Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes

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Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

36 reviews

hendrixpants's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.25

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20sidedbi's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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marysbookinit's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Really I think it was the narrator that didn’t work for me, otherwise I really enjoyed the book.

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eisenbuns's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted

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

“Need was only weakness by another name. And if someone could give you what you needed, they could just as easily take it away.”

Why YOU should read “The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes”

There’s only one bed
Bisexual main characters
Robin Hood & Maid Marian inspired
Hurt/Comfort and trauma recovery

The Duchess of Clare is a murderer. It’s not exactly the proper occupation for a duchess, but Marian Hayes is not the average noble. When she receives letters from a man claiming to have knowledge of her husband’s bigamy–and asks for 500£ to keep it quiet, no less–she finds she can’t resist writing back, sparking the beginning of a wild adventure. Through the streets of Georgian London, across the countryside of Kent, and inside a series of questionable inns, this physical journey mirrors an equally-impressive set of character arcs.

There’s so much I want to say about this novel, it’s hard to know where to begin.

I found both main characters extremely lovable. Rob is a hopeless sweetheart who’s lived a dangerous life as a highwayman. Marian is all sharp edges and wit with a heart of gold, despite the abuse she’s shuffered. They make a match that simmers with chemistry and underlying anxieties that need to be overcome. What makes a ‘good’ person, truly, and what tips the scales to make someone ‘bad’? Murder? Postpartum Depression? Thievery?

I’ll be honest– I don’t ordinarily read spicy romances. I find intimate scenes cringe-worthy a lot of the time and would rather fade to black. So, I hope you’ll understand how significant it is for me to say that every single hot-and-heavy scene was necessary to this narrative. Rife with character-building moments, every time these characters came together, they overcame some personal obstacle. I won’t tell you any details, but I was so impressed by the handling of these scenes (and all the baggage unpacked in them), I had to stop reading and tell my spouse all about them. I mean, they were also super hot; Cat Sebastian delivers.

I absolutely loved this work. The ending felt somewhat rushed to me, with one particular flimsy thread that wove through the majority of the narrative (a certain ominous ‘brother’ figure) fraying away altogether. This is possibly the only gripe I have about the book, and the journey more than made up for any messiness at the end.

If you like period pieces, and you like excellent banter, steamy romance, “there’s only one bed!,” and enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, please pick up this book when it releases on June 7th, 2022. You won’t regret it for a moment.

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mjwhitlock18's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This book is light on plot and heavy on fluff, but with witty prose and grumpy/sunshine disaster queers that have a found family and “be gay, do crime” in a Robin Hood style. I love that Marian is a prickly heroine, and Rob is just a cinnamon roll (and he adopts a cat somewhat accidentally). Their banter is adorable, and the informed, enthusiastic, specific consent and respect for boundaries is so so good. My only ick is the weird family tree thing happening with Marian, Rob, and Eliza, but I’ll suspend disbelief and just ignore it. Overall, a feel-good, witty, fluffy historical romance with a touch of queerness and maybe a heist or two.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the eARC!

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kharlan3's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book!

The book opens with Rob blackmailing Marian in letter format because her husband is actually legally married to someone else, leaving her marriage (and her best friend Percy's inheritance) in peril.

Things I loved:
-Grumpy f/sunshine m!
-It gave me fluttery feelings
-All the sex is

non-penetrative

but it doesn't feel any less sexy and lovely, indeed I thought it was more sexy and lovely to have actual conversations about what kind of sex to have!
-The consent-seeking is so completely explicit and clear and non-awkward
-I adore characters that accidentally rescue animals
-Lovely to see Percy and Kit again
-The characters feel real- both have flaws

like Rob's claustrophobia and Marian's irritation about the market and both of their traumas

- but they also have amazing competences like Marian's snarky competence and Rob's impressive capacity for fondness.
-The letters! They're lovely and convincing and lovely.
-Found family

Unlike many romance series (including most of Cat Sebastian's others), you would really want to read The Queer Principles of Kit Webb first before reading this- they take place in overlapping timelines and this would completely spoil Kit Webb's twists and probably make less sense without it.

Thanks for NetGalley and the publishers for giving me an eARC in return for an honest review!

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