Tag: #TheLuckyLadiesOfLondon

A Most Worthy Husband by Faye Delacour

On By TracyIn Contemporary in Period Dress, Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901), Women's FictionLeave a comment

A Most Worthy Husband (The Lucky Ladies of London, #3)A Most Worthy Husband by Faye Delacour

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: The Lucky Ladies of London

Release Date: December 16, 2025

Having no desire to marry and endure the unhappiness that her parents have, Miss Hannah Williams has thwarted any man that was even remotely interested in her for four seasons, she is sure if she can make it through this season, her mother will finally give up, and Hannah can live her life as a spinster. But when it becomes clear that her mother is not going to give up – Hannah takes matters into her own hands and bribes her brother’s friend Silas Corbyn to kiss her and “ruin” her – knowing full well he was not an acceptable match in her mother’s eyes, which means she will be sent back to the country in disgrace. Too bad she underestimated her mother!

Silas Corbyn is not having a good year, it started out good and things were going so well, he was due for a long-awaited promotion, but that hope is shattered when he punched his commanding officer and is dishonorably discharged from the Navy. He tries to return home, but his father wants nothing to do with him. So, he takes the little money he has and goes to London. His friend Eli Williams takes pity on him and convinces his wife to let Silas work as a dealer in her gaming salon. This is the second chance he has been hoping for, and things are once again going well – until he finds Eli’s sister Hannah hiding in a small office at the salon. She offers him a small fortune to kiss her in front of her mother, he agrees, but never expected that kiss would change his life! He knows he is not of Hannah’s class and would never be considered a suitor, but that doesn’t stop her from offering him more money to pretend to be in love with her – he refuses. He loses his job over the incident and has trouble finding work, so when his cousin and brother arrive with a business opportunity, he reconsiders Hannah’s offer, after all it’s not like they would ever actually marry!

After the disappointment of the previous book, I had high hopes for this installment. I actually liked the author’s writing style in the first book, but I have a problem with the characters and the plot in this book. It seems like the character’s personalities change from book to book – I liked Hannah in the previous books, but in this book, she came across as very self-absorbed, immature and at times TSTL. Silas was much more likable, and I was horrified that the author made him grovel to Hannah – when he had done nothing wrong. Overall, this book had great promise, but it dragged from almost the first page until the last chapter, when miraculously everything comes together and they both love each other (eye roll) and then it is over – I have no idea how or why they fell in love and honestly by the end, I didn’t even care. This is the third book in the series, but it could be read as a standalone book without a problem – for me, this book was a miss, but the author has a lot of potential and is worth checking out.

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

The Lady He Lost by Faye Delacour

On By TracyIn Debut Novel, Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Lady He Lost (The Lucky Ladies of London, #1)The Lady He Lost by Faye Delacour

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Lucky Ladies of London, #1

Release Date: April 2, 2024

Upon the death of her parents, Jane Bishop and her brother Edmund were taken in by her widowed uncle Bertie and his young daughter Cecily. One summer while visiting with another uncle, Jane met Eleazar “Eli” Willams and fell in love, but at only sixteen, she kept her feelings to herself. A couple of years later, Eli broke her heart when he proposed to her cousin Cecily and then again when he was lost at sea and presumed dead. Jane decided that love was not for her and set out to find a way to support herself without a husband and along with her dearest friend Della, form a Lady’s Only Gambling Club. The hope is that they make enough money to support themselves independently yet ensuring that no one is gambling so much they ruin themselves. It seems like she finally has her life on track when the impossible happens – Eli returns for the dead, with secrets and seems intent on rekindling their friendship. There is no way Jane can risk her heart again, and hardens her resolve to ignore him, but when Eli offers to help her make her dream of a gambling club come true, everything changes. But will all her dreams come true, or will Eli’s secrets break her heart all over again?

Eli made a huge mistake when he followed Jane’s cousin Cecily into the garden and it cost him his freedom, as he was honor-bound to offer for her when they were discovered kissing by her father. Their engagement was announced, and Eli joined the navy to earn a living. Three years later, he is a Lieutenant in Her Majesty’s Navy when his ship is destroyed, and he is lost at sea and presumed dead. In reality, he was saved and taken prisoner by pirates, and it took almost a year and a half to escape. He returned to England to find he had been declared dead, his savings given to his younger brother, his fiancée married to another and Jane hostile. He tries to make amends with Jane, but without disclosing the entire truth, which could put him and others in danger, she refuses to soften. But all that changes with a rain-soaked kiss, giving him hope that he will finally be with the woman he has always loved. But when has the path to HEA ever been easy?

This was a new to me author and I thought it was a good debut effort. I liked the writing style, but I did find it a bit wordy and the first two-thirds of the book dragged for me. However, the final third of the book was paced nicely and wrapped everything up quite neatly. I wasn’t a big fan of Jane until about halfway through the book when she finally fell off her high horse and pulled the stick out of her – well, you know. I loved Eli and found the majority of the secondary characters to be completely delightful – I am seriously hoping for Della’s story – she is a piece of work that is sure to lead some hapless man on a merry chase. Overall, the book was good, it was original, the idea fresh, and the story was filled with wonderful characters, secrets, betrayal, heartache, some laugh out loud moments, warm love scenes, big plans, disappointment, hope and a satisfying ending but sadly no epilogue, although, the last chapter does set them on the road to HEA, so it’s all good. This is billed as the first book in a new series, and I am definitely looking forward to the next book.

*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.*