Lack and Luster Books in Order

Laura Sebastian's Lack and Luster begins in a glittering fantasy world where magic shapes social standing. The Lusters are the people born with magical gifts and the advantages that come with them. The Lacks have no magic, and the difference between the two groups affects money, power, reputation, and who gets to move easily through high society.

The opening novel, Once Swindled, centers on Mavis, a Lack who survives by passing herself off as a Luster. She is a sharp, practiced con artist who charms wealthy men into engagements, then leaves with the money and jewels that help keep her afloat. Her plans become much harder when she meets Arden Ryskamp again, the first man she ever swindled and the one person who still knows her past.

Neither of them can simply walk away.

Arden has troubles of his own. His family fortune is failing, and an inheritance may depend on his making the right marriage. Mavis is carrying debts and trying to protect the people she loves. Their reunion turns an old betrayal into a new bargain, forcing them to work together even as they have every reason to doubt each other.

That setup gives the series a mix of second-chance romance, cons, social maneuvering, and magical complications. Ballrooms, wealthy families, false identities, and carefully staged courtships all matter, but the class divide between Lusters and Lacks gives the story its real tension. Mavis knows how to look as though she belongs among the elite. The risk is what happens when that performance stops being enough.

The tone is lighter and more romantic than Sebastian's earlier royal fantasies, though the stakes remain personal and financial. Expect banter, old hurt, hidden motives, and characters trying to gain freedom in a society that has already decided what they are worth. Magic is part of the setting, but it also works as a visible marker of privilege.

Once Swindled is the place to begin. Twice Charmed continues the Lack and Luster series in the same magical world, with further story details yet to be announced.