A review by una_macchia
Outrageous Confessions of Lady Deborah by Marguerite Kaye

4.0

This is not actually m/f Regency Raffles/Bunny fanfiction at all, but it does have some things in common, which of course appeals to me immensely. I love the way Kaye developed both characters, their desperation and the way they "rebelled" against their society in a way that felt believable in context and not like the author just wanted to write about modern characters in fancy dress. I didn't love the way a particular conflict plays out toward the end (

Spoiler

after an intimate scene when Deborah and Elliot have penetrative sex for the first time, she rejects him. In her mind, she justified what they did as acting out a fantasy with the character she created for her melodramatic revenge novels, so it's not something that can continue outside of that context. I wasn't crazy about it as a plot point because by that point their communication with each other had already come a long way, so it felt like a narrative reset in a way. But on the other hand, I do think it made sense for her to see things that way, even though I really sympathized with Elliot getting turned down pretty harshly.

) but the HEA was great. It's not something I expect in a standard historical romance but it totally works for this couple.