Not a Fan of Damsels in Distress

This romance takes place in early Victorian England. The heroine is a part of a family that runs a small foundation in the Irish Rookery section of London, a downtrodden and desperate area at the time. Their own family is nearly becoming destitute as the brother remains in America, unheard from for several months. He went to seek his fortune and meant to return to England. The heroine, the younger sister, is fearful that her older sister will make a poor match to help save the family and the foundation. She does have a plot and a plan.

I love story set in Regency or Victorian England, but this one just didn't work for me. First, it starts with major information dumps, both when the story is first told from the heroine’s perspective and then the hero’s. The hero is typically one that I normally enjoy a story about, the wounded hero, and actually I like the hero just fine. What bothered me the most was that the heroin seemed like a perpetual damsel in distress. I like my heroines to be stronger than that. She looked like she might be so at the beginning of the book, but she seemed to just keep doing impulsive things that required her to be rescued by the hero. Ugh. Just not my cup of tea. This is the first book of a four-book series written by different authors. The family with their Foundation is an interesting concept, and I might be interested in checking out the other ones' books as they are not written by this author. Hopefully, whoever developed the plan for the series has some better characterization and plotting in those books.

Miss Lottie's Christmas Protector is a lovely Christmas story. Lottie Fairclough is a crusader for women that are served by her family's foundation. When it looks like her sister might be forced to marry a man she doesn't love, Lottie sets out to find a better choice. She remembers the kindness of Jasper King from her past and arranges to meet him. Jasper is older and much more damaged, physically and mentally, than he was years ago. He is surprised to find himself embroiled in Lottie's effort to find a girl from the foundation. There is a repeating pattern of Lottie getting into trouble and Jasper saving her, leading to them falling in love.

It was a very pleasant story and one that I enjoyed.

ARC provided through Netgalley.

This is the first of four books in the multi-authored anthology, Secrets of a Victorian Household. Lottie is a compassionate but impulsive young woman whose family runs the Fairclough Foundation for destitute residents of the Irish rookery in Victorian London. She is left behind by her mother and sister Millie, who are on their way to an extended house party, because she has a cold. Her brother Silas, who left for America to seek his fortune, hasn’t been heard from in 7 months, and they’re fearing the worst. Lottie’s biggest concern is that her sister will marry a pedantic pastor to save their family from having to close down the Foundation from lack of funds. So, she decides to crash a party in order to meet Jasper King, a wealthy industrialist who had briefly courted her sister and who left a lasting impression on her, in the hopes of encouraging him to resume his relationship with Millie. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious injury a few years prior and the remaining, life-threatening shrapnel in his leg causes extraordinary pain. As a result, he has no interest in burdening anyone with his infirmity. The same night Lottie and Jasper meet, a young female client of the Foundation goes missing, and he reluctantly offers to help find her, not wanting Lottie to risk her life pursuing leads on her own. Despite this, Lottie foolishly heads into the rookery to look for Harriet and is nearly killed before Jasper comes to her rescue. As they follow clues and face danger, the chemistry between them explodes, leading to some very steamy sex scenes.

This story employs pretty standard historical romance tropes, and the characters are almost indistinguishable from so many others of the genre. There is the mystery and the romance that keep the story going, but, overall, it is pretty forgettable. It’s an easy read for the holidays, and fans of British period romances will enjoy it.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Harlequin Historical through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 4.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Sweet Historical With a little Steam
Widow Lilian Fairclough runs a foundation for indigent women with the help of her children, Lottie, Amelia and son Silas.
Silas is in America to try to broker a deal to make money, but the ladies are struggling to run the foundation and their home.
Jasper King, an old family friend is in town after recovering from a terrible injury. He sees Lottie alone in a bad part of town and is determined to rescue her and she is determined to protect their clients.
He comes to her rescue and she returns the favor several times. She badgers him to have surgery on his leg, and he gives him, believing it won't help and is surprised by the result. The tale has villains, innocents, angst, romance and joy, along with colorful characters.
I requested and received a NetGalley Arc to peruses.

Ugh, I tried, I really did - I was hoping for something light and fun, and I can get past some bad writing to enjoy something like this, but I couldn't do it. DNF.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

Short and sweet with a hint of sass. The plot is remarkably old-school but there’s a fair amount of premarital sex thrown in for spice so there’s that