Pure wish-fulfillment, which is largely what I wanted and expected from this book. Emily Wilde, the implicitly autistic professor of faerie (the Folk) has not only won the heart of a fairy prince[1] and with her wits and daring won his kingdom for him, she is also through her understanding of their stories and her research skills uniquely poised to help him keep it against the next deadly peril that will present itself.

Technically we do as is traditional get some more of Wendell's writing, but only in the form of quotes from his letters—this time Emily is not incapacitated nor in need of rescuing at any point such that he would need to step in to cover the narration for her. In fact, she doesn't get her head spun by enchantments of the courtly fae or hostile fairy realms at any point in this story, even when Wendell isn't available to extend his protection to her, and I don't know whether she noticed that. Being an academically-tinged series I am hoping this is intentional and will be explored in future stories. In the meantime I am presuming this to be a perk of holding a fairy throne.

Perhaps it is because I don't read much romance, or perhaps because the fantasy mystery elements are presented in a way I find engaging—or because the narrator is relatable to me—but I am finding this series quite lovely. Would be nicer if it were queer rather than straight, although at least the two background couples are queer, and I could appreciate if it didn't move quite so quickly and delved deeper into politics and worldbuilding

I keep wanting to compare the Emily Wilde series with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. But they aren't exactly similar except for a few superficial elements. There just isn't anything more similar that I've read, including the handful of other romances.

[1] you don't have to have been striving for something to have won it