Move over Ton elite, New Players are in town!
The Girl with the Pearl Pin (The Society for Single Ladies #1)
by Lynne Connolly
On the outside she's a demure young woman, always relegated to second place beside her younger, beautiful and vastly shallow sister Lucinda. Miss Phoebe North has removed to London ahead of her family to keep her friend Angela Childers company. Angela is a wealthy young woman, not interested in finding a husband, but in husbanding her business ventures and her latest brainchild, the Single Ladies Society.
Pheobe has a terrible stutter, a lively intelligence, a keen sense of the ridiculous and is convinced of her unworthiness to be special. She is! Unbeknownst to all, including Phoebe, inside hides a wanton woman the match for any strong man.
Enter the Duke of Leomore, “Call me Leo,” whom we meet at the beginning of the story just as enticement gives way to alarm! Phoebe and Leo are thrown into the midst of a jewel heist and Phoebe is accused of the theft. Our noble Duke saves Phoebe from that situation but even his best actions can't quieten the societal gossips and jealous remarks.
Phoebe, I think is worthy of our most stalwart Heyer like heroine. Leo certainly can lay claim to being a kindred spirit to many of Heyer's heroes.
I did feel that the story had no need to devote so many pages to the couple's lingering kisses and intimacies. In fact I found myself skipping through the bedroom antics. Although, I must say that for a shy spinster of the time (1750's), Pheobe displays a fervency I'd have more attributed to that of the Duke's ex mistress La Coccinelle. Still we have been told Phoebe has an inquiring mind. Her libido certainly hasn't been squashed by her years of being ignored. She and the Duke will have to ensure the servants wear ear muffs.
What I really wanted was more focus on the catching of the jewel thieves. That became a bit elusive. Both the mysterious jewel robbery and the doings of the Single Ladies Society are frequently lost in the romantic tendrils of the novel. Unfortunately, the SSL doesn't seem to have really found it's stride yet. I expect/hope that will happen as the series develops.
I must say too that Phoebe's sister Lucinda is a wonderful 'Piece of Work'. Connolly created a truly dreadful, willful sister, that was so easy to dislike. I kept wanting people to giver her the 'cut direct' or some such thing. Totally spoilt brat!
The opening is rather brilliant. That really hooked me in.
And yes, I will want to read further books in this Georgian romance/mystery series and follow the lives of some of the more interesting ladies met so far.
A Kensington ARC via NetGalley
****
by Lynne Connolly
Pheobe has a terrible stutter, a lively intelligence, a keen sense of the ridiculous and is convinced of her unworthiness to be special. She is! Unbeknownst to all, including Phoebe, inside hides a wanton woman the match for any strong man.
Enter the Duke of Leomore, “Call me Leo,” whom we meet at the beginning of the story just as enticement gives way to alarm! Phoebe and Leo are thrown into the midst of a jewel heist and Phoebe is accused of the theft. Our noble Duke saves Phoebe from that situation but even his best actions can't quieten the societal gossips and jealous remarks.
Phoebe, I think is worthy of our most stalwart Heyer like heroine. Leo certainly can lay claim to being a kindred spirit to many of Heyer's heroes.
I did feel that the story had no need to devote so many pages to the couple's lingering kisses and intimacies. In fact I found myself skipping through the bedroom antics. Although, I must say that for a shy spinster of the time (1750's), Pheobe displays a fervency I'd have more attributed to that of the Duke's ex mistress La Coccinelle. Still we have been told Phoebe has an inquiring mind. Her libido certainly hasn't been squashed by her years of being ignored. She and the Duke will have to ensure the servants wear ear muffs.
What I really wanted was more focus on the catching of the jewel thieves. That became a bit elusive. Both the mysterious jewel robbery and the doings of the Single Ladies Society are frequently lost in the romantic tendrils of the novel. Unfortunately, the SSL doesn't seem to have really found it's stride yet. I expect/hope that will happen as the series develops.
I must say too that Phoebe's sister Lucinda is a wonderful 'Piece of Work'. Connolly created a truly dreadful, willful sister, that was so easy to dislike. I kept wanting people to giver her the 'cut direct' or some such thing. Totally spoilt brat!
The opening is rather brilliant. That really hooked me in.
And yes, I will want to read further books in this Georgian romance/mystery series and follow the lives of some of the more interesting ladies met so far.
A Kensington ARC via NetGalley
****
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