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isitcake's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
This is ok, but the side characters are what make this worth reading. I liked that, rather than be enemies, we see Delilah (Lady Derring) and her dead husband's mistress, Angelique Breedlove, become friends and go into business together, turning around the single asset left to them - a building by the docks of the Thames - into a boarding house. It used to be known as the Palace of Rogues but they've renamed it the Grand Palace on the Thames. Turns out her husband used to be part of the smuggling business, mainly(?) cigars, and this is where he stored a lot of it. Captain Tristan Hardy is investigating the smuggling ring which leads him to Lady Derring. He doesn't know whether she's involved in it all so he takes a room at the boarding house to investigate.
This makes him their third patron. The first 2 were interesting. First they get a man who says he is employed by a "Mr. X" who leases rooms all across the city in case he ever needs to stay there, taking their largest room. Next they get 2 very homely "women," the Gardner sisters, who say they had to leave their former place and are looking for a place to live out their lives quietly. They also ask for the largest room - I thought this was odd since 2 women on a fixed income shouldn't be spending more for the biggest room. But then when Hardy wants a room he also requests the biggest so I set aside this oddity. That was very clever of the author to do. They also get in a Mr. Delacorte who is quite the character and he's enjoying some of the cigars Hardy is after.
There's an attempted rape scene when a Mr. Brinker is let in after curfew and catches Delilah alone. Luckily Hardy walks in to stop it in time and he and Delilah have sex after that - her finally taking a lover. Right after this there's more great side characters and a scene where a young well-to-do guy, Farraday, comes to stay with them because he doesn't want to marry his childhood best friend and by chance that same woman, Miss Bevan-Clark, also comes to stay with them. So Hardy and Delilah conspire to make the young couple jealous which prompts them to finally get together.
Later Hardy opens up a tiny bit about his past, I think he grew up poor or something idk I didn't really care much about him. Pretty soon afer this Hardy solves the mystery - the Gardner sisters are actually men dressed as women. They had dealings with Lord Derring where they would hide cigars in statues, transport them into this building which connects to tunnels that they could use to transport them. But then Derring suddenly died and they couldn't get in. Hardy comes back to the boarding house in an official capacity to pull a sting operation to catch them, which works and his business is done. Delilah feels betrayed knowing the real reason he was there. Especially since they had sex.
The King of England stops by to proclaim their home quite respectable, this seems to have been arranged by Hardy. Hardy tells Delilah he loves her but he plans to go sailing. Delilah runs after him to say she loves him too. In the epilogue they're married. Hardy has hired a captain to do his merchant runs and plans to do an India voyage later with his wife. They live at the Grand Palace now. A mysterious man shows up with the other half of Angelique's token - I think this might be the duke who broke her heart or something.
This makes him their third patron. The first 2 were interesting. First they get a man who says he is employed by a "Mr. X" who leases rooms all across the city in case he ever needs to stay there, taking their largest room. Next they get 2 very homely "women," the Gardner sisters, who say they had to leave their former place and are looking for a place to live out their lives quietly. They also ask for the largest room - I thought this was odd since 2 women on a fixed income shouldn't be spending more for the biggest room. But then when Hardy wants a room he also requests the biggest so I set aside this oddity. That was very clever of the author to do. They also get in a Mr. Delacorte who is quite the character and he's enjoying some of the cigars Hardy is after.
There's an attempted rape scene when a Mr. Brinker is let in after curfew and catches Delilah alone. Luckily Hardy walks in to stop it in time and he and Delilah have sex after that - her finally taking a lover. Right after this there's more great side characters and a scene where a young well-to-do guy, Farraday, comes to stay with them because he doesn't want to marry his childhood best friend and by chance that same woman, Miss Bevan-Clark, also comes to stay with them. So Hardy and Delilah conspire to make the young couple jealous which prompts them to finally get together.
Later Hardy opens up a tiny bit about his past, I think he grew up poor or something idk I didn't really care much about him. Pretty soon afer this Hardy solves the mystery - the Gardner sisters are actually men dressed as women. They had dealings with Lord Derring where they would hide cigars in statues, transport them into this building which connects to tunnels that they could use to transport them. But then Derring suddenly died and they couldn't get in. Hardy comes back to the boarding house in an official capacity to pull a sting operation to catch them, which works and his business is done. Delilah feels betrayed knowing the real reason he was there. Especially since they had sex.
The King of England stops by to proclaim their home quite respectable, this seems to have been arranged by Hardy. Hardy tells Delilah he loves her but he plans to go sailing. Delilah runs after him to say she loves him too. In the epilogue they're married. Hardy has hired a captain to do his merchant runs and plans to do an India voyage later with his wife. They live at the Grand Palace now. A mysterious man shows up with the other half of Angelique's token - I think this might be the duke who broke her heart or something.
alysonc's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
calih's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
tiffany_sostar's review against another edition
I have really enjoyed Julie Anne Long’s books in the past and maybe I would enjoy this one too, but I could see the ‘twist’ coming and reading a bunch of reviews confirmed it, and at this time of intensely heightened transphobia, I just do not have it in me to read a story that includes that tired, hostile trope of bad men pretending to be women. I love the banter, I love a good steamy romance, but that trope hurts trans women and I just feel sad now.
delaneyyyw's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
hazelgirl21's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gun violence
bhnmt61's review against another edition
4.0
Since my last two reviews were too long, I’ll keep this one short: it was fun. The pacing seemed a bit off, but maybe because it is the first in a series and she had to introduce a lot of characters. I especially enjoyed the beginning.
knippen's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0