To be quite honest, I was slightly concerned about dear Fenn when this book started. I grew up around horses since I was around 2 years old. I loved my pony, I did Pony Club, and D-Camp. I lived in the lower mainland of BC and dear lord is that horse-people country. I was a horse girl where that was the norm and not a quirky girl thing. And I was still bloody concerned at the way this man described horses. Thankfully, once you put a sexy man in front of him that seemed to mellow out a lot. Which I’m still not sure if that makes the first bit of the book more or less weird.
Overall, the slight concern over Fenn’s horse obsession does fade away with the introduction of Morgrim. I really liked that both these men were mature adults, even older than myself, which feels exceedingly rare in this genre. They both knew a lot about themselves and their roles in life, and yet still learned a hell of a lot thanks to each other. I think that actually says a ton of really good things and it is so nice to see.
I liked the characters a lot, and the idea of perception and truth. I liked the private side of Morgrim and the public rumors and appearance. The Queen was also wonderful and highly amusing. There was only one sort of cliche “get mad and storm off for plot” bits and I did actually clock myself forgiving it for what needed to be set up. Which, probably still could have been done in a different way, but since I usually don’t forgive those because they are usually awful and badly done, I’m considering this one to be forgivable.
I do hope that the book in the first in a series. There is definitely a lot of set up that can be expanded on. The initial problem is sort of dealt with, but most certainly not tied up in a nice little bow. And I’m exceedingly curious if there is more intention to delve into the magical side of the connection Fenn and Morgrim have. There are so many little off-handed comments that point to a complete reversal on the world’s current thinking on magic.
The book is very good and leaves you with a sense of anticipation. There is a conclusion, a resolution to all the main issues that are presented. You could leave it as a stand alone and it would feel contained but still have enough in there to let you think about the work after you’re done with it. However, there is still so much potential to explore and I dearly hope that Lee continues with the series. Heck, “Master of Horses” alone makes a good title for a second book in the series on multiple levels. “Mending the Magic” if we want to keep with the title theme also has potential.