CBR Bingo: Wealth – The whole story starts with a moderate amount of wealth being left to Halla by a deceased granduncle, and her quest to get it back for the sake of her own nieces.
Halla is the widowed housekeeper of Silas, her dead husband’s now-dead granduncle. Halla was, apparently, the only relative that spent much time with Silas because he left his estate to her, much to the chagrin of his nasty blood relatives. They have locked Halla up until she comes to her sense and marries her dead husband’s cousin in order to keep the money and property in the family. She’s not impressed with this plan and decides to impale herself on a sword she finds in her bedroom (Silas liked to collect weird and shocking things). Unfortunately for her plans, fortunately for her life, the sword is home to a man – much like a genie in a lamp. Unlike a genie, Sarkis does not grant wishes, he is however a capable swordsman himself. He thwarts Halla’s attempt to skewer herself, helps her breakout of her imprisonment, and they set out on a quest to get her property back so that she can ensure her nieces have decent doweries.
Throughout the book we collect additional characters until we have a delightful team of wayward (and pretty inept) adventurers. We go on a few side quests, that I can only assume Halla and Sarkis come back to after the book is finished. There’s tension and yearning and secrets and betrayal and fights and everything you could probably want from a sweet, quippy, fun little romantasy. A very fun time. Highly recommend.
