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A review by unabridgedchick
The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite
4.0
I'm so glad I was prepared for the slow-burn of the romance because I could enjoy the book rather than wondering when the heck sexytimes would occur. I don't know if I can say I loved this book but I liked it a great deal, although it's not a favorite romance. But as a historical novel with romantic and sexy elements, it was a fantastic read.
At nearly 400 pages, this book had space to settle into the very tumultuous time period and associated plot line while also digging into the characters and their back stories. It's the only thing that made me reconsider my five starts for [b:The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics|42117380|The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics (Feminine Pursuits, #1)|Olivia Waite|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553279364l/42117380._SY75_.jpg|65707735] -- I realized we learned so little about those two while Agatha and Penelope here have so much richness. (I'm also very anxious now about [b:The Hellion's Waltz|58262999|The Hellion's Waltz (Feminine Pursuits, #3)|Olivia Waite|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1622864234l/58262999._SX50_.jpg|81165806] since it seems to be half the size of the previous two books.)
I wasn't into this pairing but enjoyed it still because of all the vibrancy Waite brought to their stories. As with Celestial Mechanics, Waite managed to balance the historical accuracy of queers not being able to be out and proud with escapist wish fulfillment of queer couples being happy together.
And finally, as others have said, this cover is awful. I feel like this trilogy would benefit from one of the 'cartoon' style covers; this one really does the story a disservice.
At nearly 400 pages, this book had space to settle into the very tumultuous time period and associated plot line while also digging into the characters and their back stories. It's the only thing that made me reconsider my five starts for [b:The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics|42117380|The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics (Feminine Pursuits, #1)|Olivia Waite|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553279364l/42117380._SY75_.jpg|65707735] -- I realized we learned so little about those two while Agatha and Penelope here have so much richness. (I'm also very anxious now about [b:The Hellion's Waltz|58262999|The Hellion's Waltz (Feminine Pursuits, #3)|Olivia Waite|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1622864234l/58262999._SX50_.jpg|81165806] since it seems to be half the size of the previous two books.)
I wasn't into this pairing but enjoyed it still because of all the vibrancy Waite brought to their stories. As with Celestial Mechanics, Waite managed to balance the historical accuracy of queers not being able to be out and proud with escapist wish fulfillment of queer couples being happy together.
And finally, as others have said, this cover is awful. I feel like this trilogy would benefit from one of the 'cartoon' style covers; this one really does the story a disservice.