The Colonel and the Enchantress by Paullett Golden

Title: The Colonel and the Enchantress

Author: Paullett Golden

Series: Enchantresses #4

Charming and heartwarming, but pacing a little off

Many thanks to the author, who provided me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been eagerly awaiting Mary’s story (I think I say that for every book, lol), and overall, I enjoyed it. The characters were endearing, the writing style smooth and sophisticated, and the premise intriguing: A couple had to reconcile who they had become with who they used to be—and also with who they had wanted to become.

The biggest—and pretty much the only, really—issue was that the narrative arc was unbalanced, which threw off the pacing. Because all the loose ends got tied up, I thought at first it was simply that the middle of the novel dragged, which isn’t an uncommon malady. As I pondered the matter further, though, I realized it’s more accurate to say the plot was front-loaded. The arcs were complete, but most of them peaked early.

The beginning set up wonderful conflict—Duncan’s injury, Bernard, Duncan and Mary re-falling in love as mature adults with different interests and perspectives. But long before the halfway point, a lot of that conflict was resolved. The re-falling in love was so much a given, even to the characters themselves, that they didn’t put much effort into it. Duncan’s injury healed and he taught himself to walk and ride again, so that ceased to be much of a problem. Bernard also largely stopped being an issue once his circumstances were explained. All that was left was Duncan trying to feel worthy of Mary and Mary trying to convince him he always had been. They went round and round with that, having the same argument over and over in different contexts, and it became tedious. Saving some of the juicy drama for later in the story could have helped, as well as allowing the conflicts to be more complicated.

As for the characters, I loved them all. Even Catherine, though she’s still a pill. I give Golden major points for that character; Catherine was the most uniquely portrayed out of the lot—flawed and bloody infuriating, but also the most interesting character in the series (closely followed by her son). I’ve been waiting for her and Mary to have a confrontation for two or three books now, and it was satisfying to finally see them come to an understanding.

Duncan was a solid hero. His desire to be worthy and useful was endearing and admirable—as well as exasperating, as it was to the point of obsession. *shakes head fondly* His moments of self-pity were irritating, but they were supposed to be, and he grew as a character because of them, which was the point, of course. I adored his unconditional love for Bernard and his devotion to the boy—toward Mary, too, for that matter. I credit his parents for a job well done.

Mary… I didn’t entirely understand Mary. Either her characterization wasn’t consistent or she needed a tad more development to explain the inconsistencies. For the most part she was wonderful, kind and strong and independent. She was ready to accept Bernard and make peace with Duncan’s indiscretion before she learned the truth, and she considered Bernard her son from day one. She never thought less of Duncan when he was injured and woebegone and did everything she could to help him. She loved Duncan’s family as her own, though their station was humbler than hers. She had a big heart, and I adored that about her.

I also want to say she was friendly and polite to everyone—except pompous assholes like Brumley, of course—and that she never looked down on the lesser classes—but I can’t. She scoffed at a village education or a common occupation for Bernard, and she despised Robin on sight—ostensibly for his disheveled appearance and slightly rude behavior, but truly she was jealous of Duncan’s immediate affinity for him. The jealousy I understand, that was a great wrench thrown into her and Duncan’s relationship. *waves that aside*

It’s the fact that she immediately disregarded any merit a village education or Robin might possess. She didn’t give them the benefit of the doubt, which I would have imagined her character, as portrayed in the beginning of the novel, doing. It was only for a short period toward the end of the novel that she became inexplicably judgmental. The greatest goal she had for herself in life was to be unlike her mother, to be open-minded and caring. But there she was, being judgmental based on status or superficial qualities. Even Duncan commented on it, but she completely ignored the accusation of acting like her mother. Literally, she didn’t even acknowledge the comment. It was just…odd. Other than that discrepancy, though, she was a great heroine.

I have to give a shout-out to Duncan’s dad, Colonel Sean. Well, all the Starretts deserve a shout-out, they were wonderful people, but his dad holds a special place in my heart for the night when Duncan woke up fevered and paralyzed. Sean held his full-grown son in his arms and soothed him as if he were just a scared little boy. “I’ve got you, son. Dadaí is here.” Oh god, my heart.

Also, it was lovely to see some of the past protagonists again—Lilith, Charlotte, Drake. Everyone in the epilogue. I adored that epilogue. I smiled to see everyone healthy and happy and prospering.

Oh, and the humor! There was some great humor here. Duncan’s laudanum dreams were creatively hilarious, describing colors as sounds and sounds as colors, or a smile like clinking glass. Also, the banter between him and Mary often made me grin.

And a last quick note that I didn’t know where else to place: I’m not sure I’m fond of how the prologue was executed. I think it could have been more effective if written differently.

So yeah. Overall, it was a charming story with wonderful characters, though the narrative was unbalanced.

This book wraps up the romances of the “children,” and the next couple of books will be more or less prequels, I believe, describing how Lizbeth’s father, Cuthbert, and Aunt Hazel found the loves of the their lives. It might be a little weird to back up and tell the parents’ stories after the children’s, but I think it’ll work just fine, and I look forward to those stories.

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