Bombshell is the debut novel in Sarah Maclean's Hell's Belles series. While it took me awhile to get into Sesily, I really grew to love her, and Caleb's story. Turns out Caleb is really the one in need of saving in this romance novel. I adore the two of them and glad I stuck with it. I really look forward to reading more books in this series and can't wait to hear who's coming next!
Thank you netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC

Sesily Talbot has long accepted her role as London's biggest scandal. Instead of letting the title rule her life, Sesily embraces it. Outrageous dresses, disappearing into the night, but there are also things the ton does not know and Sesily plans on keeping it that way.

Caleb Calhoun loathes London and all the temptation it brings, especially Sesily Talbot. He will do everything in his power to stay far far away. Until, he can't. When Sesily older sister asks him to keep an eye on her. Caleb may just get a scandal worthy of London's best.

I had really high hopes for this new series! I have loved the Dangerous Daughters, but Sesily's story seemed to fall flat. While it can be read as a standalone, I HIGHLY recommend reading the Scandal & Scoundrel series. There is a lot of information needed to understand the characters and the family.

All and all, it was a good read. Just lacking the fire we saw from the other Dangerous Daughters. Sesily fire seemed more like a flicker.

I lost interest about halfway through this, and I haven't wanted to pick it up again. I'm sure readers who like Sarah MacLean will also like this book. There's banter, adventure, and steam.

I absolutely adored Sesily and Caleb's story!! Both the H/H had been pining for the other and they are finally reunited. What fun these two had together!! This was the start of a great new series!

Sesily and Caleb's story. Sesily is recruited by a powerful duchess to along with some other women with interesting abilities to help women in need with no recourse. Caleb is co-owner of a club along with Sesily's sister. He wants to quickly complete his business and return to America. Sesily thinks it is because he doesn't want anything to do with her, but the truth is something totally different. Caleb is drawn into her group's intrigue and that brings out his desperately kept secrets. While I like this couple the story fell a bit flat for me.

One of my bestie librarian friends loved this book so much, and I was sure I would love it, too, but I just couldn’t get into it. I am abandoning for now, but I might try once more later. My bestie’s rarely wrong in the romance novel department.

Bombshell by Sarah MacLean is a wonderful steamy romance to kick off MacLean's new series, Hell's Belles. Loved Sesily as the heroine.

I know a lot of people liked this title, but frankly I trudged through it. I'm a big fan of the author, but I found the action less than compelling and I was pretty bored. It has a lot of the things I like, I just couldn't get into it. I love the progressive themes, pining, and feminist historicals, but this one failed to compel me. Maybe I just read it when I was in a weird place, and I'll probably read the rest of the series, but this one was a miss for me.

This is my first book by Sarah MacLean but I'm definitely going to read more! The Bridgerton books are some of my favorites of this genre so I decided to give Bombshell a go. It was a fun romp thru London as we watch Caleb try to save Sesily from her mishaps and watch them figure out their relationship. We see that they have known each other from a previous series by Sarah so I'm really wanting to go back now and read those. You'll be rooting for Sesily and Caleb the whole time!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

I really like Sarah MacLean as a person. She is great and doing amazing things in Romancelandia! That being said, not even she could make me enjoy a historical romance. The characters are well-written, the sex scenes are great, but I just could not into the plot. There was so much with Scotland Yard, different titles, petticoats, etc. It was just not a book for me.

I enjoy Sarah MacLean even if the book seems implausible given the time period it is set in. But I don't read fiction for history, i read it for escapism and this book does it. I love a hero who understands the strength of his partner and doesn't have to save her--she saves herself and him.

4.5 stars
I've got to say, I am a little surprise by some of the hate I'm seeing in reviews for this book. Full disclosure:
--I really enjoy Sarah MacLean's romances.
--I could give a rip about what HR heroines are "supposed to be"
--Likewise, I could give an additional rip about what HR itself is "supposed to be"

MacLean writes sexy, angsty, smart historical romances. Does it read like Mary Balogh?

No.

I like her books, too, but there is no one right way to do historical. Sometimes their heroines are meek and virginal; sometimes they are brazen and spirited.

Sesily is brazen and spirited.

Now I can see why some people might be peeved that this "first book" in a series is really a spinoff from the Scandal and Scoundrel series. This couple has a history and thankfully it's one I'm familiar with. (But if I was a new reader, I might be annoyed.) In fact, in my review for The Day of the Duchess, I wrote that I couldn't wait for this pairing. And now that it's here, I can say that it does deliver.

Caleb is an American who was in business with Sesily's sister. Sesily was crazy about him, but he acted like he didn't return her interest. He went back to Boston and left her behind. Now he's back two years later and he's still refusing to acknowledge an attraction. But when he gets wrapped up in Sesily's schemes with her friends, he gets stuck in her orbit. The more they are together, the more his walls fall down and his secrets are slowly revealed.

Sesily is part of a "girl gang" of sorts. I don't know if all of their plots and campaigns against the bad men of society really resonated with me, but I did like how different each Hell's Belle was. I liked that they had a deep and loyal friendship with one another. And it made for a more interesting backdrop, frankly, than the 1000 HR kidnappings I've read where the hero has to swoop in and rescue the damsel in distress.

Caleb is the one who needs rescuing. And it requires the smarts and gumption of the heroine and her friends to do it. Which I rather enjoyed.

I also really enjoyed the angst. And the sexy times. The push and the pull between these two hit my sweet spot. And I am already excited to read about Imogen and Detective Inspector Peck.

Maybe this one wasn't for everyone, but it was a hit for me.

I ambsolutely LOVED Bombshell. It's one of two novels I've read more than once this year.. Sesily and Caleb are two of my favorite romance characters in recent history. MacLean never misses for me.

I'm a huge fan of Sarah MacLean and this book proved why! This book made me experience all kinds of emotions and the angst killed me at times. Once I downloaded the book, I couldn't put it down. The characters and the romance is well written and developed as well. The chemistry was also off the charts. This book isn't lacking in any category.

Sarah MacLean is an auto-buy for me and I was looking forward to reading Sesily’s story. The book about Sesily’s sister, Sera, The Day of the Duchess, ended with a teaser about Sesily and Caleb so I eagerly awaited this book.

As the daughter of an upstart Earl who made his fortune in coal, Lady Sesily Talbot has been dubbed one of the “Dangerous Daughters” by the ton. At age 30, she has embraced her reputation and the freedom that comes with the title. Caleb Calhoun, the American business partner of Sesily’s sister, Sera, the Duchess of Haven is visiting London for the birth of Sera’s baby. Caleb is wildly attracted to Sesily for both her beauty and her brashness. However, it was two years ago, after one ill-advised kiss, that Caleb left Sesily and returned home to Boston.

This book did not disappoint! From its dedication to “people helping during the pandemic” to the epilogue, it was perfection. I loved the badass heroine, Sesily who turned the heartache of Caleb leaving into action, joining an undercover group intent on restoring justice, lead by the Duchess of Trevescan. The book featured well-written, personable characters. The Talbot sisters, also Dangerous Daughters, played a supportive role in the book, both encouraging and challenging Sesily. The plot of the book was delightfully twisty, with Caleb and Sesily alternately rescuing each other to reach their HEA. I was sorry to see the book end so when I finished the book, I immediately began to re-read the other sisters’ books. I am glad to see that this book is the start of a new series because I want to read the stories of the other women in the Duchess’ undercover group.

Five stars!

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
BOMBSHELL is the debut in the Hell's Belles series.

Sarah MacLean tops my favorites list on Historical Romance. I need to add a disclaimer. If you're an old-school Historical Romance fan, where historical accuracy is tantamount, I might dissuade you from reading. Simply put, I see MacLean's novels more like a historical spin on modern romance, with a feminist twist in an era where women were not treated as a man's equal in society. The heroine will know her worth, be it in the 1800s or the 2000s, even if it messes with historical accuracy.

BOMBSHELL was an anomaly to what I posted above, the fine line generally ridden was pitched, where the feminism was so hard-hitting that it felt as if it was in the wrong era, the wrong genre. No longer a romance novel but a vehicle to punch the reader in the face with the author's mindset, none of which worked in the era/genre it was written.

To be honest, I struggled from the start, not truly hooked, attempting to read the beginning portion of the novel, which is not the norm for me when it comes to MacLean's novels. I have no idea if it was my mood, or inability to concentrate, but I was just not connecting with Sesily or the story itself. After I fell into the groove of it all, I read the rest of the novel in a single sitting. But the struggle was real in the beginning. If you're experiencing this as well, here's my push to soldier forth if you're a fan.

Lady Sesily Talbot is not unfamiliar to those who have read all of MacLean's works. Scandalous and brazen, Sesily has the personality to start a brand-new series, featuring Caleb Calhoun. Their connection was introduced in DAY OF THE DUCHESS, and I was surprised that MacLean didn't end the Scandal & Scoundrel series with their story. Embracing the freedom scandal allows her, Sesily doesn't fret over what the ton thinks of her reputation, one of the little freedoms women were allowed in the era.

Quite frankly, I'm not a fan of this premise. "Caleb wants Sesily but can't have her, so he ignores her, which affects her self-esteem, because she's heartbroken someone doesn't want her, someone she just met, in the ultimate of insta-loves, because Caleb had the audacity to not want her back."

Sesily is a feminist, right? Doesn't she realize she is the one who is responsible for her own feelings? Caleb doesn't have to want her, just because she wants him. To have this impact your life for two years is a bit extreme and childish. It's ironic that as a reader I'm to feel bad for her because of this, even if it's angsty AF how he wants her back too but feels as if he can't have her.

Sesily is invited to join a grouping of women, spearheaded by Duchess of Trevescan, focusing on helping women escape abusive marriages, dubbed the Hell's Belles. With a varying cast of personalities, the women stole the show. A heavy feminism mindset is woven throughout the entire story, one that may not feel authentic for those who read old-school historical romance.

Caleb has always been drawn to his friend's scandalous sister, and together they share a past, a past in which he has hurt Sesily's feelings. Even still, the protective sort, Caleb is determined to watch Sesily's back from afar, watching on as Sesily behaves as the ultimate of pot-stirrers. Caleb is harboring secrets of his own, ones in which the author keeps from the readers and fellow characters alike.

I'm not a fan of this drawn-out delivery system, and this isn't being said by an instant-gratification reader. It's not a mystery if one of the narrators knows the secrets but purposefully withholds it from their own mind for over 70% of a novel. A mystery is something in which neither of the narrators knows. Otherwise, it's just an evasive tactic utilized by the author to withhold information until they feel it will be most impactful, either making it look like it came out of nowhere or that we had an unreliable narrator for the most part. This is just a pet-peeve of mine that I had to voice.

Forced proximity places both Sesily and Caleb in readers' grasps, which is one of my favorite, angsty treats. Forever drawn to one another, they are under the impression how they can get each other out of their systems. I'm not sure where this premise started, one which we have in real life, how you can get someone out of your system. Never once has this helped in novels or in person, forever falling for the object of your obsession. Who is spreading this BS to get people to honestly think this is a course of action? Name one person in history where this worked? Why does this keep being perpetuated? But I digress.

What I will say is this was an entertaining calamity of errors, where nothing on the pages would have had happened in reality. Was I entertained? Yes, for the most part. But I spent the entire time reading at a rapid pace, entirely flying by the suspension of belief notion. If I paused too long, if I mused over anything, it would tear me from the story and I'd begin to struggle too much.

As a feminist myself, even I had a hard time connecting with Sesily. I found her behavior and mindset somewhat disrespectful for the era, as well as childish and self-indulgent, with all the pot-stirring, "I don't care what others think." It came off as she very much cared what others thought, so she went out of her way to make them uncomfortable, knowing they thought poorly of her, so she might as well make an impression, ya know, versus not be thought about at all. My over-analytical mind thought Sesily insecure, no matter how much she professed her independent thinking.

Sesily's behavior was selfish and mindless. She felt she had a right to do anything she wanted, consequences be damned, caring little of the impact her actions had on others. If anyone, particularly Caleb, voiced how she was being an idiot, she would argue how she had a right to do as she pleased. Reminded me of trying to explain to a toddler why they can't run into traffic, even if they were completely capable of running there, the toddler not able to realize how the person who hits them will ultimately feel, or how badly it will hurt if they survive. That is Sesily, and I couldn't figure out why anyone liked her. She gave my ilk (feminists) a bad name, selfish, vapid, and narcissistic. I doubt MacLean wished to have the opposite happen, where readers would actually resent people like Sesily, instead of identifying with her.

This is a case where I wanted to like it but struggled to find entertainment within it. As a fan of MacLean's, I'm sure that influenced my rating, as well as my overall thoughts on the novel. This is by far one of her most feminism-forward novels, to a preachy degree.

As a feminist seeking escape, I personally didn't need to be preached at one iota. I think this impacted my entertainment value. I hope Sarah MacLean just takes her foot off the gas a bit, idles it back a bit in future installments. You change more minds by being subtle than punching them in the face with it. Because the story stops being about the characters, their journeys, the journeys of the side characters, all completely overshadowed by an agenda being preached.

To be honest, I just expected more out of Sesily and Caleb's story, after waiting to read their journey so long. What was promised as an angsty journey seemed to be overshadowed by preaching and showcasing other characters who will undoubtedly get an installment next. I felt the novel was disjointed, the wrong things in the forefront, with not enough of the couple or their romance showcased, especially as this is historical romance.

Many of MacLean's novels are on my reread list. I'll skip BOMBSHELL on future rereads and only recommend it for series continuity. I look forward to the next installment, hoping this was just a dud among diamonds.

I have been waiting for Sesily's story for what seems like forever...I know it hasn't been but come on! She is such a great character! I loved this book and I'm so happy we got more of her and Caleb!

I love the Talbot sisters' books - let's be honest...I love all of MacLean's books - so having been introduced to Sesily a while ago, I was excited to have a book focused on her and her relationship with the American, Caleb Calhoun. This book gave me insight into who these characters truly are and I loved every minute of it.

With that said, there is another aspect of the book that has me intrigued and that's the group of ladies that make up the Hell's Belles and I am definitely looking forward to learning more about all the other characters involved. I have read some reviews that have indicated that this book felt more contemporary than historical and I can see where they are coming from but to be honest, it didn't bother me AT ALL. I'll be first in line for the next book of this series for sure !

Suspenseful, seductive, and intriguing, Bombshell by Sarah MacLean is the perfect start to the Hell's Belles series. MacLean kept me on the edge of my seat as I furiously turned the pages (metaphorically speaking), and the chemistry between Sesily and Caleb is off the charts.

Sesily is probably one of my favorite characters ever. I love strong heroines, and that's one of my favorite things about MacLean's writing - she always delivers heroines I admire. And Caleb, I am head over heels in love with him.

I can't say enough good things about this book. If you've never read a Sarah MacLean book, you are truly missing out.

Thanks to the NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lady Sesily Talbot of the soiled "S" uses her fame as a cover as she teams up with other like minded belles to deliver justice to those who abuse their title and wealth. Caleb Calhoun finds himself coming to her rescue even as he tries to resist the chemistry blazing between them. The story is a total romp with a message to deliver and hang period accuracy.
 Caleb has secrets that have kept him away from the shores of England spending more and more time in America. Bold, beautiful, brash Sesily inadvertently risks exposing his long held secrets.  Committed, Sesily with the other belles is going to deliver justice while also freeing Caleb.  
The author has done a great job in the characterization of her belles who hide in plain sight.  I can't wait to see each one of them get their own stories in due time.

I have to start by saying Sarah MacLean is a "new to me" author and this will not be the last of her works that I read! Love this author's way of writing, description, and characters.

I felt all the good romantic feels and emotions throughout this book. The characters are well thought out and developed - all were warm and relatable. Just a wonderful love story of hope and justice!

Thank you for my advanced ARC copy - I appreciate it!