This book was stunning. Courtney Milan’s characterization and gender politics have always been several cuts above much of what is present in the genre, but here she addresses head-on the inequality of opportunity for 19 century women and details the psychological effects of internalizing the message, both overt and more subtle, that you can’t. Violet Waterfield, the Countess of Cambury, is a brilliant scientist. She’s also a woman. Her gender has done her no favors: her groundbreaking discoveries on reproduction and inheritance of traits are known […]

I simply could not let more days pass gazing  longingly at the three Milan novels on my Kindle that I’ve been saving for a rainy day. I’d heard ’round these parts that The Heiress Effect is probably the least favorite book of the Brothers Sinister series, so I went in with tempered expectations. And what do you know — with those expectations so dialed down, they were exceeded! Mostly. Here’s what I loved: Miss Jane Fairfield, the heiress in question, is a sharp, witty, confident, […]