Something Wicked

Troublesome politics, fanciful magic, and spicy romance combine but never quite cohere in this rocky romantasy from Ballard (Lease on Love). Courtesan Lady Caterine, Cate to her friends, is Gifted, possessed of innate magical powers for which she and those like her are oppressed in the erstwhile kingdom of Avon. Meanwhile, Prince Callum was heir to the throne of Scota, one of Avon’s four provinces, before the Uprising successfully staged a revolution. When the Uprising decrees that Avon will be run by an elected president, but would-be candidates must kill their province’s current monarch to qualify, Callum hatches a plan to kill his own father. His and Cate’s destinies become intertwined when he seeks out her Gift to assist in his plot, despite his bias against the Gifted. This thorny premise is plenty entertaining, the pace is swift, and the eventual romance between the leads is satisfyingly erotic, but both the politics and the magic system feel sketchy and convoluted. The muddled plot, which falls apart in the third act, is also mired in allusions to Macbeth that never amount to much. Readers may still have a good time with this, but only if they don’t think about it too hard. Agent: Kimberly Whalen, Whalen Agency. (Dec.)