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 top-notch, spooky Regency page-turner.
Two lady novelists are haunted—and not just by thoughts of each other.
Lady Georgiana Cleeve has had enough. She and her mother gave up everything to escape her abusive father, and her writing career keeps them afloat, but lately every time she writes a novel, it's plagiarized before it’s even published by someone calling herself Lady Darling. When, after staking out Belvoir’s Library one morning at dawn, she discovers to her horror that Lady Darling is none other than Catriona Lacey, the daughter of her family’s butler, with whom she was once “hopelessly infatuated.” It turns out that Cat—shocked to see the aristocratic girl she used to pine for—also depends on writing Gothic romances to support her family. Unfortunately, after they part ways in the worst of tempers, they almost immediately see each other again at their publisher’s office, and then at a haunted churchyard, and then, somehow, at a haunted house in Wiltshire where both expected to find inspiration for their next novel. They agree to stay out of each other’s way, but in just a few days, their chemistry has fully reignited. Their first kiss is the “most erotic” experience either has had, but after their second kiss, they find a dead body in the probably haunted garden—and things only get stranger from there. And despite the supernatural happenings and growing danger, they can’t keep their hands off each other, leading both to wonder if a future together might be possible. The third story in the Belvoir’s Library series starts in the bookstore and then, as the women face being haunted by both the paranormal and their pasts, comes alive against the eerie setting. Georgie and Cat are tempted into plenty of scorching-hot moments no matter where they are, and they forge a gripping emotional connection as well. The satisfying ending is topped only by the excellent author’s note, in which readers will be delighted to learn how much of the story was drawn from the historical record.
A top-notch, spooky Regency page-turner.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250910981
Page Count: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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
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