Hello everyone!
WE DID IT.
I say, as if I were single-handedly responsible for getting these books out. HA. I wish.
Better words to use would be that Byrd Nash did it, getting all six parts of her gaslight romantasy series out into the world at large, and with such ample success too!
I accidentally stumbled over Madame Chalamet on BookSirens, but then after the first three books discovered the author would actually be doing ARCs personally as well, and got myself hooked up to that.
Because there was no way, NO WAY, I'm telling you, that I would be missing out.
Elinor Chalamet is everything you might want in a female hero, and I was going to hitch myself along for the ride to witness her story come to a satisfying conclusion.
And boy, did it!
Time to talk to ghosts one last time (for now) in Ghastly Mistake.
Links to previous related posts (because of course I have the entire series on here) can be found at the bottom of the page, as per usual!
Our resident medium ghost talker Elinor has been found with the body of her nemesis (or, would-be nemesis, since neither Elinor nor her beau Tristan really care for her much) and is being taken in by De Windt, the King's man whom we love to hate, when Tristan pops up - naturally - to spirit her away.
They run off, out of the town that's getting increasingly volatile due to the people having beef with the aristocracy, but not before getting married.
FINALLY.
See, because Elinor's accused of murder, Tristan argues his position and title can very well help her. Not the most romantic of notions, of course, but he's long-since figured out the way to Elinor's heart is probably better paved with pragmatism than romance, and she agrees, much to my personal delight. FINALLY, ELINOR, FINALLY!
After a little bit of time spent away from the city on a boat where they can just be themselves, they decide returning home might be their best bet to both clear Elinor's name and fight the final fight in this battle against an invisible mastermind which has been going since book one.
So, return home they do, only to receive news (and messages) that Twyla, Elinor's former apprentice, is in some sort of danger.
This spurs Elinor into action, and she demands to tag along, so she and Tristan go to visit her old mentor, only to find she'd apparently passed on. Her ghost, however, lingers, and has some distressing news to impart.
One, she was the one controlling the Ghastlies (those unfortunate, doped up souls that can't pass on to the Beyond because of drugs); two, now that's Twyla's job; three, Barbier, the inspector Elinor's been friends with is her illegitimate son by a recently-disposed-of lord; and four, Barbier's the Mastermind behind everything.
Also, five, he killed Elinor's father, because one girl spilled the beans about a blackmailing scheme and he couldn't have that coming out into the open.
OH and six, he's going to claim his title from his father (fake papers of course) and take a seat in the House of Lords to better control the kingdom, because he's SO intelligent and superior he's bored with life otherwise.
Furious at the people closest to her (the great betrayal that Gray Lady was talking about, btw) as well as the fact that the ghost is the one mentioning her pregnancy to them both (YES ELINOR'S PREGNANT), Elinor teams up with Tristan to find Twyla and rescue her from the in-between state she's in, fueling Barbier's Ghastly army.
This doesn't quite go smoothly, including some shoot-outs and near-falls but, they do get the girl back, and because it's Twyla she's right as rain with the constitution of a horse. She chatters as much as before, too, but we all love her so, nobody's complaining.
Tristan and Elinor then face their second task, which is to confront De Windt and make sure he knows Elinor did not, in fact, kill the woman she's accused of killing, and oh by the way, King's man, have you perchance noticed that Barbier - Inspector Barbier, mind - is nowhere to be found in the wake of all the havoc happening in the city?
Listen, I can't with De Windt, he's such a fantastic character to make fun of, and for that I love him to pieces.
BUT, with Elinor cleared, it's now time to host that dinner between the rebels and the lords, which of course does NOT go according to plan when the King crashes it, sort of inviting himself along just to mess things up. In the end, he ROYALLY messes up (get it?) because he overreaches and promises more seats than the lords would have initially given, but they have bigger problems to contend with at that moment in time.
Namely, Barbier being found exactly nowhere.
Taking advantage of the Morpheus Society grovelling at her feet, Elinor enacts a dangerous way of tracking him, by invoking the guardian ghost of their city for help, which kind of backfires a little when said ghost has a henchman of hers possess Tristan to run Barbier to ground.
This is a frightening experience because the spectre is all about bloodshed and justice, not necessarily in that order, but after a few scuffles, Elinor getting trapped, and some back-and-forth, they do, in fact, secure Barbier. The scurrilous rat. He can rot in that asylum they stick him in for all I care.
The whole thing doesn't come without sacrifices, however. Regardless how much work Tristan did for the Crown (saving it more than a few times) or the fact Elinor basically saved the day (and the kingdom), the King's mistake with the seats is making him cranky, and he's looking for a scapegoat. So Tristan volunteers himself, to be stripped of rank and title, which DECIDEDLY pisses Elinor off.
Especially since the gossips are vicious, too.
So, she puts her own scheme in motion.
Pretending the child she's carrying is the King's, she gets the pouty monarch to not only come to her to figure out what the hell she's done, but she also gets him to give Tristan a minor title with land that needs a hell of a lot of upkeep, and is away from the city so they can finally have some peace and quiet.
And it's there at the estate (which we've seen before, mind, in the second book of the series) that Elinor gives birth to her and Tristan's daughter, and ohmygosh can we come back to this little family at some point in the future to check on them? Pretty, pretty please!
I LOVE IT.
Also, three cheers for Tristan. He got his dearest wish - which he's been attempting since forever ago but of course only the threat of prison or worse will convince our Elinor to bend so she doesn't break.
But the sweetness of our two heroes is definitely marred by the betrayal Elinor was warned about - I'M SO MAD AT HIM. THE TRAITOR. THE GALL OF THE MAN. THE AUDACITY.
It's a betrayal for the books, I tell you, but at least there's an ending there and the loop is neatly tied.
Elsewhere, the King is still a spoiled egg-shaped brat, but Elinor's much too smart to kow-tow to him! Which is why we love her so much.
More importantly, however, I ADORE the point at which Elinor and Tristan end their (current) journey. We all know Tristan has trust issues, but by the time this book ends he comes home to his wife and her alleged "lover" and is mostly just bored, which I think is a vast step forward for the man. But I'll admit my favourite moments with him are when he lets Elinor in, like a gentle uncertainty about buying her jewellery, or sleeping with his arms protectively around her.
He's a keeper, this one, and Elinor's none too shabby herself, making sure to protect what's hers with no uncertainty in sight, and she lets everyone know she means business.
Getting drunk with Tristan's sister is a highlight, too.
Overall, I LOVED this. The entire series is wonderful, and I really, really wish we get to see more of Tristan and Elinor in future. Because I have a feeling our beloved Duke is going gray sooner than he thinks between the women in his life 🤣
100/10 recommend, from start to finish! And if these get published in physical form I'm buying those, too. For now, make sure to grab your copy of Ghastly Mistake, out NOW at every big retailer in e-form.
xx
*image not mine
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