Mysteries of Thorn Manor

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Last but not least, my demon boy, Silas, the occasionally murderous gentleman that protects my favourite weirdos with his immortal life, just proved that he still owns my heart and soul in the exact same way he owns Nathaniel's and Elisabeth's. If Sorcery of Thorns wasn't proof enough, this novella has all the evidence of just how much of an evil genius this demon is and how much he truly loves and cares about his bound charges. Seriously, the bond isn't even necessary at this point, if only to keep him on the same plane as his Master and Mistress. I did get the impression that there might be more to his story than we already know, that maybe there's another novel or novella coming our way at some point, but I admit it might just be wishful thinking on my part. Who knows, though? I guess only time will tell. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

She wasn’t so sure about that, but she moved toward the other side of the bed anyway, hung up her dressing gown, and slipped beneath the covers. Demonslayer went beside the nightstand, within easy reach. “No kissing,” she said. “Just in case.” Nathaniel: sarcastic and witty, charming and clever, I ADORE HIM. the way he call Elisabeth a terror!!!! She felt a twinge of sympathy. The prospect of publicly reemerging into magical society couldn’t be easy for him. Not after his injury, and the reporters, and the questions circulating about his sorcery. But her goodwill promptly vanished when the conversation turned to fixing the wards, and he pretended to go to sleep. A bewitching gem . . . I absolutely loved every moment of this story' – Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series We are so thrilled to present to you… the ‘Mysteries of Thorn Manor’ Exclusive Edition, brought to you in collaboration with @simonkidsuk and @margaret_rogerson!

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I received a copy of this book via NetGalley (thank you Simon & Schuster Canada). All thoughts and opinions are my own. There is just something about Margaret Rogerson, because for some reason she can NEVER 100% end a story. I'm hoping this means there is a slim slim slim possibly that one day we might read about Thorn Manor and it's occupants again 👀.

In this sequel novella to Sorcery of Thorns, Elisabeth, Nathaniel, and Silas must unravel the magical trap keeping them inside Thorn Manor in time for their Midwinter Ball! When she opened it, she discovered a handwritten dedication on the patterned endpapers: To my beloved—may you always believe in fairy tales. Smiling, she traced her fingers over the letters, feeling the indentations they had left on the paper. This was one of the things she loved best about books. She might never know who had written the dedication, or how long ago, or to whom, but she could briefly clasp hands with them across eternity, a chance meeting of souls made possible by their shared love of a story.” So it would appear,” said Nathaniel cheerfully. “How terribly inconvenient. It’ll take me weeks to sort this out.” Elisabeth evaluated Nathaniel in suspicion. Over the past few weeks, she had caught him feeding formal-looking letters into the fire. “You’re supposed to host it this year, aren’t you?”

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I truly hope we get to see more of this trio in the future! Especially considering the ending of this book! Of course they do!” Nathaniel yelled. “They’re magical topiaries! I could have told you that, if you hadn’t charged outside to fight them in your pajamas!” He summoned a gout of emerald fire that burnt several vines to ashes, filling the room with the potent stink of aetherial combustion. But it didn’t seem to help. As soon as the ashes pattered to the floor, another wave of vines swarmed inside to fill the gap. The main plot of this novella is the manor effectively coming to life and trapping the four occupants inside until they can figure out how to make the manor calm down. This led to many humourous moments, some action, and some exploration into the history of both the Thorn family and the manor itself. I really enjoyed learning more about the magic and history of magic in this world! There’s also plenty of romantic moments, which may or may not have a connection to the magic keeping them trapped. Silas was a character I really liked while reading Sorcery of Thorns and my feelings on his haven’t changed and will never change. While he keeps claiming that he is a demon and to not be fooled, I still fully believe that he cares for and cherishes Nathaniel and Elisabeth. He does so much for both of them and he will help them with anything even if they don’t ask for his help.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you to the author and publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own. It’s no secret that we are huge fans of Margaret Rogerson’s writing and the magical library world of ‘Sorcery of Thorns’ is one of our favourites. We are so excited to share our Exclusive Edition of this sequel novella, which matches the classic fairytale feel of our previous books by Margaret Rogerson perfectly! We also learn a bit more about Nathaniel’s immediate family in this book. In Sorcery we learned that his mother and brother had died, and his father had been killed by Silas at some point after this while Nathaniel was still a child. In this novella we learn more about what exactly happened and also what Nathaniel’s family was like before everything went wrong. This is, ultimately, a lighthearted novella, but Rogerson also found room within it to deal with this heavy topic in a way that didn’t feel unnatural or shoehorned in and that didn’t subtract from the overall story. Elisabeth didn’t hear the rest, because Nathaniel had hastily drawn her inside and slammed the door behind them.

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The dining room proved to be turned out in rare style even for Silas. Lit tapers reflected on the long table’s polished walnut surface and glimmered from a profusion of silver utensils and tureens. Each place had been formally set with fine porcelain and jade chargers—not just their three places, but the table’s full complement of eighteen. Mercy hesitated at the threshold before stiffly taking a seat, her face grimly set, as though preparing herself for battle.

When she appeared in Nathaniel’s doorway, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, gazing toward the darkened window in thought. She lingered outside, overwhelmed by a sudden shyness. Even though she had been present for every stage of his recovery, she often found herself feeling newly tentative around him in private. Everything he had endured at Ashcroft’s hands seemed to have made him older, more mysterious, more powerful—a man and not a boy, as though over the past months he had crossed some invisible threshold to adulthood. This was easy enough to overlook when he was being ridiculous—which, granted, accounted for most hours of the day—but when they were alone together, the humor with which he armored himself temporarily set aside, she found it burningly impossible to ignore. Elisabeth’s trusty sword Demonslayer proves no match for the lively topiaries and it becomes evident that neither weapon nor sorcery will free them from the wards, which bizarrely react with even greater violence whenever Elisabeth and Nathaniel engage in more than a chaste kiss with one another. Their search for answers turns inwards as Nathaniel hunts down family grimoires that have recorded every update to the wards for several centuries to try and determine what has triggered the magical maelstrom. Standing there, she must have made a sound. He looked up and paused, taking her in. He didn’t appear at all surprised to find her holding a sword at the entrance to his bedroom. His eyes were very dark, his hair slightly damp. Her stomach performed a sort of effervescent tumble, like an ice cube dropped into a fizzing glass of champagne. Elisabeth Scrivener is finally settling into her new life with sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn. Now that their demon companion Silas has returned, so has scrutiny from nosy reporters hungry for gossip about the city's most powerful sorcerer and the librarian who stole his heart. But something strange is afoot at Thorn Manor: the estate's wards, which are meant to keep their home safe, are acting up and forcibly trapping the Manor'' occupants inside. Surely it must be a coincidence that this happened just as Nathaniel and Elisabeth started getting closer to one another...But it wasn’t as though they’d done anything last night. Just a little kissing. A few minutes of kissing, and then they’d gone to sleep. This story was just fluff and I was here for it. I just loved seeing the romance between Elisabeth and Nathaniel develop even more and their interactions with each other were just the best thing ever. There were so many times when I was honestly giggling out loud. Their relationship it��s just so cute with the teasing and the way they support each other no matter what.