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

The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart by Nancy Campbell Allen

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The Matchmaker's Lonely HeartBarbara’s Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: No Series Listed
Publication Date: 9/7/21
Period: Victorian London
Number of Pages: 336

Wowzers! This is my first read by this author, but it will definitely NOT be my last. The writing is excellent, the plot is tightly woven and cohesive, the characters are exceptional, and there is excitement galore. There are several characters in this book that I would love to see in future books, but there is no mention that this book is part of a series – bummer.

Detective Michael Baker is part of Scotland Yard’s newly organized Criminal Investigation Division. Michael is a no-nonsense man who has vowed he will never marry. Not Ever. He’s seen what grief does to those left behind when a law officer dies in the line of duty and he would never inflict that pain on anyone he loved. His father died in the line of duty as did his best friend and brother-in-law. No, he’ll never leave those he loves to cope with the grief and life after he is gone.

Michael is called to the banks of the Thames because a dead body has been found. A beautiful young woman whose life ended much too soon. Michael finally learns she is the wife of solicitor Mr. Harold Radcliff and undertakes the sad task of having the newly bereaved husband identify the body. Something just doesn’t seem right about Radcliff’s reactions. He does all of the correct things – but they just don’t ring true for Michael. Then, when Radcliff refuses to allow an autopsy – Michael is really interested in having one done. When Radcliff thwarts Michael’s wishes and whisks the body away to her family plot, Michael knows he’ll have to find other means to figure out what happened to Marie Radcliff.

Amelie (that is AHmelie) Hampton and her two cousins, Charlotte and Evangeline are all working toward becoming ‘women of independent means’ by living in their aunt’s ‘boarding’ house and working at her newspaper, the Marriage Gazette. Amelie is neither smooth nor polished, but she is a hopeless romantic who firmly believes in finding her knight in shining armor. She performs a bit of matchmaking through her work at the Marriage Gazette – probably much more than her aunt Sally knows. She’s coordinated a potential match and is anxious to see how it is going. She’s met the lady but has no idea who the man actually is, so she hides outside the tea shop where her two matches are to meet – just so she can assure all is going well. But … Oh! No! … the man who shows up is Mr. Harold Radcliff, a man for whom Amelie has a bit of a tendre.

While following Radcliff, Michael sees a young woman spying on Radcliff and another young woman. Hmm – Could this be an accomplice of Radcliff? Michael determines to follow her and confront her. After scaring her nearly to death and getting her story, Michael enlists her aid. Oh! She’ll aid him alright. She’ll prove to Scotland Yard Radcliff is totally innocent.

I loved watching Michael and Amelie – first working at cross-purposes, and then united. Their own feelings for each other developed slowly and the realization came even slower. But, goodness, when that realization did happen.

I definitely recommend this book and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. It is exciting and the resolution of the mystery will have your heart in your throat. I would really love to see future books with Charlotte, Evangeline, Aunt Sally, Detective Winston, director Ellis – and even Michael’s widowed sister, Clarissa.

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

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Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)2 Comments

Portrait of a Scotsman (A League of Extraordinary Women, #3)Barbara’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Series: A League of Extraordinary Women #3
Publication Date: 9/7/21
Period: Victorian London/Scotland
Number of Pages: 448

Hattie Greenfield is many things: She attends Oxford where she is studying painting; She is a loving sister and dutiful daughter; She chafes under the close eye her father keeps on her; She is a dedicated suffragist. While the rest of her family are all astute at business and investments, Hattie hasn’t a clue about that. Her world is art. That is why she ditched her bodyguard and managed to sneak away from Oxford to attend an art tour that was featuring a painting she dearly wanted to see in person. What a fateful decision that was! She meets the owner of the exhibit and he kisses her soundly because he mistakes her for someone else. OOPS!

Lucian Blackstone’s reputation is definitely not a good one. Rumor says he’s ruined more than one peer and who knows what else he may have done. He is reclusive and few have ever even seen him. However, Lucian wants to change that reputation because he wants to be able to have more influence in order to make the changes he wants to see in the country. He needs relationships with men who have more influence than he does, so he can meet other men with more influence. Then, the perfect solution drops right into his lap – in the form of Miss Hattie Greenfield. Her showing up to see his painting gave him the perfect idea – he’d marry her – after all, kissing her was certainly not a chore.

Hattie and Lucian square off from the beginning, and it was fun to watch them fall for each other despite their best efforts not to do so. Both hold tightly to past hurts and secrets and overcoming the lack of trust will be a major stumbling block. Their romance kept me engrossed until about the 93% mark and then I was done with Hattie. Frankly, I was wishing Lucian would leave her totally alone and find someone who would really love him and appreciate him for who he is.

This was my first read by this author and I was really sorry to find it just isn’t my cup of tea. I was really looking forward to a more romantic read and what I got was a treatise on how great socialism/communism is as well as an introduction to some very rabid feminists. When I say rabid feminists, I am referring to the female leads in the first two books of the series – and I didn’t read those – and won’t from what I saw in this book. I love a book with a strong, intelligent female lead, but those two are total shrews. I’d say I liked 65-70% of this book, but the rest I just really, really didn’t like at all.

While I won’t recommend this book – because I wouldn’t read it a second time – I will say that there will be lots of readers who will read it and love it. Perhaps you’ll be one of those. I was not.

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

View all my reviews