The Princess Bride meets Kingsman in this fantastical romance debut about a delightfully proper young Victorian lady's quest to save her kidnapped aunt while navigating magical hijinks.
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 means far more interesting than purchase. Sure, she has a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, and no, she's not technically an official member of the Society yet, despite years of petitioning--but all things considered, it's a pretty 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 (one of them, anyway) is Captain Morvath, who possesses a gothic abbey bristling with cannons and an unbridled hate for the world. He 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 kidnaps the members of the Wisteria Society, Cecilia is forced to team up with her devilishly handsome would-be assassin (who seems quite inept indeed), face her demons, and risk her life 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.
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This book was EVERYTHING I needed! It’s a lovely historical romance disguised as a whimsical fantasy adventure à la The Princess Bride with a good amount of puns. The main character, Cecilia, is a pirate and first-rate scoundrel. Cecilia comes from a long line of cunning lady pirates. She hopes to build a reputation as a swashbuckling pirate and ultimately earn membership into the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. After interning under another pirate, Cecilia has not made much progress towards her goal. While Cecilia aspires to carry on her family’s legacy, she is also the epitome of a proper Victorian lady with a moral code. This duality of Cecilia’s character serves as a plot device that confounds Ned Lightbourne, a Victorian-era James Bond, who falls in love with Cecilia. Ned is an interesting character. He’s a jack of all trades. He’s a pirate, sometimes assassin, and courier to the Queen. Ned is under orders to kill Cecilia, but ends up falling in love with her. This certainly puts a damper on their budding romance. For me, romances with “instant love” plotlines have lost their appeal, but for this book, I stuck it out and was glad I did. Captain Morvath, one of Ned's employers, has a vendetta to settle with the ladies of the Wisteria Society. After members of the Wisteria Society are kidnapped, Cecilia teams up with Ned to rescue them. Overall, the writing flows well, the characters are interesting, and the pace was perfect for this madcap romp.
4 stars
About the Author
India Holton is the author of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, a fantastical rom-com set in an alternate Victorian era. She lives in coastal New Zealand, where she grew up running barefoot around islands, following ghosts through forests, and messing around in boats. She spent several years teaching and now writes about plucky girls, unconventional women, and the men who love them. India's writing is fuelled by tea, buttered scones, and thunderstorms.
