Published: November 1, 2022
Publisher: 47North
Series: Whimbrel House #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 347 (Kindle)
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Synopsis:
Rhode Island, 1846. Estranged from his family, writer Merritt Fernsby is surprised when he inherits a remote estate in the Narragansett Bay. Though the property has been uninhabited for more than a century, Merritt is ready to call it home—until he realizes he has no choice. With its doors slamming shut and locking behind him, Whimbrel House is not about to let Merritt leave. Ever.
Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has been trained in taming such structures in order to preserve their historical and magical significance. She understands the dangers of bespelled homes given to tantrums. She advises that it’s in Merritt’s best interest to make Whimbrel House their ally. To do that, she’ll need to move in, too.
Prepared as she is with augury, a set of magic tools, and a new staff trained in the uncanny, Hulda’s work still proves unexpectedly difficult. She and Merritt grow closer as the investigation progresses, but the house’s secrets run deeper than they anticipated. And the sentient walls aren’t their only concern—something outside is coming for the enchantments of Whimbrel House, and it could be more dangerous than what rattles within.
I’ve had Keeper of Enchanted Rooms on my TBR for a while, but it got bumped to the top after a friend recommended it. I had heard it was a wonderful cozy fantasy about a magical house, but it was so much more to that, with a surprisingly creepy twist!
This is set in 1846 and follows Merritt Fernsby, an author who has just inherited a house on a remote island off the coast of Rhode Island. He’s delighted by his luck as his apartment lease is about to be up, but when he arrives at Whimbrel House he finds that it is haunted. The house drips blood from the ceilings, rearranges itself, and won’t even let Merritt back out of the house to escape. Fortunately, the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms (BIKER) keeps close tabs on magical houses, as they are quite rare, and has sent out Hulda Larkin to help tame the house. Hulda moves in and as she and Merritt work together to find the source of the house’s magic, the pair begin to trust one another and grow a bit closer.
The house situation is interesting and definitely keeps Hulda and Merritt on their toes, but my true fascination was with a strange side character that had their own POV chapters. This individual lived in England and at first it’s not clear how they are connected to the main storyline. This man was a magic user and after a first, horrible accident that resulted in his father’s death, this guy started finding a way to basically mummify people and steal their magic to amplify his own. For what is ultimately a charming book, Keeper of Enchanted Rooms had this as it’s horrible dark side. Talk about unexpected!
I liked the slow burn relationship building between Hulda and Merritt, though I admit I found their inability to communicate well frustrating on more than one occasion. I also like the mystery surrounding the source of the house’s magic, though it’s mostly resolved about halfway through the book. What I didn’t like was how slow the entire book was. It began to get a little tedious and I kept waiting for some explosive event to happen that would really kick the plot into gear, but it never quite happened. The mysterious magical mummifier was a much needed creepy element, but even that didn’t put the story into high gear until the very end. This book is obviously quite popular, with nearly 41,000 ratings and an average rating of 4.18 on Goodreads, but it just wasn’t quite my cup of tea. Don’t get me wrong – I like it enough to finish it, just not enough to keep going with the next three books in the series.
Powder & Page 
I’ve read one book by this author and it was just ok for me. Since then I’ve been hesitant to try more, although I do like the sound of this story😁
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