REVIEW: “Drake Hall” by Christina Baehr

About the book…

*Title: Drake Hall

*Author: Christina Baehr

*Genre: Cozy historical fantasy (with dragons and a touch of romance)

*Series: Book #2 of the 5-book series The Secrets of Ormdale {See review for book #1 here!

*Recommend for: Ages 14 & up

My Personal Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖Synopsis

Edith's ancient home is full of secrets . . . and dragons are the least of them.

As the new dragon keeper in the hidden valley of Ormdale, Edith expects her first dragon mating season to involve venomous bites and amorous wyverns.

She doesn't expect to find herself growing closer to an inconveniently appealing suitor next door, or to stumble upon a dragon poacher lurking in the outbuildings, or to uncover a family scandal in the Abbey.

Fortunately, Edith has a mentor to help her sort things out, the spellbinding Helena Drake of Drake Hall. Or does Helena harbor secrets of her own?

For Edith, the dragons were always going to be the easy part.

💭My Thoughts 

“Gothic men, I thought, did not often make good husbands- at least if literature was to be believed on this point.”

Not too many thoughts on this one, as it is the second in the series, but overall a great sequel! Personally, this one didn’t quite top the fantastic first one, but it was still a very fun, delightful read. Edith discovers many more secrets of Wormwood Abbey and her family throughout this book, and it has a little more romance and adventure than the first, so I’m very curious to read the third one and see how everything happens. As in the first book, I so enjoyed Christina Baehr’s lovely writing style and vocabulary, Edith’s wit and wisdom, the new characters introduced, the sweet family and friendship elements, and maybe more for Edith and Simon one day ;)

Onto book 3! 

⚠️Broad content notes

Noticing; several sentences of wanting to kiss someone; mention of enchantment/spell; mentions of hanging; “God forbid” and the phrase “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t” said; a mention of bigotry; an animal is killed and eaten by another animal on page (not gruesome, but it happens); Talk of prejudice against Jews; someone says that Edith is a magical person, but she disagrees and she’s not.

❤️ Read for...

-Victorian England backdrop

-Gothic atmosphere, mystery & secrets

-Dragons

-Quaint, witty writing in first person POV

-Literary references

-Fun family dynamic

-A sweet romance blooming

-A bit of adventure

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Bookishly yours, 

Lottie M.