Library Loot Review: Betrayal on the Bowery

Is there anything better than getting hooked on a series and wanting to glom through the whole thing? Not really.  After finally reading the neglected Deception by Gaslight by Kate Belli in my TBR pile, I wasn't letting any moss grow under my feet.  I immediately went diving into Book 2, Betrayal on the Bowery. 

We're back in Gilded Age New York City and girl reporter, Genevieve Steward (now working the society beat for the Globe) and Daniel McCaffrey (raised in Five Points, now incredibly wealthy) are at the docks to see their friends Rupert and Esmie Milton off on their honeymoon.  The two are sailing to Italy and will eventually settle in Rupert's crumbling English estate that Esmie's money will fix. However the ship ends up leaving without them. Marcus Dalrymple, who at one point asked Esmie to marry him, charges into their stateroom ranting about demons, collapses, and dies. In his pocket is a "coin" from Boyle's Suicide Tavern, the coins given out to anyone who can spend the night and not die. It's the roughest, scariest of dive bars and apparently the privileged and fast younger set have been going there because rich people are stupid.

The lead detective who shows up on the scene is known to Daniel, and he realizes quickly this is going to get messy. The man lacks imagination and there's Rupert standing in front of the dead body of a young man who at one point proposed to his wife. Needless to say, Rupert and Esmie are told to not leave town and in order to protect their friends, Genevieve and Daniel are teaming up once again to solve a very messy and dangerous mystery.

This story picks up right where the first book left off, and nearly all the characters and backstory are holdovers. For that reason, I would recommend starting with book one and not reading out of order.  Book two started out a little shaky for me, mainly because Genevieve acts a little too Girl Reporter Stamping Her Foot early on for my liking (admittedly my tolerance is beyond low for these sorts of antics). However, once her and Daniel are "hired" to find the missing daughter of a sugar baron and learn her disappearance may be tied to Dalrymple's death it was off the races. 

This is where the story gets very, very good.  The bodies start dropping (another young man ranting about "demons" throws himself off a rooftop), there's a haunted, abandoned mansion, and our couple soon find themselves in several high-stakes, dramatic scenes.  As in, how are they going to get out of this with both of them alive?  It made for thrilling, edge-of-my-seat reading and I didn't want to come up for air during the second half, which did not disappoint.  There's a pretty darn good twist at the end that I'm ashamed to admit I didn't see coming (which honestly made it better) and the author manages to tie all her various threads together in one big bow. 

Another thing I liked quite a bit is that the author doesn't ignore the unsavoriness of the Gilded Age. How exactly the rich got rich (colonization, slavery's legacy, exploitation of workers etc.), the desperate poverty, and the double-sided coin of Genevieve's privilege and the misogyny she faces. It adds layers and nuance to the story, firmly establishing the historical setting without beating the reader over the head with a history lesson. 

I still have two books to go, but the romance also takes a step forward in this entry and I feel pretty good (at the moment) recommending these first two books to romance readers. It's four books, so obviously it's a slow burn, but while things between Daniel and Genevieve are complicated for various reasons, they make a good team and they're not dead below the waist.  There's some really well done tension between these two that I'm hoping pays off dividends in the final two books in the series.  Which, speaking of? Book three is next on tap.

Final Grade = B+

So Many Choices: Unusual Historicals for June 2025

There's another recent article out about the abandonment of historical romance by traditional publishers and readers and this month's post might be a good place to start if you're sad about that. June brings us 18 (!) Unusual Historical titles to tempt you. If you're sad about the state of the subgenre, maybe put down that romantasy title, try some of these, and talk up the ones that tickled your fancy.  Now, do you have a snack? Something to drink?  Good - let's get started....

The Viking's Royal Temptation by Roxy Harper

Duty vs. desire… 

Which will win? 

Princess and healer Theadora doesn’t flinch at the sight of armed soldiers. Yet when another uprising threatens to disturb Constantinople’s peace, and Varangian guard Erik bursts into her sanitorium, she’s stunned by her body’s immediate reaction to the rugged Viking… 

After the tragic loss of his family, Erik vowed to never love again. So he refuses to let his inconvenient attraction to Thea distract him from his duty: escorting her to marry the king of Macedonia.  

If Thea doesn’t wed, her people will suffer, so can the star-crossed lovers fight their feelings, as well as their enemies?

A Viking hero, a princess / healer heroine, and Constantinople! This is the author's debut romance, having been plucked from the pile during Harlequin's Warriors Wanted! blitz.

Daring to Fall for the Prince by Heba Helmy

To Prince Saleem, 

With Love 

When Elise agrees to pose as her friend Lady Olive in a few letters with a faraway prince, she never dreams she’ll actually meet the man. Yet when they travel from England to Egypt, and Olive runs away, Elise finds herself alone with Prince Saleem and fighting a forbidden attraction! 

It might be a tactical match, but Saleem’s all but betrothed to her best friend, and fiercely independent Elise is wary of his royal world. As they team up to solve a dangerous mystery, dare Elise reveal she’s the one who wrote the letters and surrender to this impossible desire?

Helmy's third book for Harlequin is the start of a new series and features a fan favorite trope - the marriage of convenience mix-up. The heroine wrote the letters sent to her BFF's intended and when the BFF turns into a runaway bride? Well our heroine finds herself fighting a forbidden attraction.

Eliza and the Duke by Harper St. George

All hopeless romantic Eliza Dove asked for was one night of adventure. One glorious evening of freedom to explore the dark corners of London with a mysterious stranger before a lifetime trapped in a quiet, respectable marriage of convenience. Except now she wants more. Now she wants him.  

Simon Cavell is no gentleman. Known only as ‘the Duke,’ Whitechapel’s prize boxer is one fight away from achieving his goal: to safeguard his late sister’s only treasure and leave the streets for good. He cannot allow some pretty young heiress to spill his secrets, no matter how tempting she might be. In return for her silence, Simon will give Eliza a taste of the darkness…and hope he doesn’t lose his heart in the process.

But one night together could never be enough. And now Eliza has a new plan—an even more scandalous bargain that will either land the heiress her duke or ruin them both.

The second book in The Doves of New York series features an American heiress wanting one last taste of adventure before settling down into a respectable (dare I say it - passionless) marriage, only to get her head turned by a completely inappropriate boxer from Whitechapel.

A Rare Find by Joanna Lowell

Elfreda Marsden has finally made a major discovery—an ancient amulet proving the Viking army camped on her family’s estate. Too bad her nemesis is back from London, freshly exiled after a scandal and ready to wreak havoc on her life. Georgie Redmayne is everything Elfreda isn’t--charming, popular, carefree, distractingly attractive, and bored to death by the countryside. When the two collide (literally), the amulet is lost, and with it, Elfreda’s big chance to lead a proper excavation. Now Elfreda needs new evidence of medieval activity, and Georgie needs money to escape the doldrums of Derbyshire. Joining forces to locate a hidden hoard of Viking gold is the best chance for them both. 

 Marsdens and Redmaynes don’t get along, and that’s the least of the reasons these enemies can’t dream of something more. But as the quest takes them on unexpected adventures, sparks of attraction ignite a feeling increasingly difficult to identify as hatred. It’s far too risky to explore. And far too tempting to resist. Elfreda and Georgie soon find that the real treasure comes with a steep price… and the promise of a happiness beyond all measure.

Enemies to lovers and make it queer. She's an budding amateur archeologist whose exciting discovery is lost thanks to her nemesis, back in the countryside after kicking up a scandal in London. 

Savannah Royals by Lindsay Barrett

By day, Katarina Quinn masquerades as a well-bred lady of Savannah. At night, she runs with a ragtag gang of con artists and thieves. She’s a downright professional. And pros never make rookie mistakes like falling for the target—especially when they’re already in love with the criminal underlord of the city.

Enter Matthew DaMolin, a wittily charming, newly minted physician, who just so happens to be the son of one of the great American dynasties. Matthew is Kat’s ticket into a highly exclusive club, a place to rub shoulders with the likes of the Rockefellers and the Astors. The thief inside Kat is salivating, but much to her surprise, so is the woman. When her interest shifts from professional to personal, it threatens her place in both Savannah’s criminal underworld and high society.

With a street war brewing amongst the city gangs of Savannah and a jewel heist against Matthew’s family on the horizon, Kat’s two worlds collide in a clash of knives and double-crosses. Caught between the cunning, indomitable rogue she’s loved since childhood and the captivating, earnest man targeted by her schemes, she must choose…

Whose throat will Kat press her dagger against when the dust settles?

 A con woman in Savannah, Georgia on the cusp of Prohibition makes the fatal mistake of a falling for her mark, a doctor from a monied American dynasty. In this debut, shenanigans, as they say, are afoot.

The Lord's Maddening Miss by Lucy Morris

A sunny Miss, a scowling bachelor 

A recipe for disaster…or romance? 

Since returning from Waterloo, Lord Hawksmere has been a bad-tempered recluse. Having sworn never to burden a wife with his dour disposition, Hawk plans to spend the season helping his impoverished sister. But her annoyingly cheerful friend Miss Maggie Mackenzie is a distinct distraction! 

Whisky heiress Maggie prefers brewing alcohol to being wooed. Or that’s what she tells herself from her place on the shelf! Hawk is imposing, interfering, yet, as their heated animosity melts into something even hotter, will the self-proclaimed spinster admit he’s also infuriatingly attractive?

The final book in the multi-author Season to Wed series features a grumpy hero looking to make a match for his sister, only to become distracted by her spinster whisky heiress BFF.

Out with Lanterns by Hillary Bowen

Ophelia Blackwood has a choice: continue to evade a parade of her father’s ill-advised suitors, or seize control of her future and join the war effort with the Women’s Land Army. Ophelia finds camaraderie and confidence through hard work on a Somerset farm, and the independence she has always craved. But a year into her assignment, Silas Larke arrives, and she is irritated to discover that he is just as intriguing and attractive as he was during their intense summer friendship, years ago.

Injured on the front lines of World War I, Silas has spent a year convalescing, focused on returning to his work as a tenant farmer. When the British government unexpectedly assigns him to lend a hand on a local farm, he finds himself thrown together with the woman he couldn’t forget. But Ophelia has new dreams for her future, none of which include marriage. Forced to examine the future he always imagined, he will have to decide if love is worth changing all your plans for.

When pressure from the War Office raises the spectre of the farm’s repossession, should the harvest fail, the WLA women must pull together harder than ever to meet the required wheat quota. Ophelia knows she can’t afford distraction, no matter how beguiling the man, but the feelings kindled during her and Silas’s 1915 summer have returned as a blaze. Desperate to produce more for the war effort and save the farm with the people who have become her family, Ophelia and Silas push against the rising tide of their attraction, but Ophelia begins to wonder if they could be a force to be reckoned with, together.

The English countryside during World War I where a heroine desperate for independence is reunited with the hero, injured and returned home from the front. When the farm where they work is threatened they must band together to save it. Another debut this month!

Not Quite a Countess by Bliss Bennet (novella)

Five squabbling guardians. Three rivals for an earldom. And one dashing cavalryman threatening to overset it all...

At fourteen, Arabella Audley inherited her father's Scottish barony—but was denied his English earldom. Shuffled between five quarrelsome guardians for six long years while Parliament dithers over determining the Earl of Audley's rightful heir, Belle's tired of being reduced to the role of pawn. This year, at the King's Birthday Ball, Baroness Culmaily will finally risk a gambit of her own.

The prize? Her beloved Audley Priory, and the chance to serve its people. The plan? Broker a betrothal to one of her rivals for the earldom. A perfectly sensible scheme—until a rakishly handsome cavalry officer checkmates Belle's schemes, challenging everything she thought she ever wanted....

Caught between legacy and love, audacious Belle must decide how far she'll go to secure the life—and heart—she truly desires.

This Georgian-set prequel novella in the Audacious Ladies of Audley series is loosely drawn on the real life inheritance of Elizabeth Sutherland, 19th Countess of Sutherland. Our fictional heroine, tired of being a pawn amongst squabbling "guardians" looks to form an alliance with the hero, and naturally gets more than she bargained for.

What Happens in the Highlands by Anna Bradley

In the months since their father, Rory, died, the MacLeod sisters have had to contend with bands of smugglers convinced he left a treasure buried within the walls of their home at Castle Cairncross. Only the most mystifying occurrences have foiled the thieves—stirring whispers that the sisters are sorceresses. Yet, they have no treasure, nor are they witches. However, each inexplicably possesses a unique ability. The eldest, Catriona, is a brilliant healer and alchemist—a skill she is about to put to unforeseen use . . .

Hamish Muir, the charismatic Marquess of Ballantyne and son of Rory’s business partner, has come to claim his share of the treasure. When he spies fiery-haired Cat in the village, he follows her. But the tables turn, and Hamish finds himself at Castle Cairncross—emerging from a daze . . .

Persuaded the castle harbors no treasure, Hamish remains certain Rory hid it somewhere. Cat offers a proposal: She will help Hamish decipher her father’s notes if he takes her on the treasure hunt with him—and her sisters are not left alone. Reluctantly, Hamish summons two Lairds to the castle. But as he and Cat set off to navigate a maze of maps and danger, a mutual respect—and attraction—ignites between them. Perhaps the real treasure isn’t gold after all . . .

The start of a new series for Bradley, set in Georgian era Scotland. Rumored buried treasure, fortune hunters, and a heroine rumored to be a sorceress but actually a healer and alchemist joins forces with her father's former business partner. But can she trust him?

The Secrets of Thorndale Manor by Syrie James

She risks everything for the truth.

He guards secrets that could tear them apart.

When Athena Taylor opens the Darkmoor Bridge School for Girls at the grand and storied Thorndale Manor, she hopes for a new beginning. But the estate’s dark past quickly resurfaces when a maid is found dead under suspicious circumstances—and whispers stir of a murder committed nine years earlier, a crime for which Ian Vernon’s sister was convicted.

Athena believes the two cases are connected. Ian Vernon, Thorndale’s brooding former heir, insists she’s wrong—and warns her to leave the past buried. But Athena is as fearless as she is determined, and her investigation brings her into close quarters with the man who should be her adversary… yet soon proves to be something much more.

As secrets unravel and a killer grows desperate, Athena finds herself in terrifying danger, caught between the pursuit of justice and a powerful attraction that threatens to derail everything.

Book two in the Gothic Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire series finds the heroine's school in danger when a pesky dead body turns up. Is it related to previous death connected to the hero's sister?

A Scoundrel's Guide to Heists & Hearts by Arden Conroy

He rescues the runaway bride. She steals the scoundrel’s heart.

Evelyn Sparrow is a celebrated art conservator at the National Gallery in London. It’s an unprecedented position for a woman, and the life she has built is a dream come true. But she’s been harboring a secret: not only is she the daughter of a baron, but she’s betrothed to a much older and terrifying earl. Her dream life will end the moment they marry. At their wedding, and with nothing to lose, Evelyn does the unthinkable—and runs from the altar.

Ollie McNab has skated through life on the coattails of his brothers’ hard work, as well as his own good looks and charm. When he makes a major error at their pub, The Harp & Thistle, he realizes how little his brothers respect him. Previously tasked with overseeing the restoration of one brother’s prized art collection, Ollie is determined to prove his dependability by seeing it through. It doesn’t hurt, either, that the paintings are being restored by the beautiful and intelligent Miss Sparrow, who fascinates him endlessly. So when she shows up unexpectedly at his pub in a soaking-wet wedding dress, he promises to do everything he can to help her.

With nowhere else to go, Ollie offers Evelyn a room at his home. Naturally, Ollie’s brothers are not happy with this improper arrangement, and Evelyn’s family is tearing apart London to find her. But when a painting under their care is stolen by a famous thief, Evelyn and Ollie must find it before anyone realizes it’s gone, or the final thread of their reputations are destroyed.

That is, if they don’t create their own scandalous trouble first.

A heroine who lands her dream job only to have it threatened by marriage to an odious man runs straight into the arms of a charming rogue determined to change his ways when he realizes how little his brothers respect him. This is the second book in The Harp & Thistle series.

Again, Scoundrel by Kay K. Denner

Three years ago, American heiress Violet Goodwin shared a charged, “almost-kiss” with the dashing Captain Alistair Crawford. But when fate reunites them in Victorian London, they are no longer the same starry-eyed young dreamers they once were.

Now a determined nurse fighting for better maternal healthcare, Violet has sworn off marriage in favor of her mission. Alistair, once a hopeful naval officer, has returned from his time with the East India Company disillusioned, nearly penniless, and drowning his disappointments in vice. With a dream of launching his own trading company, he strikes a desperate bargain with a clever fellow captain—help him woo a wealthy heiress, and the funds will follow.

The only problem? The heiress in question is Violet.

As their undeniable chemistry reignites, Alistair must decide: will he fight for his future or for the woman he can’t forget? And can Violet risk her carefully built independence for the one man who could truly break her heart?

She's a nurse who has sworn off love in favor of her cause and he's a disillusioned former naval officer now penniless determined to right his ship by starting his own trading company.  For that he needs money, which means he needs an heiress. Guess who the heiress is. Reunited and it feels so good? Also, another debut this month!

A Most Unlikely Lady by Darcy McGuire

She may be innocent…but she's also deadly!

When seemingly fragile Miss Ivy Cavendale takes the headmistress position in an orphanage, it is her chance to stay anonymous in society. But not all is what it seems with Miss Ivy. When an intruder breaks in one night, she’s quick to draw her weapon, and while fear - her constant companion - has mysteriously disappeared, one thing is very clear: she and her charges are the next target of The Devil’s Sons.

Commissioner Edward Worthington owes the head of The Queen’s Deadly Damsels a debt. So, he must keep an eye on the Duchess’s new protégé. How much trouble can the shy Miss Cavendale be? Rather a lot, actually. The diminutive wallflower has been overlooked and forgotten by society's elite, but Edward sees a woman full of fascinating contradictions he’s compelled to unravel.

Burdened by secrets and childhood trauma, Ivy is stunned as Edward ignites a breathless curiosity within her. And when he asks her to join forces to identify the dangerous intruder at The Widow’s Ball, she cannot refuse. She may not trust many, but something tells her she should trust Edward… with more than just this mission.

The fourth book in The Queen's Deadly Damsels series features a heroine hiding as the headmistress of an orphanage who finds herself in danger, and our Commissioner hero comes riding to her rescue. Although who ends up rescuing who is the question....

Keeping the Countess by Lille Moore

A man obsessed with justice

Reverend Jonah Sinclair survived the deadly streets of London due to divine intervention and two well-trained fists. Determined to bring his father's killer to justice, he’ll risk his vocation—and his life—for answers. When the notorious Earl of Rochford offers him a position as tutor to his young ward, Jonah accepts, believing the mysterious Ravenglass Hall could lead him to the murderer. But instead, he finds himself drawn to the earl’s abandoned countess, a woman whose fierce strength stirs a forbidden temptation.

A lady with a dangerous secret.

Faith Trenton, Countess of Rochford, is struggling to defend her crumbling estate from an embezzling steward. To keep her enemies at bay, she disguises herself as a man, until Jonah's arrival threatens to expose her perilous secrets. Despite their irresistible chemistry, she must push him away to keep her home and her family safe.

But when a succession of attacks threatens everything Faith has fought to protect, she’s forced to place her trust in Jonah, and pray he won’t unravel the truth, or her heart.

Helping Faith could sabotage Jonah’s mission. Loving her might cost him everything.

Ready for it? Another debut. A reverend hero hungry for revenge takes a tutor position because he believes the estate will provide answers. Instead he quickly finds himself entangled with his employer's wife, who's been abandoned in the country and is trying to save the crumbling estate from an embezzler. 

Here I Rogue Again by Brenna Ash

He’s in dire straits. She has a secret. Can they overcome all odds to be together?

Gunn Burnett, Laird of Leys, has returned from war only to face a new battle, keeping his struggling inn and pub from financial ruin. The last thing he needs is another mouth to feed. But when a fragile, bruised woman shows up on his doorstep, clearly desperate and in need of shelter, he can’t turn her away.

Jocelyn Townsend has finally escaped her abusive husband, fleeing England for the quiet anonymity of a Highland village. Renting a small room in a failing inn is a risk, but it’s safer than the life she left behind. Determined not to be a burden, she offers to work for her keep, but the brooding laird refuses her coin, and her distance.

Gunn senses she’s running from something. Or someone. And he’ll protect her with his life before he lets the pain of her past catch up to her. But when the truth comes to light, and with it, a secret she’s hidden for far too long, they’ll have to face the past head-on if they hope to claim a second chance at happiness.

I feel the need to apologize upfront for the Whitesnake earworm.  He's returned from war and working to save his business. She's running from an abusive husband and offers to work at his inn in exchange for room and board. This is the fifth book in the Rogues of Redemption series.

Verity's Choice by Elizabeth Donne

A man with a past could change her future.

Having failed to win the hand of the woman he loves, William Cole returns to his childhood home the same vain, shallow gentleman who relies too much on his charm and good looks. He wants to join the military, but his father decides William should take over the reins from the retiring vicar and—while he’s at it—marry the vicar’s daughter.

Unlike William, Verity Lockhart has changed in the five years since he saw her last. While he might remember her as a quiet, mousy sort of girl, she has developed opinions and habits deemed unsuitable for a young lady, the worst of which is a fascination with science and—gasp!—insects. No man, says her mother, would want a wife who is always running off with a butterfly net.

William and Verity can agree on one thing only: they have no desire to marry each other. They will have to encounter an utterly shameless rogue, an unusually honorable gentleman, and a very real war to form a love so deep, it could be the best choice either has ever made.

The third book in the Ladies of Munro series features a feckless hero strong-armed by his father to take over for the retiring vicar and marry the man's daughter. The fly in the ointment, the daughter is no longer some quiet, mousy girl willing to go quietly. 

To Love a Spy by Andrea Pickens 

When a mission of critical importance arises, Lord Lynsley, the enigmatic head of Mrs. Merlin’s Academy for Extraordinary Young Ladies, is forced to take on the assignment himself. But when things take an unexpected turn, he has has no choice but to ask for help from a former agent whose injury during a botched mission ten years ago forced her to retire from the elite unit of unconventional lady spies.

Can old wounds—both physical and emotional—be put aside in order for them to work together to destroy a new weapon that may give Napoleon and the French an insurmountable edge in the war against Britain and its allies? The mission takes them into the heart of enemy territory, where danger threatens from all angles, and to have any hope of survival they will have put aside old hurts and trust each other . . .

The first three books in Mrs. Merlin’s Academy for Extraordinary Young Ladies are definitely reprints, originally published by Hachette in the mid-2000s. This one is, I'm pretty sure, not a reprint but rather the first time appearance of a fourth entry to the series. The hero who runs the academy of lady spies is forced to take an assignment himself and he's going to need the help of the heroine, a former agent who retired ten years ago after a job went wrong. Spy games, danger, intrigue and a road romance!

The Accidental Debutante by Jane Dunn

At Prebbles Flying Circus. the daring Eliza Gray captivates audiences with her breathtaking feats on horseback. Yet beyond the applause, she harbours a longing to find the family she lost as a child and discover who she truly is.

Fate, however, takes an unexpected turn when Eliza is unceremoniously knocked down by a curricle driven recklessly by Raven, Earl Purfoy. Dazed but intrigued, she cannot help but notice Purfoy’s commanding presence.

For his part, the dashing lord, is mortified at his carelessness and resolves to assist the spirited yet intriguing young woman. He deposits her in the care of his dearest friends, Corinna and Alick Wolfe, who encourage Miss Gray in her search for her family and sponsor her entry into London society. The glittering balls and scurrilous gossip of the ton are a far cry from the circus ring and Eliza finds herself the subject of intense speculation and unwelcome advances.

As a most accidental debutante, Eliza has to navigate the complexities of high society and her new friendships. Her quest for family and belonging becomes perilously entwined with Zadoc Flynn, an American heir of a New York plutocrat, who intends to take home with him the finest racing horse money can buy...and an English bride.

Can Eliza uncover the truth of her past and the family she longs for? And will it be Mr Flynn or Lord Purfoy, or indeed her new female friends, who help her find her place in the world?

In a tale of courage, passion, and self-discovery, this lost orphan must decide where she truly belongs.

A heroine with no notion of her past who performs in a circus (!) soon captivates society and must  make a choice between two men, all while trying to find answers about her family and past.  This one is listed at nearly 350 pages but it sure is giving me all sorts of Traditional Regency vibes.

I won't tell you how long it took me to draft this post but what I will say is I hope you enjoyed reading about this month's crop of Unusual Historicals.  Now go forth, save the subgenre, and happy reading!

Review: Bald-Faced Liar

Longtime readers of this blog know certain things about me at this point, having blogged for over 20 years. I hate the fated mates trope with the passion of a thousand burning suns. I'm a champion for category and historical romances. And I have an soft spot for nurse heroines. In fact I love a great nurse heroine more so than a librarian heroine - go figure. So I was pretty excited to learn that Bald-Faced Liar by Victoria Helen Stone features not only a nurse heroine, but a complicated one at that.  Unfortunately this ended up being a read I wanted to like more than I did.

Elizabeth "Beth" May is a liar. Running from a traumatic and notorious childhood, she lies to protect herself. She lies about her job, she lies about her name (Liz, Lizzie, Beth etc.), and her career as a traveling nurse fits her like a glove. She keeps moving, never settling in one spot for long - although she's made the fatal mistake of falling in love with Santa Cruz, California. She's been there for a while, long enough for a stalker to find her.

It starts off as harmless pranks. Getting put on the mailing list for Liars Anonymous. But then someone impersonates her online, starts bad-mouthing her employer, and nearly gets her fired. When someone flips the power off on her rental unit and then pushes her into traffic?  Yeah, needless to say Beth starts to question everything. Who is stalking her and who can she trust? Certainly not the nice guy one-night-stand who showed up just as the stalking started. What about the "online friend" she's never met in person?  Ha! And certainly not the police. The one thing Beth clearly learned from her childhood? Don't trust the police. 

I'll be honest, this was a second half book for me mainly because I didn't find Beth all that interesting. I've always said I don't have to "like" a character to enjoy the book, but the problem here is that Beth isn't likeable and there's not much to hold on to to get past that. Basically I spent the whole first half of the book wanting to shake her until her teeth rattled and drag her to a therapist. It's the same problem I have with a lot of unreliable narrator protagonists. Beth isn't unreliable per se but you're trapped in her head for the entire book and not only isn't it terribly riveting, it's also kind of exhausting.  It's not really until Beth gets pushed out into traffic while walking around Santa Cruz that this book started to really grab my intention.

I stuck with it because as a long-time suspense reader I know enough to know when a twist is coming - and yes, this one has a twist.  A pretty good one actually. I feel like this is a book that begs for content warnings but to provide them is essentially a giant ol' spoiler - so just know that it's all wrapped up in childhood trauma. Which, quite obviously, Beth has not been dealing with other than lying to everyone she comes into contact with to protect herself.

Ultimately I think that's my issue with this story, although I'm not sure the author could have resolved it without getting the pacing and plot lost in the weeds. Beth never really unpacks her trauma and how that led her to becoming a lying liar who lies. Not only from her childhood but the fact that she was a nurse at the height of the pandemic ("we" as a society have not truly reckoned with the trauma our health care professionals endured during the pandemic - but that's another book for another day). This ends "happily" (in the way suspense novels end "happily") albeit quite messily.  This one had all the ingredients I've enjoyed in a lot of suspense novels over the years (quietly menacing, messy heroine etc.) but it fell in that nebulous no man's land between OK and Good for me. I mean, it's not a dud, but it never quite elevated itself for me. There is stuff to unpack here though, so very much mileage gonna vary.

Final Grade = B-

#TBRChallenge Review: The Wedding Journey

The Book: The Wedding Journey by Cheryl St. John

The Particulars: Inspirational historical romance, Harlequin Love Inspired Historical #131, 2012, First book in multi-author Irish Brides trilogy, Out of print, Available digitally

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: St. John is an autobuy. Also I was so intrigued by the premise that I bought the entire trilogy back in the day because why let one book languish in your TBR if you can let three?

The Review: I didn't start reading for this month's Challenge until Sunday evening and I ended up DNF'ing my first choice after the prologue (seriously, here's my GoodReads "review"). Panic officially setting in, I picked up my tablet and went diving through the digital Harlequin stash and stumbled across this book by St. John that fit this month's Road Trip theme to perfection. I had a number of issues with this story but I managed to finish it in one sitting.

Nora, Bridget and Maeve Murphy live in Castleville, Ireland (there's references to a "County Beary" which I've never heard of, but Castleville is in County Mayo so if anyone Irish is reading this let me know if the authors of this trilogy totally ran off the rails) and they've just buried their father, who perished thanks to old friend influenza. Their mother has been dead for a decade and it's 1850, right in the middle of the Irish Potato Famine.  Times are hard and the landlord is throwing the girls out of the only home they've known.  They have a few coins and are well and truly desperate when they uncover a hidden letter in their mother's trunk. A man, who talks like he's a former beau, who says he's settled in Faith Glen, Massachusetts. Along with the letter?  A deed to a small cottage.

The girls have never heard of this man but with zero options they decide to take a flier. There's less than nothing left in Ireland, America at least offers hope. They sell a couple of things their mother saved "for a rainy day" and board the Annie McGee in Galway, headed to Boston Harbor. What money they had paid for their passage so the hope is they can find work on the ship.  That's turning out to be difficult until divine intervention steps in.

A young boy is hurt when the ship's doctor's assistant overturns a load of supplies on the dock. Maeve was a midwife and healer (homeopathic, herbal remedies) back in Castleville and that training leads to her reacting quickly. By the time the ship's doctor arrives on the scene she's fashioned a tourniquet and slowed the bleeding, saving the boy's life.

Flynn Gallagher is the ship's doctor, is from a well-to-do Irish family and is running from his past, hence ship's doctor. He's also smart enough to fire his assistant on the spot and hire Maeve once he learns she's going to be a passenger on the ship. Even better? He has positions for her sisters as well! Nora helping in the galley and Bridget taking a governess post for a family left in a lurch. Jobs squared away, the sisters set sail to America, hoping for a fresh start, and to learn more about their mother's past.

Flynn and Maeve are the featured romance in this story, and if you're wondering why I buried the lede, there's a reason for that - it's rather thin, along with the characterizations. There's quite a bit of telling in this one and while Flynn and Maeve have baggage it all felt surface level. Also Maeve borders dangerously close to Mary Sue territory and while the couple spends time together I felt like it wasn't meaningful time together. I'm not sure how these two fell in love other than they think the other one is kind and nice.

But hey, marriages have been built on less in and out of romance novels and the story moves along at a good clip in large part thanks to the setting.  St. John does a good job with it and features a light "found family" storyline and details about life on the ship. Think of it like a floating boardinghouse and you'll get a good idea of what to expect. There's trials, tribulations and plenty of personalities.  This aspect of the story is definitely what kept me turning the pages, more so than the romance. In fact I was so invested in all these people I met on the ship that the next book I'm reading is the second one in this trilogy.

This is an inspirational romance so I'm going to talk about The God Stuff. Folks, it's heavy and clunky. I am capable of enjoying inspirational romance but I much prefer the ones where that aspect of the story comes through in themes and nuanced characterizations. Here it's a lot of dropped scripture and characters praying when they burn breakfast (OK, not literally - but they pray a lot). It all felt heavy-handed, which is probably a good thing since it was easy to see coming a mile off and I would know to start skimming.

There's a Mean Girl secondary character's redemption at the end of the book that left me unconvinced but at least this is an inspirational where the couple isn't dead below the waist (Flynn and Maeve share a few kisses) and truly, the "life aboard a ship" stuff was really entertaining. Even with all my issues I was invested enough to snarf down the book in one gulp.  St. John has written better but after DNF'ing my first choice (after the prologue!), I certainly could have done worse.

Final Grade = C

Reminder: #TBRChallenge Day is June 18

I've largely been offline lately because it's Wendy's Busy Season at The Day Job (end of fiscal year, IYKYK) and my energy levels are such that I'm either staring blankly at the TV or crushing candies on my phone. So have I picked up my #TBRChallenge book, let alone read it yet for June? Ha! But that's why Baby Jesus gave me a cupboard full of Harlequins. I'll get there and I better because our next #TBRChallenge day is set for Wednesday, June 18 and our theme is Road Trip.

This suggestion came out of my annual theme poll, and honestly this is one of my favorite tropes! The Road Romance is traditionally one where the couple finds themselves traveling together, for whatever reason. You can also take this theme and spin it to fit a character who has relocated for whatever reason (returning to their hometown, moving to a new area to start fresh etc.)

Will I find something in my pile and get it read in time? Time will tell. If you're having a devil of a time finding something that fits this month's theme, no matter.  Remember our goal with this challenge is always to read something, anything, that has been languishing in your TBR piles.

Also, a reminder that it's not too late to sign-up for the Challenge (fun fact: it's never too late to sign up!).  For more details and for a list of participants, you can check out the 2025 #TBRChallenge page.

Review: Deception By Gaslight

Nothing will strike fear in the heart of a romance reader faster than these two words:

Girl. Reporter.

It is a scientific fact that if you wander over into the Too Stupid To Live borough of Romancelandia, 60% of those heroines are girl reporters. 

So it's a wonder that I impulsively downloaded Deception by Gaslight by Kate Belli many moons ago thanks to a Netgalley promo email (yes, another one). Even more shocking? I borderline loved this.

Genevieve Stewart is an heiress, her family members of the Astor 400.  However, firmly on the shelf, she has been making her way in New York City as a reporter for the Globe newspaper. While part of the monied and privileged set, the Stewart family is rather eccentric and it was that eccentricity that led to Genevieve's broken engagement some years before. That lesson learned, she's a talented reporter, but being a woman, has been shoe-horned into insipid assignments.  To break free? She's determined to track down the "Robin Hood of the Lower East Side" - a thief who has been stealing baubles from the wealthy, then sending letters to the Globe full of screeds against wealth and avarice.

While snooping around Five Points (I know, stay with me here...) she overhears some men talking about Robin Hood. Naturally she follows them and naturally she gets into a spot of trouble - but not before seeing a dead body lying in the alley and one of the men, whom she takes to calling Mr. Pineapple Waistcoat, saves her bacon.

So naturally it's a teensy bit of a shock when, while attending a society ball, she sees none other than Mr. Pineapple Waistcoat, who turns out to be Daniel McCaffrey, heir to the vast Van Joost fortune.  Daniel is impossibly handsome, and certainly his fortune makes him attractive to matchmaking mamas, but nobody knows his story. He spent his youth and most of his adult life over in England and from what people can piece together, he was not blood-related to Old Man Van Joost. No doubt about it, there's a story there and given that Genevieve met him in Five Points? She's convinced he's Robin Hood.

Daniel has little use for reporters and frankly dislikes the breed given how they hounded him after he inherited, but of course he's intrigued by Genevieve. "For reasons," he doesn't want her snooping around his life and she's like a dog with a bone on this Robin Hood thing. So he tries to throw her off by dangling another juicy morsel in front of her - that of a newly formed city housing commission looking into living conditions in the city's tenement buildings.

The author basically has three mysteries going at once in this book: 1) Daniel's past 2) Robin Hood and 3) political corruption.  And once Genevieve starts sticking her nose into things, it doesn't take long for the bodies to start dropping and the danger to ramp up. In order to get to the bottom of things her and Daniel need to team up, which is a neat trick since he's not entirely convinced he can trust her with his various secrets.

Not gonna lie, the various mystery angles here did make for a disjointed read at times but Genevieve and Daniel make such a great team and have enough sexual tension to make this one sizzle. Firmly marketed as historical mystery, truly I cannot recommend this one enough to historical romance fans, albeit the Daniel / Genevieve romance is obviously going to carry over for the next three books in the series. 

The historical detail and world-building is pitch perfect, the author hitting all the high and low points of Gilded Age New York City excess and poverty. Plus all the secondary characters add something to the story, my favorites being Daniel's best friend, an impoverished British earl, and his new money society heiress fiancée, who is desperate to escape from under her mother's social climbing thumb.

The various mysteries get tied up at the end (we find out about Daniel's past, Robin Hood is unmasked, the political corruption plot is brought to light) but readers should be warned this one does end on a cliffhanger.  The purpose of the cliffhanger is to lead the reader by the nose directly into starting Book 2, which definitely worked on me since I downloaded it and plan on starting it next.  

Final Grade = B+

Review: The Highlander's Substitute Wife

Depending on what I think I'm in the mood to read, odds are more than favorable I'm going to find something that fits the bill in my TBR. I figured I was past due for another historical read, so I went diving into my obscene stash of Harlequin Historicals and just randomly picked a title.  My blind pick worked out fairly well, given that Terri Brisbin tends to be reliable and The Highlander's Substitute Wife is the first book in a multi-author trilogy.  This was a very solid read until it ran off the rails for me during the third act break-up.

After a surprise raid by the Campbell clan, Ross MacMillan is the new chieftain of the MacMillan clan after his childless uncle dies in battle. Besides his uncle's death, the costs were high and Ross knows the Campbells will be back. There's nothing for it, he and his two siblings need to marry (and fast!) to secure the necessary alliances to rebuild and protect their clan. Ross doesn't entirely trust the man but he goes to Iain MacDonnell and strikes an agreement to marry his eldest daughter.

Ross though, well he's a busy man rebuilding and reinforcing their holdings for the next, could happen at any moment, invasion.  So he sends a man in his place to wed Lilidh by proxy. One small fly in the ointment, it's not Lilidh hiding behind the veil, it's her younger sister Ilysa, the one with a whispered about deformity (a malformed arm) who has spent the last several years banished to a nunnery. 

Ilysa admits to the duplicity to Ross's man just as they're crossing into MacMillan territory, so this doesn't drag out for too long. Ross is decidedly not happy - mainly because he doesn't know what Ilysa's father is driving at by having him marry the other daughter.  But the fact remains he needs a MacDonnell bride and thus far her father seems to be keeping his promises with gold, supplies and fighting men.  It's just Ross is now waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Ilysa loved the nunnery if only for the fact that she was away from her vile father and equally duplicitous sister. Why is Ilysa in a nunnery? Because of her sister. How does she end up married to Ross and not her sister?  You guessed it, her sister. Ilysa whose self-worth is nothing, blossoms with the MacMillan clan and naturally what we want to happen in a romance novel, happens.  These two fall in love.

A heroine with quiet strength but a mountain of insecurities and a smitten hero who helps to rebuild her confidence. So what's the problem? Nothing, until the third act break-up when our, up until that point, sensitive, understanding and competent hero turns stupid, believes lies when, quite frankly, he should know better and hangs our heroine out to dry. I just couldn't with this stupidity, especially when up to that point the hero doesn't display any of these tendencies to be, well, stupid. Picture me making a disgusted huffing noise when I got to this point in the book.

Of course the hero eventually realizes his error and is suitably contrite, but honestly I wanted him to have to crawl naked over over hot coals to earn the heroine's forgiveness, although honestly I'm not sure even that would have been enough for me.  The romance ends happily, although the overarching conflict of the villainous Campbell clan sticks around as fodder for the next two books in the trilogy.

So what are we left with? A really solid medieval romance until the third act break-up comes along to ruin everything. Could be I'm softening in my old age, but honestly this feels better than a C read to me, even with my problems with the last third of the story.  Brisbin has proven herself more than capable of writing good stories to this reader, albeit the execution of this one didn't entirely work for me.

Final Grade = B-