Viscounts & Villainy
Author: Allie Therin
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: C+/B-
What I’m Talking About:
The book opens with Wesley, Sebastian, and Rory doing some bootlegging for Jade. Sebastian is still figuring out what it means to no longer have magic. This shifts quickly to the gang trying to figure out who is really behind the plot to rid the world of magic, and their conclusion sends them back to Europe and into Wesley’s world.
Viscounts and Villainy is the third book in the Roaring Twenties Magic series, and the sixth book in a set of connected series. These books are best when read in order, and I don’t recommend starting with this one since it’s the conclusion of a major story arc that spanned both series.
Viscounts and Villainy is filled with action, adventure, and romance. All the key players from both series are either mentioned or make an appearance. Therin wraps up the over-arching series plots and gives our characters their well-deserved happy endings. I absolutely adored seeing the hardened Lord Wesley Fine learn to love and be loved. He and Sebastian are both adorable and sexy together.
So here’s the thing… There are two years between the release dates for each of these books. The plots are complex, and I struggled to recall what happened previously. Even though the author does a good job including reminders from the earlier books, I still felt lost and that the story lacked continuity. And if one reads it as a standalone, it’s lacking the character and romance development because it has been occurring over the course of the series. I don’t want this to discourage anyone from reading the series, because I find the mythology fascinating and the romance sweet. However, I think these books would be best read within a few months of one another rather than over the course of four years.
In the end, I have mixed feelings about Viscounts and Villainy. As the concluding story for the series, the book brings it all together and gives readers the HEA. However, it was hard for me to fully immerse myself and enjoy the story since I felt disconnected, probably due to the long time since I read the previous book.
My Rating: C+/B-
Jen
About the Book:
Love redeemed them, but the past isn’t done with them yet.
New York, 1925
For jaded Lord Fine—Wesley, to the friends he’s surprised he now has—falling into his lover Sebastian’s world of magic and intrigue has changed everything. But when a plot to destroy magic is linked to Wesley’s own aristocratic world, he’s determined to root it out—especially when it threatens newly vulnerable Sebastian.
Sebastian will never regret sacrificing his magic to save Wesley’s life, even if life without magic is challenging and sometimes dangerous. But now he faces the biggest danger infiltrating Wesley’s viscount circles to find a villain, without magic to protect them, because Sebastian’s magic is gone forever…isn’t it?
Joined by old friends, Wesley and Sebastian follow the clues from New York’s speakeasies, across the ocean to England, and finally to a duke’s country estate. Always one step behind, they must race against time to stop those responsible and end the threat to the world, and magic, once and for all.
Release Date: July 1, 2025
Publisher: Carina Press
Series: Roaring Twenties Magic #3
Genre: Historical Romance, Paranormal Romance, LGTBQ, m/m romance
Format(s): paperback (368 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: NetGalley
Reviews in the Series:
Spellbound by Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan #1) – Audiobook Review
Starcrossed by Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan #2) – Audiobook Review
Wonderstruck by Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan #3) – Audiobook Review
Proper Scoundrels by Allie Therin (Roaring Twenties Magic #1) – Audiobook Review
Once A Rogue by Allie Therin (Roaring Twenties Magic #2)