Mysterious Charm

Mysterious Charm is a series about the magical community of the British Isles in the 1920s. Everyone is living in a world changed by the Great War and its aftermath. Each book explores a different piece of the world, in the company of a different couple, but the series is linked through connections to one Lord Geoffrey Carillon.

The books in the Mysterious Charm series jump around in the 1920s – you can read them in any order, but the publication order might be most satisfying. I do recommend reading Goblin Fruit before On The Bias however. Detailed content notes are available at the bottom of the page.

  • Rufus and Ferry in Outcrossing deal with the challenges of smugglers and entirely inadequate magical educations.
  • Lord Carillon and Lizzie investigate a dangerous magical drink together in Goblin Fruit.
  • Ibis and Pross stumble into a much larger problem when they begin to research a lost Magician’s Hoard.
  • Wards of the Roses finds a young Guardswoman, Kate, assisting Giles, a mathematician blinded in the Great War. Together, they explore the mystery of a manor house that reappeared after several hundred years.
  • Laura was hoping for a pleasant weekend visiting Galen’s family during In The Cards. The unexpected murder exposes deep chasms in the family.
  • Benton, valet to Lord Geoffrey Carillon, takes his duties most seriously. Even when they lead to him conspiring with Cassie, his lordship’s preferrered dressmaker, in On The Bias.
  • When Vivian goes to investigate mysterious events at a family home turned boarding house in Oxfordshire in Seven Sisters, Cadmus must confront his past history and current assumptions if they are to save the house.

Want to get all seven books at once? Check out this bundle.

Showing books 1-7 of 7

Period: 1920s

Romance: M/F, First relationship

Content notes: Click here to reveal

Cover of Outcrossing. A silhouetted man and woman in 1920s clothing standing next to each other, silhouetted on a green background. A chestnut pony's head is inset in the top right.
Outcrossing

Period: 1920s

Romance: M/F, Bisexual

Content notes: Click here to reveal

Cover of Goblin Fruit. A man and woman in 1920s dress are silhouetted on a glowing red and golden yellow background. She turns toward him and he holds her hand. A bottle of golden liquid is inset in the top right corner.
Goblin Fruit

Period: 1920s

Romance: M/F

Content notes: Click here to reveal

Cover of Magician's Hoard. A man and woman in 1920s dress silhouetted on a teal background shading to sandy brown. A hedgehog is inset in the top right.
Magician's Hoard

Period: 1920s

Romance: M/F

Content notes: Click here to reveal

Cover of Wards of the Roses. A man and woman in 1920s clothing silhouetted on a red background that shades to vivid orange-peach at the bottom. A rose is inset in the top right.
Wards of the Roses

Period: 1920s

Romance: M/F, First relationship

Content notes: Click here to reveal

Cover of In The Cards. A man and woman in 1920s dress silhouetted on a pale purple and blue cover. She turns away from him, and they are looking at something to the right of the image. A set of divination cards are inset in the top right.
In The Cards

Period: 1920s

Romance: M/F, First relationship, Late in life romance, Demisexual

Content notes: Click here to reveal

Cover of On The Bias. A man and woman in 1920s clothing are silhouetted against a pale green, yellow, and purple background. A brightly coloured rooster is inset in the top right.
On The Bias

Period: 1920s

Romance: M/F, First relationship, Late in life romance, Closed door, Demisexual

Content notes: Click here to reveal

Cover of Seven Sisters. A thin angular woman and man in 1920s dress silhouetted on a background of lavender and grey. Bright green curling vines are inset in the top right.
Seven Sisters

Showing books 1-7 of 7

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My authorial wiki has a list of all the books that relate to Carillon directly.

Content notes

Outcrossing
Brief references to and ongoing implications of family deaths in the 1918 flu pandemic as well as in the Great War. Post-traumatic stress disorder including flashbacks. Kidnapping and implied violence. Death of minor characters (off screen).
Goblin Fruit
Post-traumatic stress disorder including disassociation. Addictive magical drink that causes dreams of distant places. Miscommunication leading to emotional difficulties. Secondary character who has survived tuberculosis.
Magician's Hoard
Anglo-Egyptian main character who deals with bias and some (mostly implied) bigotry. Discussion of widowhood. Threats of violence. A stigmatised magical ability and the implications of keeping it secret. Secondary character who is African-American, and another who is of mixed background.
Wards of the Roses
Hero was blinded during the War by magical gas. Vulnerabilities of relying on others for certain tasks (especially financial). Class and gender issues when dealing with people of higher status.
In The Cards
Main character survived tuberculosis, but spent a decade in and out of sanitaria, including surgical treatments, all of which is referenced. A murder (of someone rather unpleasant, discussion of the method as part of the book). A secondary character has major facial injuries from the War. Class issues. Discussion of past addiction (due to the events of Goblin Fruit).
On The Bias
Autistic hero. Cock-fighting (not described in detail, but includes a character getting injured). Treason (stealing swans). Criminal acts leading to a dangerous and potentially lethal attack on a secondary character.
Seven Sisters
Autistic hero. Attitudes of immortal or extremely-long-lived beings being rather different than ours. Secrets kept by a main character. Secondary character who is deaf and relies on sign language (she would not self-identify as part of Deaf culture). No on-page sex.
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