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

Beauty and the Thief by Shana Galen

On By TracyIn Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)1 Comment

Beauty and the Thief (The Royal Saboteurs #1)Beauty and the Thief by Shana Galen

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Royal Saboteurs, #1

Release Date: August 9, 2022

Miss Bridget Murray is the secretary to “Baron” the head of a secret government agency known as the Royal Saboteurs, an agency sworn to protect the crown and country from threats. Bridget works closely with the Baron and specializes in decryption, but today she is charged with escorting several new recruits to the agency’s training facility, known as “The Farm”. With the train due to leave in minutes, she is still missing one man – Callahan “Cal” Kelly, and let’s just say their first meeting was memorable. Bridget can’t understand why the Baron would want the Irishman, in her experience, Irishmen are not trustworthy or dependable, at least her dad wasn’t.

Cal is a charming conman, plain and simple, he is also a thief, a recovering alcoholic, and a recovering gambling addict, who has no idea why the Baron thinks he could be useful to him, but the money he offered Cal could set him on a new path and since he needed to get out of London for a bit anyway, he accepted the invite. He even starts to enjoy the training and is doing very well, but what he especially likes is teasing the uptight Miss Murray, who is all that is prim and proper, but clearly has a fire burning in her that is as vibrant as her lovely hair!

After a few weeks of training, it becomes clear why the Baron sought out Cal, he needed an Irishman to infiltrate a group of anarchists in Ireland, intent on breaking the Act of Union and reclaiming the Kingdom of Ireland. At first, Cal is eager to get on with the mission and get paid. Add to that the fact that Bridget has been ordered to go with him, posing as his wife is a bonus, because it is clear to him, that she is not nearly as indifferent to him as she wants him to believe. But once they get to Dublin the danger becomes real and Cal will be tested at every turn and his loyalties questioned. Will he be the man he wants to be or will his demons cost him everything, including the woman he has come to love?

This was such a great story, in all honestly, it did start a bit slow, but that is to be expected with the first book in a series, as the author needs to set up the series, build the world, introduce characters, etc. But once they get to Dublin, the story takes off and is non-stop until the last page. Bridget started out uptight and a wee bit self-righteous, while Cal was shifty and self-serving, but they both embraced their destiny and evolved into truly wonderful characters. Their love story is filled with spies, secrets, murder, anarchists, steamyish love scenes, action, intrigue, and finally a hard-won HEA. I really enjoyed this story and can’t wait for the next installment! I can without hesitation, highly recommend this title to both Historical Romance and Historical Intrigue fans.

*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.*

The Secret of Bow Lane by Jennifer Ashley

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

The Secret of Bow Lane (A Below Stairs Mystery #6)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Kat Holloway Mysteries #6
Publication Date: 8/2/22
Period: 1882 – Victorian London
Number of Pages: 304

I think this is my favorite book in the series so far. So, as I sit here tired and bleary-eyed from reading all night, I’ll try to do it justice in my review. Yes, I was up all night reading because I just couldn’t put it down. It was so interesting and exciting and poignant I couldn’t flip the pages fast enough. The characters are as wonderful as ever and the great thing about this book is that we learn more about both Kat and Daniel – but mostly Kat. I think we’ve learned most of Kat’s background now, but I think we have more to learn of Daniel – and I can hardly wait.

Just after breakfast on a lovely Wednesday morning, Elsie, the scullery maid, sticks her head into the kitchen to tell Mrs. Holloway that a woman wants to see her – and the woman is waiting up on the street. Kat considers and then decides to go speak with the woman. Kat was totally shocked when she determined who the woman was. It was Charlotte Bristow – the first wife of Kat’s deceased husband. (As we know from earlier books, Kat’s husband was a bigamist who left her with child when he died at sea.)

Charlotte has quite a tale to tell Kat and begrudgingly asks for her help. Charlotte has information that their bigamist husband did NOT die when his ship sank – he returned to London where he was murdered for a fortune he had accumulated. Charlotte offers to share the fortune with Kat if she will investigate and find the money. At first, Kat doesn’t want any part of anything to do with the man who made a fool of her and left her with a fatherless child. However, being Kat, she couldn’t let a mystery go unsolved.

All of Kat’s friends, above and below stairs, rally around her and start digging into the mystery of what really happened to Joe Bristow. How could a ne’er-do-well sailor come into a fortune? How did he die? Why did he die? Since this all took place twelve years ago, witnesses may have died, moved, or just not remember, so the investigation will be slow going.

Kat ends up revisiting the neighborhood in which she grew up and where she lived as Joe’s wife. She took her daughter, Grace, with her on several visits in order to share her past – at least to a degree. Someday, she’s going to have to share the whole story with Grace – but not today.

Things begin to pop with information coming in from all over and the results are mind-blowing. Could Joe have managed to master-mind that convoluted plot? Surely not? What happened to the fortune? Will Kat actually get any of it to make her life and Grace’s easier?

I can highly recommend this book – and this series. I honestly think you should read the entire series in order (no, you don’t have to) so you can see the growth in the relationships that are so evident in this book. The plot is excellent, the ends are cleaned up, the bad guys are properly dealt with, and maybe, just maybe, we see a bit of a step forward in the relationship between Kat and Daniel. WOW!

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

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