First, thank you, Malin, for the loan of these books. My Julie Anne Long collection was not going to complete itself. These three historical romances are an early trilogy from one of the genre’s best writers. Good, but not great, one can feel Julie Anne Long picking up speed and confidence as one moves through the novels. The heroines of each of the three books are the daughters of a Member of Parliament and his beloved mistress. Although never married, their parents had an exclusive, […]
Polysyllabic words as foreplay
A Week to be Wicked had top-notch humor and steam, both plentiful even early on, so it definitely earned my approval and recommendation. Summary from Goodreads: “Minerva Highwood, one of Spindle Cove’s confirmed spinsters, needs to be in Scotland. Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, a rake of the first order, needs to be…anywhere but Spindle Cove. These unlikely partners have one week to • fake an elopement • convince family and friends they’re in “love” • outrun armed robbers • survive their worst nightmares • travel […]
HUZZAH!
This book has EVERYTHING. There is simply no other author doing what Courtney Milan is doing. She wears her heart and her mind on her sleeve, and in doing so, my heart and mind are engaged to their fullest capacity when devouring her stories. The amount of romantic passion, intellectual rigor, and political zeal that she includes in her characterization is astounding, and even more so because as overbearing as any one of these can be in less skilled hands, in her texts the complement […]
A romance that felt made for me
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 […]
There is a bad apple in here, but the bunch isn’t quite spoiled.
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, […]
Love for all seasons
So here in the heart of summer, I decided to dive into Mrs. Julien’s Shameful Tally, starting with her “Classics” and “Favorites” sections. I’m familiar, of course, with Courtney Milan — if a little behind in reading because I keep trying to “save” them for the perfect day — but I’ve been growing more interested in historicals and Mrs. J’s streamlined list of favorite titles and authors is exactly what I need to jump in. (How easy it is to piggyback on the work of others!) Two […]