CHANTRESS FURY

A final volume, accompanied by a romantic repackage for the whole series, closes out the modestly enjoyable Chantress trilogy.

Lucy, Chantress and trusted adviser of King Henry, has spent months traveling nonstop, using her magic to support the kingdom (the quasi-historical novel opens with Lucy singing down an illegal enclosure, a nod to the actual historical conflicts of 17th-century England). She has avoided love interest Nat after his decision (in the previous volume) that he must make it on his own; she is weary and ready to rest when a new threat—embodied by mermaids and killer floods—appears. Soon Lucy finds herself defending the kingdom from an ancient threat closely tied to the Chantresses of the past and to Lucy’s own family in particular. Her indecision and lack of self-confidence, particularly in relation to Nat, continue to grate, but generally this is more of the enjoyable same that Greenfield has delivered twice already, and finally the happy ending romantic readers will have longed for manifests.

There’s nothing new under the sun, but singing heroines, magic, and mermaids make for a formula that still appeals.