Last updated on May 7, 2026
$0.99 USD for the Cosy the Day Away Sale on May 8th, 2026
A cosy friends-to-lovers romance in 1924-1925 at Schola, a magical school off the coast of Wales.
Available wherever you like to get your ebooks (and also available in paperback).
Thesan loves the stars.
As the Astronomy professor at Schola, Albion’s leading magical school, she’s made a life full of teaching, observation, and research. She wants what is best for her students, all of them.
Thesan is looking forward to a year of learning, and the magic of the coming near total solar eclipse.
Isembard has lived in the shadows.
Younger son of a noble family, he’s always felt second-best. Last year, he agreed to act as bodyguard to two young men from noble families, as well as teaching at Schola. His second year should be easier.
Only, it doesn’t seem like that. One of his mentors has come back as a teacher, which is wonderful and infuriating, often in the same conversation. Another new teacher seems determined to drag the school back to the 1800s. A group of students are definitely up to something suspicious. And one of Isembard’s wards is stubbornly set on a course that is going to get him killed sooner than later.
That’s before you get to the rest of the school year, full of a musical revue, staff meetings, expectations, and the fact Isembard has invited Thesan to a series of extravagant parties over the winter holidays.
Eclipse is the third book of the Mysterious Powers series, exploring the institutions of Albion during and after the Great War and it’s a wonderful introduction to Albion.
A staffroom romance between teachers, it is full of astronomy, progressive education, and coming to grips with your past. Enjoy this charming romantic fantasy with a swirl of sex set in 1924 and 1925 with a happily ever after ending!
Content notes available on my website along with what to expect from these books.
About Albion
All of Celia Lake’s books are human-made (no generative AI used). Content notes and related books can be found on the website via the book link.
If you’d like more of Thesan and Isembard, the novella Chasing Legends takes place in December 1926, a year after their wedding, and explores more of the mysteries of Schola. (It’s one of three winter novellas in the collection Winter’s Charms).
Or if you’re curious about Thesan and Isembard’s children, check out The Magic of Four, about their son Leo and three of his friends during their second year at Schola in 1946-1947 (this one’s a school story, no romance, they’re all 14.) Or enjoy their daughter Ursula’s romance in Grown Wise in 1947, full of apples, agriculture, and a tremendous number of plots.
Oh, and you can read three extras about Thesan and Isembard (best read after reading Eclipse):
- Tea and Meetings, scenes from their lives, mostly before the book.
- With All Due Speed, the story of Thesan and Isembard’s engagement and wedding.
- 12 Seconds in 1927, about the total solar eclipse over Schola in June of 1927.