I really enjoyed this as a romance novel, it had that mystery element that I was looking for and was hooked from start to finish. I thought the characters were everything that I was looking for in a historical setting and glad I was able to start this series. Laura Rayndrop is able to weave a great story and it had that writing style that I wanted.

I received an ARC and this is my unbiased opinion.
While the story and the concept here was decent, the execution definitely needs more work. Historical fiction and fantasy needs to make sense, and this one just didn't.

This book is one of the worst things I read this year. It reads like a non edited first draft of that first novel you set to write at 14 (I´m sorry, but these are the vibes I get and I´m going to explain in a sec).

I almost DNF after just 1 chapter because the crime investigation is awfully done, unrealistic at best. Here are my overall issues:

- We are in London, 1886. A corpse is found at night (a bit before dawn) in a street. And, when Hal (our inspector / protagonist) arrives at the scene there is already a crowd of people interfeering. Neighbours and journalists alike, much in the vibe of those TV series and movies when someone famous dies in a violent way. I maybe could buy this scenario if it was in the middle of the day (even though our victim here is definitely not famous and we just got another -oh, so boring- Jack the Ripper retelling). But, being this happened at night, how the hell there is so many people at the streets?
- The crime was commited near or practically in front of the newspaper´s print... How come no one saw anything? Right, because it was night and maybe no one was working. But in that case, again, where did all these people came from?
- The doctor who is called to examine the body puts his hands on the mutilated corpse. Like. Inside her guts to check all organs were there, at the crime scene, in the middle of the street, as if this were an improvised preliminary autopsy. Suffice to say this is not accurate either in 2024 nor in 1886.
- The inspector also searchs the body. There at the crime scene. And takes things from it. (Why wait for the autopsy and for the doctor to give him those things anyway? Let´s pull an Ace Attorney and just take the proofs and run before the prosecution gets called, so we can have an advantage in the trial!)
- I was surprised to find there was people taking photos of the scene (not only police but also journalists). And although in 1886 photos existed, they were still at its early stages of being used on a crime scene. Not to mention papers wouldn´t have published the pictures of a mutilated body (wtf)
- A white blanket over the corpse (okay, a minor thing this one, but isn´t it weird they had such a blanket in 1886 for that use out of the autopsy room?). Oh, well...
- The guns. The inspector and police in general have a tendency to pull out their guns as if this were the Wild West. Perhaps the author forgot (or doesn´t know) that in this place and time it was extremely uncommon for police to carry weapons with them. They might have an special permit to use them on night patrol, in a very special / dangerous situation, but as a day to day habit? No way! I cannot explain to you how weirded out I was when I got to that scene where the inspector, his police partner and November are sitting at Hal´s place eating breakfast, a cup breaks (for whatever reason) and the first instinct of the two officers is pulling the guns out.

To be brief: The accuracy with the historical context and place on this one is practically nonexistent.
If you come here liking historical, or liking to read murder mysteries, I strongly sugest you to run the other way.

The fantasy part of this book is also a mess in its own way. I liked it a tiny bit better, but probably that´s only because since it´s fantasy, there is not much you can do to get things wrong... right? Anyway, I still gonna complain, so hold on there:

- November is the most strange character in this book. He is a wizard, but he barely knows anything about magic or its own world. He is portrayed as a victim constanty, but we briefly saw he has somewhat strong powers. He is called a young wizard, treated as if he were a teen by everyone and Hal is set to protect him at all costs (not that he has much reason to), but he is already a 24 yo adult. It´s like November only exists to give the inspector a love interest... and little else.
- The fantasy part of this book is a mess in a level that while I was reading I was convinced all the things happening, the magic beings and places could have perfectly come up from a random person´s dream. Well, actually no, not a random person: Someone with good imagination (I´ll give this to the author at least). What do I mean by this? I mean it all looks very cool and pretty in the surface. Can you imagine putting your foot in a puddle and then reappear at some magic place in Egypt? But then you begin thinking stuff -because you actually need your brain to work if you are reading / writing a murder mystery-, and you are like, why this place exists? How does that work in this world? Does this mean something beyond the exotic? Is it even relevant to the plot? Short answer: No, and it doesn´t get explained.
It´s like reading some fantastical dream someone had. No background of any kind.
- The murder mystery shift in a very (well, you know) wtf way from a duty to find the murderer in the streets of London, to a quest of "go to this magical place to get this" or "to speak to someone". For me, it was boring and it didn´t make sense.
- There are monsters that seem created at random without much thought. Let me put an example to this: At a certain point, Hal faces a monster, a sort of shadow if I remember correctly. He is not able to kill him with a gun (despite several bullets impacted on it) but he does manage to ultimately kill it by a stab in the heart... with a pencil. Where do these monsters come from or why are they created this way? No idea.
It all seems half baked when it comes to the fantasy part. And it´s okay to leave certain things for later and keep some suspense but, I don´t know, I expected at least some context for a few things.

I´m doing this review 40% in.
I might continue in my slow pace, but I know this is not going to improve. Because, let´s be realistic: If you fail with something so simple as to check you got correct the historical context, I cannot expect for this to be better later.

Right away the magic system drew me in, it was well down and unique, I liked the romance but it felt like there was more to be desired, I'm really hoping we see more of them in another book or novella, it was tied up nicely, but still open enough for more if that is a future possibility.

So, I was given a chance to review The Wizard and the Welshman by Laura Rayndrop, and I have many thoughts.
The book is the story of Hal Hawthorne, a detective in London who is investigating the death of a woman and is drawn into a world of magical creatures and spells. He partners with a mysterious mage and quickly develops feelings for the young man that could lead to his downfall in Victorian society.
The book is rough and uneven. It wants to be both a mystical retelling of Jack the Ripper while also having the whimsy of a Harry Potter novel. I was never much of a fan of Harry Potter, even before J.K. Rowling's turn, and the change of theme as they move between the gritty streets of London and the magical places was a little jarring. The romance also comes on very quickly, and there is not much original to be had. The book very much feels like a first-time author writing a bunch of stuff they liked in other novels.
All that being said I ended up enjoying the book more than I thought I would at the beginning. There were a few moments of interesting world building, and I grew to like the characters. I would be interested in to see where the author takes the series from here and hope she can grow in craft and originally.
If you are a fan of m/m paranormal romance and are willing to give some time for a book to woo you over this is not a bad choice.

3.5 Stars Rounded Up. Thank you to Netgalley and the author for providing an advanced digital copy.

The world of The Wizard and the Welshman was enchanting and immersive, pulling me in with its rich magic system and intriguing mystery. I loved how the setting felt alive, filled with wonder and suspense. However, the romance aspect left me wanting more. The relationship between the characters felt rushed, almost like insta-love, with little time to explore deeper emotional connections. With so much action happening throughout the book, there wasn’t enough space to develop the characters’ personalities or allow them to truly bond. While I enjoyed the excitement and magical elements, I wished there had been more balance with slower, more intimate moments to flesh out the characters and their relationships.

I wanted to like this. It had all the elements I like. Most of the elements in this book in other books are five star reads.
Unfortunately for this one I couldn't care less for either character. And it made it hard to read.

The Wizard and the Welshman is THAT girl of a book. Loved every single second of it. I rated it 5 stars because it really is that good. I recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good.

This sounded like an intriguing story, but the writing at the beginning was so mechanical. I didn't have a reason to root for Hal at all, so it made it hard to keep going. I'm afraid it's a DNF for me. I was also a little concerned that this book was listed last year under a different author name, so I'm not sure what's up with that.

Donoghue is nuts but I love it and him it was a great read I couldn’t put it down and the writing in this book is amazing I would recommend it to anyone that haven’t read it loved it 4.5 stars