Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Viscounts & Villainy
SERIES:
AUTHOR: Allie Therin
PUBLISHER: Carina Press
LENGTH: 327 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2025
BLURB:
Love redeemed them, but the past isn’t done with them yet.
New York, 1925
For jaded Lord Fine—Wesley, to the friends he’s surprised he now has—falling into his lover Sebastian’s world of magic and intrigue has changed everything. But when a plot to destroy magic is linked to Wesley’s own aristocratic world, he’s determined to root it out—especially when it threatens newly vulnerable Sebastian.
Sebastian will never regret sacrificing his magic to save Wesley’s life, even if life without magic is challenging and sometimes dangerous. But now he faces the biggest danger infiltrating Wesley’s viscount circles to find a villain, without magic to protect them, because Sebastian’s magic is gone forever…isn’t it?
Joined by old friends, Wesley and Sebastian follow the clues from New York’s speakeasies, across the ocean to England, and finally to a duke’s country estate. Always one step behind, they must race against time to stop those responsible and end the threat to the world, and magic, once and for all.
REVIEW:
Note: This really doesn’t work as a standalone work. The story carries on from the previous books in this series and also there is some reference to the events of the Magic in Mahattan series. As such there are major spoilers here for those previous books.
This book picks up right where the previous book left off. Sebastian is without his magic – having given it up to save Wesley. There are still the missing relics to be recovered. Whoever is trying to rid the world of all magic are still at large – so our me have more than a full plate!
Throughout the escapades of this book, Wesley continues to wrestle with his “feelings” that he doesn’t want to have. He still sees himself as a villain and unworthy of love. On the other hand, Sebastian is learning to deal with the loss of his magic and trying to inhabit Wesley’s world as there mission takes them back to England. There he struggles trying to fit into Wesley’s world of privilege. As the the stakes get higher and they get closer to finding the culprits, there are many false starts and stops. Its totally a roller coaster ride to the finish 🙂
I am sorry that this delightful series has come to an end. It’s a well-written world and the characters are original and fun. The history of the magic world and the relics was fascinating to me as a history nerd (no spoilers from me on what is referenced here – you’ll just have to read for yourself 😉 ). The heart of this story though is watching Sebastian and Wesley negotiate their relationship coming from such different perspectives. They are so opposite in so many ways, but they clearly care a great deal for each other. Both have to come to accept their pasts and that those actions to not mean they are doomed to be alone or should be punished in perpetuity. They are absolutely willing to sacrifice and do what needs to be done to protect the other. Their found family of friends (and what a turn that is) Arthur and Rory and Jade and Zhang are along for the ride but certainly play supporting roles here with the focus on the Wesley and Sebastian. The action and pacing here was perfect – I just wanted to keep reading to see what would happen next! Finally, the epilogue is just fabulous. While this series is over, I sure hope we get more books set in this time/world 😉 Never say never, right? Recommended!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Carina
