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
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
A strong start to a new Victorian romance series.
A practical lady is unexpectedly charmed by a louche lord.
Lady Diantha Courtenay spends her days following the rules and being practical—it’s the only way to balance out the impulsive and often irrational behavior of her parents, who since Halley’s Comet appeared in the sky more than 20 years ago, have pledged to do whatever they please. But she’s made an exception tonight, staying up late to attend a dear friend’s wedding, where she finds herself attracted to a man who looks like “the embodiment of a fallen angel in a painting”—and decides to kiss him even after realizing he’s the son of her father’s mortal enemy. For Lord Lucian Eldridge, second son of the Duke of Waxford, the encounter is not unusual; as the spare, he feels it’s his duty to enjoy life to the fullest, so a secret kiss with a beautiful woman is nothing new. But the next morning, as Diantha resolves to return to her practical self, Lucian learns that his older brother has had a hunting accident in Scotland, and while his overbearing father heads up there, Lucian will need to become more involved with the family’s affairs. This horrifies Lucian, though he’s intrigued to discover that those affairs include resolving a long-standing lawsuit between his family and Diantha’s, something the two will have to work on closely together. Due to their intense attraction, they find it hard to focus on the task at hand, and a steamy bout or two of “system-cleansing” at locations like the British Museum serve only to make them even more confused about who they are becoming, both on their own and together, and what the future might hold. Frampton is in fine form at the start of her new Heirs and Spares series, fleshing out the opposites-attract story with witty dialogue and complex characters. The instant chemistry between Lucian and Diantha catalyzes both to finally consider extracting themselves from their very different families, and accordingly the plot focuses on their individual development as much as their burgeoning relationship. Readers looking for a well-constructed, satisfying historical romance will be pleased.
A strong start to a new Victorian romance series.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063389205
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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