The Ill-Kept Oath by CC Aune (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is the first paragraph (or two) of a book being read now or in the future and is hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea. "Teaser Tuesday" from Books and a Beat asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.

Amazon Description

Two cousins. A dark family secret. A looming rebellion. 
In Regency England, a mysterious inheritance draws Prudence Fairfeather and Lady Josephine Weston out of candlelit ballrooms and into the shadows of insurrection.A newcomer to London society, Prudence longs for the enchantment of love and instead finds real magic in her late mother's ring. But power brings peril, and strange mishaps culminate in an assassin's bullet. Ensnared by the web of a malevolent socialite, Prudence forsakes romance to fight for her freedom.
Josephine fears an eternity of confined country life until rampaging trolls, a gang of drunken vigilantes, and a flirtatious officer bring her all the adventure she craves. Compelled by birthright to take up arms, she embraces her newfound, unladylike abilities to shield her loved ones from harm.
As danger drives a wedge through their friendship, Josephine and Prudence must face their magical legacy and the enemy who will kill to control them.

To say that I loved this book would likely be one of the greatest understatements that I have ever made. I've tried and tried to figure out how to best describe this vibrantly told tale. A Supernatural Bodice-Ripper comes close, although the bodices are ripped mostly in acts of adventure rather than passion. It's like if the Winchester boys met Jane Austen's heroines ... though I have yet to decide if Josephine and Prudence are more Bennet girls or Catherine and Isabella from Northanger Abbey. The Bennet's certainly have the swordplay down (at least as far as Pride & Prejudice vs Zombies would go) but the personalities feel more like my favorite Northanger girls to me so we'll stick with that. I keep picturing Josephine (by far my favorite character -- and also a fan of Northanger Abbey) to be the spitting image of Carey Mulligan (by far one of my favorite actresses ... who, actually, has played a Bennet sister AND Isabella ... hrmph.)

I ramble. I know. It's just so ... ERGH.

But not "ergh" in a dreadful way. It's "ergh" in that there's so much going on in my mind over The Ill-Kept Oath that I feel like I could burst ... and yet I don't seem to be able to put two coherent sentences together because it's all spilling together with one bit toppling over the next.

I could go on and on about how seamlessly the story is put together. Even though the two are separated for the vast majority of the book you never once doubt the bond between Prudence and Josephine thanks to their frequent correspondence. They share everything with each other, including the secret Inheritance passed down from their departed mothers. It's a magical connection -- figuratively and literally. Unfortunately, the literal magic is seldom touched upon until the last quarter or so of the book and I hope beyond hope that this will be rectified in future books. Of course, had this been mostly about the magic with little development of our girls and their potential suitors (it is the Season, after all), I would have been dismayed and hoped for rectification of that.

I'm so difficult sometimes.

What wasn't difficult, however, was losing myself in the pages of the England that CC Aune created and I can't wait until I can do it again!

[Huge thanks to Wise Ink Creative Publishing for making this available through NetGalley!]