Category: Victorian Era (1837-1901)

In the history of the United Kingdom, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria’s reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian period, and its later half overlaps with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe.
Preceded by: Regency era
Followed by: Edwardian era
Monarch: Victoria

Gentleman Seeks Bride by Megan Frampton

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Gentleman Seeks Bride (Hazards of Dukes, #4)Barbara’s rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Series: Hazards of Dukes #4
Publication Date: 11/30/21
Number of Pages: 384

We met Lady Jane Chapel in the previous book in this series – and goodness – I think she had a personality transplant. What a difference two years can make. In that book, she was so meek, mild, and backward that her younger sister had to step in and save her from a very unwanted marriage. She mostly didn’t want the marriage because she was in love with someone else and they were secretly betrothed. That, of course, ended when her younger sister’s marriage caused a huge scandal. Somehow, after all of that chaos, she has grown a spine of steel, a will of iron, a longing for illicit events, and the temerity to state all of those things. The only part of her I recognized from the last book is how exceptionally beautiful she is.

Thomas Sharpe loves his family and will do whatever it takes to save them. Yes, they need saving. Thomas’s father lost all of his fortune because of a bad investment. I’m not sure why he’d invest money he couldn’t afford to lose – and certainly not enough to bankrupt them, but he did. The only way Thomas can save them is to marry an heiress who has enough money to support them all. He’s been looking for two years and hasn’t been successful because he is so very charming, witty, and handsome that none of the heiresses believe he’ll take a marriage commitment seriously. (I know, we all buy that one.)

Thomas is best friends with Jane’s illegitimate half-brother, Percy, but has spent very little time with Lady Jane who now lives with Percy. However, the two of them make a bargain – Jane will help Thomas find his bride IF Thomas will show her some of the more illicit things in society – those things she’d never normally be allowed to see. Of course, we all know where that is headed – toward a HEA – right!

The story blurb sounds good, doesn’t it? So, why didn’t I rate it 5-stars? While I generally enjoyed the story, there was a couple of things that just wore on me – but I will still read the next one.

• It was plainly and firmly established early on that Thomas had to save his family by marrying for money. Yet, we had to read it and re-read it and re-read it ad nauseum. Enough already.
• The writing often felt a bit choppy and repetitive.
• We heard over and over that Thomas was the most handsome and most charming man in London, yet I saw little of that exceptional charm demonstrated anywhere. He was charming and witty, but no more than anyone else.
• Many of the conversations and actions just had a very modern feel to me.
• It annoyed me that Thomas’s first thought to save his family was to marry for money instead of exploring all of the options that might have been available to him. His best friend is a whiz with numbers and accounting and works for the queen – so why wouldn’t Thomas seek advice from him? Why would Thomas not consider what sorts of other things he could do – especially since he was so very handsome and charming. Surely someone in his vast array of friends could offer some assistance. Thomas isn’t titled and it is the Victorian age – so – surely there was something else to at least consider.

This author is always hit-or-miss for me, so I always have to read the next book to see where it will fall. This book seems to fall into the ‘meh’ category, but the last one was a firm 5-star read. There is a fair amount of wit and steam in the book, so that isn’t ever a bad thing. Overall, I am happy to have met Thomas and Jane but wouldn’t read this book a second time.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire by Manda Collins

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An Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire (A Lady's Guide, #2)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: A Lady’s Guide #2
Publication Date: 11/16/21
Period: Victorian England – 1867
Number of Pages: 352

I smiled and sighed the entire way through this delightfully witty, romantic, and entertaining book. Our socially mismatched protagonists were secretly betrothed two years ago, but she called it off because she realized he was as snobbish as the rest of his family and her life would be miserable if she married him. Now, her good friend and his cousin have been kidnapped and they’ll have to work together to save them. Can they put aside their pasts and work together? Will their love be rekindled? Ooooh – you’ll just have to read it to see.

We first met Caro and Val in ‘A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem’, and I’ve been anxiously awaiting their story – and it was well worth the wait. I was instantly smitten with both characters and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them rekindle their love and work out their differences.

Miss Caroline Hardcastle is many things – a journalist, a writer of cookbooks, a fierce believer in class equality, a tiny pocket Venus, an excessively wealthy heiress, a loving (but put upon) daughter, a devotedly loyal friend, and very, very independent. When she learns one of her best friends, Effie Warrington, a very popular actress, has been kidnapped, Caro will do whatever it takes to find and rescue her. Caro knows Effie is betrothed to – and madly in love with – Francis Thorn. Caro also knows, thanks to the newspaper column she writes, the men in a woman’s life are the ones who usually cause her harm. Did Francis have something to do with Effie’s disappearance? When she arrives at Effie’s home to learn all of the details, she’s shocked at who is already there. Val is Francis’s cousin and he’s there to ‘save’ him. Caro and Val are hissing at each other from the moment Caro enters the room, so how can they begin to work together to save Effie – especially when Caro thinks Val’s only interest is protecting his cousin and the precious Thorn family name.

Valentine Thorn, newly minted Viscount Wrackham, has had a very hard time over the last two years. First, he lost the only woman he’s ever loved because he wasn’t man enough to stand up for her against his brother’s snobbish comments about her and her parents. Then, he lost his brother in a senseless accident. After a year of mourning for his beloved brother, his cousin has been attacked during the abduction of his betrothed. He knows Caro will immediately believe Francis is responsible for harming Effie – but Val knows Francis couldn’t have had anything to do with it and it is his job to protect him.

Though they are wary of each other, and Caro doesn’t trust Val, they have to find a way to work together if they are going to save Effie – and Francis. Val has learned a lot in the two years since Caro broke their betrothal and he’s learning he needs to stand up to his family – particularly his father. When their investigation causes Caro to be compromised, a marriage between them is the only way to save her reputation. Can Val stand up to his father and protect Caro from his class snobbishness? Can Caro learn to trust Val again? Can they trust each other enough to let themselves fully love each other again?

I can definitely recommend this highly entertaining and book. The romance is wonderful and there is even a lovely epilogue. You’ll love all of the characters – and – we spend some time with the protagonists in the next book – Miss Flora Deaver and the Duke of Langham. Sadly, we’ll have to wait until this time next year for their book. It will, I’m sure, be worth the wait.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

View all my reviews