SCALES AND SENSIBILITY by Stephanie Burgis

I received this book for free from the Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SCALES AND SENSIBILITY by Stephanie BurgisScales and Sensiblity by Stephanie Burgis
Series: Regency Dragons #1
Published by Five Fathoms Press on October 4 2021
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 307
Format: eARC
Source: Author
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four-stars

The nitty-gritty: Fantasy, comedy and sparkling Regency romance blend together seamlessly in Stephanie Burgis’ latest.

Stephanie Burgis never fails to delight, and her new fantasy Scales and Sensibility has all the makings of an intriguing series opener featuring—you guessed it—dragons and Jane Austen!

Elinor Tregarth and her sisters Rose and Harry were split up a year ago, after the unexpected death of their parents forced them to find relatives willing to take them in. Elinor ended up with her aunt and uncle at Hathergill Hall, while Rose and Harry were sent to other distant relatives. Elinor’s life is anything but pleasant, because as a “poor relation” she’s become little more than a servant, waiting hand and foot on her beautiful but horribly nasty cousin Penelope. Penelope’s debut is coming up, and she’s just acquired the season’s most fashionable accessory—a dragon! But the dragon, Sir Jessamyn, isn’t getting along very well with the high strung Penelope, and after Penelope scares Sir Jessamyn one too many times, Elinor realizes she’s finally had enough.

Elinor decides to run away—with Sir Jessamyn in tow—but a near accident with a carriage throws her into the path of Benedict Hawkins and his traveling companion Cornelius Aubrey, a dragon expert and scholar. The handsome Mr. Hawkins just happens to be on his way to Hathergill Hall—to court Penelope, no less. But Elinor has other things to worry about when she makes an offhand wish to be more like Mrs. De Lacey, a well known society maven who Elinor looks up to, and suddenly finds herself caught up in a magical illusion—she appears to be Mrs. De Lacey, at least on the outside. With Penelope’s ball only days away, Elinor finds herself back at Hathergill Hall posing as Mrs. De Lacey, where she agrees to help Penelope prepare for her debut, all while trying to wrangle Sir Jessamyn, capture a thief, and try not to fall in love with Benedict Hawkins.

Yes, there are Jane Austen influences and yes, there are dragons, but honestly, the best parts of Scales and Sensibility are the humor, the characters and Burgis’ delightfully madcap plot. This story is hysterically funny, especially the last twenty percent or so, and she paces it in such a way that it keeps gaining momentum little by little, until the events near the end are coming at you fast and furious. I kept alternating between gasping and laughing out loud as Elinor’s situation becomes more and more stressful, but then all the loose ends somehow manage to come together, and it was all brilliantly done.

From what I understand, this is the first in a trilogy, and each book will feature one of the Tregarth sisters. Elinor is a great character. She’s suffered a lot living with the Hathergill family, and I was thrilled when she finally decides to stand up to them to leave. She cares deeply for her sisters and misses them terribly, but instead of feeling sorry for herself, Elinor is determined to do everything she can so that the three can reunite one day. I also loved her sharp mind and her creative problem solving skills, which come in very handy. Half the fun of this book is watching Elinor get out of tricky situations, and boy does Burgis put her in some good ones!

The rest of the characters are a lot of fun too. One of my favorites was Mr. Aubrey, who is so caught up in his books and research about dragons that he misses everything going on around him (or so the author makes you think, when actually he’s quite observant in his own way!). I liked Benedict as well, especially since he doesn’t follow the typical mold of handsome but grumpy love interest. There’s a backstory about him losing money in an investment scheme, and he’s actually in dire straits, but he’s kind and level headed, and I thought he was perfect for Elinor. 

Fans of Regency era stories will immediately recognize elements like class division, the focus on parties and gossip and debuts, and of course the romance. I even caught a few direct quotes from Pride and Prejudice (it’s my favorite Austen book!) and other references to the author’s work, but the story itself is a unique mash-up of the familiar and the new. In Burgis’ tale, dragons have recently appeared and have become a commodity among the wealthy families. Young women coming out in society are anxious to get their hands on their very own dragon, which elevates their status. There is also a magical element which involves dragons, although it’s used more as a catalyst for the rest of the story. To be honest, the dragons are little more than props in this story—Sir Jessamyn spends the whole time perched on Elinor’s shoulder—but I didn’t mind, because the human characters were so engaging.

I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series, which is called Claws and Contrivances and will be out next year, according to the author. Stephanie Burgis really nails the Regency romance/fantasy combo, and with plenty of added humor and hijinks, this is a must read for fans of the genre.

Big thanks to Stephanie for providing a review copy.

Posted September 23, 2021 by Tammy in 4 stars, Reviews / 33 Comments

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33 responses to “SCALES AND SENSIBILITY by Stephanie Burgis”

  15. JonBob

    As a male reader of mostly dark fantasy and science fiction you might be surprised to hear I think this sounds excellent ☺️ I probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought a few months ago, but then I read The Midnight Bargain and realised fantasy romance can actually be incredible! So I think I’ll probably pick this one up too

    Reply

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