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kelleenmoriarty's review
2.0
It just didn't wow me. I've loved the other two in the series though, so I absolutely recommend this series, and I love love love sapphic historical romance!!
cakt1991's review
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
I received an ARC from the author via BookSprout and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Her Lady’s Fortune is the third in Renee Dahlia’s Great War series, but the first I’ve read. It works perfectly fine as a stand-alone, and I don’t think I missed anything by starting out with this one.
This book manages to pull off a setup I often find a turnoff: the story opening with the leads sleeping together with no previous interaction, parting for some reason or another, but being changed by the experience, and being reunited years later. I often wonder how much of it was just lust and how much can build into genuine lasting love. This book pulls that off, and while some of it is angsting while they’re in each others’ presence speaking without actually communicating, it came across in a realistic way as Priya and Rosalie figure things out.
I also really liked Priya and Rosalie as people, and how they are both navigating the world as industrious women in a world that is slowly, just barely adapting to accept women in more independent roles. Rosalie is the only one in her banking family who takes things seriously, but she isn’t accepted as head of the business. Priya is defined by her relationship to her brother, who is expected to inherit a substantial fortune, leading her to be distrustful of others, lest they be another fortune hunter. I also liked the compassionate exploration of her biracial Indian/British heritage, and how it also feeds into a sense of guilt and responsibility about the source of the family’s wealth.
I also enjoyed the historical context subtly embedded into the text. From the prewar Bloomsbury Group to the impacts of the war after it ended (the bulk of the story is set in 1919) and the still-raging Spanish flu pandemic, there’s a real sense of place and you feel like you’re there experiencing it, and not just reading and taking in facts.
I really enjoyed this one, both for its unique setting and positive spin on a trope(?) I sometimes dislike in a way that makes it work. If you’re a historical romance reader looking for a World War I-set story, you might like this one.
Her Lady’s Fortune is the third in Renee Dahlia’s Great War series, but the first I’ve read. It works perfectly fine as a stand-alone, and I don’t think I missed anything by starting out with this one.
This book manages to pull off a setup I often find a turnoff: the story opening with the leads sleeping together with no previous interaction, parting for some reason or another, but being changed by the experience, and being reunited years later. I often wonder how much of it was just lust and how much can build into genuine lasting love. This book pulls that off, and while some of it is angsting while they’re in each others’ presence speaking without actually communicating, it came across in a realistic way as Priya and Rosalie figure things out.
I also really liked Priya and Rosalie as people, and how they are both navigating the world as industrious women in a world that is slowly, just barely adapting to accept women in more independent roles. Rosalie is the only one in her banking family who takes things seriously, but she isn’t accepted as head of the business. Priya is defined by her relationship to her brother, who is expected to inherit a substantial fortune, leading her to be distrustful of others, lest they be another fortune hunter. I also liked the compassionate exploration of her biracial Indian/British heritage, and how it also feeds into a sense of guilt and responsibility about the source of the family’s wealth.
I also enjoyed the historical context subtly embedded into the text. From the prewar Bloomsbury Group to the impacts of the war after it ended (the bulk of the story is set in 1919) and the still-raging Spanish flu pandemic, there’s a real sense of place and you feel like you’re there experiencing it, and not just reading and taking in facts.
I really enjoyed this one, both for its unique setting and positive spin on a trope(?) I sometimes dislike in a way that makes it work. If you’re a historical romance reader looking for a World War I-set story, you might like this one.
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