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

A Most Worthy Husband by Faye Delacour

On By TracyIn Contemporary in Period Dress, Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901), Women's FictionLeave a comment

A Most Worthy Husband (The Lucky Ladies of London, #3)A Most Worthy Husband by Faye Delacour

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: The Lucky Ladies of London

Release Date: December 16, 2025

Having no desire to marry and endure the unhappiness that her parents have, Miss Hannah Williams has thwarted any man that was even remotely interested in her for four seasons, she is sure if she can make it through this season, her mother will finally give up, and Hannah can live her life as a spinster. But when it becomes clear that her mother is not going to give up – Hannah takes matters into her own hands and bribes her brother’s friend Silas Corbyn to kiss her and “ruin” her – knowing full well he was not an acceptable match in her mother’s eyes, which means she will be sent back to the country in disgrace. Too bad she underestimated her mother!

Silas Corbyn is not having a good year, it started out good and things were going so well, he was due for a long-awaited promotion, but that hope is shattered when he punched his commanding officer and is dishonorably discharged from the Navy. He tries to return home, but his father wants nothing to do with him. So, he takes the little money he has and goes to London. His friend Eli Williams takes pity on him and convinces his wife to let Silas work as a dealer in her gaming salon. This is the second chance he has been hoping for, and things are once again going well – until he finds Eli’s sister Hannah hiding in a small office at the salon. She offers him a small fortune to kiss her in front of her mother, he agrees, but never expected that kiss would change his life! He knows he is not of Hannah’s class and would never be considered a suitor, but that doesn’t stop her from offering him more money to pretend to be in love with her – he refuses. He loses his job over the incident and has trouble finding work, so when his cousin and brother arrive with a business opportunity, he reconsiders Hannah’s offer, after all it’s not like they would ever actually marry!

After the disappointment of the previous book, I had high hopes for this installment. I actually liked the author’s writing style in the first book, but I have a problem with the characters and the plot in this book. It seems like the character’s personalities change from book to book – I liked Hannah in the previous books, but in this book, she came across as very self-absorbed, immature and at times TSTL. Silas was much more likable, and I was horrified that the author made him grovel to Hannah – when he had done nothing wrong. Overall, this book had great promise, but it dragged from almost the first page until the last chapter, when miraculously everything comes together and they both love each other (eye roll) and then it is over – I have no idea how or why they fell in love and honestly by the end, I didn’t even care. This is the third book in the series, but it could be read as a standalone book without a problem – for me, this book was a miss, but the author has a lot of potential and is worth checking out.

*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. *

Go, Rogue by Kay K. Denner

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Go, Rogue (The Mavericks Book 2)Go, Rogue by Kay K. Denner

Tracy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Mavericks #2

Release Date: December 1, 2025

On the day she is supposed to marry, Lady Catherine West instead leaves her groom at the altar and stows away on Andrew McGann’s ship, The Elphame bound for Boston. She knows Andrew thinks she is more trouble than she is worth and clearly wants nothing to do with her, but boarding his ship gives her something she desperately needs, a new start far away from the gilded cage she has been trapped in. Can she win over the stern captain and finally find the happiness she has been longing for?

Andrew McGann has fought for his place in the world; he is half Scottish/half Jamaican and carries the stigma of being born on the “wrong side of the blanket” and he has finally realized his dream of owning his own shipping company and after years of servitude to the East India Company and then four more years landlocked in England. He is finally back on the water, but within moments of setting sail, his peace is ruined thanks to “the menace”. He wants nothing more than to get rid of her, but for now he will have to keep her at a distance. But when things start going wrong, keeping Catherine at bay becomes impossible and the sparks will fly!

When I finished this book, I was left with mixed feelings. Andrew was the definitely the star of the show and I appreciated that the book didn’t shy away from the racism he faced, or the emotional wounds left by his family, he was a grump, but I loved him. He kept me turning pages, but some things didn’t quite work for me; primarily was author’s use of present tense narrative, which made it hard for me to stay immersed in the story, add to that was my mixed feelings about Catherine, she was strong, but she was also a bit self-absorbed and had more than one TSTL moments. Overall, if you enjoy opposites-attract, grumpy/sunshine or forced proximity romance tropes, you might enjoy this book, but for me, while the story had a wonderful hero and a bit of steam, it ultimately wasn’t what I was hoping for and not a book I would read again. This is the second book in the series, and I would strongly recommend reading the books in order so you can better understand the initial tension between Catherine and Andrew.

*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. *