Review: Locked in Magic

Locked in Magic
by Mynah Clement, Alanna Cole, Kelly Garcia, Thea Hawthorne and Grace Zhu

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: three m/f stories and one m/m

Blurb:
Locked in Magic: A Forced Proximity Cozy Fantasy Romance Anthology

Five upcoming fantasy romance authors invite you to curl up and sink into stories where magic misbehaves—trapping strangers, rivals, and reluctant allies together with no way out. From stormbound nights to lost keys, broken doors, and meddling magic with a mind of its own, every tale delivers close quarters, slow burn tension, and hearts that won’t stay guarded. Cozy, low-heat, and full of yearning, these stories are packed with soft magic, forced proximity, and satisfying happily ever afters.

My Review

I love the cozy fantasy genre and I was so excited when I saw this anthology and decided to read it.

Dollshops and Deathmages by Mynah Clement
I really liked this one. The dollshop house setting was interesting and I liked how the female main character made dolls. The male main character is a deathmage, which was also interesting to read about and how he sued his magic for funerals. The two of them get stuck in her shop when he accidentally damages the lever to open the front of the shop. I liked seeing them grow closer and the plot line with the bat plushie she makes for him was sweet. This was a fun short read and I liked what I saw of the world and characters.

Tea Shops and Troublesome Magic by Alanna Cole
This was a fun one. The female main character gets trapped in a tea shop and has to figure out how to unlock the magically malfunctioning lock with the help of a glassmaker. I liked the bit of puzzle they had going on with adjusting spells so they could make the instruction readable. The writing was good and I liked the way the couple worked together to fix the problem and there’s a spark between them. The magic system was interesting and I wanted to know more about how it all worked. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Before the Magic fades by Kelly Garcia
I really enjoyed this one. It was a great story about a magical house and seeing the female main character slowly grow to terms with the fact that it’s magical. There is a lot of history and interesting magic with the house being sentient. I really liked seeing the romance between the two characters develop. And the ending was great. I would’ve loved for this to be a slightly longer story as I enjoyed it so much and was sad when it ended. And some parts toward the end felt a bit quick, but at the same time I felt the length was enough to tell the story. Anyway this was a great one and I liked the way it introduces some side characters who I think will get their own romances.

A Kiss of Charcoal by Thea Hawthorne
This one didn’t grab my attention as much as the previous stories. My main issue was that it didn’t really feel like a cozy fantasy read as there are only a few mentions of magical lights and that’s about it. It reads more like a contemporary romance story, which is fine, but not what I had expected. This one has quite the flirty vibe with a model and an artist as they meet during a small art session and end up locked in together afterwards. I liked the encouragement and how the main character figured out how to unlock his artistic talent and how both of them became better artist thanks to knowing the other. There was a nice twist toward the end and the ending was well done.

Threads of Fate by Grace Zhu
This was another fun one featuring a dressmaker and a special magical dress she’s making for a client and then she might miss the delivery time as she gets locked into her shop with a guy who’s there to commission a suit. The two grow closer while locked in together and try to find a way out. I liked the magic and what we see of it. I was a bit disappointed about the way the solution to the locked door was done, but it did make sense given the characters. I liked the ending and the way everything got resolved.

To summarize: I really liked this anthology. The first three stories were my favorites and I definitely want to read more books by those authors. I really liked how all the stories had the forced proximity/ locked in together theme as well as the cozy fantasy genre. It was a fun way to discover some new authors.

Links:
– Bookfunnel
For a limited time you can download this anthology for free through Bookfunnel.