RogerBW's Blog

The Hellion's Waltz, Olivia Waite 22 August 2024

2021 Regency romance, third and last in a loose series. Sophie Roseingrave's family lost their money, and she lost her musical confidence, to a swindler; now she wants to make sure that doesn't happen to anyone else. Maddie Crewe didn't set out to be a thief, but her fellow weavers are depending on her…

There's a lot of historical atmosphere in this one, particularly the effect of the Combination Acts in driving reformers underground, and the asymmetrical profits to be made as home weaving was gradually supplanted by machine work. And maybe that pushes out other things, but I found myself rather less convinced by this romance than by those in the two previous volumes; both the principals have had some experience and prior relationships, but they fall instantly in lust with each other, and there's never really any room for doubt that they both want to be together. The problems they face are essentially disconnected from their romance.

So while I still enjoyed it I didn't enjoy it as a romance; rather, it was an historical novel with a female focus and a thread concerning a growing relationship. That's not a bad thing, but neither is it what I was expecting. Then it developed a caper subplot, which fit awkwardly and felt as though it should have had a (perhaps non-romance) book of its own. I was never sufficiently carried away not to notice small details like a passing reference to chickadees (though perhaps Waite thought "bluetits" might be misinterpreted).

It's quite fun, indeed it's better than many romances, but for me at least it doesn't reach the heights of the two earlier books.

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Previous in series: The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows | Series: Feminine Pursuits

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