Tag: Lynne Connolly

Virginia and the Wolf by Lynne Connolly

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837)Leave a comment

Virginia and the Wolf (The Society of Single Ladies, #3)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Society for Single Ladies #3
Publication Date: 11/17/20
Number of Pages: 257

I love The Society for Single Ladies – what an intrepid bunch of single ladies. They solve crimes and find romance, what could be better than that? While this is the third book in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone. Yes, you meet characters from the earlier books and there are some references to them, but you don’t need to have read the books to understand them. The book is well-written, nicely paced, and populated with lovely characters.

Francis Collingwood, the Earl of Wolverstone, is now a well respected and wealthy man, but that wasn’t always the case. Francis’ parents were a love match – but a very unequal one. His mother was always referred to as a milkmaid though she was the daughter of a wealthy farmer. Society never accepted her though she was the loveliest of women in every way. With only a modest fortune, Francis was always looked upon as inconsequential mostly because of his mother’s background. At least he was until he made his Grand Tour and rather than partying his way across Europe, he used his time to make contacts and learn ways to increase his wealth. His father fell in love with his mother at first sight and nothing else mattered to him. Francis also fell in love at first sight, but sadly the woman he saw and loved, Lady Virginia Dulverton, was a newlywed, so there was no chance for them. At least not until her husband died some years later.

Virginia’s home life was unhappy, to say the least, so she was very happy when Viscount Ralph Dulverton offered for her. She was so happy to escape her parents that she even fancied herself in love with Ralph. That changed on their wedding night and it never changed. Now, he is still controlling her in death. She was taken with the young Wolverstone when she met him ten years ago, but she was newly married and nothing could come of it. Now, he’s showing interest again and she still can’t let anything come of it. But goodness, she is drawn to him.

There are a number of factions at work – most of them against Virginia – and she isn’t aware of any of them. She’s carrying along with the terms of Ralph’s will and living her life. She loves her independence and has no desire to ever marry again. She cannot stomach the idea of another man having control of her and her life. Yet, Francis makes no secret of pursuing her.

Things really heat up when Francis rescues her at a ball – and is then attacked and warned to stay away from her. As he continues to pursue her, he’s attacked again, on her doorstep, and nearly dies. Off across the country, she goes with him in hot pursuit. There are villains aplenty – we just don’t know who they are – and they are bent on harm to both of them now. Oh! My goodness! What an exciting chase. Then there are cold drafty houses right on the sea – with cliffs and cellars – and more villains. Our couple certainly have to work for their HEA.

I loved the story and the chase and the romance. Francis was absolutely wonderful and I loved absolutely every minute of his page time. I liked Virginia as well, but her TSTL moments just made me doubt that she was as smart as we were supposed to think she was. Her constant ‘doubts’ also carried on way too long. I understand her life and yes, she suffered mental abuse at the hands of both her parents and her spouse – but – good grief – it was time to move on long before she did. I wanted to reach into the pages and shake her.

I hope you’ll enjoy the book as much as I did – and I’m looking forward to the next entry in the series.

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

The Making of a Marquess by Lynne Connolly

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Making of a Marquess (The Society for Single Ladies, #2)The Making of a Marquess by Lynne Connolly

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Society for Single Ladies, #2

Release Date: March 31, 2020

As a member of the Society for Single Ladies, a crime solving club headed by Angela Childers, Dorothea Rowland is thrilled to be assigned a case. She is currently at a house party at Cressbrook House, being given by Louis Thorpe. Louis is planning on having Benedict Thorpe, Lord Brocklebank declared dead and have himself declared the successor to the title of Marquess of Belstead. Ben disappeared after he and Louis dueled over Lady Honoria. Thinking he had mortally wounded Louis, Ben fled to the colonies and hasn’t been heard from in years.

Dorothea is sadden to learn that Ben is to be declared dead, once upon a time, Ben and Dorothea’s families had proposed a match and Ben was happy to oblige, until he met and fell in love with Honoria. Dorothea had loved Ben, but she was gracious when he proposed to Honoria without even telling her and she was heartbroken when he fought the duel and disappeared. So she is shocked and is not sure how to feel now that he has returned from the dead.

Ben is not the same man Dorothea loved, he has matured and has become a successful business man in the years he had been away. He would have been content to let Louis inherit, but his friend Hal, who has been the only person he stayed in touch with has told him of the decline in the estate and the debts Louis has amassed, draining the estate and endangering the livelihoods of his tenants. Despite his desire to stay in the colonies, duty to the title has been ingrained deeply in Ben and he couldn’t let the estate suffer. When he returns Louis tries to claim he is an imposter and that the title belongs to Louis. Ben turns to Dorothea for help proving he is in fact who he claims to be.

Dorothea agrees to help him and they both begin to develop stronger feelings and Ben decides that Dorothea would make a perfect partner for him, but it is soon clear that someone doesn’t want Ben to inherit and they are willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure that he doesn’t!

This was a good story, albeit wordy and stuffed with random facts that did nothing to move the story along. I enjoyed the relationship between Dorothea and Ben, it was not “instalust” and developed in a believable fashion, the mystery was decent and not immediately obvious (but the villain didn’t really come as a surprise), the love scenes were on the warmer side and the epilogue is very heartwarming. As I mentioned, I did find the book a bit wordy, it also dragged a bit and then the ending was rushed and anticlimactic. I didn’t love the book, but I didn’t hate it either – it was an “OK” read and I will definitely continue with the series.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provide to me by NetGalley and the Publisher.*