A review by longlostlillian
The Curse of Lord Stanstead by Mia Marlowe

4.0

This is my first Romance novel; well the first one that is labeled first and foremost as Romance. It was definitely a different experience. The plot was interesting- set during Napoleon's exile a Regency-styled X-Men team is formed. Most have psychic abilities except for the heroine who can control fire and conveniently enough an older more experienced woman who can control fire. I find that plot device a little odd considering the author made a point to state that fire mages were rare and women fire mages were rarer still but there are two of them in the same city at the same time. Other than being frustrated at the lack of detail put into the world building in the story the rest of it was pretty good. The plot was fast paced, the characters believable and the heroine was pretty capable. (That I was biggest fear going into this is that it would be a very damsel in distress scenario but the author did a good job of balancing the scales between the heroine and the hero) And the love story was touching. I've heard of some many poorly written, sappy and out of touch romance novels that I'd set the bar pretty low for this one and was pleasantly suprised.
This was definitely and escapist story and I understand better the large Romance sub-culture that exists. After all, that's why I read as much as I do- to escape.