Review: Magician’s Hoard by Celia Lake

Posted September 9, 2026 by Lola in Fantasy, Historical, Review, Romance / 4 Comments

Magician’s Hoard (Mysterious Charm #3)
by Celia Lake

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Historical Cozy Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
Enjoy this kind and gentle 1920s historical fantasy romance series set in the magical community of Great Britain.

Pross has a simple research question.

A widow raising her daughter on her own, Pross has begun taking on research projects as well as running the village bookstore. When she visits the Research Society in London for a consulation, it is nothing like she remembers. Books and materials are hidden away, and nearly everyone is dismissive.

Ibis is as prickly as a hedgehog

Too British for Egypt and far too Egyptian for England, Ibis has found a place for himself since the Great War translating and examining materials from excavations in Egypt. The work is wonderful and he’s able to be close to his youngest sister, but the other scholars ignore or insult him.

When Pross asks for his help investigating tales of an ancient Roman hoard, Ibis is intrigued. It turns out they aren’t the only ones interested. Ibis and Pross must use all their wits and every one of their skills – even the one Ibis is terrified to reveal – to protect themselves and the hidden hoard.

Magician’s Hoard is the third novel in the Mysterious Charm series. All of Celia Lake’s Albion books exploring the magical community of the British Isles can be read in any order. It is full of archaeology, magical artefacts, research, motherhood, an urgent trip to Paris, and the dangers of empire. Enjoy this gentle romantic fantasy with a swirl of sex set in 1926 with a happily ever after ending!

My Review

After reading Goblin’s Fruit I was a bit more wary starting this one as I was afraid I would enjoy this series less than some of the author’s other books, but I shouldn’t have worried as I really enjoyed this book. Magician’s Hoard follows Pross as she’s researching a magical hoard and teams up with Ibis who works at the Research Society.

I liked the plot in this one, the whole looking for a magical hoard plot line was so fun and I liked seeing Pross and Ibis team up to find it. There is a lot of research and figuring things out before actually going to the site they think the hoard is and doing a dig there. It was all great to see it play out. There also are people who want the hoard for themselves who try to prevent them from finding it. I liked how it got wrapped up and it seems there are a few more books that deal with some of the aftermath.

I liked Pross and Ibis together. I liked the way they worked together and their skills complemented each others and how they respected the other and appreciated their help. They made for such a good team and I liked seeing their romance slowly develop. They were both interesting characters and I liked how real they felt. I liked seeing their romance deepen and appreciated how there was no drama and they talked things through when they develop feeling. There’s a bit of a steam later on and I liked how that seemed to fit the characters and how they interacted so far.

There are some connections with other people too. Pross has a daughter while Ibis has a sister he’s close with. There are some scenes set at Schola as well as help they get from the Master of Seal House. I also liked how the couples from the first two books in this series got mentioned a few times, but these are only very brief mentions here and there. I had expected this series to have more overlap with the previous couples as the books are set around the same small town, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. You can easily read these as standalones.

This book also added to my understanding of the world. It deals with a type of magic I hadn’t read much about in the books I’ve read so far and I was delighted to read a bit about how that all worked. There also is more magic, some scenes set at the magical school and I liked learning a bit about this magical research society as well. I really like how with each book I read the world comes more alive and I get more details about it all.

To summarize: I had a great time reading this one. The plot line focusses on Pross and Ibis teaming up to find a magical hoard, whcih was fun. There are also people who stand in their way and want to prevent them from finding it. I liked reading about Pross and Ibis, they were both interesting characters and I liked seeing them team up. Their skills complement each other and I liked how they work together and respect the other. Their romance was great to see develop, I liked how they talked about things and there’s a bit of steam toward the end. I also liked the mentions of side characters and I look forward to seeing more of these characters in later books. This book added to my knowledge of the world and I especially liked learning more about a type of magic I hadn’t read much about yet in previous the books I read set in this world. All in all I had a great time reading this one and look forward to the next book.