Perils of Pleasure

The Perils of Pleasure Julie Anne Long

Ack. I read this book awhile ago, and wrote the review awhile ago, and for some reason it never posted!

So, this is the first book in the Pennyroyal Green series, but I read it fourth. It’s also the first book I read to feature the Everseas! Huzzah! Based on the first three books I read, this is what I know about the Everseas-- rogues and charmers, Olivia is why Lyon dissapeared and the only time Isaiah Redmond ever swore was when Colin Eversea failed to hang.

The book opens with Colin’s hanging and his rather dramatic rescue from the gallows. Colin doesn’t know who, or why, he was rescued, only that he was about to hang for a crime he did not commit. Madeleine Greenway is known for being able to get things done. She doesn’t know who hired her, but shortly after successfully rescuing Colin, it becomes very apparent that whomever hired her wants her dead. She and Colin are on a race across London and beyond to uncover the truth about who made Colin’s witnesses disappear before the trial, who rescued him, and who’s after Madeleine.

To be honest, I’m glad I was immersed in the world of Pennyroyal Green before I learned the giant twist at the end. Knowing more about the characters and their tangled webs made it that much more unexpected and shocking.

Plus, grave robbing! Secret pasts! Blackmail! London’s seedy underbelly! It's very cool and fun, but there’s a bit of research overload, which isn’t a problem in the other books.

The Everseas are very different from the Redmonds. I’ve had three books of Redmond scoffing at Eversea luck, charm, and exploits, as compared to the straight-laced and proper Redmonds. And the bit of information we learn at the end of I Kissed an Earl does cloud a bit of my Eversea picture, but... reading about them, they’re just damn fun. It’s a much happier house than Redmonds.

Also, this isn’t about this book in particular, but the series in general, can I just say how much I adore the minor subplots of the marriages of the Eversea and Redmond parents? It’s a nice touch.

But, let’s talk about Madeleine-- she’s not your average romance novel heroine, especially in a Regency Historical. There’s the obvious from the plot--she does just as much rescuing as being rescued and she’s not a member of the ton or a hanger-on. She knows her way around a pistol and darker sides of London. But... she’s older, more experienced, and not a virgin. She’s a widow. She used to have a shop. She’s a VERY nice change of pace from sheltered ladies in pretty dresses who play out their stories in various drawing rooms and dance floors (not that I don’t LOVE that, but... something different is always good.)

PS-- Please check out my latest project, YA Reading List.


Book Provided by... my local library

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