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Long story short: if you like historical romances, kick-ass women taking names and getting into trouble, and/or the Sarah MacLean universe, read this book.
About 2/3 of the way through Bombshell, all the pieces that MacLean has been working to set in motion start to come together. This includes:
- Introducing the Hell's Belles, a group of highborn women who bring special talents to problems affecting other women. Maybe the man you are being forced to marry is a rotter. Maybe your husband is abusive and likely killed his first two wives. Maybe you work for a shady aristocrat and you are looking for a way out. The Hell's Belles and their network of skilled women around London can help you. There is an early scene with them in action that is just so much fun.
- Reintroducing Sesily and Caleb. If you've read [b:The Rogue Not Taken|27971694|The Rogue Not Taken (Scandal & Scoundrel, #1)|Sarah MacLean|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1452363555l/27971694._SX50_.jpg|43222893] or [b:The Day of the Duchess|34025044|The Day of the Duchess (Scandal & Scoundrel, #3)|Sarah MacLean|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495367942l/34025044._SX50_.jpg|51979220] from a previous MacLean series, you have probably been waiting for them to finally get together. For readers, it's never been a matter of if but how. As characters, they have both been such charismatic scene-stealers in past books, and they remain so here. You'll want them to get together, but there are shortcuts taken and assumptions made about how informed readers are when they meet these two.
- Setting up the mystery of Caleb's past and the specific dilemma that this group collectively needs to address.
It's a lot, and given the payoff from all the threads coming together near the end, MacLean mostly pulls it off. This is an exciting romance, and the last 1/3 of the novel is truly a romp.
I almost want to stop there, but there may be readers like me who will wonder, at around the halfway mark, whether this is turning into the Bareknuckle Bastards series. That series--particularly, the Daring and the Duke--suffered in a few ways: the romances sometimes came second to the universe-building, and the final romance between Grace and Ewan was so predestined that it started at overwrought and got more intense from there. The good news is that readers of Bombshell who hang in will be rewarded by the end.
Once Sesily and Caleb were given something to do, they managed to redirect some of the melodramatic romantic energy that was building towards working together. This, really, is where the romance seems truest and earned within the pages of this book (versus a given that's set up in previous books). In some ways, it was a bit like the scene from Shakespeare in Love where Shakespeare has to tell his Romeo to tone down the emotion around Rosalind; if he's at a 10 when talking about his crush, then where can he go with his performance when he finally meets his true love, Juliet? Sesily and Caleb were starting perilously close to a 10, so as their relationship progresses over the course of the novel and they face new obstacles, there's not a lot of room for increased intensity for their emotions. Thankfully, this resolves itself by the end in a satisfying way.
Even though this is a new series, I'd recommend that new readers go back and pick up The Rogue Not Taken first, then The Day of the Duchess. Not only does this provide important backstory for Sesily, Caleb, and the Talbot sisters, but they are some of MacLean's best novels. In fact, The Day of the Duchess is one of the best historical romances in recent years, and really shows how yearning and intense, consuming love can play out well on the page.
I have high hopes for the rest of the series. MacLean has introduced two likely romantic pairings already, and future installments in the series will probably not wrestle with the weight of expectations and a long-running history the way that Sesily and Caleb's romance did.
And listen, the Hell's Belles are delightful, and the concept of this series is exciting. MacLean is phenomenal at world-building, perhaps better than any other historical/Victorian romance writer now. There's a moment in the book where faithful readers will delight at how she incorporates past characters, but truly, she weaves them all through this novel in such a seamless way.
Sesily is just such an outstanding character, and Caleb proves to be a capable, loving, supportive partner. What more could you want from a romance?
I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley for an honest review.
About 2/3 of the way through Bombshell, all the pieces that MacLean has been working to set in motion start to come together. This includes:
- Introducing the Hell's Belles, a group of highborn women who bring special talents to problems affecting other women. Maybe the man you are being forced to marry is a rotter. Maybe your husband is abusive and likely killed his first two wives. Maybe you work for a shady aristocrat and you are looking for a way out. The Hell's Belles and their network of skilled women around London can help you. There is an early scene with them in action that is just so much fun.
- Reintroducing Sesily and Caleb. If you've read [b:The Rogue Not Taken|27971694|The Rogue Not Taken (Scandal & Scoundrel, #1)|Sarah MacLean|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1452363555l/27971694._SX50_.jpg|43222893] or [b:The Day of the Duchess|34025044|The Day of the Duchess (Scandal & Scoundrel, #3)|Sarah MacLean|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495367942l/34025044._SX50_.jpg|51979220] from a previous MacLean series, you have probably been waiting for them to finally get together. For readers, it's never been a matter of if but how. As characters, they have both been such charismatic scene-stealers in past books, and they remain so here. You'll want them to get together, but there are shortcuts taken and assumptions made about how informed readers are when they meet these two.
- Setting up the mystery of Caleb's past and the specific dilemma that this group collectively needs to address.
It's a lot, and given the payoff from all the threads coming together near the end, MacLean mostly pulls it off. This is an exciting romance, and the last 1/3 of the novel is truly a romp.
I almost want to stop there, but there may be readers like me who will wonder, at around the halfway mark, whether this is turning into the Bareknuckle Bastards series. That series--particularly, the Daring and the Duke--suffered in a few ways: the romances sometimes came second to the universe-building, and the final romance between Grace and Ewan was so predestined that it started at overwrought and got more intense from there. The good news is that readers of Bombshell who hang in will be rewarded by the end.
Once Sesily and Caleb were given something to do, they managed to redirect some of the melodramatic romantic energy that was building towards working together. This, really, is where the romance seems truest and earned within the pages of this book (versus a given that's set up in previous books). In some ways, it was a bit like the scene from Shakespeare in Love where Shakespeare has to tell his Romeo to tone down the emotion around Rosalind; if he's at a 10 when talking about his crush, then where can he go with his performance when he finally meets his true love, Juliet? Sesily and Caleb were starting perilously close to a 10, so as their relationship progresses over the course of the novel and they face new obstacles, there's not a lot of room for increased intensity for their emotions. Thankfully, this resolves itself by the end in a satisfying way.
Even though this is a new series, I'd recommend that new readers go back and pick up The Rogue Not Taken first, then The Day of the Duchess. Not only does this provide important backstory for Sesily, Caleb, and the Talbot sisters, but they are some of MacLean's best novels. In fact, The Day of the Duchess is one of the best historical romances in recent years, and really shows how yearning and intense, consuming love can play out well on the page.
I have high hopes for the rest of the series. MacLean has introduced two likely romantic pairings already, and future installments in the series will probably not wrestle with the weight of expectations and a long-running history the way that Sesily and Caleb's romance did.
And listen, the Hell's Belles are delightful, and the concept of this series is exciting. MacLean is phenomenal at world-building, perhaps better than any other historical/Victorian romance writer now. There's a moment in the book where faithful readers will delight at how she incorporates past characters, but truly, she weaves them all through this novel in such a seamless way.
Sesily is just such an outstanding character, and Caleb proves to be a capable, loving, supportive partner. What more could you want from a romance?
I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley for an honest review.