Tag Archives: historical

May29

His Improper Lady by Candace Camp

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His Improper Lady by Candace Camp

Camp, Candace. His Improper Lady. (Mad Morelands) Harlequin, 2021. ISBN 9781335966520 $9.99

***

In this historical romantic suspense novel, detective Tom Quick, an orphan himself, joins forces with thief Desiree Malone after she breaks into his office to looking for clues that might help her locate the aristocratic father she’s never known. One of her finds might have a clue to Tom’s past…

The plotting is strong and the intriguing twists and turns will have the reader powering through. Because this was more mystery than romance, it did not hold as strong appeal for me, but the writing and details are good, the connections compelling, and the air of the supernatural appealing.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #HisImproperLady from #NetGalley

May29

I’m Only Wicked With You by Julie Anne Long

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I’m Only Wicked With You by Julie Anne Long

Long, Julie Anne. I’m Only Wicked With You (The Palace of Rogues, #3). Avon/Harper Voyager, 2021. ISBN 9780063045088. $8.99

*****

This poetically written novel brings Regency manners, details and culture alongside natural history and allusions to Shakespeare and Greek mythology. A period romance, Hugh Cassidy meets Lady Lillias Vaughn when she and her family are staying at the same boardinghouse as he, and though she is essentially grounded for unladylike behavior, they are frequently forced in mandatory socializing (the rules of the Grand Palace on the Thames are a great construct to bring a diverse set of characters together!). He’s a veteran, laborer, and entrepreneur on a mission to recover a friend’s missing daughter, and while she is an enigma, quiet in the corner until provoked, an incorrigible young woman who chafes at societal expectations. Her exasperated father tells her she must find a man to marry or he will find one for her. Of course, he means a duke, not an ambitious American…

The narrative is steamy, emotional, humorous, and heart-pounding, and the slow tease of attraction is delicious. When Hugh and Lillias are inevitably caught in a compromising embrace, they are hastily engaged–with her parent’s blessings, much to Lillias’s shock. There’s just one small problem: they each believe they are in love with someone else. And so, in spite of the lust between them, Hugh offers to help Lillias catch the man she’s set her cap for, family friend Giles Bankham, who is betrothed to another. This only brings out Hugh’s competitive nature, and serves to show how well-suited Hugh and Lillias are. While everyone around her views her as “more,” they really mean, “too much” — but for Hugh, she’s just right.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #I’mOnlyWickedWithYou from #NetGalley.

May29

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

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The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

Sebastian, Cat. The Queer Principles of Kit Webb. Avon/Harper Voyager, 2021. 352 pp. ISBN 9780063026216 $15.99

***1/2
This was the first queer duke-on-duke romance I’ve read, and it contained well-balanced action, emotion, intrigue and romance in a historical setting. Kit, disabled, has a shady past and has abandoned his life of crime to run a coffee shop. Aristocrat Percy seeks Kit for hire to recover his mother’s book. A changed man, Kit won’t participate in the crime, but WILL give lessons to ensure Percy’s success. Time spent in proximity leads to friendship and then more.

Although in the past he has only been with women, Percy is compelling, and Kit doesn’t question the attraction, which might be out of place for a Georgian-era setting. I am not a fan of mystery in general, and did find myself skimming a bit through the slow burn.

It took me almost two years to sit down and write a review because I just didn’t love it in the way I loved Red, White and Royal Blue, which also pairs an aristocrat and commoner, and a person who mostly dated women with someone who exclusively dates men.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #TheQueerPrinciplesOfKitWebb from #NetGalley.

May18

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Garmus, Bonnie. Lessons in Chemistry. Doubleday, 2022. 400 pp. ISBN 978-0385547345 $29.00.

*****

Elizabeth Zott, an opinionated, smart, and talented aspiring chemist tries to further her research and runs into male privilege, under-equipped labs, lack of funding, and sexual assault–until procuring beakers from another scientist gets her noticed by Nobel Prize winner Cal Evans. They develop a mutually respectful and lovely relationship, where a rescue dog named Six-Thirty completes their child-free family–until Cal suffers a tragedy and Elizabeth finds herself with a child out of wedlock. The novel centers around how Elizabeth came to star on a popular television show Supper At Six, where each recipe has a foundation in chemistry, sending housewives to the store for sodium chloride and acetic acid. Her deconstruction of cultural norms that hold women back and encouragement of fans to follow their dreams make her both popular and a threat. My most favorite part was Elizabeth’s attempt to teach the dog English vocabulary–and the dog’s narration.

The writing was so absolutely stellar–funny, poignant, infuriating, and magical, peopled with impossible and flawed characters. Modern women will shudder at how little we’ve come since the sixties. The sport of rowing plays a major role, as does chemistry, and these elements elevate the story from a mere romance to something really special. The many accolades are well-deserved; this is a powerful debut novel.

I listened to Lessons In Chemistry via Audible and the narration was crisply delivered with unique voicing for each distinct character. This is a fabulous readalike for fans of science-y books about women overlooked, featuring strong women and research, such as The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot or Behave by Andromeda Romano-Lax.

I received a free, advance reader’s review copy of #LessonsInChemistry from #NetGalley.

May16

Artfully Yours by Joanna Lowell

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Artfully Yours by Joanna Lowell

Lowell, Joanna. Artfully Yours. Berkley, 2023. 336 pp. ISBN 9780593198322 $17.00

****

Opposites attract when an art forger and art critic fall for one another. Nina Finch’s forgeries hang in museums and homes of private collectors. An accomplished painter, she’s been carefully trained by her art school drop-out brother, who is sort of like her art pimp. She’s rather be baking and doesn’t particularly want a life of crime, but it’s funding for a potential purchase of a kitchen and shop in the country. She is working as a parlor maid in the Duke of Umfreville’s estate where one of her fakes hang when his brother, acclaimed art critic Alan De’Ath reveals the painting is fraudulent. When the shocked maid drops the tea service and is summarily fired for being heard instead of seen, De’Ath offers her a job in his motley crue household working with him, which she accepts, all the while trying to figure out how to keep her identity hidden until she can make away with her savings and live a life on the straight and narrow. Instead, the pair are attracted to one another, and he decides to teach her a little about art.

The writing is sublime: lush, evocative detail; rich period vocabulary; impeccably researched late nineteenth-century customs, culture and manners, and fully fleshed out complex characters. For example, instead of simply describing a character’s appearance, Lowell does it in comparison to another person in a way that masterfully adds to their characterization. She masterfully interweaves various subplots of the relationship between Duke of Umfreville Geoffrey and his wife Fanny, his son’s ill health (which parallel’s Alan’s ill health and disability, and the relationship between Nina and her brother, which comes off as controlling and abusive, and references their traumatic childhood. The cat and mouse game adds intrigue without the work of solving a mystery, and the steamy attraction is thoroughly detailed. This worked as a stand-alone novel for me, and made me want to read further in this universe.

I received a free, advance reader’s review copy of #ArtfullyYours from #NetGalley.

Jan15

Infamous by Minerva Spencer

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Infamous by Minerva Spencer

Spencer. Minerva. Infamous (Rebels of the Ton, #3). Kensington, 2021. 352 pp. ISBN 9781496732873 $15.95

***

A prank gone wrong results in a marriage of convenience, banishment, and hurt feelings; can the perpetrator be redeemed? Celia Trent, a nasty backstabbing debutante trying desperately win a rich husband to raise her station in life, meant to trap her intended’s annoying and odious twin Richard with the dull wallflower Phyllida Singleton as a joke at a ball, but instead it’s Lucien (Lord Davenport) who is comprised overnight in a locked room with Phyl. They make the best of it, marry, and even have two children, but something is off.

It takes sister Toni’s engagement to the unsavory bully Sebastian, Lord Dowden–the mastermind behind the mean behavior so many years ago–to uncover and set right the wrongs of ten years ago. Celia, now a widowed working girl playing maid to an ornery, elderly member of the ton, has been invited to the wedding festivities, to take place over the Christmas holiday. If she can just make it to the year’s end a bonus is hers. Once back in society’s orbit, Celia is shocked to feel a pull not towards Luce, but to Richard, now an naturalist whose risque paper on the breeding imperative makes him still weird, but not as odious as in his gawky young adulthood. She slowly realizations her fascination with him may have been chemistry, not aversion, all those years ago. One by one, Celia makes her apologies to each wronged party and is wonderfully accountable.She is reluctant to disclose the existence of her daughter (results of an unplanned pregnancy via Dowden), her history as a mistress, and her growing feelings for Richard, resulting in an air of mysteries unravelled throughout the novel. Will she–or someone else?–spill the beans about Dowden’s true nature, or will young, naive Toni marry in haste?

The story takes part in winter on an estate in regency England and captures the long weekend feeling with its’ food, fun and games; rivalries and romances. Period details feel authentic, as does the unsavory behavior. For the most part, the characters are quirky and interesting. I haven’t read the others in the series, but did not find it a hindrance to enjoying this novel.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #Infamous from #NetGalley.

Dec24

Not The Kind of Earl You Marry by Kate Pembrooke

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Not The Kind of Earl You Marry by Kate Pembrooke

Pembrooke, Kate. Not The Kind of Earl You Marry (The Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair #1). Forever/Grand Central Publishing, 2021. pp. ISBN 9781538703755 $8.99

****

When any romance opens with a declaration that a gentleman in question is the last person a lady would ever marry—no beneath that, because she would NEVER marry him—you know they’re going to end up together. Not The Kind of Earl You Marry doesn’t disappoint. Someone is framing the Earl of Norwood, William Atherton, to create a scandal to knock him down a peg or two politically, and has posted his engagement notice to bluestocking Charlotte Hurst, and then planted seeds of gossip indicating they are marrying in haste because she is pregnant. Norwood’s sisters and Charlotte’s brother are in the know but are happily going through the motions as if it were a real engagement, while Charlotte and Norwood’s respect and attraction for one another are growing as she shops for a trousseau, comes out of her shell to attend the theatre and balls, learns to drive his curricle and team of bays, and more.

Humor, respect, banter, and blossoming passion make this a thoroughly enjoyable story, but strong feminist roots add depth: Norwood is progressive and believes in setting up government infrastructure to support women having more autonomy and control over their own finances, even through marriage. He introduces Charlotte to his close friend Lady Serena, who has taken on war widows as her charity of choice and brings Charlotte on a tour of a housing facility in progress, where Charlotte realizes a lady doesn’t need to wait meekly for opportunity to come along, but can set her mind to making her own opportunities. Thus is she drawn into the circle of the Unconventional Ladies of Mayfair. This is a terrific start to a promising new series.

Attentive to period detail down to fashions, customs, turn of phrase and even publications of the era, the novel also boasts a prodigious vocabulary–I had to look up a fair number of words that I mostly could discern from context but wanted to be sure I was not misreading–and delicious formal writing. Readers familiar with the times will nod at references to Almacks social club, Grosvenor Square, the locked garden shared by Berkeley Square’s residents, and Gunther’s Tea Shop. In the regency world, a fake betrothal is akin to fake dating, and and being left alone without a chaperone is a sort of forced proximity; fans of these tropes will be richly rewarded.

I received a free advance review copy of NottheKindofEarlYouMarry from #NetGalley.

Oct19

An Improbable Season by Rosalyn Eves

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An Improbable Season by Rosalyn Eves

Eves, Rosalyn. An Improbable Season. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023. 352 pp. ISBN 978-0374390181. $19.99

***

Marketed as a Bridgerton read-alike because it’s set in the Regency era, An Improbable Season focuses on the London debut of two sisters and their cousin, only one of whom actually seems interested in settling down and marrying. Admirably, one is looking for the intellectual heart of the city, and I had trouble from the beginning keeping the characters–defined as the scientist, the poet and the one who wants a family–or their beaus–straight and had to keep flipping back (even though details were conveyed through diary entries, field notes, and actions) to remind myself who was who. While chapters alternate in focus, the narrative voice and point of view is the same throughout. I would have much rather read a stand-alone novel about the romances of each protagonist in a three-part series, which would have left more time and space for nuanced character development, and more complete world-building.

For the record, Thalia Aubrey is an aspiring poet and has ignored the affections of family friend Mr. Hetherbridge for years, falling for the rakiest rake, Mr. Darby; Kalliope, the sweet one who loves parties second only to family is accidentally caught with Hetherbridge in the gardens with a ripped dress and the two are forced into a betrothal as Kalli navigates and attraction to and attention from a Mr. Salisbury, who seems to love her awkwardness; cousin Charist Elphinstone, a scientist and naturalist who has a fondness for insects and feminism, plans only to observe the Season and then engages in a battle of wits and wills with the Indian-born style maker Mr. Leveson, who becomes her love interest.

As the three young ladies arrive in London, details of the journey or preparations for the Season are omitted, launching right into visiting other women and girls, with nary an eligible bachelor in sight, quickly remedied once the parade of calling cards begins. There is drama, and gossip, etiquette to be learned, and dancing late into the night, but also hurt feelings, soul searching, sneaking around, and finally, solidarity.

Much knowledge is simply assumed, with period details, London locations, and terms are mostly undefined (bluestocking, Gretna Green, Almacks, modiste, nabobs, milliner); careful readers will be able to figure out some references with context, and while I had fun looking up the various punches served, a few more sensory details would have been gracious. The excellent author’s note at the end fills in some of the blanks and addresses British colonization and women of science of the time period. The inclusion of a person of colonized India ancestry educated in Britain and struggling to find his place in the world was a welcome addition.

I will say the courtship scenes are tame but full of sensual details, and the endings/beau that each young lady ended up with was … well, improbable. Which makes me think either I really didn’t read carefully, that some details were just red herrings, or there was a goal by the author, a long time reader of Regency romances, to meet the expectation set by the title.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #TheImprobableSeason from #NetGalley.

Sep18

Kit McBride Takes A Wife by Amy Barry

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Kit McBride Takes A Wife by Amy Barry

Barry, Amy. Kit McBride Takes A Wife. Jove/Penguin. 352 pp. ISBN
9780593335574 $17.00

****

This laugh-out-loud mistaken identity tale set in 1886 Montana is a fast-paced romp about a motherless tomboy who can barely cook and clean but is forced into housewifely chores by her four older (well-meaning) brothers. The McBrides thought they’d start their own town up the mountain with their smithy and trading post, but the heart of local civilization is hours away, with it’s depot/post office, mercantile, and cat house. Lonely and loquacious Junebug keeps a complaint book so her brother Kit doesn’t have to listen to her bellyaching.

When a local trapper asks Junebug to help him write an ad for a mail-order bride, Junebug gets it into her head that if Kit had a wife, she wouldn’t have to do so many chores, and posts her own scathingly honest ad… which one buxom gold-digger Willabelle Lascalles responds to. She drags her Irish servant along on her western adventure to snag a wealthy husband, mistakes an old drunkard for the smithy, and bails, leaving lovely Maddy behind with a pampered pooch. She promptly sprains an ankle, resulting in many days of being carried about and fetched cups of tea, making friends with Junebug, and falling for Kit herself. Kit thinks Maddy is the Mrs. Lascalles who wants to marry him, and Junebug convinced Maddy not to set her brother straight just yet. And then a blizzard or two later, Beau and Morgan return from fetching the doctor (remember the sprained ankle) with the real Mrs. Lascalles…

Maddy’s travels by train from sooty St. Louis to the wilds of Montana read like a love letter to the US, even as she compares to her emerald isle homeland. Late 18th century details are convincingly portrayed. The characters are archetypal, rather than stereotypical, and author Amy Barry has a nice note at the end of the book, citing the native people and lands portrayed with dignity. Junebug’s success leads her to pen an ad for Morgan at the end of the book, launching what will be a memorable and enjoyable series for readers who don’t want to take their romance too seriously, swoon over mountain men, and appreciate the tropes of getting snowed in and mistaken identity.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #KitMcBrideTakesAWife from #NetGalley.

Feb17

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

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The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

de Gramont, Nina. The Christie Affair. St. Martin’s Press, 2022. ISBN 978-1250274618 320 pp. $27.99

*****

I readily admit to being a bit of a lazy reader: I read to escape, I want to be entertained, and I read nonfiction, not mystery, to exercise my brain. I was attracted by the jazz-age cover (those pearls!) and scintillating title, and it took midway through chapter two to realize the narrator was speaking about THAT Agatha Christie, of mystery novel fame. I almost put the book down several times, and am SO glad I stuck with it.

Nan O’Dea is in love with Archie Christie, who has promised to leave his wife for her. When he breaks the news to his wife Agatha, she goes missing for almost two weeks, amid scandal and intrigue (which is amazing for book sales!), and upon her return, does divorce, and both former spouses remarry. This inventive historical novel imagines why Nan, why now, and what happened during those pivotal eleven days. While the narrative gives insight into multiple characters, including the police inspector, it’s all as imagined by Nan (who may not even be a reliable narrator!) The story moves back and forth in time from Nan’s unsavory experience as an unmarried pregnant girl in a corrupted convent and a seductive mistress. The timeline is usually easy to follow (though there are one or two muddled times that took a little re-reading). In the midst of Christie’s disappearance, there is a murder mystery involving two guests near where the author is holed up.

Without giving away too much plot, I will say the voice and story are compelling, the plot brilliantly woven, and the tone reminiscent of Christie herself. Period details seem to be well-researched and the ending is extremely satisfying. I fully expect this to be an Edgar Award contender if not winner this year.

I received an advance reader’s review copy of #TheChristieAffair from #NetGalley