#42 The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

 

Set in the same universe as The Spellshop but there is no need for the reader to have read it before this one since it doesn’t hurt the enjoyment of the story.  Terlu was a lonely librarian in the Capital of the Empire and used magic to make a sentient spider plant. Her punishment is to become a statue and placed in a library reading room as a warning to anyone who thinks about using magic without being a sorcerer.  Six years later she wakes up in a snowy wood not knowing where she is or how she got there.  She finds herself on an island full of magical greenhouses and one irritated gardener. Yarrow is the last person on the island of Belde taking care of the magical greenhouses created by a sorcerer that has died, but the greenhouse magic is failing and he needs help.  Terlu uses her linguistic skills to puzzle out the late sorcerer’s magic all the while worrying about being caught and turned back into a statue.  This is a very slow friends to lovers story and the setting is so gorgeous And I hope there will be more stories set in these islands.

 

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss