I won a book stack from Waves of Fiction and among the books was India Holton‘s The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels.
A prim and proper lady thief must save her aunt from a crazed pirate and his dangerously charming henchman in this fantastical historical romance.
Cecilia Bassingwaite is the ideal Victorian lady. She’s also a thief. Like the other members of the Wisteria Society crime sorority, she flies around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by interesting means. Sure, she has a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, but all things considered, it’s a pleasant existence. Until the men show up.
Ned Lightbourne is a sometimes assassin who is smitten with Cecilia from the moment they meet. Unfortunately, that happens to be while he’s under direct orders to kill her. His employer, Captain Morvath, who possesses a gothic abbey bristling with cannons and an unbridled hate for the world, intends to rid England of all its presumptuous women, starting with the Wisteria Society. Ned has plans of his own. But both men have made one grave mistake. Never underestimate a woman.
When Morvath imperils the Wisteria Society, Cecilia is forced to team up with her handsome would-be assassin to save the women who raised her–hopefully proving, once and for all, that she’s as much of a scoundrel as the rest of them.
I adored this. It was an absolute mad-cap adventure, full of sarcasm and pointed cognitive dissonance. I adored Cecilia and all of her morally ambiguous, but completely proper aunties. I thought Ned was a marvelous love interest. It would be difficult to call him a hero, since Cecilia has so little need of one. But he does try, bless his heart.
As much as I loved the witty repartee and utter lack of seriousness, it did become tedious at times, making the book feel a little like a one-trick pony. But every-time I started to think it, the book would throw some sarcastic aside at me and I’d find myself laughing again. I also disliked how easily Cecilia went from strong, smart, and capable to silly and how often. One sip of alcohol and she’s giggling drunk, for example. But that’s a relatively small complaint in the larger picture.
I’m so glad to see Alex will be the male focus of book two. I’ll be lined up to read it on it’s release.
Other Reviews:
Review: The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels (Dangerous Damsels #1) by India Holton
THE WISTERIA SOCIETY OF LADY SCOUNDRELS by India Holton – Review
I generally enjoyed the first 3/4 of this and then it just went completely off the rails for the last quarter. And, while I liked most of what it was well enough, it isn’t true to the blurb. The blurb says things like, “A queen bows for no one, though. Not even when she’s frail and fading away. She’ll tap into her strength, protecting the only family she has left. The king is about to learn why they call her the cruel one…” But the actual book is full of things like, “I don’t understand his power over me, but I’d gladly yield to him over and over again. I crave to be at his will.” And she starts to yield within less than an hour of meeting him. It’s not like she held out for a long time or anything. Plus, by the end a reader truly has to question if she’s protecting her family.
