Series: The Wild Women of Whitechapel, #1
Traits & Tropes: enemies to lovers; age gap; hidden identity; widower; titled hero; unconventional heroine; class difference; road trip; working heroine; duty bound hero; second son; unexpected inheritance; intrigue
Publication Date: 10.25.22
Genre/Setting: Historical; London, England/France, 1815
Heat Level: 4
Rating: 3.5/5
Marianne Simpson has the looks and mannerisms of the educated lady she is, characteristics that don’t quite fit with her profession as a boxer in her uncle’s all female circus. When the flawlessly attractive St. John Powell, Duke of Staunton, becomes a presence in the front row of her fights, Marianne finds herself dangerously distracted by him. She knows she can’t work much longer in her dangerous profession, but it’s even more imperative that she keep up her fight against her attraction to the duke.
St. John Powell is intrigued by Marianne, but more than that he needs her help to rescue his younger brother, currently being held captive by a treasonous English baron known to be the worst of rakes. Marianne has no intention of ever crossing paths with her deceitful ex-lover again, especially since he’s the man who earned her the embarrassing nickname the Boxing Baroness, but St. John must convince her, even if it means employing less than gentlemanly tactics.
This book surprised me with how much I wound up enjoying it in the end. I found Marianne to be very off-putting at first and overly judgmental and petty, tarring every aristocrat with the same brush after a terrible experience with one despicable, titled man. Her nearly ceaseless sniping and constant expectation of the worst of him was uncalled for and got old fast, but fortunately, she did come to realize this flaw and take steps to correct it as she comes to know St. John and his friends. I’m still not sure I exactly found her likable, but I did like her character development. St. John also exhibited some lovely growth as his adventure with Marianne took him outside the bounds of his usual world. I loved that he wanted to be with her so badly and didn’t care about the scandal and I loved how things came together for these two and their friends when they faced and defeated the story’s villain, even though it wasn’t quite what I expected. What I didn’t like here was the long third act separation. Though thankfully it didn’t span very many pages, it was a year of the characters’ lives, and I am just never a fan of that in a love story, especially as the reasons for their separation were feeble and mostly made up in Marianne’s head. It made her seem a bit snobbish after all the disparaging remarks she’d previously made about the aristocracy. Otherwise, I loved the fact that St. John showed Marianne what a real, honorable man is like, because she’d had poor examples up to that point and they were a nice example of a relationship with compromise.
Other than those couple of features of which I was not a great fan, I enjoyed this story for how very different it was from the usual Regency romance. The author obviously put a great deal of research and effort into the work, and it shows. This is a series I will continue reading.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/3138570182
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4846610631
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