The Gentleman and His Vowsmith had <u>such</u> a great premise—an alternative Regency setting with magic, some steampunk vibes, an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery, and a queer romance at its heart. It sounds like a dream. But while the ingredients are all there, the execution just didn’t land for me.

There are some cool worldbuilding ideas—like the bizarre talking birds (echos), the concept of marriage equality in this society, and the walking automaton 'ghosts' that might be behind the murders. And I loved Leaf’s character—smart, thoughtful, and full of suffragette energy, a century ahead of her time. But key concepts like the idea of being "sasined" weren’t properly explained, and that lack of clarity made it hard to stay immersed in the story.

The murder mystery fell flat too. Despite multiple deaths and culprits, the plot never gripped me. By the end, I couldn't remember who had done what—or really care. And the central romance between Nick and Dash lacked spark, weighed down by constant miscommunication. Oddly enough, Nick had more chemistry with his arranged marriage bride-to-be, Leaf, even though their relationship was platonic.

All in all, this felt like a book with great potential that never quite pulled it all together. 2.5 ⭐ for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC, this is my honest opinion.

When I first heard of The Gentleman and His Vowsmith, I got excited, and not just because Rebecca Ide is the pen name of Devin Madson, whose fantasy books I enjoyed over the years. The Gentleman and His Vowsmith promised to deliver everything I enjoy – murder mystery, M/M romance, fantasy, dressed in banter and set in the Regency era. Although the last is not a particular interest of mine, but I’m certainly not complaining. All that said, I had high expectations going in, and I wasn’t dissapointed.

Being the son of a poverished duke, who has strong magic abilities, it was always inevitable for Nic to get married off for good money to save the Monterris family name. The problem? His intended bride is not only a Serral, a family with whom the Monterrises have a strained relationship, but she is also a woman, while Nic prefers man. And when he thought things couldn’t get any worse than that, he ends up locked in for weeks with his childhood love (along with the whole Serral party and), who left him behind years ago, while the negotiations last and the contract gets vowsmithed (made magically bonding). And then the mysterious deads start happening. So Nic has to deal with ALL the feelings while playing a generous host which leds to unexpected discoveries.

The Gentleman and His Vowsmith is a mash of genres that works really well. It’s part closed space murder mystery, part M/M romance with a dash of fantasy just to spice it up a bit. Well, a bit more, because the romance has enough spice to it as it is 👀 Which is to say it has some steamy scenes, but it’s not overdone and doesn’t take away the focus from the mystery, well, not too much anyway, lol.

As for the characters, it took me a bit to get connected with Nic. I mean, I liked him, and his voice as we get the story from his POV, but sometimes I found his “woe me” attitude a bit tiring. Then again, it’s kind of understandable he is having a hard time, between a father who technically owns him, and doesn’t seem to care about him much, a mother who is absent most of the time, retreated into her own fantasy world, a fiancé whom he didn’t want and the temptation that is Dashiell, well, I think we all would be having a hard time. Not even talking about all the tension between different characters that comes out even stronger now that they are all closed in together, with nothing to do but bring old hurts and frustration to the open.

I liked how each person in the story was well characterised, their personality really came through, although, I admit I found Dashiell just a touch too bland for my liking, then again, most of the time he wore the mask of the professional vowsmith whose only role is to make sure his employer gets his wishes in the contract. It’s just that, it was hard for me to see what Nic saw in him, exactly, outside of his looks. They sure had chemistry, at least, so I’m complaining too hard. Leaf was an unexpected surprise for me. She is the bride to be, the daughter of the marquess, well bred, intelligent, and a sense of dry humor that I like. And also no filter between her brain and her mouth so that makes her witty comments just more fun. But she is also kind, and good hearted, and of course she also has her own dreams and ambitions – marriage is not one of those. I appreciated how Nic and Leaf ended up coming together forming a deep bond of friendship amidst all the chaos around them, and despite the high strung emotions on all sides.

I’m not going to talk about the mystery plot of The Gentleman and His Vowsmith, because of spoilers, but I can tell you it was well executed – as someone who reads many mysteries, it even had a couple of surprises for me too, and I kept guessing who might have been behind everything. Closed space mysteries are tricky, because you only have a limited selection of culprits, so you need to make sure everyone has motives and secret agendas to make sure you keep up the interest of the readers. Ide pulled that off quite well.

To bring this review to a close, I really don’t have much to complain about. If I really want to nitpick, then I would say that I would have liked to get a bit more about the magic, because the Brilliance thing was just a touch confusing, given the fact that the higher you are registrated, the more you are worth, but other than that, I enjoyed the mystery aspect, I enjoyed the romance aspect between Nic and Dashiell and I enjoyed Nic’s budding friendship with Leaf. And I didn’t even mention the steampunkish bits with the automatons. I don’t know how Rebecca Ide made all the different elements work, but the result is speaking for itself. And I can see why it’s compared to the works of Alexis Hall, and I probably would add AJ Lancaster as well. Either way, I highly recommend The Gentleman and His Vowsmith if you need a bit of bloodrush in the form of a spicy murder mystery.

What is unethical is ... a society where we’ve turned magic into a cage and love into an impossibility, such that murder is an easier resort than words... [loc. 4733]
A delightfully Gothic country house murder mystery set in a Regency-flavoured queer-normative England, with magic, automata, dark family secrets and a legal mechanism for severing one's family ties and owning oneself.

Nicholas Monterris, our viewpoint character, is 'gay as a spoon' [do not expect historically-accurate slang here] and has seldom left the draughty and probably-haunted decay of Monterris Court. He's aghast to discover that his father, the Duke of Vale, has arranged a marriage between Nic and Lady Leaf Serral, daughter of a wealthy family. Worse, the bride-to-be and her family have descended on Monterris Court, where all those in possession of Brilliance (magical ability) will be locked in while the marriage contract is vowsmithed. And worst of all, the master vowsmith engaged to make sure that contract is watertight and magically binding is Nic's ex -- Dashiell sa Vare, who left abruptly and without explanation nine years ago.

Monterris Court has all the trappings of a Gothic mansion: Nic's mother, gently mad and reclusive; the mysterious fate of Nic's uncle Francis; a grotto full of automaton parts, and the sigil tape on which automaton-instructions are magically encoded; secret passages, rumours of ghosts, crumbling stonework and moss and mould. Leaf, who is an avid reader of murder mysteries, wants to start a school for young women, and does not want to marry (or have sexual relations with) anybody, is a breath of fresh air for Nic. And soon enough there's a murder to solve... and then another...

Meanwhile, Dash and Nic warily circle one another, failing to communicate. (Indeed, Dash's version of 'closure' seems to be anything but.) Who's the murderer? What really happened to Lord Francis? Why did the Duke not marry the man he loved? What is the Duchess writing so obsessively? And why is it so vital that Nic and Leaf's marriage be accomplished as soon as possible?

Despite the presence of books by Mrs Radcliffe and Laurence Sterne, it's not 'the Regency' -- for one thing, there's a king -- and the history of this alternate Britain is only lightly sketched. The magic seems to be syllabic, and can produce startlingly vivid effects. Nic, though immensely talented as a magic-user, has seldom left Monterris Court: instead, he's devoted his time to making mechanical frogs, and to reading. Leaf quickly becomes a friend (a much more pleasing development than the all-too-common 'obstacle to true queer love') and Dashiell and Nic manage to resolve the issue of Dash's sudden departure all those years ago. The epilogue ties everything up neatly, and the author's afterword explains the notion of 'sasine' ('a historical word meaning the conferring of possession of feudal property') and how it can be used to confer self-ownership -- something Leaf has requested nearly thirty times since her eighth birthday, and you can see her point.

I enjoyed this immensely, and forgave the occasional typos. Nic and Leaf were delightful, the villains were suitably wicked, the victims were sympathetic enough that their fates were shocking. I'm fascinated by this world of Brilliance and sasine, and would love to read more about it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a copy to review!

DNF at 24%. Unfortunatly I couldn't get into this story. I wanted more worldbuilding and explanation of the magic system, and couldn't connect with the characters.

I am an incredibly busy person. I work full-time. I'm completing a postgrad in my free time. I still have all the social obligations of an adult person in the 'weddings and babies and houses' stage of my life. Which is to say, a book has to be really, truly excellent for me to sacrifice any of my exceptionally scant 'do nothing' time to read it, and boy was I willing to give up all the time for The Gentleman and His Vowsmith.

In an alternative England, where the aristocracy are kept in power by the magic they all too often squander, Nicholas Monterris is quietly getting on with a life that is smaller, and colder, than his title would suggest. When his hard-hearted father informs Nic his marriage has been arranged, well, it was only a matter of time, and Lady Leaf Serral is far better than he expected. The small inconvenience of his homosexuality has already been factored into the paperwork, all of which is being prepared under the careful eye of the Serral's Master Vowsmith, Dashiell sa Vare... Nic's... well, ex would imply they were ever more than two boys infatuated with each other. So the lock-in begins, and Nic thinks the most he will have to contend with is mean-spirited in-laws and a man who sets him alight with heartbreak, as much as lust... then someone dies.

Part romance, part murder mystery, part regency drama, The Gentleman and His Vowsmith is an engaging, emotional, suspenseful and intriguing novel, which nevertheless retains a certain cosily Gothic charm in its setting, and vibrant humour in its dialogue. Unputdownable, this is a book which, although perhaps a tad longed out in the middle-section, captures one's attention from the off. Although character-driven, the world of this novel does not escape the author's attention, and small details are peppered throughout, building a sprawling, well-conceived alternative England.

I throughout enjoyed this from start to finish, it losses .5 of a star for two reasons: 1) I think it does get a little repetitive and drawn out as the mystery spirals on, I was really invested, and wanted to get through that passage, but it was harder than I would have liked, and 2) there are some language mistakes here (using 'hung' instead of 'hanged' repeatedly jumps to mind.) That being said, there is far far farrrrrrrr more good than bad to be said about this novel, and it has sent me straight into a reading slump!

4.5 well deserved stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for this ARC!

“The Gentleman and His Vowsmith” tells the story of Nic, heir of his family’s estates and titles, as he must prepare for his arranged marriage with the daughter of his father’s rival.
The story is set in an alternate version of late 19th century England, wherein magic is real. Magic influences how marriages are arranged between wealthy families, causing both Nic’s family and that of his future bride, Lady Leaf Serral, to be locked in together until the contract negotiations are over. And as it just so happens, the head negotiator of his bride’s family is his childhood friend and first love, Dashiell sa Vare. When a dead body is found only hours after the lock in has begun, this love story turns into a mystery. Who is responsible for the dead bodies, and what is their motive?

This book was very sweet with just the right amount of angst. I really liked the way that things between Dashiell and Nic developed, but possibly even more than that I liked the relationship of Leaf and Nic. I see that this is a common opinion with reviewers, but I really adored her and may just have to crown her my favourite character. If I had to criticise anything here I’d say that for me things just simply worked out too smoothly and conveniently, but if what you’re looking for is joy rather than realism I think you will greatly enjoy this part.

I also think the murder mystery was very well done. Here this takes the shape of a locked room (well, locked house) whodunnit. I will admit that I’m not the best at deciphering these, but I still think that even for someone more skilled than me there may just be some surprises here. Ide did a fantastic job of having the characters figure things out as they go rather than appearing virtually all-knowing, as some mysteries do, and when we learn the truth it is not one pulled out of thin air for shock value, but rather one you can easily see as you look through the clues and hints you missed when you first read them.

Now I have to unfortunately state my problems with the story. In the author interview section at the end of my ARC copy (unsure if this will be included in the final version) Ide reveals that the book was originally supposed to be set in another world, but that she eventually decided to have it be set in 1810s England instead. Here’s my issue with that – if you’re a casual reader and have no knowledge of the relevant time and place, historical inaccuracies do not matter to you. But if you do know some things, certain elements of a story can quickly frustrate you, as they did me – and I’m certainly no expert. I think leaving the story to be set in a fictional world would have fixed that issue, even if it’s only an issue for a small number of people. In that same vein lies my other problem – the way homosexuality is treated in this book. I think having your story be set in the real world, during a time when homosexuality still held the death penalty in England, but simply choosing to completely ignore that element felt very callous to me. I’m not one for escapist fantasies, so maybe that’s on me, but I wish this had either been explained away or, you know, simply been set in a fictional world.

I also have to agree with some other reviews I’ve seen, the last 20% of this book are its weakest part. Things simply start working out for our characters too smoothly, too quickly, in a way that makes the suspense of the previous 80% lose some of its effect. I personally had imagined a different ending, one which would make more sense for the period this is set in. Nonetheless I thought it was a very sweet ending, and if that’s your priority this will make you swoon.

Overall I would recommend this book to those who know nothing about this time period or simply don’t care, who want a really sweet story of love and friendship, as well as the complicated relationships within a family unit, and a well-executed murder mystery that will have you guessing until the last minute.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. - Freya, arc & monthly book box pick reviewer

The Gentleman and His Vowsmith is a historical fantasy mystery with a beautiful m/m romance, set in Regency England. I liked the main couple and the mystery elements, but the other parts not so much.

Nic is our main character, and he is such a lovely character to have a journey with. He grows throughout the story, and his trajectory to happiness was a beauty to behold. In the beginning, he felt hopeless and imprisoned within his life controlled by his overbearing father who "owned" everybody in the family. But his friendship to Leaf let him grow and actually find strength in her who has been determined to gain her freedom for years. Leaf's honesty and bravery made him be honest with himself and brave to fight for his future, too. Their friendship is actually one of the two best things in the book, the other being Leaf herself.

Leaf is Nic's betrothed but they grow to be friends instead. She is asexual and very honest with what she wants and doesn't want and also with what she likes and doesn't like. She is outspoken and honest and brave and doesn't stop. Her wit and humour really stood out in the book. However, I don't get the "gay as a spoon" or how Nic found it funny. Then, there is the whole "word gay being used in Regency England setting" discussion...

Dash, our love interest, was also an okay character. Very handsome, very polite, very good at his job, and very competent in magic. And oh how he loves Nic.

However, I couldn't possibly tell you much about the worldbuilding. I still don't understand how magic works. I do get that they use sigils for magic (how, why; I have no idea.) They say that contracts are also very important, and I again have no idea why. Nic's father kept telling him that it must hold, and Dash gave an explanation much later in the book, something about threads that are interconnected, but to be honest, I don't get it. Sure, magical threads of fate (?) are interconnected but how and why? Why are the contracts so important???? What does a vowsmith even do? Just make contracts? Is it only they who can do it? Why? How? "Brilliance" was also mentioned a couple of times, and I think it means magic, even though "magic" was also used, so the terms might be intrechangeable or "Brilliance" is about vowsmithing? I have no idea. I don't mind vague rules in magic systems actually but I do want to understand how it works.

Since I didn't understand much about those contracts, it didn't help me understand the motive behind the murders, either. One person was a clear suspect, but other than that, I just didn't have enough information and understanding for anything. And the resolution? Quite anti-climactic, I'm afraid. On the other hand, I had no idea who did what until the final revelations, so that was good.

There is also a discussion to be had about the setting, the language used, etc, but to be honest, this book left me so confused to even attempt that, sadly. Did it feel like Regency England? Yes (hello misogyny) and no (language used generally).

I came for the m/m romance, and it was lovely and little spicy, but the worldbuilding left me confused, so I'd say that The Gentleman and His Vowsmith was an okay read if you focus on the romance and the friendship arcs.

4.5/5 stars

The Gentleman and His Vowsmith is a queer Regency romantasy/murder mystery. Lord Nicholas Monterris is the heir to a declining dukedom whose father has arranged a marriage of convenience to Lady Leaf Serral for the dowry. To negotiate the marriage contract, the Serral party hires master vowsmith Dashiell sa Vare as their head negotiator, a younger Nic’s once lover who abandoned him. Once all are locked in at the dilapidated Monterris Court until the contract is agreed upon and signed, members of both parties start ending up dead in mysterious circumstances, and Nic must work with his ex-lover and future bride to find the murderer before it’s too late.

This book gave me exactly what I wanted—a gay Regency romance, a historical fantasy, and a murder mystery—and I was the exact target audence that would eat it up. It’s Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light meets Frances White’s Voyage of the Damned. The romance was just so full of angst and longing and yearning; it had me on a chokehold. The sigil/contract-based magic system “Brilliance” was interesting, sets to limit the scope of the story, and slots right into the period unobtrusively. I thought the locked room mystery was very well done, engagingly twisty, and believably investigable by our characters. While the big reveal doesn’t quite stick the landing in a Knives Out kind of way, that was more on the book’s desire to tie it in to its generational trauma message.

I liked Nic and saw a lot of myself in him. He may be a bit too passive and bends over so easily, but I understand that about him. He has just been ground down by his father, his status, and his isolation. I liked Dash too and his conflicting desire for Nic even knowing their difference in status means they can never be together. Giving him his own perspective chapters would really have rounded him out as a character. Their second chance romance was angsty fun and the spice was appreciated, but I could have used without that totally unnecessary third act break up. Certainly not the least of the central trio, Lady Leaf shined as an aroace young woman who knows what she wants as she channels her inner Nancy Drew, driving forward much of the murder mystery aspect while the other two are too busy being hot and cold with each other.

The Gentleman and His Vowsmith was perfectly to my taste and delivers an angsty gay romantasy and a twisty locked room mystery.

*Thank you Pan Macmillan for the eARC via NetGalleyI

There is nothing I did not love about this book.

I described it to someone as "Arranged marriage but the groom is "gay as a spoon" and the bride is ace/aro. But! The vowsmith for the bride's family who negotiates their contract is the groom's ex from years ago. And the bride is like "You should jump back on that. He is undressing you with his eyes. I don't understand why people want this, but you go, bestie!" And then there is a bunch of murders as well." and I feel like even that was underselling the whole experience.

I am not a huge gothic novel reader, I'm also terrible at riddles and puzzles so I'm not a huge murder mystery reader. However, I am now confident I could pick up anything with Rebecca Ide on the cover and fall in love with what I'm about to experience.

The Gentleman and His Vowsmith is many stories all in one. It's a queer historical romance, a fantasy and a mystery, almost in equal parts.

The world it is set in is just so fascinating to me. The story takes place in its entirety in one house, during a 'lock in' for magical marriage contract negotiations. I found the world of Brilliance, vowsmiths, conjuring and automatons so fascinating that I would've loved to leave the house to learn more about this world and the magic system. That being said, there was more than enough going on to keep me sucked in. The romance is full of yearning, angst and miscommunication, and I really liked our main characters. It is somehow very light and witty throughout, despite all the death! This was a lot of fun to read.

Recommended for fans of fantasy and queer romance.

i think this book will not be for everyone but i personally loved it. i didn't care much about the plot but the romance ? i ate it up

'Gwen & Art Are Not in Love' meets 'The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue', written by Freya Marske. what more could you want in a queer historical fantasy murder mystery !!?

First off, this was a delight to read. The subtle magic with all its rules and regulations, the crumbling gothic mansion, the mystery, the murder and the romance, all had me captivated from the very beginning. Despite it all taking place in one location, there were so many decaying rooms, murders and secrets to be revealed that the narrative pace was engaging and surprising. I got a tiny bit lost with the character names and some visual sign-posts might have helped me keep track but that's just because I am awful with names! Reading the acknowledgements at the end, I am delighted to see that more stories may be written in the same world, which I will certainly be keeping an eye out for.
Massive thanks for the eARC!

A superb recipe for a rip-roaring ride – a queer historical romantic fantasy set in Regency-esque England.
The characters were perfect, either endearing or awful, the setting was splendid, the humour was hilarious, and the fantasy element was fascinating. The only thing keeping this novel from being a 5-star read for me was the amount of “groaning” and overly graphic levels of sauciness. I’m fine with a fair bit of smut, I rate Jay Kristoff as a favourite author after all, but for me this was a tad hair-raising at times, although the love story element was beautifully done. A very personal thing and I’m sure it’ll be fine for a lot of readers.
I will absolutely be heading to her next offering.
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own unbiased opinion.

3.25 stars

This book was not entirely what I expected. I thought it was mostly a historical romantasy similar to a Marvellous Light, but this book was actually much darker, and had a lot of focus on a murder mystery.

The characters
The three most important characters in the book are Nic (MC), Dashiell (LI), and Leaf, who is Nic's fiancee but they don't actually want to get married. Out of these three, I liked Leaf the most and I'd read a whole book just about her. She's aroace, and I really liked how this was worked into the story, has her own dreams and aspirations, and she and Nic become good friends quite fast even though neither of them wanted this marriage.
Nic and Dashiell were okay, I didn't dislike them, but I do feel they could have been developed a bit more as right now I cannot tell you a lot about what these characters are like beyond a few basic things. In a murder mystery that could have worked, but for the romance aspect I would have liked both of them to be developed a bit more.

The romance
I thought this book was a romantasy going on, and there's a decent focus on the romance, but it does start rather sudden. They go from not interacting a lot to suddenly being really into each other, and this makes sense since they knew each other before and were together in the past, but I couldn't really feel this. I enjoyed the romance a bit more in the later half, but I do feel it was missing some development.

The murder mystery
This is the aspect I enjoyed most about the book. It's mostly Nic and Leaf trying to solve the mystery together, which I liked, though I do think the focus on this was sometimes a bit at the expense of Dashiell and the development of the romance, since he was less involved with this. I thought the concept of the automatons and the creepy ghost magic was really cool, but near the end all the explanations for what happened got a little convoluted.

The world building
I liked the idea of the magic system, but at times I think it wasn't clear enough to me what the magic actually does beyond a few things that didn't seem that useful to me. I found the concept of the lock in interesting, as well as the sasining that Leaf wants, and it was easy to forget this book does actually take place in historical England rather than a made up world. There's queer marriage possibilities and among the nobility marriage contracts often have clauses about where the kids are actually going to come from, which I found interesting.

As a whole, the book might have been trying to do too much all at once and not all of it worked together as well as it could have. I found it enjoyable enough, and I liked some of the aspects of the world building and the murder mystery and I especially liked Leaf, but I think this might have needed a little more editing to have everything work together better.

Ok, so this might be the first time I properly dnf an ARC, and admittedly part of that is due to the fact that this isn't my favourite genre, though I still read enough of it that that can't be the sole root of the problem. I think there are people out there who might love The Gentleman and His Vowsmith, but there were elements of it that I found so excruciatingly irritating that I genuinely could not have read one more page without getting way angrier with this book than it deserved.
My main issues were with the setting and tone. We're technically in Regency England, but with magic. The blending of historical setting with fantasy elements is in no way new, but even if you exclude the fantasy elements, none of the book feels like it's set in Regency England. The characters speak in largely modern snappy dialogue with the occasional overly polite courtesy, and even the naming and titling conventions are just off enough that I really thought we were in a fictional universe until I accidentally stumbled upon the synopsis three whole chapters in. Homophobia also seems to not be a thing in this world, to the point that the characters can make snarky jokes about Nicolas being "gay as a spoon" (yes, with the world gay intended in the modern sense, which just on its own was completely baffling). However, misogyny is still a thing, and women are still treated as potential wives and mothers more than anything else, so you can't even write the whole thing off as outright escapism.
The entire book feels like it was made for a fantasy setting, but then the author watched Bridgerton and decided to just use that as a setting instead without altering any of the story. I feel like the usual appeal of regency stories is not just a vague aesthetic, it's specifically knowing that the characters are tied to a lot of specific societal conventions. A lot of the reviews have already mentioned Freya Marske so I won't feel bad for doing the same, but the reason why The Last Binding series works is that yes, there is magic, but the characters still more or less act like our understanding of how people should act in the 1900s. They might be dealing with fantastical problems and a magical society, but they still feel grounded in our understanding of that time period's traditions and society. But in this book, while there are rituals specific to that society, none of them are in any way recognisable as Regency England, and the characters speak in a modern way and the politics are confused, which leaves you completely blindsided when you are reminded of the fact that this is actually Regency England. You know, Jane Austen Regency England.
It doesn't help that the fantasy elements are not particularly well-defined either - I feel like I got 100 pages in without getting an understanding of what magic does and what its rules are, and while I definitely don't need a hard magic system for my historically inspired romantasy, maybe having any real understanding of how magic works could enlighten the readers to why this Regency England feels so different from this Regency England.
The characters were charming at times, but once again, their dialogue felt so silly and modern throughout that I just couldn't take anyone seriously. I liked that the protagonist and the love interest had a history with each other, and I liked how Nicolas and Leaf became fast friends, but none of it was enough to salvage the completely baffling vibe that the dialogue and the setting had.
I also feel like I need to say that the promise of this novel is weirdly similar to Freya Marske's other novel, Swordcrossed - both revolve around universe-specific marriage traditions and a character in an arranged marriage falling for a guy who is somehow involved with those universe-specific marriage traditions. I think Swordcrossed came out recently enough for this to be a coincidence rather than plagiarism, but it's kinda weird to see a book that literally uses Freya Marske as one of its comps feel like a badly made cocktail of all of her books (and for what it's worth, I'm not even the biggest Marske enthusiast out there, but I would reread Swordcrossed or The Last Binding any day over reading any more of this).
Overall, I am still willing to give The Gentleman and the Vowsmith two stars because I feel like there are probably people out there who like this genre better and won't mind the strange tone and setting as much as I do, but I am certainly not one of them.

This one was a mixed bag for me, mostly because I was expecting something else. I will say I really enjoyed the world building and the characters. The vibe of this really worked and reminded me of a Freya Marske book.

However this is not as heavy on the romance as the synopsis suggests. For some people the balance here is really going to work, however I just wanted more development. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, the opposite in fact. The pining and the moments with Nic and Dash we got were great! But it didn't really kick in for ages and I felt we were missing most of their backstory, only really being told about it in off handed comments rather than seeing and feeling it for themselves. For the first half of the book they are still very hot and cold and don't really have any conversations till the second half.

The first half of the book is actually more dedicated to Nic and Leaf's friendship than it is to the romance. Which is fine because I really like them. I just wasn't expecting it. In the author's Q&A at the end she says Nic and Leaf's relationship is just as important as Nic and Dash's and I agree with that, I just think we went slightly too far in the other direction to show it. The author also mentions that Leaf is her favourite character which is also very obvious. Again, at the risk of repeating myself, this is fine because I loved Leaf too. An Aromantic, asexual woman who just wants to educate women and solve murders? What's not to love? It just meant I had to adjust my expectations for what I was going to get from this book. Once I did that I enjoyed it a lot more.

I really wanted to love this one - and the premise is A+ - but something just fell short. I think this is one I might reread and enjoy even more, but at the moment I just found the world building a little lacking, and the characters a little flat. I'd be interested to read more if the series was continued.

This book was able to keep me reading only for its plot - I haven't felt a thing for the characters except for Leaf. It was sadly way too slow, with a non-existent worldbuilding.

The plot: it was interesting, even if at some points I wondered if the deaths were actually done for anything, as it was overall really glazed over. Sometimes the plot was predictable, other plot twist were harder to guess, so it was good. The locked room was interesting as well, making them hard to leave and having to continue on, but it also made things too slow, always rounding on the same things, same rooms, diner tea exploring death diner tea etc. However I do really enjoyed the way everything ended, it was very satisfyind for all parties, even if I would have also enjoyed knowing what happened to the duke and lord Ricard.

Characters: I couldn't appreciate Nic at all, he was blant and he was mostly a sum of all his relationships instead of having is own character and emotions. Dashiell was a nice love interest, but as I couldn't care about Nic, it was hard to enjoy the romance overall. Leaf was the only great character here, may it be for the investigation but also a great support to Nic and their quickly growing friendship was awesome. Also there is a nice aromantic and asexual rep with Leaf and it was honestly refreshing to read Nic's reaction, and as an aroace myself I truly enjoyed the rep.

Lastly the worldbuilding: it was almost non-existent, as we get to know almost nothing of this alternate regency era, where there's magic, guilds, vowsmiths, automatons... It felt like the author knew their magical world but wanted us to guess by sheer reading than explaning it to us. It felt lacking of explanation, real interest put towards the magic, the importance of lock-ins and what truly would happen if it goes wrong and why, the magical system with sigils but that some could sing or conjure it was just... extremely confusing I have stopped trying to understand how the magic worked.

It’s difficult for me to review this book. I was really excited to read it because the premise sounded amazing—a queer Regency-era romantasy with a murder mystery? Sounds like a recipe for a great book. The problem is, it contains elements that were absolutely fantastic and others that didn’t quite work. So hear me out.

Let’s start with the highlights. The romantic relationship between Nic and Dash is top-tier yearning. I truly loved how their dynamic was developed and presented. It’s not exactly a slow burn, but the characters are aware they can’t be together, and this sense of a doomed future really enhances the depth of their pining.
I also think the secondary characters were well-developed. Whether they were likable (like Nic's fiancé, Leaf), or less likable (like basically all the other aristocrats), they didn’t feel like expendable elements in the story.

What I found moderately well done was the murder mystery. The premise was solid, but it ultimately turned out too simple to be truly exciting. Its resolution also wasn’t presented in an engaging way, which made the plot feel a bit flat, given how it was set up.

What bothered me most about this novel was the lackluster development of the magic system. The story takes place in an alternate Regency England where some people have magical powers, yet the fundamental rules governing how and why the magic works are never clearly explained. As a result, I found the entire system difficult to understand and, ultimately, didn’t feel that magic was essential to the world. Plot-wise, the story would have worked just as well as a closed-door murder mystery without it.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and don’t regret spending time with them. However, I do wish the story itself had been stronger. That said, I would still recommend the book to fans of Freya Marske, as it may, to some extent, satisfy the craving for something similar to The Marvellous Light trilogy.