For the most part, this is a very enjoyable novel. I loved Cecilia's character and her friendship with Amy. The author is great at bringing you into tFor the most part, this is a very enjoyable novel. I loved Cecilia's character and her friendship with Amy. The author is great at bringing you into the time period. Some historical romance feels like a modern romcom with a 19th century backdrop, but this definitely isn't one of them. There was a small inaccuracy with the color of the heroine's dress (an unmarried woman would not wear scarlet) but other than that I didn't notice anything out of place. However, while period accurate, William's evangelical fervor for converting pagan "heathens" in the British colonies gave me the ick at times and made it harder for me to sympathize with him as the hero. For this I rate it 3.5 stars, but I rounded up because other than that this is a wonderful story....more
Feels way longer than it actually is and definitely could have been edited more but in the end I don't care. I had funFeels way longer than it actually is and definitely could have been edited more but in the end I don't care. I had fun...more
**spoiler alert** Thank you Oliver Heber Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
The Wrath of th**spoiler alert** Thank you Oliver Heber Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
The Wrath of the Marquess is the story of Cora's attempt to escape her abusive husband, Lord Roxbury, and protect her son David. During a stay in the country away from her husband, an earthquake causes Cora to become trapped in a destroyed church with a soldier named Ethan, who happens to be the next Marquess of Hertford. After being freed from the rubble, the two part ways, but neither forgets the other. Four years pass, and Cora is still with her husband, saving money to fund her escape to France. Ethan has returned from fighting pirates in the Pacific and now runs a rest home for injured veterans in London. The two cross each other's paths again, and Ethan is compelled to protect Cora and her son from Lord Roxbury's violence.
The premise was interesting, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, mostly due to the characterization. Cora's character feels one-dimensional: her personality throughout the book is just "mother" and "victim." Yes, abuse survivors often lose their sense of self during the abuse, but we aren't told what she was like before her marriage. She doesn't seem to have an identity outside of her relationships to the men in her life: Lord Roxbury, David, and Ethan. I prefer heroines to be more complex than this.
Ethan's character is a little more developed, because he has an interest in medicine. However, even he comes across as flat. Swooping in to be Cora's perfect white knight, he has no perceivable faults or struggles. His time in the army doesn't seem to have affected him mentally. When Cora offers to volunteer at the veteran's home, he warns her about the unpleasant things she may witness, as the veterans' experiences obviously have some serious psychological effects on them. However, Ethan is completely unaffected psychologically even though he lost an ear and severely injured his shoulder.
David is Cora's 13-year-old son, but he's written more like an 8-year-old. There's really no difference between the way he acts in the first chapter and the rest of the book which, again, takes place four years later. Abused children tend to "grow up" fast, and act older than they really are. They also aren't as chipper as David. I certainly wasn't after I escaped my abuser around the same age: I was sullen, easy to anger, anti-social, distrustful, and cynical. David immediately trusts Ethan completely. He makes a new friend, Harry, and excitedly tells his mother about how he gets to "play" with him, which feels more like something a small child would say rather than a boy that's already an adolescent, especially in this era when the concept of "teenagers" didn't quite exist yet and in only a couple more years he would be considered a young man.
Ethan falls in love with Cora and her cardboard personality pretty much right away, and they begin having an affair pretty much right away with zero hesitation even though Ethan's lawyer friend explained to Cora not long before that if Lord Roxbury sought a divorce she would lose custody of David... and that the courts take adultery very seriously because it could interfere with title succession if the heir's parentage is uncertain. Ethan takes Cora, David, and Harry (who is the son of Ethan's lawyer friend) to the very aptly-named village of Borrington while Lady Kingsley consults her brother, who is a judge, about a solution to the situation. They all end up going swimming together because Ethan brings the boys out to see Cora and Mrs. Parker (their "chaperone") in the bathing machine, even though during this period men and women wouldn't have bathed together. Which is the whole point of having a bathing machine.
At this point, I was ready to DNF, but I was at 78% and had sunk so much time into reading this that I needed to push through until the end. It did not get any better. After all that talk about what a struggle it would be to legally leave Lord Roxbury, everything was wrapped up with zero actual challenges from the court.
I tried to like this, I really did, but I just could not bring myself to care about these characters. I might have liked it more if Lord Roxbury had been more of an actual threat instead of being absent from the vast majority of the story....more
Where to begin? I was blown away by this book. If you want a book about women, trauma, questioning your sanity, ancient superstition, magic, storytellWhere to begin? I was blown away by this book. If you want a book about women, trauma, questioning your sanity, ancient superstition, magic, storytelling, and academia then this is for you....more
**spoiler alert** "So spread your wings, Signa Farrow, because you are limitless. Spread your wings, and oh, how we’ll fly.”
This is a very original Vi**spoiler alert** "So spread your wings, Signa Farrow, because you are limitless. Spread your wings, and oh, how we’ll fly.”
This is a very original Victorian-inspired fantasy. I really enjoyed the paranormal/fantasy aspect, especially when Signa would communicate with spirits. The writing is also rich in details. While the opening was super strong, I felt myself losing interest around 50-60% of the way through. The story picked back up fairly quickly - I really enjoyed the ballroom scene. However, there were quite a few places where I felt the writing - and historical research - was weak.
Since it's a fantasy and not historical fiction, I'm much more lenient with some of the things that would be errors in a "true" historical novel, but I feel the need to mention a few things here because they did throw me off a bit. Signa mentions that the governess Marjorie has the "right" to dine with the family - this was simply not the case for the majority of governesses who would have taken meals in the schoolroom either alone or with their charges. This detail confused me when I read it because the book had otherwise been very consistent with Victorian social dynamics, but I suppose it does make sense when you learn more about Marjorie later on. Maybe this was supposed to be a clue that Marjorie is more than she seems?
Another worldbuilding detail that bothered me a bit was how ignorant Signa seemed about the way her own world works. I get that she was shuffled from guardian to guardian and not raised properly, but some things she should just know as a woman in a Victorian-based society no matter what her childhood was like... Despite having read an etiquette book front to cover, she has no idea that it would be frowned upon for her to debut on her own without a chaperone. This just felt really unbelievable to me since in previous chapters she had acknowledged how unusual it was for her to be escorted by Sylas without a female chaperone. She also understands that her reputation would be in jeopardy if she were caught alone with Sylas, so why does she think she could debut with no chaperone? I'm also a bit confused as to why the son of a duke is interested in Signa (and his father seems to condone it) when she has no connections to the aristocracy and her family has money from trade, which would have made her an inappropriate match for him even if he did like her. It feels inconsistent to have so much vivid Victorian period detail but then have these places where it's not quite accurate.
Anyway, ignore my nitpicking - I'm just a 19th century history nerd. This was a good book in some places, but it felt like it struggled to decide what it wanted to be - a supernatural romance or Bridgerton-esque ballroom drama. There are also a lot of weird grooming vibes from Death and Signa's relationship... I mean, he met her as a baby and when he tried to kill her he saw a future where they were together romantically? It's giving Twilight werewolf imprint vibes....more
**spoiler alert** There were aspects of this book that I really enjoyed. I've been looking for some angstier HR, and the characters in this one all ha**spoiler alert** There were aspects of this book that I really enjoyed. I've been looking for some angstier HR, and the characters in this one all have pretty tragic backstories. I'm also a big fan of books that aren't afraid to show the harsher side of the era. In a lot of Regency romance, everything is perfect all the time and there's no death except off-screen (so to speak) and certainly never any still births or dead kids to speak of.
However, it feels really jarring tonally to go from the tragic death of a child to Charlotte getting fingered and eventually losing her virginity in the very next scene. Even more bizarre is Gray thinking about how it wasn't the right time to propose right after Rodger's death, but it was totally fine and dandy for them to have sex immediately after??? I get that traumatic events and death can make people aroused, but this kind of logic just feels odd. Their relationship comes across as lust more than love.
Also, Charlotte is just way too perfect at everything. I wish she was more flawed, because it gets tiring to read everyone sing her praises constantly. She does the jobs of like 5 different people, and she's ✨perfect✨ with the children despite the fact that she has very little experience as a governess.
I also don't get why Charlotte's situation is such a surprise to Gray. He says that he doesn't know how anyone "un-became a member of the ton," but it wasn't unheard of for people to become financially ruined and have to "stoop" to such measures as becoming a governess. Obviously one would no longer be considered part of polite society after that. It just makes Gray look like he doesn't understand how his own world works....more
Not bad but I definitely preferred the first book. Lilly and Val fell in instalust almost from page one and immediately started flirting, which isn't Not bad but I definitely preferred the first book. Lilly and Val fell in instalust almost from page one and immediately started flirting, which isn't really my cup of tea. I prefer more romantic tension. Some aspects I enjoyed, such as the dowager duchess. But the relationship between Lilly and Val felt really superficial for the most part....more
I really enjoyed the characters in this book. It had just the right amount of angst. I liked how they became a sort of found family. Sometimes child cI really enjoyed the characters in this book. It had just the right amount of angst. I liked how they became a sort of found family. Sometimes child characters can come off precocious in a way that feels unrealistic, but Marina was well-written....more
I always love a good historical romance with a hero in the navy. This installment in Georgians in Paris had the perfect amount of sweetness and angst.I always love a good historical romance with a hero in the navy. This installment in Georgians in Paris had the perfect amount of sweetness and angst. It made me want to write a book with scenes at an opera... I was listening to an opera playlist as I read that scene and it made it all the better....more
I'd been looking for more Georgian romances and thought I'd give this one a try. It took me way too long to realize, but this is the love story of theI'd been looking for more Georgian romances and thought I'd give this one a try. It took me way too long to realize, but this is the love story of the aunt and uncle in the Ellsworth Assortment. You don't need to have read it to enjoy this story, though. Short and sweet....more
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