Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Why on earth would Felicity Faircloth say that she is going to marry the Duke of Marwick? Sick to death of the social snubs and slights, both subtle and patently obvious, delivered by a vindictive cadre of her former so-called former friends, Felicity attempts to put them in their places by lying and saying she has landed the season's most sought-after matrimonial catch. Of course, since Felicity has never even met the Duke of Marwick, everyone will soon have one more reason to gossip about her. Until a mysterious man named Devil, whom Felicity first met in the duke's gardens that night, turns up later in her bedchamber and promises Felicity that he can help her land her duke—but only if she is willing to pay his price. Resplendent writing, shot through with an addictively acerbic sense of wit; unforgettable characters imbued with mesmerizing complexity; and a smartly conceived plot composed equally of delicious desire and dark intrigue all come together brilliantly in the first in best-selling and RITA Award–winning MacLean's new Bareknuckle Bastards series Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.
BookPage Reviews
Romance: Love in the shadows
A young aristocratic woman finds romance far away from the ballrooms of the nobility in Sarah MacLean's Wicked and the Wallflower, the first book in her new Bareknuckle Bastards series. Devastated by the rejection of her former friends in society, Lady Felicity Faircloth makes a brash (and completely fabricated) announcement—she's engaged to a mysterious duke who's just come to town. Before the truth is revealed, a dark stranger promises Felicity that he can make her fib come true. Bastard-born crime lord Devil Culm wants to exact revenge on his titled half-brother. If that means involving and possibly ruining the intelligent and determined Lady Felicity, so be it. But this pair of opposites find each other fascinating, and soon they are verbally sparring and sharing sultry kisses. They agree a relationship between them can't be, or at least can't last—or can it? Watching a strong man fall for a witty and determined lady is one of the chief joys of the romance genre, and MacLean has created a dashing hero and deserving heroine that readers will remember far beyond the last page of this charming novel.
FANTASTIC VOYAGE
Steampunk technology, witches, fairy tales and shape shifters all come together in Kiss of the Spindle by Nancy Campbell Allen. Dr. Isla Cooper joins the passengers on board a private airship in order to reach the Caribbean, where she hopes to find the antidote for a curse that causes her to sleep like the dead every night. The airship is piloted by the attractive and roguish Captain Daniel Pickett, who is not above carrying out illegal activities under the nose of the dangerous government official aboard his ship. Allen's extensive world building provides a view into an intriguing alternate universe, and readers will delight in following the author's imagination into its heart. Isla and Daniel have full lives and believable motivations, and the humor provided by a very realistic automaton—yes, an automaton!—is a welcome touch. This kisses-only love story is an action-packed thrill ride, complete with a ticking clock sure to keep readers' pulses racing.
TOP PICK IN ROMANCE
In Donna Kauffman's Bluestone & Vine, small-town romance hits several sweet notes when a famous Irish folk singer travels to Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. After undergoing surgery, Pippa MacMillan retreats to Blue Hollow Falls to recuperate and let her voice heal. She stays with vintner Seth Brogan, who proves to be a wonderful host and also much too attractive. The pair acknowledges their palpable chemistry, but they're not sure what could possibly come of it, so they try to go their separate ways. But small communities mean tight connections, and soon Pippa is invested in the lives of other townspeople—who in turn do their best to make a match of the wary pair. Readers will appreciate the wonderful sense of place, the well-rounded secondary characters and the deep emotion of this tender and sometimes tearful tale.
This article was originally published in the July 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
Copyright 2018 BookPage Reviews.Kirkus Reviews
In the first novel of the Bareknuckle Bastards series, two outcasts meet at a glittering London ball but fall in love in the city's darkest corners, beginning a saga that links a family across British society. Devon "Devil" Culm, a rich crime lord and the oldest of a group of three half brothers born out of wedlock to a duke, is determined to stop one of them from breaking an old oath. When wallflower Lady Felicity Faircloth appears in his path, she seems to be the ideal instrument for his plan—till his attraction to her gets in the way. MacLean introduced Felicity as an aging debutante in The Day of the Duchess (2017) and awards her a cross-class romance in this novel. Though Felicity is the daughter of a marquess, a loss of popularity as she gets older prompts her to rashly tell her former friends at a society event that she's engaged to a reclusive duke. While her new "fiancé" has his own reasons for going along with her lie, she finds it impossible to commit to him after several intimate encounters with Devil in the rougher neighborhoods of London. While an aristocratic heroine who can easily slip away to meet a mystery man in a warehouse, a brothel, or a rooftop is not uncommon in the genre, the electric attraction that can help a reader ignore such implausibilities is not established convincingly enough at the start. This is partly because the backstory that can revitalize the novel's tropes—the hero who decides to use a woman for vengeance but loses his heart, the sheltered virgin who flouts convention and then discovers she's been a pawn—isn't fully clarified till the last quarter. As a result, the plot and characters' motivations feel predictable and yet muddled. The climax and eventual resolution is satisfying but throws the weaknesses of the initial chapters into sharper relief. Though grittier than the average Regency or Victorian romance, à la TV shows like Peaky Blinders, this is a new bottle with old wi n e—a Horatio Alger-style hero who pulled himself up by his bootstraps and a poor little rich Englishwoman whose problems amount to choosing between different wealthy suitors. Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Reviews
When spinster Lady Felicity Faircloth announces, in a fit of pique, that she is the Duke of Marwick's intended bride—and he goes along with it—she has no idea that she is playing into the hands of a man who wants nothing more than to ruin the Duke. Marwick is about to renege on a bargain he made with his siblings years ago, and Devil (aka Devon Culm), one of the powerful Bareknuckle Bastards, is out for revenge and intends to use Felicity to accomplish it. It's a perfect plan, but falling for Felicity wasn't in the cards. Set as Victoria's reign is just beginning, MacLean's stunning series opener spins a compelling tale rich with mythological and fairy-tale allusions and history (the ice trade and the "unpickable" Chubb lock are enthralling), taking readers on a tantalizing journey to the dark, criminal world of Covent Garden.
PW Annex Reviews
The devil is in the delightful details for MacLean's first Bareknuckle Bastards Regency romance. Felicity Faircloth was once one of the crown jewels of society. Now she's consigned to spinster wallflower status by gossiping matrons and fickle friends, but her family's social and financial survival depends on her marrying well. During her escape from the harsh world of the ballroom, her singular skill with lock picks—a response to all the doors that patriarchal society closes in women's faces—lands her directly in the path of one of Covent Garden's most notorious criminals, a man known as Devil. He's obsessed with the complete and utter ruination of the newly surfaced Duke of Marwick and thinks that Felicity's desperate need for a husband might make her the perfect pawn for his game. He offers to help set her up with the duke, but doesn't count on falling in love with her himself. MacLean (