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If you’ve read some of my most recent reviews on the blog, then you know something very curious has been happening.
I’ve had such a hunger for historical romance novels for a while now. And somehow, whenever I picked one up, it always turned out to be a single parent historical romance novel.
I’ve lamented about this several times. So when I finally got out of my reading slump – as I explained in another book review – and started feeling like myself again, I made a conscious effort not to pick a historical romance novel, even though that’s what my hand kept reaching for.
And out of the five books I read today, this is the only historical romance among them so please, can I get some applause?
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As usual, I didn’t read the synopsis of this book beforehand. It’s part of my 2025 reading list.
(And if you haven’t checked out my list of the best new romance books coming out in June, head over to that post right now! I wrote about some of the most anticipated books – or at least the romantic novels I’m particularly looking forward to.)
This book was one of them, so when I saw it had been released, I literally grabbed my copy, read it, and I loved it. Mostly, at least.
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Anyway, this book follows our female lead, Jocelyn, who is a verified bluestocking and she’s not afraid to speak her mind. She’s had one full season already. Now, her mother is very desperate for her to make a match in her second season and constantly compares her to her younger sister, who successfully secured a match.
But she’s perfectly content reading, having fun with her fellow bluestocking friends that is, until she’s accused of stealing something.
The male lead, Theodore, is an earl who has a very difficult relationship with his mother. When they attend a soiree hosted by the female lead, his mother’s necklace goes missing.
Then it’s found and he realises that what was handed to him was a duplicate piece, and he starts suspecting our heroine.
Naturally, she wants to clear her name, so together – with friends – they all decide to investigate the mystery. And it’s during this process that the male and female lead are supposed to fall in love.
And if I’m being honest I’m being very generous by saying they fall in love. Because honestly, it’s not even in the third quarter of the book – it’s literally in the final fifth that they start to feel any kind of romantic connection.
Now, I do like my slow-burn romances – maybe not as much as other readers – but I can stay for a slow, slow burn.
However, after reading Little Nightmare by Rachel Van Dyken, a mafia romance, which I also reviewed on the blog, and then coming here to find that there wasn’t even a hint of friendship between them that was a little hard to swallow.
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I have no problem with a clean romance – no kissing or steam – because that’s what this is. I wasn’t expecting spice. But at least they could have been friends. They could have appreciated each other in some way. I don’t know.
It just felt odd that neither of them even thought about having feelings for each other until the final part of the book.
And I’m not joking. It’s s literally the epilogue that sets up any kind of romance between them. I felt disappointed, especially because in romantic suspense books – where they’re meant to work together to solve something – you usually see the bond forming naturally.
But here? We spent so much time on the preamble: all the moments leading up to the theft. And then the investigation and romance were just rushed and wrapped up in half the time I’d expect for a book like this.
In fact, when the jewelry went missing, I thought they’d end up spending loads of time together. and it would be during this process that they’d fall in love.
But no, she actually spends more time with her girlfriends than with him. Which isn’t an issue on its own, but this is a romance novel. We’re supposed to believe in the chemistry, the friendship, the connection between the two leads. And when we don’t get that, it honestly feels like a waste of potential.
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So while I didn’t particularly enjoy the romantic progression between the main leads in this book, one thing absolutely kept me reading: how furious I was at the antagonist, his mother.
I’ve read some books with wicked, scheming villains, but I don’t think I’ve ever genuinely felt like throwing my phone at the wall while reading. I was so pissed.
You really need to read this book to understand, but trust me, you will be frustrated. The antagonist here doesn’t actively try to destroy everything; instead, it’s this gradual, intentional undermining of authority that was so irritating and grating.
I had no words. Honestly, this might be the best execution I’ve ever seen of a quietly destructive character. I think I’m going to be thinking about this villain for a long time. If you’re curious, get your copy and I promise you’ll come back and tell me how mad you got while reading.
As for our characters: our female lead, as I said, is a proud bluestocking. She enjoys reading, loves books, and craves information. She has a strong personality. She doesn’t have much of a personal dilemma in the book – as far as I’m concerned – but that didn’t affect the story’s quality.
In fact, I think not every character needs a huge personal crisis, especially when it wouldn’t fit naturally into the plot. In this case, she already had enough going on. The conflict itself carried the entire story and I enjoyed that.
On the other hand, our male lead is very complex. I loved reading about him because, honestly, most historical romances give us the brooding, rakish, strong-willed nobleman type.
But this one? He’s more soft-spoken. More introverted. More contemplative. And I loved that. He reminded me of a Julia Quinn historical I read years ago with a similar male lead, though for the life of me, I can’t remember the name. I told myself I’d never forget that book… and then promptly forgot.
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One thing that really draws these two characters together is their complicated relationships with their mothers. The male lead especially. His mother actively does everything she can to undermine him. And that’s why the ending felt a bit premature to me; I wanted a stronger resolution from him regarding his mother.
She, on the other hand, stood up to her mother early in the book, and her mother backed off more or less completely. We don’t really see that conflict play out much, but from the prologue, we know tensions were high. She quickly asserts her own place in life. I don’t know if the author meant this as a contrast – to show how differently they handle their mothers – but that’s how I saw it while reading.
So like I said, the ending felt very rushed and premature, in my opinion. I genuinely wish their love had been given more time to bloom. I wish they had even spent more time together, to be frank.
Throughout the whole book, I don’t think they interacted more than 15 times. I’ve literally never read a book like this before. They had so much opportunity to spend time together.
I liked that she spent time with her friends – it’s necessary to show the sisterhood between her and her circle – but this is a romance novel, not a women’s fiction story.
We needed to see how she and the male lead interacted over a long period while investigating the mystery and slowly falling in love.
That said, this book was still enjoyable. It’s a clean historical romance with a decent mystery at its heart.
But personally, I don’t think I’ll re-read it. Not because it’s bad, but because I love romance that’s intense – this was a little too tame and incredibly slow-burn for my liking.
As I said earlier: slow burn is an entirely different brand of torture. But if this is the kind of story you love and enjoy, then please check it out.
And if you’ve been reading any really interesting books lately that you’d love to share with the community, remember to drop your recommendations in the comment section below.
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