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A review by sanawrites
Unladylike Lessons in Love by Amita Murray
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Release Date: 30th May 2023
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️
Unladylike Lessons in Love by Amita Murray will always have a special place in my heart no matter what for two reasons:
1) It is the first ARC I was approved for
2) Lila Marleigh is a brilliant Indian HR heroine!
This novel follows our heroine, Lila Marleigh, a gambling den hostess who is the eldest daughter of an English earl and his Indian mistress. The book starts with Lila being visited by a blast from her past, Maisie whose partner, Sunil, had been wrongly accused of attacking a lady. The lady in question is the hero, Ivor Tristram’s cousin Tiffany. Lila and Ivor cross paths throughout the novel to uncover the true identity of the attacker and his motivations behind it.
First off, I’d like to commend Amita for her characterisation of Lila. She's just about the coolest character I've read about thus far. Just from the way she carries herself, runs her salon and how there are little nods of her homeland in her life. The inclusion of Indian details in this is so seamless and made me feel very seen as a fellow Indian girl. I also found it unique that due to the way the sisters had grown up, Lila doesn’t read as the usual type of Eldest Daughter. She is very much her own person.
Another aspect I loved was how Amita has set up Lila and her sisters’ past. I absolutely adored the way it was written - very compelling and well done. The Marleigh sisters were shipped off to England as children after their parents' passing. When they showed up at their stepmother Lady Sarah's doorstep, Lila and her sisters bore the punishment of their Father's sins. They would do so until each one escaped that terrible household. The language used whenever their past was touched upon was beautiful. It hit right where it's supposed to hurt. It also illustrates why and how Lila became the way she is.
What little we get of the sisters and their descriptions leaves you wanting. Anya and Mira are definitely heroine material. I am hoping this would all pay off well in the subsequent Marleigh Sisters books.
For a debut HR novel, I think it's well written and unique in the sense of historical accuracy. Amita dug into several real issues such as racism, sexism, class privilege and assault through the lens of the Regency era. She used Lila's father, Lord Marleigh, to demonstrate how white lords often had second lives and families with their foreign mistresses continents away from their first family. Maisie and Sunil were examples of Caribbean and Indian descent people respectively who worked for high society peers. Their lives were shown to be the harsh realities of the lower class at the time, and what they had to do to survive. Even Tiffany’s attack was written with such care and highlighted the complexities of assault and its aftermath. Each of these topics were written realistically without being overwrought. Amita certainly did not shy away from the truths that still echo through modern times now.
The book tickled my fancy with Lila's brilliant character, the main mystery/conflict, a brilliant Act 3 that had me gasping every other page and a great host of characters in Maisie, Sunil and Lila's staff & friends. However, my main critique of the book is the chemistry between the leads was lacking at times.
Ivor doesn't quite feel like the right fit for Lila. This can be attributed to the fact that he could have been a lot more fleshed out. Oftentimes he felt like an afterthought. The romance took a backseat to serve the mystery plot and topics mentioned above that Amita wanted to bring across. Lila's feelings on her childhood trauma was also given priority which hinted at what's to come with the other sisters' backstories. (Not a bad thing, just could have been balanced more with her romance with Ivor).
Despite Ivor not being on par with Lila, characterisation wise, I did enjoy their steamy scenes together. It built up steadily across each Act and got hotter each time.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was great seeing an Indian heroine like myself in a genre I love so much. The secondary cast were so delightful to read about as well. They were all written with so much care and consideration. While this is my first Amita Murray book, I can see how she's transitioning from historical mystery novels to romance. She definitely played to her strengths in this novel. The historical research held up and the mystery took me for a shocking ride. Definitely recommending this for people wanting diverse characters in the HR genre who also love mysteries and plot twists.
Amita Murray can only go up from here with this genre. I am certainly excited to see this journey over the course of the next few books in the Marleigh Sisters series.
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️
Unladylike Lessons in Love by Amita Murray will always have a special place in my heart no matter what for two reasons:
1) It is the first ARC I was approved for
2) Lila Marleigh is a brilliant Indian HR heroine!
This novel follows our heroine, Lila Marleigh, a gambling den hostess who is the eldest daughter of an English earl and his Indian mistress. The book starts with Lila being visited by a blast from her past, Maisie whose partner, Sunil, had been wrongly accused of attacking a lady. The lady in question is the hero, Ivor Tristram’s cousin Tiffany. Lila and Ivor cross paths throughout the novel to uncover the true identity of the attacker and his motivations behind it.
First off, I’d like to commend Amita for her characterisation of Lila. She's just about the coolest character I've read about thus far. Just from the way she carries herself, runs her salon and how there are little nods of her homeland in her life. The inclusion of Indian details in this is so seamless and made me feel very seen as a fellow Indian girl. I also found it unique that due to the way the sisters had grown up, Lila doesn’t read as the usual type of Eldest Daughter. She is very much her own person.
Another aspect I loved was how Amita has set up Lila and her sisters’ past. I absolutely adored the way it was written - very compelling and well done. The Marleigh sisters were shipped off to England as children after their parents' passing. When they showed up at their stepmother Lady Sarah's doorstep, Lila and her sisters bore the punishment of their Father's sins. They would do so until each one escaped that terrible household. The language used whenever their past was touched upon was beautiful. It hit right where it's supposed to hurt. It also illustrates why and how Lila became the way she is.
What little we get of the sisters and their descriptions leaves you wanting. Anya and Mira are definitely heroine material. I am hoping this would all pay off well in the subsequent Marleigh Sisters books.
For a debut HR novel, I think it's well written and unique in the sense of historical accuracy. Amita dug into several real issues such as racism, sexism, class privilege and assault through the lens of the Regency era. She used Lila's father, Lord Marleigh, to demonstrate how white lords often had second lives and families with their foreign mistresses continents away from their first family. Maisie and Sunil were examples of Caribbean and Indian descent people respectively who worked for high society peers. Their lives were shown to be the harsh realities of the lower class at the time, and what they had to do to survive. Even Tiffany’s attack was written with such care and highlighted the complexities of assault and its aftermath. Each of these topics were written realistically without being overwrought. Amita certainly did not shy away from the truths that still echo through modern times now.
The book tickled my fancy with Lila's brilliant character, the main mystery/conflict, a brilliant Act 3 that had me gasping every other page and a great host of characters in Maisie, Sunil and Lila's staff & friends. However, my main critique of the book is the chemistry between the leads was lacking at times.
Ivor doesn't quite feel like the right fit for Lila. This can be attributed to the fact that he could have been a lot more fleshed out. Oftentimes he felt like an afterthought. The romance took a backseat to serve the mystery plot and topics mentioned above that Amita wanted to bring across. Lila's feelings on her childhood trauma was also given priority which hinted at what's to come with the other sisters' backstories. (Not a bad thing, just could have been balanced more with her romance with Ivor).
Despite Ivor not being on par with Lila, characterisation wise, I did enjoy their steamy scenes together. It built up steadily across each Act and got hotter each time.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was great seeing an Indian heroine like myself in a genre I love so much. The secondary cast were so delightful to read about as well. They were all written with so much care and consideration. While this is my first Amita Murray book, I can see how she's transitioning from historical mystery novels to romance. She definitely played to her strengths in this novel. The historical research held up and the mystery took me for a shocking ride. Definitely recommending this for people wanting diverse characters in the HR genre who also love mysteries and plot twists.
Amita Murray can only go up from here with this genre. I am certainly excited to see this journey over the course of the next few books in the Marleigh Sisters series.
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Racism
The main plot involves a sexual assault and the wrong man being accused due to racism which is the main plot points can be triggering to people