The Lady is Trouble by Tracy Sumner

Tracy’s rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: League of Lords, #1

Release Date: February 18, 2020

Julian Alexander, the Viscount Beauchamp, has the gift of being able to get visions from objects, he knows how society at large treats people with “gifts” and he is the leader of a group of people with supernatural gifts. He does his best to protect and educate these people, people shunned and feared by society, he cares for them all, but none more than Elizabeth Piper Scott, the granddaughter of the man who rescued him and helped him learn about his gift and how to control it. He has not seen Piper in three years, not since her grandfather was murdered by a person trying to abduct Piper to control her gift. But he has just learned from his lover that Piper is back in town. Shunned and angry, Julian goes to find her and save her – again.

Piper seems to attract trouble, she came to London to force Julian to let her take her rightful place in the League – her grandfather started the group because of her and her gift – she wants to be a part of it!! But her plan to get Julian’s attention didn’t go as expected and she may have accidently caught the hotel room on fire – she escapes the blaze and is looking for Finn, another member of the League and Julian’s “adopted” brother when Julian finds her and whisks her away to Harbingdon – an estate he has purchased and is using to house members of the League.

Once there, they will learn that Finn has been having dreams about a woman who seeks to abduct Piper to use her gift. Piper can “read” auras and is known as a healer, it is a rare gift and many people would do anything to control it. Piper wants to use her gift to help the other members and Julian, but Julian seems hell-bent on keeping her hidden. Piper has loved Julian since she met him and she thought he might return her feelings. But that hope was shattered the night of the attack, when her grandfather died and Julian hid her away and seemingly forgot about her. Piper is done hiding and fighting her attraction to Julian. She wants to take her place in the League and claim Julian’s heart. But Julian isn’t ready to give in and may never be.

I thought the idea of this story sounded great, a steamy historical romance with paranormal undertones – how could it not be? Well, it did not quite work for me, I am sorry to say I didn’t care for the writing style, I found it wordy and vague, almost as if the author didn’t want the reader to know what was going on. I never really understood what Piper’s gift was or how she used it and as much as I tried, I was never really able to get immersed in the story. In addition to that, I was irked by the incorrect formal address (A viscount’s daughter isn’t “Lady” she is “Miss” and even if she was “Lady Elizabeth”, she is most certainly NEVER Lady Scott) and then I found the final confrontation with the villain to be extremely anticlimactic. So unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book and I am not sure I would read the next book in the series.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*