HEIR OF UNCERTAIN MAGIC - Charlie N. Holmberg

The Whimbrel House - a once haunted estate in Rhode Island and inherited by Merritt Fernsby. In the previous book (Keeper of Enchanted Rooms), Fernsby acquired the help of an agent from BIKER (Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms), Hulda Larson.  

Now, the home is no longer haunted the way it had been.  In fact, the entity that had been the house is now inside the body of a dog.  But there are new challenges ahead.

On the romance scene, Hulda and Merritt are clearly attracted to one another but neither knows how to address this attraction.  Instead they dance around the issue, not sure if the other feels the same way and not sure how to move forward.

Hulda has other problems to deal with.  BIKER is being investigated by LIKER (the London equivalent and home office). It seems that Hulda's boss, Myra, may not be operating entirely within the law, so change may be in store for BIKER.  But the LIKER boss doesn't seem to like anyone, especially Hulda. And what's Merritt going to do, anyway?!

I'm generally a fan of Charlie N. Holmberg's work and I really thought she was on to something with the first book in this Whimbrel House series so I jumped into this second book quite eager to continue the enjoyment. But this book definitely doesn't have the 'zing' that I found in the first book.

In the first book, we had a fantastic character in the haunted house.  Once that was resolved we really lost a major player.  Yes, that character is now a dog and there are more than a few amusing moments with him, it really doesn't have the same bite.

The romance between Hulda and Merritt was a slow building fire kept somewhat at bay by the constant need to battle the demon haunting the house. The romance wasn't the center point but something nice to round out the characters as being 'real.'  Here the romance, or lack of romance, is the purpose for the story.  And yet ... there is no romance!

Merritt was never a particularly strong character to begin with, but Hulda was a really great character.  Strong, confident, and with a mysterious assortment of magic up her sleeve.  Here though she's tentative and dumbstruck.

The story surround LIKER investigating BIKER also feels a bit hollow.  We just never got enough of BIKER to begin with, other than Hulda, and so we weren't really set up to have a buy-in on the looking trouble.

Too much of this book doesn't work. Holmberg is still one of my favorite fantasy authors, but this book is a let-down.

Looking for a good book? There is nothing 'uncertain' about the magic in Charlie N. Homberg's book, Heir of Uncertain Magic ... it's missing.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

2-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Heir of Uncertain Magic

author: Charlie N. Holmberg

series: Whimbrel House #2

publisher: 47North

ISBN: 9781662508691

paperback, 287 pages

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