Beattz

The Enchanted Greenhouse was the second installment in the world created for The Spellshop. This novel introduces us to the previously alluded to librarian who worked the illegal spell that brought Caz the sentient spider plant to consciousness. Who was consequently made an example of by an unforgiving justice system in a flailing empire.

The story follows said librarian, Terlu Perna, as she is miraculously awoken on a largely deserted island that contains, you guessed it, an enchanted greenhouse, and one fairly surly (but obviously very handsome) gardener. Turns out the greenhouse is failing, one room at a time, and she's been sent here to help save it. Out of her depth, readjusting to mobile life, and forced into proximity with someone who gives every indication to not want her there if she can't help, Terlu sets about trying to get her life back in order.

All in all, I liked the book pretty well. I enjoy the world building very much, and hope we get more books in the future. Unfortunately the characters fell a bit flat for me this time. I will say this though, SBD does write characters with high emotional intelligence and that's refreshing anytime you get it.

i think there's really only one thing i need to say about this book regarding its contents, bc everything else was fine. nothing groundbreaking, but entertaining enough.

something that wasn't addressed at all when talking about the kinks explored in this book was sub drop and aftercare. im not an expert, so i wont try to go into detail, but i do think it's neglectful, and possibly harmful to have not done so. its as much a part of safe play as consent, trust, and safe words. when lukas abandoned vandy for those two weeks after their first interaction, its quite literally the worst thing he could have done from a real life standpoint. regardless of whether or not they had a "just sex" agreement with no strings attached, there are endorphins and hormones and vulnerabilities in play that simply cannot be ignored when engaged in safe play, and you'd expect these characters who are supposedly not new to that lifestyle to know that, talk about it, and respect it.

I had so much fun with this book. I can't remember the last time I kept putting a book down, just to share the ridiculous/hilarious quotes I kept coming across. When I was about a third of the way through, I told some friends that if I were ever to write a book, *this* is exactly how I would hope it turns out.

This was a delightful cozy fantasy set in modern England and where magic is a mostly unknown secret. Kinda like HP, there are nonmagicals who are aware, but they're few and far between. There's magical schools and institutes available, but they tend to cater more towards those with "lineage". The book opens with our FMC Sera, 15 at the time, performs a piece of magic that should be nigh on impossible. And the rest of the book is the consequences that follow.

I loved the cast of characters. This found family is a ragtag bunch of weirdos, and it's a riot. The writing, in my opinion, pitch perfect, any other tone than the one it set would have ruined the story. I appreciated so much that the main characters were actual adults, and I thought even the romance was handled in an adult way, which I really appreciated. Can't sit around being all moon-eyed, there's things to do! (but also, did you *see* how his jumper brought out his eyes??)

All in all, can't recommend this book enough, can't wait to go back and read "The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches" set in the same world, and see what else the author has on offer!