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 Rose and the Earl by Jillian Eaton

On By TracyIn Book Publicity, Novella, Part of a Series, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Rose and the Earl (Ravishing Rosewoods Book 3)The Rose and the Earl by Jillian Eaton

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Ravishing Rosewoods, #3

Release Date: December 8, 2022

After years of waiting, Lady Annabel Rosewood is finally getting the season she so desperately wanted, but sadly, her dreams of finding Prince Charming and living happily ever after are fading with each new suitor. After yet another night of pretending to be having the time of her life, she has had enough and claims to have a headache and leaves the ball early, believing that nothing magical will ever happen for her as it did for her happily married sisters. But a case of mistaken identity leads to her boldly claiming a kiss, her life will never be the same and it certainly won’t be boring!

Ezra Washington, Earl of Whitmore and heir to the Marquess of Richborough, is a rogue, a rake, and just shy of being a full-blown scoundrel, but he likes his life – or at least he did. He will admit to himself that he is bored, which is probably why he agreed to a juvenile prank that involved pretending to be a highwayman. But the plan backfires in spectacular fashion when they hold up the wrong carriage and the stunningly beautiful woman inside demands a kiss. Never one to disappoint a lady, Ezra complies but is shaken to his core by the kiss. They part ways but he can’t stop thinking about her. So when it seems like fate is smiling at him and they meet again, he knows that he can’t let her slip away again. Too bad for him that Annabel has a different ending in mind for them.

This was a well-written, delightful read with wonderful characters and a surprisingly fleshed-out plot for a novella. The book has witty banter, great secondary characters, steamyish love scenes, a bit of heartache, and finally a HEA complete with an epilogue. I would agree with another reviewer that the “prologue” was strange and definitely not something that happened before the story begins, as you would expect from a prologue – it wasn’t bad, but it did seem out of sync. Overall, this was a great, easy read and I would be happy to recommend it. It is part of a series but can be read as a standalone title with no problem.

*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.*

Death and Deception: A Victorian Book Club Mystery by Callie Hutton

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

Death and Deception: A Victorian Book Club Mystery

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: A Victorian Book Club Mystery #4
Publication Date: 12/26/22
Period: Victorian Bath
Number of Pages: 261

What a delightfully witty and entertaining visit with Lord William Wethington and his mystery novelist wife, Lady Amy Wethington! For the further delight and entertainment of the reader, the extended family and friends are all included as well. We find that Amy is well into that stage of pregnancy where you feel like a whale and move about as gracefully, and she’s sharing that wonderful experience with her best friend Eloise, who is also her sister-in-law.

The ever-protective and loving William is doing his best to get Amy to look after herself and not exert herself on so many projects – like continuing to write her mystery novels. He’s just thankful there are no more murders for them to investigate because he knows Amy would be right in the middle of that. Until . . . the midwife who is to attend the delivery for both Amy and Eloise is found floating in the Roman Baths. Amy truly tries to leave it alone, but her natural curiosity, as always, gets the better of her – especially when the two inept police detectives immediately arrest someone for the murder.

Amy frets, so William frets, and they both decide they must investigate if there is going to be any serenity in their lives. When yet another body turns up they have to wonder if the two deaths are related. Neither of the victims was particularly nice people, so there could be any number of people who might wish them harm – but to murder them. . . Who, among their suspects, could be that cold-blooded?

The author does a nice job of making the mystery interesting. There are plenty of red herrings and plenty of suspects to keep you guessing. The story is nicely paced so it keeps you reading without wanting to put it down.

I am a big fan of this series and I always love the mysteries better than the romance – though they MUST have a romance to suit me. With this one, however, the mystery was a really good one and well-written, but my favorite was the personal storyline. If you read the book, you’ll see why. So, I guess you could say this book has it all – a great personal story and a great mystery. What more could you want?

I can definitely recommend this book and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

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

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