February is a month for romance and with Valentine’s right around the corner, what better way is there to get in the mood than a romance(?) series for this month’s Book of the Month?
It’s regency era England and the Earl of Wrexford is an educated high society scoundrel who runs on the outsides of his standing often being cast as an outsider for his eccentric pursuit of science and refusal to take fools lightly even if they are of similar or higher standing and Charlotte Sloane, a widowed nobody living in the slums and using her anonymity to work as London’s greatest satirical artist A.J. Quill, using her information networks of urchins and insider knowledge to lambast the upper crust of society. When a priest who has openly accused Wrexford of devil worship and heresy is found murdered it puts them on a collision course as Wrexford is forced to go to work to solve the murder and prove his own innocence. As their relationship and feelings grow so too does the complicated web of secrets they bear and the challenges of their differing social statuses.
So, unfortunately I haven’t read a lot of romance series but luckily we can get one of my favourite murder mystery series I’ve read in the last few years. And the murder mystery has romance! Just a very, very, very, slowburn romance, the likes of which is rarely seen outside of fanfiction. I’ve read the first three novels of Wrexford and Sloane’s adventures and they’ve only just started to come to terms with the fact they might have feelings for each other.(You’ve already kissed! Just accept it already!!) It helps that it’s supplemented by intriguing adventures along the way along mixing found family fun as well as political and corporate intrigue. So to me at least, the pay off has felt worth the investment.
Andrea Penrose has done a fantastic job utilizing great character writing, intriguing uses of historical accuracy involving scientific(Faraday coils anyone?) and political knowledge of the time as well as historical figures to flesh out and tie everything together into a grounded solid story. There are nine total books in the series with a tenth on its way. Wrexford and Charlotte’s chemistry as well as that of the urchin boys known as the Weasels and Wrexford’s brilliant yet unmotivated friend Kit Sheffield(as well as many more) are filled with wit and intelligence that makes every beat of dialogue feel real.
If you want something that will engrose you and fly by this short month then I highly recommend.
