dangerous assassination attempts using twisted necromantic magic and as her bodyguard, Delly is square in the middle of the action. However it’s not all bad news as one of her fellow bodyguards, Winn Cynallum, turns out to be as rich and privileged as their mutual client and also demonstrates an attraction to Delly that she is eager to capitalise on in the hopes of elevating herself out of the gutters and into a life of luxury.

The romance between Delly and Winn is too adorable for words and a definite highlight of the story. Both ladies are instantly taken with each other and even while Delly is telling herself she’s pursuing Winn with an agenda, it’s plain to see that she genuinely enjoys her company and is drawn to the other woman’s kindness, strength and unaffected decency. It’s perhaps a bit unbelievable that Winn is so invested in Delly as she is from early in the book, but their courtship is so sweet and endearing that it’s easy to be swept away in how charming the pair are together. I thoroughly enjoyed how low-maintenance this romantic relationship was with any potential angle for contrived drama being smoothed away and the main focus simply on how good the ladies were for each other.

Whether or not the main characters win over the reader will be a major factor in how successful the plot is at drawing them in; the bodyguard premise would seem to be the main plot judging from the blurb, yet the identity of the assassin is discerned at 20% of the way into the story and the author makes the interesting choice of dispensing with the bodyguard angle altogether shortly after that point. The assassination attempts were simply window dressing to move the pieces into position after which it is summarily abandoned in favour of a bounty hunter storyline as Delly, Winn and the other ladies pursue the guilty party and become embroiled in the most improbably convoluted heist plot imaginable whereupon the plot grinds to a halt and never fully recovers.

On the one hand, this provides an excellent opportunity for character growth from Delly as she takes charge of their rag-tag group of misfits in a rare show of leadership and responsibility; on the other, it’s difficult to see how their plan is the most efficient way of locating their target and even if it were, it’s not very engaging to the reader to see the heroines locked in an endless loop of what is effectively the planning stage of a heist for the majority of the book. The ladies spend so much time preparing their ingredients for their master plan, which feels rather tangential to their ultimate goal and appears a lot higher on the cost side of the cost-benefit analysis, only for it to result in the shortest, least satisfying pay-off that many readers will find woefully anticlimactic after all that planning and waiting and preparation.

However Delly proves to be a charismatic protagonist with a shifty charm that creeps up on you and wins you over regardless of her initial poor impression, Delly and Winn are fantastically soft witch girlfriends and the secondary cast of characters are intriguing and fun to read about with wonderful female friendships developing in the background. The strength of characterisation and interpersonal dynamics between the varied female characters is what carries this novel, and readers who are invested in the quirky, feisty ladies will be more forgiving of a slow-moving plot as it’s so entertaining to spend time with this unlikely assembly of misfits. A healthy heaping of snark and banter makes even the simplest of scenes a delight to read along with the pure absurdity of a reanimated mouse named Buttons who steals the show.

An outrageously original and marvellously diverting feminist fantasy romp with standout characters and a delightful sapphic romance.

The synopsis of this book, plus the cover, had me really believing this was going to be the book for me. Ladies in love? And they are body guards sent on a drug busting mission? Sold! But alas, this one didn't live up to my expectations. The first 50 pages of the book, I was worried that the writing was going to be far too confusing for me to handle, but then I got used to it and was actually finding it quite funny and charming. I think where this book really fell flat was its plot. For a really long time, around the middle part, I was just bored. There were no consequences to any of the plot points, everything was confusing and things that were interesting were completely glossed over. I also felt as though the romance was so confusing - some moments they were in love about to strip each other naked, and then suddenly, they would dangle their sexual tension in front of each other - it just became annoying. However, I think were the plot to be more fast paced, their romance would have felt more balanced. Like I said, the writing ended up charming me and I can see this being a book lots of people will enjoy, it just didn't particularly work for me.

Given the description of this book, I simply couldn't pass it up. Overall, I enjoyed the plot of this novel. Dellaria Wells is a poor fire witch, used to scamming and stealing her living. But the sudden opportunity to act as bodyguard for a rich lady pays too well to pass up. The initial quest quickly evolves into an unexpected (but thoroughly entertaining) new mission that I truly didn't see coming. This book also treats fluid sexuality as the norm, which is appreciated and needed in more modern stories.
I admit it was difficult for me to enjoy the narration style in this book. There's a habit among books Victorian style novels, or similar worlds (like this one) to show the time period by writing in an especially wordy fashion. It's very hit or miss for me. On top of that, we're shown that Dellaria is poor and uneducated through her constantly making up or misusing words and then being corrected by her peers. This gets...a little old.
Other than that, this was an enjoyable read.
I do think the inclusion of hard promises could have been dropped. They are mentioned only twice, and caused some confusion for me near the end.

DNF at 70%

I rarely DNF so late in the game, but I'm struggling to get through this one and really just don't care how things wrap up. The early part of the book was fantastic- pseudo-Victorian fantasy with magic and a quirky, bisexual thief turned body guard? So fun! And it was...until it wasn't. From about 25% on it was just so incredibly dull, moving at a snails pace without any real mystery or conflict to drive the plot forward. I like the idea of this slow burn sapphic relationship between the MC and a half-troll woman from the gentry, but while I like the characters it wasn't enough to keep me from getting bogged down in the repetition and minute details. (cleaning an apartment, making breakfast, meeting at a coffee shop, cleaning an old building, eating lunch, going to the bathhouse, falling asleep, drinking coffee...) For a book about magic and a dangerous drug ring, it's remarkably boring. Which is unfortunate.

This book is just plain fun! A queer bodyguard romance full of magic, necromancy, adventure, and false identities, yes please! Initially I found the writing style slightly off-putting, even the narration is worded to sound like a speaker from this magical world who doesn’t necessarily abide by all of the niceties of common English grammar, but it only took about a chapter to get used to and then it just served to make the book more immersive.

Since finishing The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry I learned that this is the second book Waggoner set in this world. However, I never felt I was missing any details, Ruthless Lady’s can definitely stand alone.

If you’re looking for a queer friendly, gender nonconforming fantasy to escape into, The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry is a great choice.