Flautopiccolo

On May 17, the NY Times Book Review had another article suggesting fun romance books to read. I put some on hold at Minuteman, and the the first one became available pretty quickly: Stay for a Spell, by Amy Coombe. I enjoyed it a lot, and look forward to future books by this author.

This book is about Princess Tanadelle Estrella Amyers de Courcy (Tandy) and Sebastian (Bash), a cursed pirate from Cranbrook. It is set in a magical realm which is is pre-industrial but very modern and egalitarian in many ways. For example, the heir to a throne has the title Prince, regardless of gender. Tandy puts the princes of the realm to work: manning the sales table outside, giving an author talk, hauling books and bookcases around Beulah Bonecrusher’s Emporium of Books. Book club meetings and tote bags with the store’s logo.

Tandy hires a goth dracone teenager, Si’masasha Samish’et (Sasha), as a bookshop assistant.

Highlights:

• The book shop’s cat is a domestic illusive cat, about the size and shape of an ordinary cat, but with four tentacles sprouting from her tortoiseshell back, between her shoulder blades. She’s apparently sleeping on an ancient, moth- eaten sweater. Being an illusive cat, there’s no way of knowing whether she’s actually on that sweater or seven feet away; little illusory magics such as hers mean that you’re never quite sure that you’re looking at something that’s actually where it appears to be.

• I’m stuck inside a bookshop. A thousand miles from my parents. Unable to carry on with my royal duties. I’m stuck. Inside. A bookshop.
• It seems that my sources are all pretty much agreed that a prince should always be one’s initial go-to curse cure, if the cursed person is a princess.
• The local inn renames itself every time a new prince shows up: The Inn of the Prince of Parciful, The Inn of the Two Princes, …, The Inn of the Seven Princes.
• Tandy: The Inn of Howevermany Princes
• Sasha: We’ll have to find more books about chickens. They’re all gone. Who knew?
• Sasha’s idea: Let’s get it out on the tables tomorrow: Books that fell on the princess, half- price, today only! We’ll sell out in an hour.
• Discussing possible names for the bookstore: Stay for a Spell? (Come for the curse, stay for a spell), finally deciding on The Green Dragon Bookshop, after Tandy’s green dragon pet, Her Ladyship Pigglesworth the First (Piggle).
• Tandy: Si’masasha Samish’et, in recognition of your hard work these last five months, and in keen awareness that you have an important year-end ball on the horizon and nothing to wear for it, the seven princes of the realm—and one cursed princess—would each like to give you a gift, in the hope that you will be able to attend this ball—and perhaps many to come—in full confidence and, uh, joy.
• The gifts:
  Driz: a bolt of pure black velvet, the finest in the eight kingdoms
  Hamish: eight yards of black lace, tatted by the scions of the Two Mountains
  Yenny: pure-black wool
  Bel: a vial of one of the perfumes that the city-state of the Five-Fold Night is famous for
  Ternis: a single, perfect jet stone, from the shores of the Sea of Endless Light
  Calla: a Mezothin dagger, a symbol of eternal respect and friendship
  Astebaen: a ceremonial Astebani belt—black, of course
• The horrifying prospect of serving as spring-queen echoes through Tandy’s mind: One is meant to sit on a throne carved of ice in a gown covered in holly and pine needles for the course of an entire day, sunup to sundown, to celebrate the last snowfall of the winter season, while the heat of one’s body melts the ice throne.
• Bash was cursed because he borrowed a sea witch’s pet magical gold-seeking scallop.
• Clotilde (Tandy’s mother) to Tandy: You were cursed to stay here, unable to leave, until you admitted that what you really, truly wanted was to stay and never leave.
• Honey accepts a job offer from the Dark Wizard, for the chance to get into the archives of the dark castle.
• Tandy names the cat: Beulah Bonecrusher the Second