jacey | Booklog 18/2021: A.J. Lancaster: The Lord of Stariel

This is set in a pseudo-Victorian/Edwardian British-type world with magic. When one lord of Stariel dies, the next will be chosen by the land itself, because Stariel is an oasis of magic between the Fae lands and the mundane. The successor need not be the last lord's offspring, but it will be someone from the bloodline. Hetta returns to Stariel for her father's funeral and for the choosing, knowing full well that she will not be chosen as she broke with her father years ago when she left for the capital to learn more about her own powers of illusion, and to take up a life in the theatre. It also seems unlikely that her older brother will be chosen as he had his own difficulties with their father. It will most likely be cousin Jack whom their father groomed to take his place. Whoever is chosen there are the family's strange cohort of disapproving aunts to placate, but also a gathering threat from across the magical border as the Fae

When the funeral is over and the choosing ritual begins, no one is more surprised than Hetta when she is chosen, but is it real or has there been some kind of trickery? And who is the strange young woman her younger brother has brought home? All this is complicated by the prospect of romance on two fronts, the handsome neighbour whom she fancied like mad when she was growing uo, or the butler/house manager, Wyn, her childhood friend who is much more than he seems.

I enjoyed this. It was intriguing enough to keep me reading, though I guessed who the villain was before the reveal.