Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg

This author has been a favorite of mine and so there is no reason for it having taken so long for this book to be read. What a great start to a new series! Hulda Larken has some magical ability (although you never learn her percentage, or if it was mentioned it was forgotten over how great the story is) and is one of the best employees at the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms (BIKER) and is sent to Whimbrel House to help the new owner understand and tame the house. Merritt Fernsby is a writer and new owner of the Whimbrel House after his grandmother left it to him in her will. Merritt is estranged from his family and was surprised that he was in the will. After entering Whimbrel House the house will not let Merritt leave, so it is very lucky that Hulda comes along and explains what BIKER is and that she wants to discovery the root of the Whimbrel House’s magic and help tame it and with the right staff it can be managed. Merritt is hesitant to hire staff and wants to have the spirit removed from the house once Hulda discovers what is the source of magic. What is more interesting is that later we learn Owein Mansel is related to Merritt. Merritt realizes that this 12 year old boy is holding onto the house because he was separated from his family too soon and he could empathize with that, so Merritt decides that Owein must remain (as long as the ceiling stops dripping stuff). Beth Taylor comes to work at the house as a maid with recommendations from BIKER and Merritt finds Baptiste Babineaux, a Frenchman and chef, while trying to copy information and hires him on. Beth and Baptiste are awesome additions and are loyal to Hulda, Merritt, and Owein. When Silas Hogwood comes to attack Hulda for causing him to be imprisoned and take Merritt’s magic (surprise).  Silas Hogwood is an evil wizard who figured out how to take magic from other magicians, and sadly the head of BIKER, Myra Haigh helped escape from prison. Myra friend to Hulda used Silas’s power to help keep BIKER in business and Hulda feels betrayed for what she did, but Myra does come through with helping Merritt, Hulda, and Owein escape. The interactions between Hulda and Merritt do make them realize they have feelings for each other, but they are not great at telling each other and they hit some bumps along the way, but at the end do admit they care for each other and kiss. Baptiste wanting a cow and hen house are rather funny, but when Owein and Merritt are attacked he is ready to fight and when Hulda finds him and Beth hurt, he tells her about Silas taking Owein and Merritt so she can go and save them instead of tending to him and Beth. So looking forward to the next book in this series, Heir of Uncertain Magic.

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