Fantasy• Romance

Review: The Consulate by Allison Carr Waechter

October 3, 2026

Synopsis:

An immortal warrior & the necromancer who burned her house down. Five missing swords. Three underworld dynasties at odds with the mundane world. One big heist.

Ember Verona’s immortal life is a mess. Her best friend just got out of prison and like the rest of their sistren, wants nothing to do with her. The swords that gave the guardians of Orphium their parapsych powers have been missing for hundreds of years.

Nothing seems able to change that, or to put the Orphium Maere back together again. Until Ares Necroline, the leader of Orphium’s necromancers, tips Ember off to the swords’ location. They are up for auction at the National Gallery’s annual Gala. Can Ember get the swords, and her sistren, back before tipping off the Authority?

Ember must choose. Work with the man who burned her house to the ground and ruined her life—or do this on her own and risk falling into useless obscurity.

Review:

Having read a different series by this author, this one felt very familiar in some aspects of the world-building and structure, while other elements felt fresh and new. I remembered that her worlds are complex and nuanced, and I had to keep the page with the explanations bookmarked to remind myself multiple times how all these different people and events were connected. I found the first 50 pages a bit overwhelming before things started to slow down and fall into place. Maybe my brain is simply not able to handle all of it at once 🙂

We meet Ember, the leader of the Maere, who lost her group of friends and those closest to her years ago after an event. She is trying to reconnect with all of them while searching for some missing swords. Ember is drawn to Ares, a necromancer, and the two have known each other for a long time. He has been there for her during the past few years when everyone else left her alone. The constant push and pull was something that made their connection very interesting.

Ember was a character I instantly liked. She has such a big heart, and her role puts her in an uncomfortable position. Watching her come to terms with that, while ensuring everyone worked through their issues and united towards a common goal, was something I really appreciated about her character. It for sure wasn’t easy.
The world is so rich and complex that I accepted some aspects would feel a bit overwhelming to me. The 80% that I understood pointed out power-hungry and political nature of the different groups and the implications. It’s a lot to take in, and it definitely requires your full attention to understand everything (or maybe that’s just me 🙂 ).
The core group and those closest to them were what stood out most to me. These people share a special bond, and that connection won’t simply disappear. At the end of the day, they came together for a common goal. The romance part was the strongest element of the story for me. Overall, I enjoyed it.

🌙 Recension: The Consulate by Allison Carr Waechter
📚 Genre: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy
📅 Release Date: October 15, 2024
📱 Read as: Kindle
📗 available in various formats – included in Kindle Unlimited
💸 I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 328
⭐️ 4/5