All Gwendolynne Chan needs is to get through final year at Seamere College, where she is on track to graduate as number one —as long as the pretentious prat Harrisford Briggs doesn’t beat her to it.
Harrisford Briggs’s father, the chief financial officer of Magecorp, a major global distributor of magic, expects him to come top of the class. Harrisford, though, can’t help but notice that his father has been acting odd. And there are strange whisperings, too, of uncontrollable surges of excess magic.
When these magical surges begin to rock London, causing chaos and explosions and animal familiars going feral, Gwen and Harrisford find themselves reluctantly involved, putting both of their veterinary careers at risk.
Along with Gwen’s snarky cat familiar, Gwen and Harrisford must team up to diagnose the problem. But as the two academic rivals fight their burgeoning feelings, they quickly realize that magic is not the only thing surging.
In Strange Familiars by Keshe Crow, the slow burn romance is taut and sparks fly off the page as Gwen and Harrisford vie in this enemies to lovers fantasy romance novel. I really like the incorporation familiars and that both are veterinary students. It increases the intrigue, especially Gwen’s interactions with Percy and how the familiars are a huge part of the mystery of the surges.
I love how the relationship between Gwen and Harrisford takes time to build, that the animosity isn’t over with the wave of a hand but is handled more believably than is typical. I like how Percy steals the book with his sarcastic cat ways. I also find fascinating the world, corporate magic, underground protestors and familiars who aren’t all what they seem. The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger but only makes me want to come back for more.
If you like fantasy romances with enemies to lovers and a slow burn romance, this novel is for you. The magic is intriguing, I was absorbed the entire time in the mystery and I loved the ending.
Rating: 5 out of 5 sparks
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