Some people get Caribbean cruises for their honeymoons. Others get Grand Tours of Europe. Such is the case for cousins Cecy and Kate, who, after marrying, respectively, James Tarleton and Lord Thomas Schofield at the end of Sorcery and Cecilia, Wrede and Stevermer’s previous collaboration. In proper early 19th Century style, the quartet of friends and relatives has set out to see Europe, mixing education and pleasure as they see the great historical and magical sights of the continent. Over the next few months, their journey takes them from England to Paris to Venice, and finally to Rome. Of course, when several members of the party just happen to be wizards and/or retired spies, it’s a sure bet that nothing will go exactly as planned. Mysterious strangers, daring highwayman, lost gloves, purloined coronation regalia, and a Byzantine plot to tap into Europe’s oldest magical rituals all factor into a series of ever-more exciting adventures that lead our heroes across Europe towards the inevitable showdown with a set of fiendish masterminds. The stakes are high, but all in a day’s work for this particular group of accidental heroes.

As with the first book in this series, Wrede and Stevermer each take a viewpoint character (Cecy or Kate) and tell their part of the story through alternating journal or diary entries, letting the entire tale unfold bit by bit. Described as a fantasy of manners by some, The Grand Tour captures the characters’ viewpoints so aptly, one can almost smell the tea and feel the carriage bouncing underneath them. The authors combine the best of young adult attitude with a Regency romance sensibility, and a few dashes of magic and mayhem, producing a most enjoyable work.
If there’s not a third book to this series, it’ll be a real shame.