Reviews

Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan

emrlane's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

jackiehorne's review

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4.0

Courtney Milan's full-length historicals feature traditional male/female romance pairings. But her shorter works tends to star more unconventional couples. The duo in her latest, Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure, might just win the award for most underrepresented characters in Victorian romance. Although they are both white, both of her lovers are female, as well as "seasoned"—one in her sixties, the other in her seventies. Though the eponymous Mrs. Martin suffers from a lack of spirits after the death of her best friend, she hasn't lost any of her outspoken manner ("My husband, God rot his soul, used to bring prostitutes home all the time. After he'd finished with them, I'd serve them tea and double whatever he was paying them.... It was hard work fucking my husband. Trust me, I should know. I certainly didn't want to do it" [Kindle Loc 225]). She's certainly not the meek, retiring gentlewoman recently sacked boarding house manager Miss Violetta Beauchamps was hoping for, a woman whom Violetta could somehow swindle into paying the far-overdue rent for her smarmy nephew. Violetta desperately needs that money in lieu of the pension her employer had promised her, but then chose not to pay her upon unfairly firing her after she'd worked for him for forty-seven years. In fact, Violetta is far closer to the meek mouse she had hoped Mrs. Martin would be than is the formidable Mrs. Martin herself.

See the rest of the review at: http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com/2019/04/short-takes-spring-2019-historicals-by.html

thesixthstation's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

michelle904's review against another edition

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4.0

This was book #64 for Romanceopoly 2020.

Pack: Moon
Square: Lovers Lane
Challenge: Read an LGBT romance which isn't a contemporary

ladyreverie's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.25

stormyday's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

it took me a while to read because i’m in a slump, but i adored this book!! if you like stories with revenge plots and women learning to love themselves and another, this is for you

jmitschke's review against another edition

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4.0

Courtney Milan <3

lezreadalot's review against another edition

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4.0

Two wrongs didn’t make a right, but occasionally they did make an escape.

This was just the absolute height of adorable. A caper! A romp! A really cute adventure with an irascible, rich, dgaf heroine who's had it up to HERE with terrible men, and a clever, poor, almost-pensioner with a scheme, who team up to best a really shitty dude, and fall in love along the way! And they're both like 70.

I have such a huge soft spot for later-in-life-love-stories, and cute old ladies are my catnip. This addressed some stuff that's been bugging me a lot these days: how older people (and in the era this is set in, especially older women) are constantly written off, ridiculed, treated like they're already dead, or halfway there, so who needs to care about them! Seeing how they both fight back against that, Bertrice with her take no shit, say and do whatever attitude, Violetta with her steely determination to survive, no matter what, was really really heartening. It was a short novella, but in it was just this great sense of... a will not only to survive, but live and enjoy life, take pleasure from it, live like you have decades left and be kind to people along the way.

(People who deserve kindness. So, not Terrible Nephews.)

The romance was sweet and well done, but I'll admit it: I did want more! Especially in terms of just like... the feeling of finding and becoming friends with another woman who loves women, talking about their situation in the framework of the larger society, the knowledge that it isn't the Norm. It's what I want out of a lot, if not all historical f/f romance, because exploring that always leads to great things in the emotions department. And... it was treated pretty casually here. Which wasn't bad? But I was a little disappointed.

But not by much! I loved this a lot, and will remember it fondly. 3.5 stars.

cimorene1558's review against another edition

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4.0

A highly enjoyable novella! Wish it were longer!

jen286's review against another edition

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4.0

This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland

I love Courtney Milan. Her books are always so much fun! Oh I loved Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure! I hope I am half as awesome as Mrs. Martin when I am her age. It would be so much fun!

Miss Violetta Beauchamps is in a bit of a bind. She has never married and has worked hard her whole life thinking that she will be able to survive in her old age, only something happens to shake up her plans. So makes a new one even if she is not happy about having to lie to Mrs. Martin to make it work. Only her plan doesn't work out the way she had anticipated and oh she was in for an adventure.

Mrs. Martin is so much fun. She sees Violetta in the way no one thus far has. She doesn't want to get close to her and risk losing someone else, but how can she not. When Violetta comes to her about her Mrs. Martin's Terrible Nephew she jumps into action enlisting Violetta's help in taking him down. Her nephew really is terrible and I loved how these two ladies dealt with the situation. How Mrs. Martin does what she wants because she has the money to do so, but also the money to help those in need. She speaks her mind and comes up with the craziest of plans and it was awesome. How she makes people bend to her will because she can. She has the power that she didn't feel like she had for so long. I hope I am just like her - even if she was afraid she didn't want to be so she didn't let that stop her.

These two were super sweet together. I love that they both brought out the best in each other and helped each other grow stronger even if they didn't realize it. Violetta is used to being silent and screaming on the inside, but Bertrice helps her figure out how to let it out and do something about it. She is that cranky old lady who speaks her mind, which usually made me laugh because she was hilarious. The things they got up to, the ways they tried to make the Terrible Nephew's life terrible were great. And I loved how everything worked out in the end. Such a fun read!

*Note: I received a free copy of this book for voluntary review consideration