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 Lady Sparks a Flame by Elizabeth Everett

On By TracyIn Check Content Warning/Triggers, Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Lady Sparks a Flame (The Damsels of Discovery, #2)The Lady Sparks a Flame by Elizabeth Everett

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Damsels of Discovery, #2

Release Date: March 25, 2025

After designing a weapon that was used in a bombing that killed an innocent man and then accidently shooting Arthur Kneland, Lady Phoebe Hunt, one of the founding members of Athena’s Retreat, was exiled to America and warned not to return without permission. But when her father dies, she does return to sell off the unentailed estate and ensure her mother and sister are taken care of. She approaches Sam Fenley, brother of her once best-friend Letty, to post an advert in his paper about the estate auction, never expecting any further contact with him. But when Sam shows an interest in both the estate and her sister Karolina, it is clear that she isn’t going to get rid of him any time soon. They travel to her family’s estate, Prentiss Manor in North Cumbria, a place of unknown horror and pain. Phoebe has to come to terms with the past and fight her attraction to Sam, but that is easier said than done. When they return to London and learn that there has been another bombing, one that Phoebe is a prime suspect in, it becomes clear where Sam’s affections lie. Phoebe admits to herself that she loves Sam, but with her past and the new accusations against her, she believes she is not worthy of him and thinks it would be better if she just returned to America.

Sam Fenley is a self-made man, but he longs for acceptance among the upper echelons of society. When Lady Phoebe askes him to place an advertisement in his newspaper, he sees an opportunity for success and insists on helping Phoebe. He makes an offer on the London townhouse and makes his interest in Karolina known. He then offers to accompany the ladies to Prentiss Manor to catalog the contents of the manor. Raised in a loving family, he is shocked by the air of despair and horror lingering in Prentiss. Slowly, he begins to chip away at the thick shell encasing Phoebe and finds himself falling in love with her. But Phoebe has no intention of making their road to HEA easy, but lucky for her, Sam can be just as stubborn as she is and never gives up on what he wants – and he wants Phoebe.

This story was a lot darker than I was expecting and featured a sort of reverse Grumpy/Sunshine trope. I loved Sam, he was so gentle and kind with Phoebe. I will be honest, I had a hard time liking Phoebe, I understood her pain and tried to be compassionate, but she doesn’t make it easy for the reader or Sam. She fought him at every turn, but ultimately, he won her heart. This book is filled with emotion, secrets, past abuse, self-harm, kindness, compassion, steamyish love scenes, forgiveness and finally a very hard-won HEA. This story does touch on some dark issues and may be triggering to some readers, I would strongly suggest reading the content warnings before reading this book especially if you are sensitive to self-harm and physical/emotion abuse. This is the second book in the spinoff series, and while it could be read as a standalone title, you will have a better understanding of Phoebe if you have read The Secret Scientists of London series.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

The Ink Master’s Silence by C.J. Archer

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, Part of a Series, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Ink Master's Silence (Glass and Steele, #6)

Barbara’s rating: 3.7 out of 5 Stars
Series: Glass and Steele #6
Publication Date: 9/4/18
Period: Fantasy Victorian London
Number of Pages: 245

Oh! Happy Days are here again – sort of. In the last book, they found the physician magician and he and India worked together to create a new magical watch for Matt. Matt is hale, whole, and filled with more energy than he’s had in a long time. The only fly in their ointment is that Matt’s family still expects him to marry his cousin, Patience. Matt swears that won’t happen, but nobody can figure out how he can get out of it without causing a scandal and hurting his cousin.

With Matt’s health restored and no magicians to track down, they are getting bored. Boredom doesn’t last long and they are soon on the trail of a murderer. Oscar Barratt, the journalist who had written articles introducing the fact that there was magic and magicians in the world, has received threatening letters from someone – and when his editor is murdered, he believes he was meant to be the victim instead. When the police don’t think the murder and the letters are connected, Oscar asks India and Matt to investigate.

The investigation is filled with red herrings, twists, and turns and you’ll be wondering until the end. Are the Guilds trying to silence the journalist? Was the journalist the real target? Was the editor the real target? Is Coyle involved or is he a red herring?

On the romance front, things have moved – sort of. India and Matt have declared themselves to each other – but they have not made it public. So, Matt’s family still expects him to marry his cousin Patience. Matt’s uncle is holding something over his head – and Matt has to get sneaky and underhanded to get out of the betrothal. First though, he will try to convince Patience’s original betrothed to marry her. Barring that – well – you’ll have to read it and see.

In the meantime, India does something she must keep secret from Matt. We all know that will work out well somewhere down the line don’t we? 😊 So, while we don’t get a wedding, we do get declarations.

I can recommend this book if you like a quick, interesting mystery with a bit of romance. The characters are interesting and Aunt Lettitia is less annoying than in previous books. Hopefully, we will get a wedding in the next book.