Entertaining, intelligent, and emotionally rewarding.
Another sweet—and steamy—historical romance from the author of The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (2019).
When artist Agatha Griffin discovers that a swarm of bees has made itself at home in her workshop, she follows her mother-in-law’s advice and seeks the help of Penelope Flood. The beekeeper convinces the printmaker to let her move the colony to a skep behind the shop, and a correspondence that begins with a brief discussion of the colony’s honey production soon turns more intimate. Penelope is warm and outgoing. Agatha is more inclined to be reserved, but Penelope’s kindness helps her realize that she is—three years after her husband’s death—terribly lonely. Given the genre, it is inevitable that these two will fall in love, but Waite doesn’t rush her protagonists. At first, Agatha knows only that Penelope is married to a sailor who is seldom ashore. Penelope only knows that Agatha loved her husband. It takes time and trust for them to reveal their true feelings and desires to each other. It’s a real pleasure watching this friendship between two women in middle age blossom and evolve into a passionate attachment. Waite wove politics into the first installment of her Feminine Pursuits series, and she is even more explicit here. Agatha and Penelope meet just as the House of Lords is about to put Queen Caroline on trial for adultery, an event that exposed several fault lines in British society and marked a turning point for the press. Agatha faces some difficult choices as she decides how radical she wants to be in choosing what to print, and Penelope is compelled to examine loyalties and relationships that cut across classes. This is a richly layered novel, with much to recommend it to readers who don’t typically read historical romance.
Entertaining, intelligent, and emotionally rewarding.Pub Date: July 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-293182-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An uneven but charming Highlands romance.
A Scottish laird and an English lady defy convention together.
Up in the Highlands, lairds do as they please, and for the brawny Caelan MacCrae, Laird of CaerLaven, that means fishing naked in the loch, even in chilly April weather. Widowed two years ago and uninterested in the finer things, he’s happiest when he can catch his own trout, cook it over a fire, and then be left alone in his rapidly crumbling estate. And mostly, no one bothers him—until the Honorable Miss Clara Vetry arrives during a bout of unclothed fishing. Though she claims to be Mrs. Potts, a woman ordered from London to be his housekeeper, she’s actually a bookish noblewoman in her fourth season, fleeing London in disrepute after striking the Prince Regent in response to his groping her bosom. Banished by her mother, she jumps at the chance to start a new life, and even though everyone she meets can tell she’s not actually a housekeeper, she settles in and starts setting Castle CaerLaven to rights. Despite himself, Caelan is immediately attracted to Clara’s raucous hair and straightforward nature, and is intrigued to hear that all she wants in life is a “castle filled with books”; he has one to offer, and before long, he does. Clara is taken by Caelan’s tree-trunk thighs and kind nature. But even after they kiss and start falling for each other, Clara feels certain he won’t ever love her as he did his first wife and Caelan isn’t sure how many times he can keep proposing to Clara and being rejected. James has long been one of the masters of zany, witty Regencies, and for much of the story she’s in top form. The second novel in her Accidental Brides series starts strong, with a setting that fans of Scottish romances will fall for almost as quickly as Caelan falls for Clara. Unfortunately, the momentum gets bogged down due to a misunderstanding that lingers far longer than it should, leading to a conclusion that leaves several plot points dangling. However, the strong character development and very spicy intimate scenes more than make up for the story’s weaknesses, and James’ many fans will be happy to add this laird to their shelves.
An uneven but charming Highlands romance.Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780063347465
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
A bumpkin duke and a young woman belatedly acquiring a gentlewoman’s education make for an entertaining love story.
When a Regency duke would rather feed blancmange to his prize pig than pay court to prospective brides, it’s fortunate that the girl next door also likes pigs.
Anthony Farr, Duke of Radcliffe survived an unhappy first marriage and is deathly afraid of marrying again. He would rather spend his days pottering about on his farm and skipping stones on the lake with his 8-year-old son, Wakefield. But when a poor relation of the Penhallow family arrives in the neighborhood, she quickly becomes friends with both Anthony and Wakefield. Where Anthony is simple and even childlike, Jane Kent is just uneducated and still suffering from the traumas of spending her early life in poverty. In their first encounter, afternoon tea in the company of Jane’s relatives turns into a fierce competition. Jane and Anthony are both determined to devour more food than the other—all while maintaining a polite facade. It’s the first of many deftly funny scenes in the novel, although some of the jokes become a little repetitive, such as Wakefield’s frequent mispronunciations of long words. The dialogue, too, is both funny and a little tiresome, with long conversations that don’t significantly advance the plot. But the book has other strengths that set it apart from typical Regency romances. It’s body-positive. There are several scenes where Jane, Anthony, and Wakefield demolish decadent food. There’s also a little light sadomasochism, which feels surprising since the main characters are otherwise so childlike. And it's a nice portrait of what courtship is like for a dedicated single parent. The child and his needs are central to the love story.
A bumpkin duke and a young woman belatedly acquiring a gentlewoman’s education make for an entertaining love story.Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-285237-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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