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kentcryptid's review
2.0
To Charm a Bluestocking has an appealing premise: it's 1887 and Josephine Tobinbury is about to complete her studies as one of the first women to graduate in medicine from the Municipal University of Amsterdam. In order to protect herself from the attentions of the villainous Professor van Percy she writes to her father and asks him to provide her with a fake beau. Complications arise when her 'fiancé' arrives and proves to be less biddable than she had imagined.
Bluestocking is written in an appealingly breathless, full-tilt style that carries the reader along and doesn't encourage the paying of too much attention to the plot. The author obviously has a love for her subject matter, explaining in the afterword that the inspiration came from her own great grandmother who was an early 20th-century medical graduate. The book includes some interesting particulars about pioneering women doctors, historical events in Amsterdam, and 19th-century medical techniques.
However, the same attention to detail hasn't been paid to 1880s social mores or language. It's a convention in some historical romance writing to disregard any attempt to make dialogue sound historically accurate, perhaps with the idea that readers will connect more with characters who sound like they're from the modern day USA rather than the historical period in question. It's a stylistic choice I always question because there's nothing that throws me out of a story set in 1887 faster than writing like - to quote some examples from To Charm a Bluestocking - "Don't stress. They are just scared that we will show them up"; "Your father asked you to do market research for him?; and "The whole place had a good vibe."
Josephine is an appealingly practical heroine who is just the person to have around if you've been caught in a towering inferno or had your nose broken by an evil-doer. Speaking of which, Professor van Percy is a rather fun Black Hat of a villain, fond of making theatrical speeches and at one point literally twirling his moustache.
The hero, Nicolas, is something of a nonentity, although I did enjoy his pride in Josephine's achievements and support for her medical career. The two of them fall in insta-love and don't have much chemistry while clothed, but there's one enjoyably sensual sex scene. There are also a couple of would-be erotic scenes which are horribly unsexy, including Nicolas being weirdly aroused by Josephine eating a sandwich.
There's also a very painful scene where the pair have sex in a moving carriage while she has a recently broken nose and he has a broken ankle. This is presented as pleasurable for the characters but just sounds horrific.
On the whole, this is a quick and moderately entertaining read, but something of a waste of an excellent premise.
Bluestocking is written in an appealingly breathless, full-tilt style that carries the reader along and doesn't encourage the paying of too much attention to the plot. The author obviously has a love for her subject matter, explaining in the afterword that the inspiration came from her own great grandmother who was an early 20th-century medical graduate. The book includes some interesting particulars about pioneering women doctors, historical events in Amsterdam, and 19th-century medical techniques.
However, the same attention to detail hasn't been paid to 1880s social mores or language. It's a convention in some historical romance writing to disregard any attempt to make dialogue sound historically accurate, perhaps with the idea that readers will connect more with characters who sound like they're from the modern day USA rather than the historical period in question. It's a stylistic choice I always question because there's nothing that throws me out of a story set in 1887 faster than writing like - to quote some examples from To Charm a Bluestocking - "Don't stress. They are just scared that we will show them up"; "Your father asked you to do market research for him?; and "The whole place had a good vibe."
Josephine is an appealingly practical heroine who is just the person to have around if you've been caught in a towering inferno or had your nose broken by an evil-doer. Speaking of which, Professor van Percy is a rather fun Black Hat of a villain, fond of making theatrical speeches and at one point literally twirling his moustache.
The hero, Nicolas, is something of a nonentity, although I did enjoy his pride in Josephine's achievements and support for her medical career. The two of them fall in insta-love and don't have much chemistry while clothed, but there's one enjoyably sensual sex scene. There are also a couple of would-be erotic scenes which are horribly unsexy, including Nicolas being weirdly aroused by Josephine eating a sandwich.
The sound of her masticating filled the room and it took all his effort to look away from her lips as they worked on her food. It was not much of a stretch to imagine her mouth on him.
There's also a very painful scene where the pair have sex in a moving carriage while she has a recently broken nose and he has a broken ankle. This is presented as pleasurable for the characters but just sounds horrific.
On the whole, this is a quick and moderately entertaining read, but something of a waste of an excellent premise.
robinwalter's review
Too many jarring tonal switches, not comfortable with the the mix of violence and romance
samd's review
2.0
ARC, NetGalley, honest review, etc. I was all set to declare this "a bit of a turd, realy" and pan the hell out of it, but then I read the author's website and found out it was her very first novel, and based off her doctor ancestress, a pioneer in the field of medicine, to boot, which has me downgrading this to "could have used some extremely stern editing."
That isn't to say this isn't a hot mess. Things I like in romance novels: bluestocking heroines, unconventional settings (Amsterdam!), fake betrothals/marriages of convenience, rakes being reformed. Things that were in this novel: all of those things. Things this romance novel carried off well: none of those things. OUR HEROINE calls her cool spy dad for a fake fiance to get a creepy professor off her back; OUR HERO turns up, we are told that he is a great spy, and they fall in instalust, straight from central casting, with inconvenient boners galore.
But the spying is mostly an informed ability; the creepy professor says "lol nah, you guys aren't betrothed, there's no way" and OUR HERO'S internal response is "shit, I had not planned for this extremely likely situation, what do I do? Ha ha!" Also, the pacing of the romance was off to the point that I kept shouting at my Kindle "they've only known each other for two days!!! that's not long enough!!! they don't have that kind of chemistry!!! she has exams to study for!!!!"
Another point to pick at was the... this is Well-Researched, in the sense that, as my roommate would say, the author read twenty Wikipedia pages to write this one paragraph, and by god, you're gonna read them too. (The sort-of works cited at the end of the book is actually pretty interesting, I definitely want to read some of her sources.) But the effect is not organic at all--very clunky, very "As you know, Bob,,,"
The writing is pretty clunky in points, too. There's a spy stuff plot, which I do not find particularly compelling even when done by established, excellent authors. The one bit of emotional goodness that emerged from said plot, however, was the burn reveal scene. Read it, you'll see.
As for the spicy bits, they were all right, but the one thing that caused me to have to suspend my disbelief to the extreme was--look. There's a bit where the designated villain kidnaps our heroine, cholorforms her, and forces her marriage, and then, because she is now his wife and therefore his property, he beats the hell out of her, to the point where her face is covered in bruises and her nose is broken. She sets her broken nose herself. Our hero rescues her, and they bone down... while she's still injured? Immediately afterward? I don't know about y'all, but I would not be feeling particularly randy if I'd just had to put my own nose back in place after an extremely traumatic experience.
Weak chemistry, poor pacing, Still, the whole series is a very interesting premise, and maybe our author will improve a few books down the line? Here's hoping.
That isn't to say this isn't a hot mess. Things I like in romance novels: bluestocking heroines, unconventional settings (Amsterdam!), fake betrothals/marriages of convenience, rakes being reformed. Things that were in this novel: all of those things. Things this romance novel carried off well: none of those things. OUR HEROINE calls her cool spy dad for a fake fiance to get a creepy professor off her back; OUR HERO turns up, we are told that he is a great spy, and they fall in instalust, straight from central casting, with inconvenient boners galore.
The role of the dissolute young rake was one that he had played to perfection during those political assignments earlier in his career. Nights spent at balls with the wives and mistresses of grand players in this game of international politics. Nights spent listening carefully to the threads of conversation to pick up little pieces of intrigue. Many of the ladies were sadly neglected by their power-hungry husbands and all too willing to give up their husband's secrets for a few hours in the arms of a handsome young man.
Was he ready to give that up for one woman?
But the spying is mostly an informed ability; the creepy professor says "lol nah, you guys aren't betrothed, there's no way" and OUR HERO'S internal response is "shit, I had not planned for this extremely likely situation, what do I do? Ha ha!" Also, the pacing of the romance was off to the point that I kept shouting at my Kindle "they've only known each other for two days!!! that's not long enough!!! they don't have that kind of chemistry!!! she has exams to study for!!!!"
Another point to pick at was the... this is Well-Researched, in the sense that, as my roommate would say, the author read twenty Wikipedia pages to write this one paragraph, and by god, you're gonna read them too. (The sort-of works cited at the end of the book is actually pretty interesting, I definitely want to read some of her sources.) But the effect is not organic at all--very clunky, very "As you know, Bob,,,"
The writing is pretty clunky in points, too. There's a spy stuff plot, which I do not find particularly compelling even when done by established, excellent authors. The one bit of emotional goodness that emerged from said plot, however, was the burn reveal scene. Read it, you'll see.
As for the spicy bits, they were all right, but the one thing that caused me to have to suspend my disbelief to the extreme was
Weak chemistry, poor pacing, Still, the whole series is a very interesting premise, and maybe our author will improve a few books down the line? Here's hoping.
julesg's review
5.0
I really liked this novel. Likeable and believable main characters. A believable plot. A lovely romance.
Some people might be offended by the anachronism, especially in dialogues, but I didn't mind those.
Some people might be offended by the anachronism, especially in dialogues, but I didn't mind those.
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