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

Hell Bay by Will Thomas

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Hell Bay (Barker & Llewelyn #8)Barbara’s rating: 2 of 5 stars

Series: Barker & Llewelyn #8
Publication Date: 10/25/16
Number of Pages: 301
** Maybe 2.5 Stars **

The first book I read in this series was book #10, Blood Is Blood, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought I’d go back and catch some of the earlier books in the series to see if it was consistent, and, I have to say, I was disappointed. I always start off thinking a book is at least a 4-star read, and then it is up to the author to keep that rating, add to that rating or – detract from that rating. When I read Blood is Blood, I just enjoyed the read, but with this one, while it started out well, I soon started thinking that this author had to be an American and that perhaps he hadn’t done a lot of research. Add to that – misused homonyms such as bare rather than bear, and spelling and punctuation – not to mention all of the inconsistencies. For instance, was the cook a good one or a poor one – it depends on which paragraph you are reading.

In the previous book I read, I had come to appreciate Barker and Llewelyn’s abilities and was looking forward to adding to their legend. This book sure didn’t add to my admiration for the two. Llewellyn, who is basically the narrator in the story, comes across as a twit and Barker – well – I just didn’t like Barker and he came across as sorely incompetent in most of the book. Barker was hired to protect a French Ambassador (who was also an idiot) during treaty negotiations on a remote island. Barker shows up on the island acting more like a guest than someone providing security – he didn’t even carry his weapons. Barker and Llewelyn were certainly inept and ineffectual in this outing.

I did like the IDEA of the story, but I liked it better when Agatha Christie did it in And Then There Were None. The gist is: France and England are going to negotiate a treaty regarding their respective colonies in Africa. It needs to be hush-hush, so they decide to hold the negotiations between only two people on a remote island and they’ll cover that by having a house party under the guise of trying to marry off the son of the English negotiator. Almost immediately, the English negotiator, Lord Hargrave, was shot. After him, the bodies started to stack up – and most were murdered in different ways with different weapons. Was there more than one killer? Or, was that one killer deadly efficient and thoroughly enjoying what he was doing?

I didn’t like that Barker was so cavalier with Llewelyn’s life while he sat back and basically, did nothing but think. In general, Barker treated Llewelyn abominably and had this been the first book I read in the series, I wouldn’t even look at another one. Don’t get me wrong – Llewelyn was a putz and certainly didn’t endear himself to me, but there was no call for Barker to treat him as he did. No wonder Barker’s last assistant was killed in the line of duty!

Bottom line is – I loved Blood is Blood and didn’t care for this one, so I’ll wait for the next book, Lethal Pursuit, and see if I like it before I continue with the series. I will read the couple of other books I’ve already bought, but won’t be in any hurry to do so. Maybe the series has gotten better as it has aged.

Heiress Gone Wild by Laura Lee Guhrke

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Heiress Gone Wild (Dear Lady Truelove, #4)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Dear Lady Truelove #4
Publication Date: 9/24/19
Number of Pages: 384

Jonathan Deverill and Marjorie McGann are two different souls who want very different things in life – or do they? I thoroughly enjoyed these characters and could so easily identify with both of them. It was so much fun to get to know them and to watch them discover that what each of them wanted wasn’t really so very different after all. It is an excellently written story filled with humor and romance. I have not read the other books in the series and didn’t feel I’d missed anything at all in relation to this story – so – the bottom line is – it can easily be read as a standalone.

Jonathan’s dreams for his life all came crashing down around him when he was eighteen years old. Jonathan’s grandfather had told him all of his life that the Deverill Publishing company was his birthright – ink flowed in his veins. But then, his grandfather died and hadn’t made a will – so everything went to Jonathan’s father. That wouldn’t have been a bad thing if his father had a little bit of business sense and wasn’t so stubborn and uncompromising. When Jonathan tried to advise his father, he threw a tantrum, disinherited Jonathan and kicked him out of the house. To make matters worse, his betrothed told him that she wouldn’t marry him since he now had no prospects. Jonathan left for America and wandered around doing different things there until he and his friend discovered the biggest silver strike in Idaho. They pulled millions of dollars worth of silver out of that mine.

Jonathan is now rich beyond belief, but his friend, Billy McGann, has just died a horrible death from consumption. Jonathan stayed with him through that last awful year and at the end, Billy told him that he had a daughter and that he’d made Jonathan her guardian. Jonathan is shocked that his friend has kept such a secret from him, but he agrees. He would agree to anything Billy asked because the man was closer than a brother. How hard could it be to arrange for care of a little girl?

Jonathan made an appointment to meet the little girl at her exclusive boarding school. What was his reaction when he met her? “Goddamn and holy hell” is what he said. That was no little girl in pigtails and a pinafore – no, she was a drop-dead gorgeous almost twenty-one-year-old who was fully expecting to finally get to leave the school where she’d spent almost her entire life. She did NOT take the news that she’d need to stay there for another eight months lightly. She made her desires very, very clear – she wanted to go to London, she wanted a season, she wanted to marry a man with a title, and mostly, she wanted a home – a real home.

Marjorie has been left, all alone, at Forsyte Academy, an exclusive boarding school for young ladies in White Plains, New York, when she was just seven years old – right after her mother’s death. Her father promised he’d return for her, but he never did. He always promised she could join him, but it never happened. Oh, she harbored her dreams for a very long time before realizing that he just didn’t want her. She had no family other than him, so she was utterly alone in the world. What she wanted most in life were safety and security. She wanted a real family, a real home and a life outside of a cloistered boarding school – and she really, really, really wanted someone who wouldn’t leave her. So, when her new guardian arrived at her school and told her she’d have to stay, she didn’t believe he’d ever be back for her – just like her father – he was going to abandon her as well. She’d be darned if she was going to have that, so she made her own plans – and executed them perfectly.

Jonathan was attracted to Marjorie the moment he met her – and that just wasn’t appropriate. He had to get to England and make arrangements with his sisters to take her in and introduce her to society. Then he’d return to fetch her. But – once his ship was out to sea, there she was, in his suite aboard the ship – on the way to London. Oh! My!

I love that Jonathan tried to fight his attraction and give her what she wanted – and she’d told him in no uncertain terms that he was just like her father and she didn’t want any part of a man like him. I also loved that he saw through to the real Marjorie – the one who was brave and adventurous and who would become bored with the ‘safe’ life she was seeking.

This was a fun visit with two wonderful characters and a host of lovely supporting characters. Marjorie kept Jonathan off-kilter during the entire book and kept upsetting all of his well-laid plans. I was beginning to wonder if she was going to let it slip through her fingers though – but finally, she embraced that brave, resilient, adventurous woman and ran with it. Lovely ending!

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