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

His Study in Scandal by Megan Frampton

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His Study in Scandal (A School for Scoundrels #2)His Study in Scandal by Megan Frampton

Tracy’s rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: A School for Scoundrels, #2

Release Date: May 23, 2023

Alexandra “Alex”, the widowed Duchess of Chelmsworth is finally done with mourning and is more than ready to move on with her life. At 40, she is free for the first time in her life and is looking forward to enjoying that freedom, starting with destroying her widow’s weeds and attending a pleasure garden with her stepdaughter, Edith. She plans to find out what she has been missing before she slides into her role of chaperone for her daughter Harriet’s debut. And boy does she ever find pleasure! But all good things must end and Alex leaves her lover’s embrace, planning to never return. The next day her step-son William, the new Duke tells her that he has made arrangements for Harriet to marry a wealthy merchant who is looking to elevate his social status, and since the dukedom is in dire need of funds, he expects Alex to convince Harriet to marry him as quickly as possible and if she refuses, he will cut them off without a penny. Alex is not happy with this turn of events and is downright mortified when she learns her mystery lover is the man William expects Harriet to wed. Could things get any worse? Why, yes they can and they do…

Theodore “Theo” Osborne was adopted as a child by Mr. Osborne and learned a lot from his adoptive father, but it was his friends, the “Bastard Five” that taught him the most he is still close to them and they meet monthly for a book club. He has come a long way from being the orphaned boy with nothing; now at 28, he is successful, rich, handsome, and smart, he is never in want of female company and enjoys his encounters at the pleasure garden, but now he has decided to marry and will indulge one final time – but this encounter is unlike any he has ever known and he knows that he can’t marry anyone while his feelings for his mystery lover are so intense. He plans to meet the Duke of Chelmsworth’s sister, but will explain his change of heart to the Duke, and then hopefully find his lover. And find her he does, she is the mother of the woman he had considered marrying! He is delighted to find her, but that feeling is not returned and it becomes crystal clear that finding his HEA is not going to be easy.

I loved the first book in this series and when the book started so hot, I had high hopes for a repeat. But my experience with Ms. Frampton has been hit or miss, I was hoping that this series would be a grand slam of hits – but I am sad to say the series is tied at 1 – 1. The writing is great (as always) but the lighthearted banter and humor that made the first book such a delight to read was nowhere to be found in this book. This was angsty and repetitive and I didn’t like Alexandra– she wants everything to be her way or you can’t be part of her life – which OK, I get it, she has never had any freedom, but it came across as self-centered and dictatorial – and when Theo didn’t do exactly as she wanted, she cut him out of her life and if not for her problem at the very end of the book, I am not sure she would have taken him back. So despite the 12-year age gap, the abundance of steamy love scenes, wonderful secondary characters, and the setup for a possible Fenton/Harriet romance, this story was a miss for me. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series and will fervently be hoping this story was just a fluke.

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

Lady Amelia’s Scandalous Secret by Eva Shepherd

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Lady Amelia's Scandalous Secret (Rebellious Young Ladies #1)Lady Amelia’s Scandalous Secret by Eva Shepherd

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Rebellious Young Ladies, #1

Release Date: May 23, 2023

Unbeknownst to her father, the Earl of Kingsland, Lady Amelia Lambourne is the owner and editor of The Ladies’ Enquirer magazine, a periodical dedicated to women who desire more than fashion and gossip. But sadly, her publication is not turning a profit and she is in danger of losing everything, including her spinster Aunt Beryl’s life savings, and her efforts to secure financing have been met with rejection and condescension. She is almost at her wit’s end and even her dear friends from Halliwell’s Finishing School for Refined Young Ladies – or Hell’s Final Sentence for Rebellious Young Ladies as they liked to call it – have no ideas on how she can turn her magazine around. Feeling a bit defeated, she accompanies her father to a dinner at the home of Leo Devenish, a self-made man who despite his humble beginnings has become rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. She finds him extremely arrogant and annoyingly handsome, he has recently acquired several women’s magazines and is celebrating, he even engages her in conversation about the Ladies Enqurier magazine, unknowingly giving her advice on how he would make it successful – a gossip column. She disagrees, but when Leo’s mistress, acting as his hostess, forces an altercation with him after dinner, he dumps her in front of everyone and gives Amelia an idea. She writes a gossip column about the incident and is shocked when her subscriptions increase. She needs more gossip and as luck would have it, she runs into Leo again, but when she writes of the kiss she shared with him, she never imagined that it would lead to him proposing! Now she must find a way to get out of the betrothal without forcing her father into cutting off her Aunt, especially since she hasn’t paid her back the money she loaned her! But Leo is not the man she thought he was and she needs to find a way to release him without hurting her Aunt. Because as much as she wants a real marriage with him, there is no way she will force him to marry her!

Leo has never met a woman like Amelia and as angry as he was about having to marry her, he can’t deny the fact that he no longer dreads the prospect and is actually looking forward to it. But having been burned once, he is not willing to let another woman make a fool of him, but somehow Amelia worms her way into his heart and when the truth comes out, he is devasted and angry. Can they find a way to move on from Amelia’s deception and admit their love or will they be victims of their own stubbornness?

What a great book! I enjoyed getting to know Amelia and Leo very much, they are incredibly relatable characters that have both worked hard to make their dreams come true, despite the prejudices and discrimination of the era and society in general towards women and the lower classes. I did feel like Amelia carried on the deception a bit too long and should have trusted Leo with the truth and I think they both fell back on miscommunication rather than being truthful about their feelings. But overall this was a great read; filled with amazing characters, a lot of emotion, repressed feelings, secrets, lies, incredible chemistry, steamyish love scenes, interfering relatives, and finally a HEA that didn’t seem possible. This is the first book in a new series, and I am happy to recommend it and can’t wait for the next “rebellious young lady”.

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