It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues the local baronet’s daughter, Poppy Wirrall, from a social faux pas.

Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies’ motorcycle club (to which she plans to add flying lessons). She and her friends enthusiastically welcome Constance into their circle. And then there is Harris, Poppy’s recalcitrant but handsome brother—a fighter pilot recently wounded in battle—who warms in Constance’s presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.

Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.

Dear Ms. Simonson, 

Huzzah. A new book from you. I’d almost given up when I saw it on a “to be released” list and sprang at the chance to read it. It’s a complicated and at times melancholy and heartbreaking book. It also, yeah, takes a while to get into gear and truly had me guessing how certain things would be resolved.

Constance Haverhill is drifting in the early summer of 1919. She has been firmly eased out of the job she did to “do her part” for the war effort. Dreading becoming a governess, she gladly agrees to be a companion to a (truly sweet) elderly lady at a seaside resort and there becomes acquainted with a group of women similarly looking for the means to support themselves. The War has changed social mores and expectations, or so Constance and the other women hope. But has it really and is Constance truly a part of this society or merely there for a summer?

Rereading my review of “The Summer Before the War,” I should have remembered that your style is to slowly introduce the characters, set the scene, and only then allow the story to get going. This mimics the slower pace of life in a smaller seaside vacation town of 1919. People are not flicking and scrolling their phone screens and rushing around. Even with the gentler tempo, things are still going too quickly for middle aged characters who decry the sudden changes that are jolting their world. Meanwhile (usually wealthy) young women who see new opportunities are champing at the bit to enjoy life or, if they’re working class, are desperately attempting to find a job and scrounge a living. Those who fought and survived are learning how to live with their new realities.

Tertiary characters fill out the background and show how various social outcasts ease through this world. Naturalized German Klaus was once a sought after waiter in better hotels but made it through the war working hard in low rent jobs in London. Captain Pendra, a skilled Indian pilot, had to approach the French to get a commission before the embarrassed British would accept his credentials. Simon and Matilde de Champney have always faced racism due to their mother and the fact that their parents weren’t married. Sam might have money but it was made through trade so he’s not quite totally accepted into the golden circle. Meanwhile as one working class man says the rich live by different rules. 

Constance is inhabiting a middle ground. She’s not truly a part of the wealthy titled world that she lives in and can easily see herself sinking into the unnoticed working class. She knows that she must forge her way in the world which still views women as wives and mothers even though there is now a generation of women who will never find a husband. The camaraderie she sees in the motorcycle club draws her though some women are dilettantes and others are looking for money to supplement woeful pensions. I liked Constance and felt she was standing up for herself as well as she could in her situation. Yes, she bites her tongue at times but she has to keep on on the good side of certain characters who control her employment. But she does stick up for Mrs. Fog and that woman’s lovely second chance.  

She’s not at all sure about the brother of her new friend, Poppy. Harris has inherited a barontency but is mired in depression due to his amputation and the feeling that he should have died in the war with his friends. He is (usually) well mannered but also brittle and given to retiring from social events. A strong sense of responsibility for his former mechanic and a gift from his sister might be what drags him back even before the stark realities of the financial situation of his estate yank him out of his funk. I could understand Harris’s desire to withdraw from company, especially as we learn of past relationships that have been broken. Poppy is a character who both charmed and annoyed me. Often her heart is in the right place but she can also duck responsibility when she feels like it and makes a decision that causes a stunned Constance to tell Poppy that she just doesn’t understand the people in this (rarified) world. 

There are events and revelations that call out the racism and classism of this world. Some people will end up having to reap what they have sown. Some innocents will pay the price for jingoistic attitudes. I was annoyed at how a few people seemingly abandoned those who depended on them but at the same time, some of this was caused by the post war government policies dictating what genders could be employed. Still it stung. Rigid conventions almost upend a relationship until one person’s true colors emerge which allows the changing social mores to finally deliver what I’d been waiting for. This story is much more historical fiction with romantic elements than a romance. The pace is  leisurely. Bad things happen to some people. Other people get off the hook. But Constance’s eyes are open to what she’s going into and Harris knows that he’s found the woman he can respect and admire. B  

~Jayne

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Books have been her only solace.

Now they’re about to change her life.

London, 1775: The only surviving child of six, Dorcas Turton should have been heiress to a powerful family name. But after her mother’s untimely death, she is stunned by the discovery that her father’s compulsive gambling has brought them close to ruin. With the threat of debtor’s prison looming large, she must employ all her ingenuity to keep their creditors at bay.

Fortunately, ingenuity is something Dorcas is not short of. An avid reader, novels have taught her the lessons her governess failed to. Forsaking hopes of marriage and children, she opens a day-school for girls. But unbeknown to Dorcas, her father has not given up his extravagant ways. When bailiffs come pounding on the door, their only option is to take in lodgers.

The arrival of larger-than-life James Lackington and his wife Nancy breathes new life into the diminished household. Mr Lackington aspires to be a bookseller, and what James Lackington sets out to do, he tends to achieve. Soon Dorcas discovers she is not only guilty of envying Mrs Lackington her strong simple faith and adaptable nature. Loath though she is to admit it, she begins to envy her Mr Lackington…

Based on a true story, Jane Davis’s latest historical novel is for book-lovers everywhere, delivering unforgettable characters, a portrait of Georgian London on the brink of change, and a love song to the life-changing power of the written word.

Dear Ms. Davis, 

Books, reading books, loving books, talking about books, and getting books into the hands of others who might love them is something we love to do here. Books were something that Dorcas Turton had always loved. She used to love to sit in the library of her family’s Islington home, running her hands over the leather binding of the many books there. 

But her family, which had inherited wealth that should have seen them through generations, were forced to “retrench” once, and then again, and finally (in the middle of the night) again to the small house in London where her mother died and her father gambled away the rest of the money. 

Now having taken in sewing and teaching the daughters of “up and comers” to better themselves, Dorcas desperately ducks and dodges to keep the wolves at bay. When her father has accumulated yet another debt, and the family has nothing left that Dorcas can bear to pawn, she puts her foot down and rents out a room. Mr. and Mrs. Lackington seem nice even if her father barely hides his sneers that they are working class. Mr. Lackington is unlike any man Dorcas has met. He moves easily among all classes, adores his wife, and (luckily for Dorcas) appears at almost every moment when Dorcas needs moral support. 

Just when things are maybe looking up Dorcas’s father dies and the Lackinton’s move to live above the bookshop they’ve opened only for Mrs. Lackington to die. Not wasting much time, James Lackington, who remember had adored his wife, takes the initiative and proposes to Dorcas telling her that he knows he’s the type of man who needs a strong wife and that his beloved Nancy had urged him to remarry. 

Five years later, Dorcas and James are expanding the business and ready to try all kinds of new innovations to increase sales. Then the Gordon Riots break out around them.      

I could easily identify with Dorcas’s love of books and reading. I could also, to a lesser degree, understand her frustration with how her family’s circumstances had been increasingly diminished due to her father. My mother kept things together (as James Lackington’s mother had also done) but my family also had a time when we scaled down. I too felt frustration and anger at my father’s lack of ability or effort to support his family. I however, had more options than did Dorcas even if she was educated above the average for a woman in her time. 

One thing I think readers will agree on is supporting Dorcas’s efforts to educate the teens and tweens in her day school. She knows that most of them will be willing to sink into the proscribed roles for women but for the ones who want more, Dorcas wants them to have female role models and knowledge. One of the invented characters in the story is Patience Brine, a fourteen year old who had to begin work three years prior and whom Dorcas takes under her wing as Patience steps off the stage in London. Patience is awesome. 

James Lackington befuddles Dorcas a little. He’s a shoemaker who loves to read and wants to open a bookstore. His father’s family also had some means but James had to pull himself up by his own bootstraps, was taught to read at age fourteen, and happily fell in with a family who enjoyed discussing books around the dinner table. His first wife’s death has turned James from espousing Methodism as strongly as he did and made him willing to read beyond religious tracts. James is a born entrepreneur and willing to take gambles to improve himself and his store. He also appreciates Dorcas’s intelligence and cheerfully acknowledges how much he depends on her. 

The book is divided into two sections though, in my opinion, the second seems more like two different parts. The little details of eighteenth century life are enough to thoroughly ground the book without overwhelming it. The omniscient voice POV put me right in the middle of the action so that I could feel Dorcas’s fear at who was pounding on the door, her frantic worry as she searched for a way to pay the creditors, her sadness when her father died so soon after she realized the “gift” he had given her. In a darkly humorous scene, we see that funeral home directors have tried for centuries to guilt families into paying for more expensive services than they can afford. 

The beginning of the “five years later” part two was my favorite bit of the book. James has big ideas for the store and brainstorms ways and means to increase their foot traffic, turn their stock over, and get the word out that theirs is the best place to come and buy books. Dorcas and James work well together though he does have a tendency to keep some plans up his sleeve. Then came the last bit of the story which diverts into the horrific Gordon Riots of 1780. I can understand that with the Lackinton’s both living near and having their shop close to a major area where rioting occurred it would have affected them in real life, but I wasn’t sure why the book needed such a deep dive into it. 

The characters in the book are well rounded and realized. I didn’t think that they were just twenty-first century people in hooped skirts and powdered wigs. The marriage that Dorcas and James make is truly a marriage of convenience but it’s one that quickly moves into a marriage of equals and deep affection. I enjoyed my time among them and I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen next to all the people in the story. B

~Jayne   

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Expecting a relaxing getaway at her family’s summer estate, pampered socialite Elsie Foster-Quinn signs up for the Women’s Land Army. When she ends up at a Somerset dairy farm instead, Elsie immediately butts heads with the grumpy farmer she now works for. Being a land girl in a small town is far more than the city girl bargained for.

Ben Grainger hates asking for help. When two land girls unexpectedly arrive on his farm, he quickly learns he can’t simply make them go away. He finds amusement in tormenting Elsie whose privileged life certainly didn’t prepare her for farm life. However, nothing could have prepared Ben for the feelings that suddenly emerge whenever the haughty little princess is near.

Why can’t he keep his eyes off her? And why can’t she stop thinking about him? Opposites attract—but is it true love?

Between the Germans bombing nearby Bath and a deadly disease rampaging through local farms, Ben and Elsie’s trust in each other is put to the ultimate test.

Dear Ms. Hamilton,

Given that Elsie was a little bit snooty in “The Seamstress on Cider Lane,” I wasn’t surprised to see that her book would be an opposites attract, social differences story. I liked the way that neither Elsie nor Ben were immediately attracted to each other and that their relationship grows over a series of months, but I can’t quite say that I was totally convinced of it.

Elsie Foster-Quinn’s plans to laze away her time at the family country estate as a member of the WLA gets upended when the Army requisitions it. Now she’s off to a dairy farm in Somerset along with Cockney Sheila who was in the month-long training session with Elsie. Farmer Ben Grainger is less than thrilled when assigned the two women but with no POWs available, much less British male workers, he resigns himself to his fate. He’s surprised that not only Sheila but also posh Elsie turn out to be hard workers. Double his surprise when Elsie volunteers to go with him to Bath to help transport people after the Luftwaffe bombs the city two nights in a row. Other things begin to bring the two closer and it’s only after that they discover how little their attempts to fool the people around them worked. But can upper class Elsie fit into farm life for good?

I know that the Women’s Land Army has figured in many other British series written recently but I haven’t read them so this was my first taste of the hard work done by these women during the war. Frankly I’m astonished that a single, month long course would be enough but then I guess most farm workers before them learned on the job so that’s probably how most WLA workers managed it too. Imagine how much worse the rationing would have been without their efforts.

Ben’s initial antagonistic attitude quickly disappears although Elsie retains a bit of her posh “I’m used to things being easier” feelings for a while longer. Good for Sheila in calling Elsie on this a time or two. I also wasn’t surprised to see Ben’s poor sister Vera have to handle so much of the domestic work as the males in the Grainger household would probably not have been brought up to be expected to dry dishes.

There were a few things that were mentioned only to then sink beneath the waves. Ben’s snarky “name” for Elsie is quickly dropped, his cows didn’t seem to mind the milking machine as much as Ben said they did, and what happened to his feelings of being a coward? I winced to see how the American soldiers section played out but I don’t doubt it either. Wouldn’t Elsie have gotten some lessons in how to judge and handle difficult men during her deb season or would she have been too young to have had one? And then just when Elsie and Ben were succumbing to their passions, along came two final conflicts.

Yes there were many things that occurred in the first two books in the series but this one just seemed to be packed a teensy bit too full. Plus despite them working together for months, I never got over the feeling that Ben and Elsie’s relationship was more than passion and proximity. I enjoyed the book, especially Sheila, but the dropped threads and other issues made this one not quite as satisfying for me. B

~Jayne

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Rule number 1 for the team owner’s daughter? Don’t date the players.

Especially not hotheaded tight ends with tattoos and impulse control problems.

That’s why Dominic Walker is completely off my radar. Sort of.

Babysitting the team troublemaker when he’s forced to volunteer for the foundation where I work means I can’t exactly avoid him.

I wish I had though. Because once I get to know Dominic, it’s almost impossible to ignore the feelings he brings out in me.

Pretty soon, I’m breaking all my rules. I just have to hope he doesn’t break my heart in the process.

CW – The sister of the hero died young from cancer

Dear Ms. Sorensen,

It’s thanks to Rose and DiscoDollyDeb (#shoutout) that I decided to read one of your Washington Wolves books. After checking out blurbs, I picked the first book in the Next Gen trio despite the fact that I’m not usually a grumpy/sunshine trope woman. Having finished it, I can say I’m hooked on this series and have already gotten my hands on the next book.

Dominic Walker’s whole personality can be summed up as “Grumpy Bad Boy.” He’s had a chip on his shoulder for much of his life for a number of reasons. He was not given a college scholarship nor was he drafted into the NFL. No, Walker has had to work hard and earn his way onto teams and into starting positions. Coming from a team whose coach did not practice good management techniques and whose style brought out the worst in Dominic, Walker knows he’s got to earn the respect of his new team. His first day … does not go well. But bless him, he does have a good reason. Thankfully the owner of the team doesn’t bust his nuts. Instead Allie turns Dominic over to her daughter (well, really step-daughter but the love between them is of a mother and daughter).

Faith has grown up around the Washington Wolves. Her dad was their starting quarterback and her (step) mom owns the team. Faith is stepping into her new role running the family charitable foundation which raises money to give younger kids a chance and the building blocks of experience to help keep them in school and is not going to back down in the face of this growling man who obviously has no respect for someone he sees as a 1%er who was given this job by her rich parents. Faith is going to set him straight about this attitude and his misconceptions of her. Having him wash dogs alongside other top athletes shows her a man who can, wow, actually smile. But it’s the second time they’re together at a local sports center for underprivileged young and middle school children that Faith gets a true look at Dominic who works well with children including a girl who has a killer throwing arm.

This is when the gimme that each book gets comes into play. Faith and Dominic have had an online friend with whom they’ve texted for years. They go by (obvious to everyone) fake names and hooked up over a donation “NicktheBrickLayer” made to the Seattle Zoo in memory of his younger sister, Ivy. “TurboGirl” and “Nick” have been there for each other but never reached out to set up any meeting IRL. Something that happens at the sports center tips Dominic off and after confirming his suspicions, he decides not to spill the beans to Faith but see if he can win her respect as himself. Yeah, it’s silly but he has his understandable reasons. Will his decision come back to bite him in the ass? Of course.

I like the way that Dominic and Faith are built as characters. Dominic is the product of having to fight to prove his worth as a player and also a man who loved and lost his sister to a shitty disease. That loss is something that has settled into his family in various toxic ways and hasn’t helped Dominic’s anger management issues as he tries to block things to keep them from hurting him. He’s grumpy for good reasons though his mom showed him how to fold a fitted sheet so he wouldn’t “end up as one of those asshole husbands who thinks his wife is gonna do that stuff for him.” But as he interacts with his new team, some things start to become clear to him and, again bless him, Dominic thinks about these and then begins to work on them. He also begins to fall hard for Faith.

I caught the edge of a smile on her pretty face.

Again, the sight of that smile did insane things to me. It was the kind of rush I only usually got playing football. Making a great catch. Scoring a touchdown. And now, I could add “making Faith Pierson smile” to the list.

Her face scrunched up in an adorable grimace, and holy fuck, I was thinking words like “adorable grimace.”

How quickly the tides had turned.

Faith has had much handed to her on a silver platter though she did lose her mother when she was a young child. Faith and her younger (half) sister Lydia are aware of their privilege and have been raised by their parents to give back. Faith is now thriving and gaining confidence in her management role (and has some creative swearing because she’s around young and impressionable children) but she’s also hands-on and loves to interact with people. She’s literally wearing a yellow t-shirt when she meets her grump but that is also who she is – Little Miss Sunshine.

Younger sister Lydia takes a hand in getting her beloved sister on a date with the first man who has interested Faith since an asshat broke her heart. Lydia could teach a masterclass in male manipulation. But it’s Faith’s roommate who picks Faith’s outfit and Tori is devious and merciless. Dominic might be a tough, tattooed bad boy but Faith’s got the secret weapon. Faith has “The Cardigan.”

Tori laughed. Then she held up a finger and started rooting around in the bag of goodies she’d brought with her. When she straightened, she held out a small black ball of material that had me raising my eyebrows.

“This is the key,” she said, with a serious voice and serious eyes.

I pointed at the wad in her hands. “That right there?”

“Yes.” As she extended it toward me, she took a deep, dramatic breath. “You must wield it carefully.”

She set her hands on my shoulders. “May it treat you well tonight, my child.”

Not that Dominic isn’t packing some heat of his own.

This man would cause every overprotective dad in America to lock their doors and double-check the windows in their daughter’s rooms because he looked like sex. He looked like something sinful and decadent.

The romance is quick and both fall hard. Ah, but remember that secret lurking. I knew it was coming out of the woodwork but wow, color me surprised at how things unfolded and then (yowza) how Faith handled things from there. I was expecting one thing but got something totally different and (Dayumn) adult and grown up instead. Shit, this is how people ought to react and what they should tell people who have hurt them. The people in her life might be hoping for a romantic gesture to bring them back together but I was impressed by how the situation was worked out.

Okay so there were a few things that bugged me. Faith tucking or having her hair tucked behind her ear could turn into a drinking game. Despite everyone being in the same city, Dominic’s parents are rarely seen. I initially wasn’t thrilled about the Thing that actually brought Faith and Dominic back together though yes by then they were ready. But I see how this Thing is going to play into setting up the next book so I will grudgingly accept it. Dominic’s decision about how to honor this sister? That’s boss. Oh and readers who don’t know/like NFL football need not worry. There isn’t actually that much of the game in the book as it’s more about the people. B+

~Jayne

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The Germans pause their bombing raids on London but life on the homefront is certainly far from ordinary. The Seamstress on Cider Lane is a lighthearted and hopeful romance, perfect for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Last Bookshop in London.

Gifted seamstress Nora Archer opens a sewing shop just as clothing becomes rationed and scarce in Britain. London’s fashionable elites soon discover her remarkable talent for giving garments new life and her skills are soon in high demand.

Having lost his flat during the Blitz, Jack Parker is relieved to finally locate a new home. He finds himself living under the same roof as Nora, the spirited and enchanting woman he thought he’d lost, as well as Nora’s protective aunt.

Despite her aunt’s warnings, Nora can’t help falling for Jack. However, the sweet and bookish teacher is from a different world and Nora doesn’t know if she fits in or if Jack might be too good to be true. She can’t deny the intense attraction between herself and Jack—and neither of them wants to.

When a struggling friend’s desperate plea for help lures Nora into the dodgy clothing black market, she risks not only her business and reputation but also her blossoming relationship with Jack.

Will Jack and Nora’s wartime romance survive when Nora’s secrets are revealed?

Dear Ms. Hamilton, 

Well this makes two good books in a row. Nora made such a good impression on me in the first book, The Hobby Shop on Barnaby Street that I had my fingers crossed when I started her story. There’s some angst, a lot of happiness, a beagle puppy, and a bit of delicious comeuppance for more than a few people but trust me, they had it coming. 

Nora Archer has always wanted her own design shop but without the start-up money and with retail space being in short supply in blitzed London, she’s put that dream off. But when the place where she works is bombed and her aunt offers a loan, “Archer Fashion and Tailoring” is born. Teacher Jack Parker has wondered why the lovely young woman he met and danced one evening with never responded to his letters. When he moves to a new attic flat closer to the school where the war department decided he would be better utilized instead of being shot at by the Jerries, imagine his surprise and delight when he realizes Nora lives there, too. Their feelings immediately begin to spark but there’s more than just Nora’s aunt’s proprieties standing in the way of their HEA.    

So once again we’re in wartime London. Nora’s new store is going to have to deal with the newly started clothing rationing and coupons – imagine! says one customer, starting it so quickly with so little lead time – so she will mainly be repairing, repurposing, and mending for her customers. When a childhood friend arrives and Nora sees how bleak Irene is looking, she offers her friend some mending to do to help the woman make ends meet. A few days later Irene arrives with a proposition that I was astounded to see as part of the story but given the circumstances, it makes perfect sense even if Nora maybe shouldn’t have taken Irene up on it. 

Jack’s heart has always been in research (17th and 18th century) but after he tried to sign up for the war effort, it was decided that London’s children needed a teacher more than the Army needed another warm body to be shot at. Jack admits he isn’t the best at the job but he does know how to handle the thing that one snotty brat brings into class. Jack does like Marvin though and once he sees who Marvin’s cousin is, he likes things a lot more. 

One thing I really like about this series is how things that would usually become Big Ticking Bomb Misunderstandings that I would normally wait to see explode are dealt with fairly quickly. Nora and Jack are getting along well but Nora had one posh prat treat her badly so when she discovers who Jack’s family is and how much money they have, she is concerned. Then along comes Mr. Weasel to a party but lo and behold it doesn’t become a future issue. Rather Jack sees that the creep has upset Nora who Tells Jack All after which Jack offers to take revenge on him for her. Bravo Jack and yay that these people talk to each other.

But even if they talk, that doesn’t mean that things are immediately perfect. Nora admits that she trusts Jack – well, after a time or two when his family keep pushing a young deb at him – but realizes that she’s still a bit fragile and needs time to quell her insecurities  which is totally understandable. Jack has family troubles in that he’s a step-son of his wealthy step-father and he knows that his younger brother is the Golden Child. Even after all these years – and Jack is treated well by the family – he knows he’s second best. When Some Things Happen – both to Nora and in Jack’s family – they have to deal with the potential fallout. I was delighted that Jack takes an internal stand for what he really wants out of life.    

After the way the War Issue was resolved in book one, I admit to being surprised that this time it is different. The full weight of it will be brought to bear and Nora faces real and lasting consequences. Jack might be forced to act one way but Nora’s Aunt’s reaction startled me as did her quick turnabout. That didn’t seem like the character I’d watched take Nora’s side all along. The way that Jack learns what Nora risked and whom she covered for and then ensures that those people make amends is satisfying. 

I’m now looking forward to book three and the set up promises to be sweet payback based on how a character acts in this book. I would love to see a follow up Next Gen book with Marvin and Ginger the Beagle in it. Please? A-

~Jayne   

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He is imprisoned. She is cast out. But neither will give up on their love.

When the Earl of Spenhurst declares his love for a merchant’s niece, he is locked away in a tower. Spen won’t get out, the marquess his father says, until he agrees to an arranged marriage.

After the marquess unceremoniously ejects Cordelia Milton from his country mansion, she is determined to rescue her beloved, but it all goes horribly wrong.

She needs time to recover from her injuries, and Spen has been moved across the country under heavy guard. It seems impossible for two young lovers to overcome the selfish plans of two powerful peers, but they won’t give up.

CW/TW – parental beating/abuse of a child. potential sexual non-consent, thwarted attempted rape, description (by villains) of an intellectually disabled character as “simple” 

Dear Ms. Knight, 

It’s been a while since I read and enjoyed some of your historical novellas but the cover caught my attention. I’m also partial to a fairy tale or retelling of such especially when it’s an unusual take on the original. So a hero who needs to be saved from imprisonment by his heroine? Yes, that’s refreshing.

Miss Cordelia Milton is helping a young woman when she comes to the attention of Lord Spenhurst who is lurking in the proverbial London garden at a ton ball. As the eldest son of a marquess, he knows he can’t allow himself to be trapped into marriage so he is careful when he calls on Lady Daphne and then Miss Milton the next day. Lady Daphne treats him as a friendly playmate while Miss Milton impresses Spenhurst with her ability to deflect some of the nastier males who are after that woman’s money or virtue. 

While his father is putting pressure on Spen to marry and sire an heir, he spends his time among several young ladies at balls and routs before realizing that Miss Milton has slowly captured his interest and his heart. But when his imperious father catches wind of the fact, he orders Cordelia off his property and imprisons his son meaning to force a marriage with Lady Daphne, a thought that repels Spen as he’s already in love with Cordelia and knows that Lady Daphne is unable to consent to any such union. 

Can Cordelia and Spen manage to thwart two ruthless peers and save some innocents caught up in the machinations?        

Yay and huzzah that Spen and Cordelia do not immediately fall in love nor are they enemies who fall in love. Spen and Cordelia are well aware of their differing social stations and that society would most likely frown on such a romance/marriage. Spen also knows it would anger his father who is so aware of his station as a Marquess and what is due the family. As well, Cordelia is reluctant to consider such a match because of her reception by the ton who call her (not in her hearing but darn close) an encroaching mushroom among other things.  

Instead first there is respect between them that leads to growing feelings. However, although we are told that their feelings are changing, we don’t actually see this unfold very much. We’re told that Spen divides his time between certain debutantes for a specific reason – to protect them against the hellcats, the rakes, the fortune-hunters, and to lend countenance to Cordelia. It is while doing this that he sees how well Cordelia handles these unsavory people, how intelligent she is, and how kind she is – especially to Lady Daphne. Cordelia has never expected to find a match during her Season. Her pragmatic plans are to appease her Uncle by participating then find a husband from her own class. It is only gradually that she comes to feel that Spen is The One and for similar reasons to those he feels for her.   

All this is just the beginning of the story as Spen and Cordelia must fight for their HEA. A little of what they are subjected to might be excused because this is a fairy tale retelling but sadly some might be actually not too far from what might have happened when powerful men, in an age when powerful men were all powerful and control their children, set about getting what they want. Watching the two lovers scheme to overcome the obstacles between them is entertaining as they put their minds and their kindness to work to do so. It also doesn’t hurt that Cordelia’s Uncle is a wealthy man who knows how to pull strings and weave nets to catch the villains. The ultimate setup of the situation that wins the day is clever and seems legit as well. 

It is at this point that the plot slowed down and dragged a bit for me. There is a last second hitch that I felt was unneeded as well as two epilogues — two?? And a marriage occurs that I found distasteful and also unnecessary. I’m just going to pretend that I didn’t read this bit and remember the quick and clever way that Cordelia and Spen win the day. B       

~Jayne

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A Chance Christmas Connection

Tired of dealing with legalities relating to his father’s unexpected death, new baronet Sir Philip Selbourne is ready to leave London and head home for Christmas. But having spent a boyhood rescuing strays, he’s unable to resist helping a desperate young woman with speaking brown eyes and a kitten in her pocket.

Young French seamstress Nicole Chambord is in dire straits after being wrongly fired by her dreadful employer. Then chance brings her together with Philip Selbourne. His kindness leads her to accept when he offers to take her to his family estate so she can become a companion to his French-born mother.

But the roads are icy and an accident forces Philip, Nicole (and the kitten!) to seek refuge at the cottage of a lonely widow—and creates a Christmas miracle for them all.

Dear Ms. Putney,

As you yourself said, “The Christmas Tart” is fluff but what charming fluff. And it has actual fluff in the form of one ghastly scarlet cloak (with ostrich feathers) and a lucky cat named Merkle who is named after (and I agree with you here) a wonderful historical author Judith Merkle Riley – gone from us too soon.

So girl loses job, girl on the street finds kitten, girl gets propositioned by boy’s friends as a “Christmas present” for him, girl weighs her options and money in hand, girl makes practical choice, boy meets girl and then – ah, the magic happens.

No, no not that magic. Boy in the form of Philip is a very decent chap who quickly deduces that Nicole is not the lady of the evening his friends (they meant well and actually did pick The Right One for him) thought she is. I mean come on! She has a cat with her. Nicole, who is honest to a fault, spills everything and tries to give Philip the £10 advance she’d been given so he could return it. Philip wisely decides that Masterson could stand the money loss and this young woman truly needs it. But what is he going to do with her now?

No, no no. No hanky panky ensues. Instead Philip has a brainstorm! And manages to talk Nicole into going along with it although along the journey she decides that she will have to come clean about her true identity and circumstances. Merkle is along for the ride and happy to have an inside home again.

Is this a novella which must pack in backstories and the first introduction of our MCs? Yes, so things move quickly but what a delightful subplot gets included which also gives Philip and Nicole more of a chance to see the other’s true worth. Mrs. Turner is a love as well as a dispenser of shrewd advice. Luckily there is a reason that will delay any actual (though already decided) announcement between Nicole and Philip plus a distant family connection that makes it all right. Yay for those historical family connections. Hopefully Merkle is alright with her green ribbon. B+

~Jayne

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A Power Unbound is the final entry in Freya Marske’s beloved, award-winning Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light.

Jack Alston, Lord Hawthorn, would love a nice, safe, comfortable life. After the death of his twin sister, he thought he was done with magic for good. But with the threat of a dangerous ritual hanging over every magician in Britain, he’s drawn reluctantly back into that world.

Now Jack is living in a bizarre puzzle-box of a magical London townhouse, helping an unlikely group of friends track down the final piece of the Last Contract before their enemies can do the same. And to make matters worse, they need the help of writer and thief Alan Ross.

Cagey and argumentative, Alan is only in this for the money. The aristocratic Lord Hawthorn, with all his unearned power, is everything that Alan hates. And unfortunately, Alan happens to be everything that Jack wants in one gorgeous, infuriating package.

When a plot to seize unimaginable power comes to a head at Cheetham Hall?Jack’s ancestral family estate, a land so old and bound in oaths that it’s grown a personality as prickly as its owner?Jack, Alan and their allies will become entangled in a night of champagne, secrets, and bloody sacrifice . . . and the foundations of magic in Britain will be torn up by the roots before the end.

I received an ARC of this book.

Review:

Dear Freya Marske,

I reviewed the first and the second book of this trilogy here at DA so of course I felt that I had to review the conclusion to the story (I am hoping that this was the conclusion. I, of course, do not know for sure, but it felt like a very neat conclusion to me).  Even though this book featured the making of a new romantic couple, same as the first two, because of the fantasy adventure storyline you have to start reading from the beginning so please beware, readers. The couples from the past books participate actively in the adventure part of the plot in this book.

In this book as the blurb tells you, our main characters (which include the couples from the previous two books plus Adelaide, Jack and Allan Rossi) search for the last element of the Last Contract and try to prevent their enemies from doing the same.  The reason being is that those enemies want to siphon all the power from all magicians in England as they believe they can when they get all the items for themselves.

The magical part of the story was as fun as ever. I loved the descriptions of how magic worked and loved the actual adventure/suspense. Contrary to the first two books I was not sure whether this book had an actual mystery subplot since it did not have an actual murder happening in it, although it did reveal the full circumstance of how Jack’s sister died many years ago. It certainly featured the villains from the previous books though and I have to say that I have not felt as angry at the audacity of the fictional villains for quite some time now, so kudos to the author for this.

I really liked how the magical adventure was concluded and was happy that the author did not choose the more grim ending to it and since it is my speculation and *not* what happened in the book, I am going to say what I was worried about – complete eradication of any magic in England. That thank goodness did not happen and I was glad.

However, besides magical fantasy adventure, this trilogy also featured very important romantic storylines in each of the books. I would argue that each of the Romance stories featured the “from enemies to lovers” trope of the romance (probably least so in the second book), but the first book while less antagonistic definitely had one and each of the romance storylines had some sort of class conflict between the couple. I will argue that in this book the author very much upped the stakes in both “from enemies to lovers” and “class conflict” parts of the conflict, relationship building.

Unfortunately so, I mostly did not buy the romance in this book. And I *love* ‘from enemies to lovers” so very often when I think it is well executed. Here it was just too much for me to be believable that they may have a good long term connection after the book ends. For most of the book I did not see any emotional connection between Jack and Allan and, in addition to, that from Allan there was an intense dislike/ borderline hate.

I am not talking about sex between them – the sex was hot – and I get that insults during sex and during sex play (don’t ask) were made up ones and the ones that they both enjoyed. No, I am talking about the emotional connection between them. I saw some emotional connection closer to an end, but I still felt that Allan was wondering if he could trust Jack after all they had been through.  Note that for me it is not the question of whether Allan deserved love or not (of course he did). I just don’t buy that he and Jack had a future together.

Grade: B

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Their chemistry creates a chain reaction . . . but will love be the final result?

Dorothea Grantham has always been fascinated by chemistry and spends most days conducting experiments in her laboratory at Grantham Place, staining silk with gold, silver, and other metals using chemical processes.

Thea embroiders the beautiful gold and silver silk shawls she creates and enjoys wearing them, but her grandmother, Lady Longmore, advises her not to reveal to anyone outside the family circle that she has created the fashion items herself, concerned her granddaughter might be seen as an oddity.

When Thea enters Society, her shawls attract a great deal of attention and become the talk of the town. James, Lord Castleroy, takes a particular interest in her work, having inherited a share in his grandfather’s silk mill in Macclesfield.

Eager to invest in the ailing silk industry, the baron studies Miss Grantham’s silks with an admiring—and increasingly suspicious—eye, believing the fabrics to be smuggled imported silk. As he spends more time with the enterprising young lady, however, his interest in her quickly extends beyond his business affairs to engulf his guarded heart.

But Lord Castleroy isn’t the only person in London interested in Thea’s exquisite creations. And when a silken web of intrigue entangles her in real danger, Thea must trust the devotion of a man she never expected—or intended—to fall in love with.

Dear Ms. Baxter 

When reading the blurb, what caught my eye and my interest is the fact that heroine Thea isn’t just a dilettante about chemistry – no, she is making practical use of her interest and talent in the field. True, some of her family members aren’t thrilled with her interest and try to keep what she does hushed up because they don’t want the ton to think Thea is weird but her love of the science isn’t merely a soon-dropped hook to get readers to try the book.

Thea and James’s first meeting isn’t the best but thankfully Thea isn’t made out to be an awkward, stumbling idiot. The fire is doused and all’s well. No, James’s interest in Thea initially appears to be due to what Thea’s wearing rather than the way they met. Thea dyes and then beautifully embroiders silk and she does it with her chemical knowledge. James has a reason to be concerned about what he sees as his mother’s father owns a silk mill in England and times are hard. English silk makers are still not in the same league with those on the European continent or India, contraband importation is rampant, the Crown is losing revenue, and English silkweavers are on the ropes. 

When he learns what is behind the beautiful shawls Thea wears, James has another proposition. He wants to patent her chemical process and use it to create silk at his grandfather’s mill thus helping the destitute workers. Thea comes back at James and says the process isn’t hers but that of a female chemist and if that woman is alive, James needs to get her permission. But the shawls and other items Thea has created have attracted the attention of others and some of them will go to any lengths to control or end what she’s doing. 

Thea is a bluestocking but the societal interest in the science lectures in London make this acceptable and even fashionable which is a welcome change in my reading. Several men, our hero included, think nothing of taking their sisters, sweethearts, and family to these events. Thea’s interest in chemistry might not be seen as too odd but what she does with it? Yeah, that could smack of (gasp) trade. James is a Baron but his mother was married for her trade dowry and this caused James some issues at Eton. Luckily James and the hero from the previous book in the series (which it isn’t necessary to read before this one) became fast friends.

This is mainly a character centered book and I love the fast friendship that Thea and James’s sister Anne develop. James also carefully helps Thea with some issues of PTSD (not referred to that way, of course) which are the result of a horrible event

It’s refreshing that Thea is the one initially unconvinced of seeking a Grand Passion in marriage. Her parents were deeply in love and Thea saw how the death of her mother shattered her father. Thea wants nothing like that. Even after feelings have started, both James and Thea have moments of introspection and the realization that the needs and wants of the other person must be considered. Just feeling that they’re in love isn’t enough. A final act doubt on the part of one person was a drag but the way the other person convinces the doubter of their sincerity is sweet.    

The tidbits and information about the silk industry are interesting and don’t come across as too much like a history lesson. They’re also important to the story rather than merely being stuffed into the book to show off research. What disappointed me is a penultimate act that too closely mirrors the first book which can only take place because Thea loses any hint of her intelligence. And also how the heroine’s grandmother reacts. No, This Person in book one didn’t abduct your eldest granddaughter because he loves her so why should you briefly think this time would feature a besotted swain?? Sigh …

I liked many aspects of this book but caution readers that it is definitely slow burn and no sex. But it does have a STEM heroine whose passion is actually pertinent to the plot and a lovely, gentle hero willing to gently woo her. I’m just going to forget the whole bit at the end that annoys me and give this one a B

~Jayne  

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As the daughter of an Austenite, I feel compelled to read all queer Pride and Prejudice retellings. The heroine of Just as You Are was one of the most annoying versions of Elizabeth Bennet that I’ve read–anxious, judgmental, and self-absorbed at times. But I enjoyed Just as You Are once I let go of expecting this to align in any real way with the emotional world of Pride and Prejudice, and rode the wave of a scrappy group of friends in their 20s making questionable choices.

Just as You Are is set in the offices of an Autostraddle-esque queer web magazine in New York City. Although, as the characters constantly admit, their site Nether Fields, is far less popular than Autostraddle. Liz is Nether Fields’ reluctant sexpert columnist, and while she’s good at her job, she’s tired of writing endless sex toy reviews. Liz feels stuck in her life, and spends most of her free time on terrible Tinder dates with people who don’t seem to like her much. She comes home to an apartment with several of her fellow coworkers–her best friend Jane, who always seems to have her act together, along with Lydia and Katie, two marginally functional people who occasionally hook up together.

Their boss Charlotte is a well connected 40-something lesbian who goes to all the cool parties Liz wishes she could get into. Despite Charlotte’s hot buzz cut, Nether Fields’ finances are spiraling down the drain. The site is about to close when two hot rich White lesbians, Bailey Cox and Daria Fitzgerald, swoop in and throw money around (Bailey) while muttering threateningly about staffing cuts (Daria).

Nether Fields’ staff and their new investors spend their days bonding over efforts to save the site, socializing at happy hours and house parties, and scouting out stories. Bailey is a huge fan of Jane’s investigative journalism and it doesn’t take long for them to fall into romance. Meanwhile, Liz and Daria butt heads on Day One after Daria insults her sex toy reviews, and they spend the rest of the book leaning into or running away from their smoking hot chemistry.

With her expensive masculine suits, glowering expressions, secret kindnesses, and skepticism about Nether Fields’ inhabitants, Daria is the character who’s most recognizably mapped to Pride and Prejudice. She can be stiff and direct, but if my BFF was the human version of a dumb Labrador Retriever puppy, I might be annoyed all the time too. Liz spends most of the book loudly complaining about Daria to everyone, but Daria’s mean evil changes are stuff like limiting paid work travel, which honestly seemed reasonable to me. She appears prickly, but after being rejected by most of her homophobic family, she’s easily bruised. Daria is an intimidating financial spreadsheet that just wants to gently, softly, help the people she loves to realize their dreams.

In contrast, Liz is a lovable disaster. She’s constantly late, runs out of clean clothes, relies on Jane to stay organized, and makes bratty comments at staff meetings that have to be smoothed over by Charlotte. She worries about what other people think of her, and sleeps with clearly unsuitable women, one of whom is named Wickham. Liz feels stuck in her career and is scared that she isn’t good enough to do anything else.

Usually, this combination of flaws would be catnip for me, but I had two frustrations. One, nothing about this seemed similar to the Pride and Prejudice character. Two, I was irritated by the power dynamics between Liz, White person from a middle class background, and the women of color in her life, Jane, Charlotte, and Katie. Liz spends a lot of time relying on Jane, a Black trans woman in a more financially precarious situation. These women let her borrow clothes, buy the groceries she’s forgotten, and clean up after her professional messes. But in return, she discourages Jane from dating Bailey, mocks Katie for her unrequited crush on Lydia, and judges Charlotte for acquiescing to the new investors’ requests. At the beginning of the story, I honestly wasn’t sure why any of these people were friends with her. Liz may be flawed, but no one is more disappointed by Liz than she is of herself, and that’s what helped keep her from being completely unsympathetic. Liz eventually grows as a person and learns to take responsibility for her mistakes instead of blaming others. She has a humbling growth arc, so readers who enjoy seeing characters get their lives together may enjoy Just as You Are.

Despite the imbalance in Liz’s friendships, I loved the friendship banter in Just as You Are. This group of friends is emotionally messy, sometimes toxic, and loves cheap if gross margaritas at dive bars. They make hilarious bets on the outcomes of Liz’s terrible dates. They’re also still figuring out how to communicate their needs and what gender feels right to them. Some of my favorite moments in the book were Liz’s struggles to dress and act in a way that matched her evolving sense of androgynous gender presentation, no matter how femme or masculine other people may want her to be. Daria had a similar journey as a butch woman who’d felt pressured to be as masculine as possible by her former workmates and partners. Their journeys of self discovery mirrored each other and made me root for the two of them as a couple who were comfortable blurring gender boundaries.

Once I let go of my annoyance that Liz didn’t resemble Elizabeth Bennet, I was able to sink into Daria and Liz’s undeniably electric connection. The sexual tension in the book is intense, y’all. The memorable sex scene in Daria’s aunt’s house surprised and delighted me. Their romance had several twists and turns that kept me guessing, and both women made big mistakes that required adorable groveling. I loved how Daria gently encouraged Liz to pursue her dreams of writing novels, and while I’m not sure what Liz brought to the relationship other than being great in bed, I was happy to see them ride off into the sunset at the end.

When I stopped trying to clock the ill-fitting Austen references in Just as You Are, I was able to enjoy the found family, the way the story explored gender nuances in queer dating, and an emotionally satisfying romance that kept me guessing. I would have liked to see less of Liz being annoying and more of Jane and Bailey’s love story, or to have learned more about Charlotte and Katie. But despite my frustration that Liz resembled Austen’s Emma more than Elizabeth, I had a smile on my face when she and Daria finally got their hard earned HEA.