2026 book 164

 Janice Hallett’s The Silent Appeal

Hallett’s latest returns to the acting troupe from her earlier The Appeal, which I only vaguely remember, so I definitely felt like I was missing some stuff at first. Once again lawyers are reading a bunch of emails and text messages, this time to see if they can figure out why a client may have pleaded guilty to a murder they didn’t commit. Some good twists here and I enjoy the format a lot, though at a certain point I’m was like, who is dead??? (The murder doesn’t happen until very late in the story.) Very entertaining, regardless. A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 1st.

2026 book 163

 Sarah Wallace’s The Viscount Says Yes

I was really hoping we’d get some POV from the Viscount in this one, bc he has never felt like a real character to me and so it’s hard to be invested in his romance. It is great to see Pip going through his healing process (after being forced into prostitution by his abusive boyfriend/pimp, dark shit in a cozy series) but Bertie is just a perfect supportive happy rich guy with no nuance. If you’re into that sort of thing, awesome! I thought it was a teensy bit dull. Also like if you are trying to figure out what a magical monocle does, why would you not LOOK THROUGH IT, I thought yall were magical geniuses. It’s all very sweet though. B/B+.

2026 book 162

 Sarah Wallace’s The Spellmaster of Tutting-on-Cress

FINALLY a book for Gerry (the sister of various other characters, who’s been a big part of all the other books). This one changes format again, lots of POV characters, as basically every character plots to matchmake Gerry with the new young man in town (whose father has died and now he has seven adorable and hilarious siblings and a grieving stepmother in his life), who is very impressed by her career. Very funny and sweet. A-.

2026 book 161

 Sarah Wallace's Dear Bartleby

This was super sweet!!! No tragic backstories here!!! Just the mildly immature and rascally younger brother coming to stay in the country and learning to be a better person from the example of all the nice people around him. And assisting the Viscount with a magical competition to determine the next Royal Spellcaster--and falling for one of the candidates! All told to his journal, one of my favorite storytelling devices. Very pleasant and engaging. A/A-.

2026 book 160

 Sarah Wallace’s The Education of Pip

Not sure how to feel about this one! Pip comes up in the previous book—he’s friends with that protagonist—and his backstory is pretty dark—his abusive boyfriend pimped him out against his will—so of course he’s all cower-y when the nice rich people from the previous books adopt him and teach him magic (the viscount seems to be his love interest and even in this queer-normative fantasy world, I have no idea how that’s societally acceptable, not to mention there is a touch of the white knight). It was just a weird vibe for me. Like yeah I want this poor guy to be happy but this is beyond my suspension of disbelief. B/B+. (Gonna keep reading bc it looks like the next one is told as the diary of the troublesome younger brother and I am psyched for it.)

2026 book 159

 Sarah Wallace's One Good Turn

So the second book in this series is not epistolary (now I wonder if any of the others are) but I enjoyed it regardless! The protagonist is a young woman who was raised as a thief and wants to live an honest life, and ends up taking magic lessons from the Viscount from book one (who expressly stated he loves teaching people magic!). There's not a romance between them, though, which was nice (they're both gay). The focus in this one is really on friendship, which I appreciated. Very cute story, if a bit slight. A-/B+.

2026 book 158

 Sarah Wallace’s Letters to Half Moon Street

WHO is in the mood for an epistolary novel set in a magical and queer-normative version of Regency England? Me, always. This extremely cute book involves a shy and grumpy younger son being sent to London for business reasons, and he’s corresponding with his sister (who is talented at creating spells!) as he’s taken under the wing of a notorious rake who’s determined to show him the city. I love epistolary stories and this was super adorable!!!! I hope the next book centers his sister! A/A-.

2026 book 157

 Kate Elliott’s The Labyrinth Gate

I’m still occasionally reading the Elliott books I’ve missed—I think this is actually her first novel, published under the name Alis Rasmussen. It’s a cool take on a portal fantasy, as a newlywed couple find themselves transported to another world by some magical tarot cards. Adventures and archaeological digs and magic ensue! I loved all the characters here and I enjoyed this a lot, though I did side-eye the severe heteronormativity a bit (pregnancies for all!). I would have loved more of the bad-ass Aunt Letty and the court politics, but overall this was very fun. A-.