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hayleyfolstein's review
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
lenahe's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
3.75
I picked this one up as a recommendation after watching Bridgeton, and it does deliver. The book is historical romance, but filled with a diversity of characters that I enjoy very much (even if it is at times almost contemporary, a fact that some may not enjoy).
There's is a balance between the mystery plot and the romance, but sometimes the pacing felt off between the two.
Overall, it definitely scratched the itch of what I wanted to read, and that made it successful for me.
There's is a balance between the mystery plot and the romance, but sometimes the pacing felt off between the two.
Overall, it definitely scratched the itch of what I wanted to read, and that made it successful for me.
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Initially, I was very into this book, and I will likely read this author again. However, I was not impressed with how judgemental the reading was about sex work. The character doing the sex work was specifically described as disliking the work and doing it only as a last resort, but there was still a LOT of judgment that was really unnecessary. I understand that not everyone recognizes that sex work is work, and I also understand that in this historical period, Lila would probably not be supportive of this work, but it still felt ultra-judgy. Also, Lila getting totally dickmatized by Ivor and letting the lascar get arrested was so irresponsible , and I was really ticked off about it. And THEN Ivor 1000000% victim-blamed Lila for that young guy assaulting her because she was nice to him twice, and then she just forgives him and gets over it?? How many times does he have to show her who he is before she believes it??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Pregnancy, and Bullying
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Death, Racism, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Misogyny, Death of parent, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Fatphobia
sanawrites's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Release Date: 30th May 2023
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️
Unladylike Lessons in Love by Amita Murray will always have a special place in my heart no matter what for two reasons:
1) It is the first ARC I was approved for
2) Lila Marleigh is a brilliant Indian HR heroine!
This novel follows our heroine, Lila Marleigh, a gambling den hostess who is the eldest daughter of an English earl and his Indian mistress. The book starts with Lila being visited by a blast from her past, Maisie whose partner, Sunil, had been wrongly accused of attacking a lady. The lady in question is the hero, Ivor Tristram’s cousin Tiffany. Lila and Ivor cross paths throughout the novel to uncover the true identity of the attacker and his motivations behind it.
First off, I’d like to commend Amita for her characterisation of Lila. She's just about the coolest character I've read about thus far. Just from the way she carries herself, runs her salon and how there are little nods of her homeland in her life. The inclusion of Indian details in this is so seamless and made me feel very seen as a fellow Indian girl. I also found it unique that due to the way the sisters had grown up, Lila doesn’t read as the usual type of Eldest Daughter. She is very much her own person.
Another aspect I loved was how Amita has set up Lila and her sisters’ past. I absolutely adored the way it was written - very compelling and well done. The Marleigh sisters were shipped off to England as children after their parents' passing. When they showed up at their stepmother Lady Sarah's doorstep, Lila and her sisters bore the punishment of their Father's sins. They would do so until each one escaped that terrible household. The language used whenever their past was touched upon was beautiful. It hit right where it's supposed to hurt. It also illustrates why and how Lila became the way she is.
What little we get of the sisters and their descriptions leaves you wanting. Anya and Mira are definitely heroine material. I am hoping this would all pay off well in the subsequent Marleigh Sisters books.
For a debut HR novel, I think it's well written and unique in the sense of historical accuracy. Amita dug into several real issues such as racism, sexism, class privilege and assault through the lens of the Regency era. She used Lila's father, Lord Marleigh, to demonstrate how white lords often had second lives and families with their foreign mistresses continents away from their first family. Maisie and Sunil were examples of Caribbean and Indian descent people respectively who worked for high society peers. Their lives were shown to be the harsh realities of the lower class at the time, and what they had to do to survive. Even Tiffany’s attack was written with such care and highlighted the complexities of assault and its aftermath. Each of these topics were written realistically without being overwrought. Amita certainly did not shy away from the truths that still echo through modern times now.
The book tickled my fancy with Lila's brilliant character, the main mystery/conflict, a brilliant Act 3 that had me gasping every other page and a great host of characters in Maisie, Sunil and Lila's staff & friends. However, my main critique of the book is the chemistry between the leads was lacking at times.
Ivor doesn't quite feel like the right fit for Lila. This can be attributed to the fact that he could have been a lot more fleshed out. Oftentimes he felt like an afterthought. The romance took a backseat to serve the mystery plot and topics mentioned above that Amita wanted to bring across. Lila's feelings on her childhood trauma was also given priority which hinted at what's to come with the other sisters' backstories. (Not a bad thing, just could have been balanced more with her romance with Ivor).
Despite Ivor not being on par with Lila, characterisation wise, I did enjoy their steamy scenes together. It built up steadily across each Act and got hotter each time.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was great seeing an Indian heroine like myself in a genre I love so much. The secondary cast were so delightful to read about as well. They were all written with so much care and consideration. While this is my first Amita Murray book, I can see how she's transitioning from historical mystery novels to romance. She definitely played to her strengths in this novel. The historical research held up and the mystery took me for a shocking ride. Definitely recommending this for people wanting diverse characters in the HR genre who also love mysteries and plot twists.
Amita Murray can only go up from here with this genre. I am certainly excited to see this journey over the course of the next few books in the Marleigh Sisters series.
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️
Unladylike Lessons in Love by Amita Murray will always have a special place in my heart no matter what for two reasons:
1) It is the first ARC I was approved for
2) Lila Marleigh is a brilliant Indian HR heroine!
This novel follows our heroine, Lila Marleigh, a gambling den hostess who is the eldest daughter of an English earl and his Indian mistress. The book starts with Lila being visited by a blast from her past, Maisie whose partner, Sunil, had been wrongly accused of attacking a lady. The lady in question is the hero, Ivor Tristram’s cousin Tiffany. Lila and Ivor cross paths throughout the novel to uncover the true identity of the attacker and his motivations behind it.
First off, I’d like to commend Amita for her characterisation of Lila. She's just about the coolest character I've read about thus far. Just from the way she carries herself, runs her salon and how there are little nods of her homeland in her life. The inclusion of Indian details in this is so seamless and made me feel very seen as a fellow Indian girl. I also found it unique that due to the way the sisters had grown up, Lila doesn’t read as the usual type of Eldest Daughter. She is very much her own person.
Another aspect I loved was how Amita has set up Lila and her sisters’ past. I absolutely adored the way it was written - very compelling and well done. The Marleigh sisters were shipped off to England as children after their parents' passing. When they showed up at their stepmother Lady Sarah's doorstep, Lila and her sisters bore the punishment of their Father's sins. They would do so until each one escaped that terrible household. The language used whenever their past was touched upon was beautiful. It hit right where it's supposed to hurt. It also illustrates why and how Lila became the way she is.
What little we get of the sisters and their descriptions leaves you wanting. Anya and Mira are definitely heroine material. I am hoping this would all pay off well in the subsequent Marleigh Sisters books.
For a debut HR novel, I think it's well written and unique in the sense of historical accuracy. Amita dug into several real issues such as racism, sexism, class privilege and assault through the lens of the Regency era. She used Lila's father, Lord Marleigh, to demonstrate how white lords often had second lives and families with their foreign mistresses continents away from their first family. Maisie and Sunil were examples of Caribbean and Indian descent people respectively who worked for high society peers. Their lives were shown to be the harsh realities of the lower class at the time, and what they had to do to survive. Even Tiffany’s attack was written with such care and highlighted the complexities of assault and its aftermath. Each of these topics were written realistically without being overwrought. Amita certainly did not shy away from the truths that still echo through modern times now.
The book tickled my fancy with Lila's brilliant character, the main mystery/conflict, a brilliant Act 3 that had me gasping every other page and a great host of characters in Maisie, Sunil and Lila's staff & friends. However, my main critique of the book is the chemistry between the leads was lacking at times.
Ivor doesn't quite feel like the right fit for Lila. This can be attributed to the fact that he could have been a lot more fleshed out. Oftentimes he felt like an afterthought. The romance took a backseat to serve the mystery plot and topics mentioned above that Amita wanted to bring across. Lila's feelings on her childhood trauma was also given priority which hinted at what's to come with the other sisters' backstories. (Not a bad thing, just could have been balanced more with her romance with Ivor).
Despite Ivor not being on par with Lila, characterisation wise, I did enjoy their steamy scenes together. It built up steadily across each Act and got hotter each time.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was great seeing an Indian heroine like myself in a genre I love so much. The secondary cast were so delightful to read about as well. They were all written with so much care and consideration. While this is my first Amita Murray book, I can see how she's transitioning from historical mystery novels to romance. She definitely played to her strengths in this novel. The historical research held up and the mystery took me for a shocking ride. Definitely recommending this for people wanting diverse characters in the HR genre who also love mysteries and plot twists.
Amita Murray can only go up from here with this genre. I am certainly excited to see this journey over the course of the next few books in the Marleigh Sisters series.
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Racism
The main plot involves a sexual assault with the wrong man being accused due to racism. These two triggers covered during the main plot points may be triggering to some audiencesmirandamacfar's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ldv12's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
coppercrane2's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
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
3.5
kcash20's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was a lovely romance with a great dash of mystery!
shortiebabe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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? No
5.0
I LOVED the first book in The Marleigh Sisters series. Lila Marleigh, the FMC, is modern, progressive, and open-minded compared to the majority of the ton. She sees people for who they are, not what society tells them they are. You see this in how she engages with the other characters in the story and who she employs. As the story progresses, I find myself liking Lila more and more. As a dowager who has no desire or need to marry, she reminds me of Shonda Rhimes's version of Kathina Sharma from Season 2 of Netflix's Bridgerton, and I imagined Lila with a strong resemblance to Kate also.
I wasn't a big fan of Ivor; however, I did respect that he believed Lila from the beginning about it not being Sunil who attacked his cousin. He did slowly grow on me towards the end, but he still has to evolve as a character.
I can't wait for book 2 about Anya Marleigh's story that comes out May 2024. I hope we get to see more of Lila (and Ivor) woven into Anya's story and that they start to heal their relationship.
I appreciate that the regency/historical romance genre is getting the multicultural boost that is desperately needed. Until Season 2 of Bridgerton started, I had no desire to read historical romances by authors like Julia Quinn or the classics by Jane Austen. Now, I am more inclined to read and appreciate them.
I wasn't a big fan of Ivor; however, I did respect that he believed Lila from the beginning about it not being Sunil who attacked his cousin. He did slowly grow on me towards the end, but he still has to evolve as a character.
I can't wait for book 2 about Anya Marleigh's story that comes out May 2024. I hope we get to see more of Lila (and Ivor) woven into Anya's story and that they start to heal their relationship.
I appreciate that the regency/historical romance genre is getting the multicultural boost that is desperately needed. Until Season 2 of Bridgerton started, I had no desire to read historical romances by authors like Julia Quinn or the classics by Jane Austen. Now, I am more inclined to read and appreciate them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Misogyny, Colonisation, and Classism