I hadn’t been raised to turn away from trouble. “That’s how it bites you in the butt,” Mom would say.

Just when Kira thinks she is getting a handle on what it means to be a sorcerer, the Emperor calls and drops a bundle of trouble in her lap. And he’s not the only one. For a woman intent on protecting her privacy, a whole lot of people seem to know how to contact Kira to draw her into their problems. But when one of those problems involves saving children’s lives, how can Kira refuse to help? Magic is misbehaving across Reality and Kira sets out to discover why. Her allies stand ready to help—and hinder—as she traverses the paths of Reality in a House which is developing its own quirky personality.

The cure is love, and love is connection.

While not entirely as cozy as the first in the series (after all, we're just gathering steam), this still very much has the found family vibes I liked from the first novel. And while I wouldn't say the raised stakes makes it NOT cozy, it definitely adds a component of interest to just how Kira "decides how her relationship with her magic will be" as alluded so mysteriously by Baba Yaga.

I very much like where this is going.

Recommended for sentient house lovers.