2023 Regency romance, third and last of its series. Josephine Brown is
a knife-thrower and freelance covert agent, and Elliot Wingate is an
agent for the crown. There will be many stumbles on their road to true
love…
As with The Dueling Duchess (book 2), this book starts with a
flashback to the events of The Boxing Baroness (book 1) for the
first third or so, then skips forward to some time later, staying more
or less even with the timing of that second book. I suppose one could
start here, but the emotional weight built up in the first book adds
to the impact of events in this one.
I've suspected since the first book that this was the romance I'd
enjoy most of the series, and I was right. Rather than the road-trip
romance of St. John and Marianne, or the fireworks of Guy and Cecile,
both of these people are quite happy with their lives and don't plan
to fall in love… so when they find out they can't live without each
other, they have a sensible discussion about what to do next.
There are plenty of obstacles, of course, and not all of them
external: first she's concerned about his high station, and her own
rather iffy antecedents; then when she finds herself elevanted in
society (no spoiler, it's happened to each of the previous two
heroines, and there's the title to give you an extra hint) he's
concerned about her high station.
But also their chosen careers come into play, with the possibility of
traitors in high places, and long-lost encrypted messages, (All right,
if you don't spot the villain on first appearance you really aren't
trying, which makes our heroes look a bit dim, but hey ho.) And while
the other two heroines adapted more or less easily to their elevated
state, Jo chafes under the restrictions in a way that's entirely
believable for someone who's built a life essentially as a skilled
specialist who can choose her own work. (Mind you, I really don't
think anyone moving in those circles would casually speak of the
"sitting room" as her long-lost relatives do here.)
(Somehow I feel Jo might not blend in too well with a bloody great
raven hanging around. I still like him, though.)
I like these people. They make mistakes, certainly, but they don't fly
off the handle at the slightest mis-speaking from the other; of the
three couples in this series, they're the pair I can most believe in
having an actual happy life together.
The whole series is a bit different in style from the Regency romance
standard, which in turn is a bit different from my preferred Heyer,
but I found this book in particular great fun.