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

Once Upon a Duke’s Wish by Lana Williams

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Once Upon a Duke's Wish (The Duke’s Lost Treasures, #1)Once Upon a Duke’s Wish by Lana Williams

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Duke’s Lost Treasures, #1

Release Date: May 17, 2022

When Ella Wright’s father passed away, she made the decision to leave Oak Island in Nova Scotia and travel to London with her two sisters in the hope that their estranged grandfather, the Duke of Rothwood, would take them in and help her sisters find good matches. The Duke cut all ties with Ella’s mother when she jilted the Earl of Marbury and ran off with David Wright, a treasure hunter, and a commoner. Ella is not sure of their reception, but with no other options, she and her sisters set out with not much more than the clothes on their backs and their father’s most recent journal.

Leo Stanton, the Earl of Marbury has been friends with the duke for years, as was his father, they were all members of the Royal Geological Society and Leo is an expert in pirate lore. Leo knows that the duke is lonely and has never gotten over the loss of his daughter, so he is surprised to learn that not only has the duke let Ella and her sisters into his home but is asking Leo to help them find their father’s missing journal! At first, Leo wants to refuse, his father deeply loved Ella’s mother and never got over losing her to David Wright which made it impossible for him to be happy, something that trickled down to Leo and his mother, so there is no way he wants to help them, but out of loyalty to the duke he agrees. However, he refuses to let himself fall for Ella, no matter how lovely she is or how much he admires her! But when Ella is in danger, Leo will have to decide if holding on to old hurts is worth missing out on new joy.

This was a very well-written, slow-burning romance story with wonderful characters. The book has a decent mystery, a bit of drama, mild love scenes, great secondary characters, a nice ending, and an epilogue. I did like the story, but honestly, I never really understood the conflict keeping Ella and Leo apart – I understood why her grandfather felt as he did, but Leo’s reason didn’t really seem quite as compelling to me. So overall, this was a nice start to a new series and I will definitely read the next installment and hope that the future books delve a bit more into their father’s search for Captian Kidd’s treasure.

*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.*

Fierce Poison by Will Thomas

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

Fierce Poison (Barker & Llewelyn, #13)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Barker & Llewelyn #13
Publication Date: 4/12/22
Period: 1893 – Victorian London
Number of Pages: 320

What a delightfully convoluted mystery! I have read and loved each of the thirteen books in the series – and each new book is better than the last. At first, I wasn’t a huge fan of Barker but he has definitely mellowed – and now, the mighty Barker is beginning to feel his age and he doesn’t like it a bit. Llewelyn has also nicely matured into a formidable investigator on his own. This book is a great addition to the series with non-stop action, an intriguing mystery with a maze of clues and suspects that will keep you guessing right up until the last.

Thomas Llewelyn and Cyrus Barker are at their detective agency when a man rushes in, says “Help Me” to Barker, and drops dead on the office floor. He is a relatively young man, did he have an apoplexy? No, it turns out he was poisoned and Barker insists they solve the case even though they won’t be paid for it. They will cooperate and work alongside Scotland Yard, but the cunning murderer is well ahead of both the detectives and Scotland Yard.

The murdered man is a former solicitor and newly elected member of parliament. Was he murdered because of his stance on a bill before parliament? Could someone involved in one of his legal cases bear a deadly grudge? Or, is it something else entirely? As they are investigating everything in the man’s background, an entire family is found murdered – poisoned. Then, a servant is murdered – and several attempts are made on the lives of Thomas, Cyrus, and their staff – even Barker’s beloved Koi fish are killed in the fish pond.

When the murderer was revealed, I was in total shock – and that just never happens. The murderer had absolutely no scruples, no morals, no compassion, no remorse, and no conscience, so I was really, happy to see how things ended up. Sadly, I almost understood his motivation for one of the murders, but the others were just beyond the pale.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and did not put it down from beginning to end. The writing is excellent, the characters are compelling, and the mystery is riveting. I hope you’ll 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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