Mysterious Powers is a series about the magical community of the British Isles in the 1920s, living in a world changed by the Great War and its aftermath. Each book explores a different piece of the world, in the company of a different couple, exploring questions of power and what it means to have it or not have it.
- Arthur has duties to attend to, and Melusina has a particular goal: fixing an issue with the Viceroy’s safe in Calcutta, India in 1882. Forged in Combat is a prequel novella featuring the parents of Roland from Carry On.
- Elen and Roland in Carry On must figure out why Roland has been isolated from everyone he knows. And what is going on with his Healer. Set in spring 1915 at the Temple of Healing.
- A portal in the remote Scottish Highlands fails in the spring of 1922. Rathna (a fully qualified Portal Keeper) and Gabe (who recently finished his apprenticeship) are assigned to figure out the problem in The Fossil Door. Besides the challenges of a rocky landscape and a threatening mythical monster, they both carry secrets they’ve never admitted to others.
- Thesan and Isembard expect the 1924-25 school year at Schola to be full of much the same as last year. That means teaching, other duties, and a pleasant time marking assignments with each other down at the pub on Saturday nights. Instead, the year offers students up to something mysterious, academic politics, and a whirl of dizzying social events. Eclipse is a friends-to-lovers romance full of the change of perspective an eclipse can bring.
- Robin is rebuilding his life after a series of disastrous decisions and their consequences. Beatrice has lived with an inherited curse. When Robin overhears a conversation that must be about art forgery, he is too curious for his own good. Fool’s Gold has art, a custos dragon, and many mysteries in the deep vaults. Set in early 1926 in Trellech.
- Mabyn and Cyrus have been colleagues on the Council for many years. They must work together to find a lost heir and repair damaged land magics in The Hare and the Oak. It forces them to confront their own personal history, oaths kept and broken, and what it means to move forward. This late-in-life romance takes place in the spring and summer of 1926 in Suffolk.
- In Point By Point, Lydia wants to make her name and reputation in immersive journalism. When she asks Galen for help, they both get more than they bargained for. A a rolling plot that runs from horse racing to house parties to dangerous ritual magics in 1926.
- Mistress of Birds finds Thalia volunteered to keep an eye on her great-aunt’s remote house on the edge of Dartmoor in 1927, and perhaps she can find something to write about there. The oddities start to pile up, however, and Adam, down in the orchard, seems to be the only one who notices.
Showing books 1-8 of 8
Period: 1920s
Romance: M/F, First relationship, Demisexual, Bisexual
Content notes: Click here to reveal
Showing books 1-8 of 8
My authorial wiki has more to help you connect characters, places, groups, and events.
Content notes
Forged in Combat
Prequel novella. Set mostly in 1882 in Calcutta, India while Lord Ripon was Viceroy. Lord Ripon was on the more progressive side, but this book touches on issues of empire, imperialism, racism, and everything else inherent in the time and place. The plot, however, focuses on a specific magical challenge in the Viceroy’s Palace, rather than anything directly political. Hero is in the Army. Prequel featuring the parents of the hero in Carry On.
Carry On
Set in 1915, early in the Great War: multiple discussions (non-graphic) of injuries, new kinds of injuries, and other implications of the war. Hero was injured in the First Battle of Ypres in late 1914, the heroine has had a traumatic brain injury and continuing migraines. Both are new to dealing with these issues. Various attitudes of healers and nursing staff, some of whom are much more helpful than others. No on-page sex.
The Fossil Door
Heroine was born in London to Bengali parents, orphaned at 8 and grew up largely disconnected from her culture. Her apprenticeship took place largely within the London Jewish community in Spitalfields. Hero comes from significant social privilege, has what we’d identify as ADHD, and suffered a life-changing injury (not in the Great War). Discussion of other War deaths and injuries. Some bias from others on the basis of background and presumed orientation.
Eclipse
Hero served in the Great War, with lasting curse damage and deep regrets about some of the actions he took (not described in detail). Issues of class, particularly around what family background, and privilege mean for education and opportunity. Academic politics, including an unpleasant faculty meeting. Friends to lovers trope.
Fool's Gold
Hero is a villain redeemed (he features in Seven Sisters). Heroine has a hereditary curse she has complicated feelings about. Discussion of gender roles and family obligations.
The Hare and the Oak
Heroine survived an emotionally abusive and restrictive marriage (ended by the death of her husband). Hero’s wife died unexpectedly in childbirth (referred to, but not in any degree of medical or explicit details.) Later in life romance.
Point by Point
Hero dealing with past major changes in his family (related to In The Cards). Heroine trying to make her reputation as a journalist. Class differences. Dangerous ritual moments. Secondary character with major facial injury.
Mistress of Birds
Both hero and heroine have what we’d now describe as complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) though with different causes and experiences of it. Includes (in chapter 31) a paragraph of brief direct reference to 1917 treatments for shell-shock, which to be blunt, were brutal torture. Gothic romance, with higher levels of spooky tension than my books usually run to (but I promise a happy ending). No on-page sex.