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A review by chloe_liese
A Lady's Revenge by Edie Cay
CW: rape of a minor, discussion of STDs, descriptions of blood & fist-fighting.
This came recommended to me because I wanted to read a HistRom that felt outside the box, and on that, this delivered. Mired in the intricacies of pugilism, this was intriguing from that standpoint. Add on that we have a lady boxer, and I was here for it! Where it was a bit more complicated for me was the romantic arc and the heroine's journey to understand that being raped did not make her "broken" as she repeatedly says up until very late in the story. It makes sense for the time in a way but her family is all aware of what happened, supports her boxing and doing what she needs to feel safe and heal, so it rang hollow that this "I'm broken" discussion wouldn't have happened sooner. John was such a likable hero and I was rooting for Lydia, yet I would have valued seeing their chemistry given a bit more air and page time to really spark and catch. There were romantic moments but it teetered on really truly being a romance to me and I wish I'd gotten more from these two (I think this speaks to how well the Ms. Cay wrote them and got me invested in their connection!). There were a lot of names to keep track of in this story and the secondary characters weren't very fleshed out, but I still wanted to know how it turned out and enjoyed the ending.
This came recommended to me because I wanted to read a HistRom that felt outside the box, and on that, this delivered. Mired in the intricacies of pugilism, this was intriguing from that standpoint. Add on that we have a lady boxer, and I was here for it! Where it was a bit more complicated for me was the romantic arc and the heroine's journey to understand that being raped did not make her "broken" as she repeatedly says up until very late in the story. It makes sense for the time in a way but her family is all aware of what happened, supports her boxing and doing what she needs to feel safe and heal, so it rang hollow that this "I'm broken" discussion wouldn't have happened sooner. John was such a likable hero and I was rooting for Lydia, yet I would have valued seeing their chemistry given a bit more air and page time to really spark and catch. There were romantic moments but it teetered on really truly being a romance to me and I wish I'd gotten more from these two (I think this speaks to how well the Ms. Cay wrote them and got me invested in their connection!). There were a lot of names to keep track of in this story and the secondary characters weren't very fleshed out, but I still wanted to know how it turned out and enjoyed the ending.