Historical romance? Really?!!

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The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels (Dangerous Damsels #1) by India Holton    

⭐️⭐️💫




So I’m ok with Steampunk Victorian novels but I realize I’m not fully relating to this quasi-quirky Pirate Victorian romance more in the mode of a Lemony Snicket title, or maybe of Road Dahl gone rogue and let loose in Victorian England, with Quentin Blake illustrations naturally.
Is this a Victorian fantasy or something else? We have lady pirates trying to kill each other off, a would be assassin who’d rather write poetry, and escapades involving flying houses. 
Have I strayed into a Baba Yaga alternate world, or is this simply a humorous alternative Victorian fantasy romance?
Celia Bassingwaite belongs to the Wisteria Society crime sorority. A thief who takes delight in seeking out treasures and obtaining them in less than approved ways.
Ned Lightbourne is an assassin working for the deranged Captain Morvath who’s decided to rid the land of forward thinking women, starting with the Wisteria ladies.
Not what I’d envisaged when I settled down to read a historical romance. No, this is somewhat more of a satirical /paradoxical romp—maybe! 
I’m just going to have to do a re-read of this to really come to grips with it’s unorthodox departure from my expectations.  At the moment I’m sitting just below the fence.

A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley 

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