Hey Bookworm friends! It’s time I get back into the swing of writing and posting reviews. Let’s start with my first book of 2025 which is Miss Amelia’s List.
Thanks to Netgalley and DAW Books for the ARC; All opinions are my own.
About Miss Amelia’s List
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Genre(s): Historical Fantasy, Romance
Series: Elemental Masters, #17
Publisher: DAW Books
Format Read: E-ARC
Pub Date: Dec 24, 2024.
Cover Artist: Jody A. Lee
Content Warnings
Graphic: ❌
Moderate: Slavery,
Misogyny, Sexism
Minor (Mention):❌
Pace: Slow, Character-Driven Plot
Tone: Lighthearted, Relaxing
Review
The magical Regency vibes are vibing but unfortunately, the plot is nowhere to be found.
I’d only read one other Mercedes Lackey book and hadn’t heard of the Elemental Masters series before now. So it would be fair to wonder why I’m suddenly writing a review for the 17th installment. DAW Books kindly asked if I wanted to read Miss Amelia’s List because it’s similar to other historical fantasy romances I’d read. I quickly looked it up and saw it was a magical alternate history set in the Regency period and that it functions as a standalone. Naturally, I immediately said, “YES PLEASE”!
It’s 1815 and two young American cousins, Amelia and Serena, arrive in England armed with a list of tasks. They’re here to help set up their family business and to do so they’ll need to find a property, get to know the neighbours, purchase a whole new wardrobe, and hire staff. Oh, and potentially find husbands all while dodging fortune hunters and hiding their magical prowess from the non-mages in town. As the name of the series would imply, the story is set in a world with Elemental magic—Amelia is an Earth Master and Serena is a Fire Mage and a shapeshifter.
There’s something really cozy about Lackey’s writing style where she goes into the minute details of the everyday life of her characters. In the first one I read, it was the details of how to care for a baby dragon but in this one, it was setting up a new life in a new city and everything that comes with that. We spent a long time going dress shopping and altering clothing, but I didn’t mind as I was awash in visions of Regency gowns! Then we followed our characters to assemblies, balls, dinners, and on their morning calls as they figured out how to blend into English society. And I was having the best time, especially as Lackey took the same care to dive into how the magical community operates and the certain duties that come with the cousin’s different powers. I love that stuff! Meeting the house Elementals and watching Serena Shapeshift are memorable moments.
However, at about the 60% mark, I started to question whether the book did work as a standalone after all. More than halfway through the book they hadn’t even begun to deal with most of the items on their oh-so-important list. Instead, the story introduces two new external issues that seem like they would lead in intriguing directions only to be irrelevant in the end as the author never followed them to any sort of conclusion. Eventually, the plot dragged, and despite all the moving to new cities (London then Axminster), it felt like we were going nowhere very slowly.
Then, with about 10 or 20 pages left of the book, Lackey suddenly remembered to include some action! Hurray, you might think, but nay, it was at this point that I realized there couldn’t possibly be enough time to resolve everything satisfactorily. And I was right. Within one bizarre action scene, everything conveniently wrapped up. I say bizarre because the source of the last-minute drama was so out of left field that it didn’t fit with the rest of the story. Maybe it fits within the wider world of the series, but having entered here at #17, I don’t know. In some ways, it doesn’t feel like a standalone, and I wish the story had a part 2 to do it more justice. Overall, the enjoyable elements of this world and the writing style make me want to find book #1 and give this series another try!
Quote
And she immediately created a mental list of “men we wouldn’t marry if they were next in line for the throne.”
Let’s chat in the comments!
Have you read Miss Amelia’s List or any of the “Elemental Masters” books? Or, if you had to make a to-do list right now what would be the first item on it?
As I said elsewhere I checked this out as soon as you first mentioned it thanks to that irresistible cover. It’s a shame to hear that the plot, or lack of one, was such an issue. How frustrating. I love the sound of those cosy vibes and love fantasies set within the regency era (I’ve not read many but the combination of high society and fantasy is so intriguing). I think, like you, I’m still going to give book one a chance sometime. With this being book 17 in the series maybe it’s lost its way over time and the earlier ones will be more plot centric. Or it could just be a weaker addition I suppose, some series seem to have them. So here’s hoping we’ll both get on better with the first book 🤞
That cover is just stunning but I looked up the artist’s website and everything they do is SO pretty and they do a lot of covers for Mercedes Lackey!
Yeah, it was a bit of a bummer, but at least it had the first half that I loved so much. Could have been worse, I guess. I love fantasy mixed in with novels of manners too, such a fun combination!
Yeah you might be right, and it seems like each book in the series is also a loose retelling of a fairy tale so maybe by that point the fairy tale aspect is a bit too diluted, who knows! Yes, indeed 🤞🏽!
It does sound like a book in the middle of a long series. Too bad it didn’t have more of a structured plot. I don’t think I’ve ever read Mercedes Lackey, but will look elsewhere if I decide to😁
Yeah for sure, it’s just so hard to keep up a constant level of quality so deep into a series, standalone or not. and yeah I would definitely recommend starting elsewhere if you try Lackey 🙂
I haven’t read any but I love your post layouts! It’s so customized and clean looking!
Thanks, Athena. I really appreciate that since I’ve been wanting to simplify my review posts, I changed themes and have been struggling to find out what looks best with the new theme. I’m glad to hear it looks nice from an outside perspective 🙂
I’ve only tried one book by Lackey till date, and felt for that book that “we were going nowhere very slowly” (I think it was called “Fire Rose”). Is there any other book by Lackey that you would recommend for giving her work another go? Thanks!