In a fictional magical/historical alternate reality in which Britain and France are one super empire ruled by a queen and her Merlin (magician), princess Marie Victoria come of age amidst the magic and the glamour. The recent war with Prussia is ending with a peace treaty and a marriage between Marie and the Prussian Prince Leo, even if it means Leo has to cast aside his betrothal to French aristocrat Isabelle. Marie's childhood friend Aelwyn has returned from Avelon where she was honing her magic. American heiress Ronan Astor is in the market for a rich husband to supplement her family's depleted old money. And his brother's upcoming nuptials has called Prince Wolf home from America where he's been enjoying anonymity and fighting in underground rings. Or at least that's the basic gist, before being overrun by a myriad of characters. And I don't mean overrun in a bad way. 
 This is the Melissa de la Cruz I've been missing. Like a historical mix of Blue Bloods (sans vampires, yes on light fantasy) and the Luxe. The world creation isn't everything, and is there to serve the plot. But these are characters I actually care about. Okay, yes, it could be argued Marie leans toward Mary Sue-ish, but you know what? I like her. They're not all perfect, or perfectly created, but I have hopes for them. And I am emotionally invested enough to care. I do wish that there had been more established between Marie and Aelwyn, and we hadn't relied so much on their previous relationship that as readers we didn't really get to see. I wanted more of that friendship. 
 Are there some turns that are a tad over the top or don't make complete sense with what's been set up? Sure. But, you know what, I enjoyed it anyway. It was fun. The political intrigue was there to provide stakes for the personal relationships. And still, I was invested enough in the personal that it was okay. I was provided enough information to suspend my disbelief on this fantasy revisionist history and just enjoy watching the personal relationships play out. 
 Maybe now I'll have the energy to actually finish the Blue Bloods series.