Howdy booklovers! Welcome to my stop on the Scandalous Alchemy tour! Thank you to Head of Zeus and Katy Moran for having me!
Synopsis
In a Bridgerton-style Regency world, three people are caught in a web of passion and deceit..
Fontainebleau in 1825 is a glittering international court, rich with intrigue, passion and simmering violence. Lieutenant Colonel Kit Helford must navigate these treacherous waters to deliver the beautiful, self-destructive Princess Royal to her prospective husband. Kit’s childhood friend, Clemency Arwenack, is tasked with safeguarding her royal mistress’s reputation as the princess awaits a marriage she is dreading.
But both have secrets they will hide at all costs. Kit is on the run – from a man shot and left for dead back in London and a lifetime of scandal that includes a liaison with the princess herself. He will do anything to salvage his family’s reputation. Clemency, meanwhile, conducts a perilous trade in lies and blackmail as she seeks to destroy the princess, not protect her. With the princess’s life under threat, Kit and Clemency are pitted against each other, even as a dangerous attraction grows between them. The past hunts them both, remorselessly, relentlessly, and neither can escape it for long.
Rating
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Review
Seductively scandalous and delightfully deceitful, this is a dramatic tale that will stay with you.
Let me start by saying that this is not my usual genre so going in I didn’t know what to expect but I’m so grateful I got to read this book. It’s part of the Hester and Crow series but can be read as a standalone in my opinion but I’m definitely going to head back and read the other books.
This book is truly scandalous, everyone has a secret they don’t want discovered. Everyone has a price. Admittedly, I did think there would be a few steamy scenes but the fact there wasn’t , didn’t negatively impact the book for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the courtly drama and the strong female characters. I really enjoyed the plot, you were constantly guessing as to who the bad guys would be and what despicable thing would happen next!
I really enjoyed that the characters were multifaceted, each had layers to them that you see start to get peeled back with each chapter. Hidden depths to characters who seem to just be in the background. There truly isn’t a dull moment in this wonderful book!
A delightful historical romance with a whole lot of grit. Perfectly balanced and highly emotive. I dare you to try and put this book down, once it has its claws in you, you have no choice but to finish. I am nothing short of obsessed with Morans writing and will be looking out for more of her work! …. now where can I get me a Honourable Lieutenant Colonel Kit Helford?
About the author
KATY MORAN is the author of Wicked by
Design and False Lights, published by Head of Zeus. False Lights was originally
published under the pseudonym KJ
Whittaker. Katy has taught creative writing in schools, at the Arvon Foundation, and for the charity Waterloo Uncovered, an archaeology project with a support program for veterans which aims to understand war and its impact on people. She visited the battlefield of Waterloo at their invitation, which led to her exploration of combat stress in False Lights. Katy’s research melds the testimony of present-day soldiers with the records of their historical counter-parts, to examine common ground and shared experiences across the centuries. She is co-project manager for Waterloo Uncovered’s forthcoming educational project looking at the lives of camp followers, women who accompanied soldiers to the Peninsular War and the Battle of Waterloo. The project offers a rare insight into the lives of military spouses in a conflict on the cusp of modern history, seeking to broaden our understanding of history by removing the filter of prejudice.
Katy lives with her husband and three children in a ramshackle Georgian house in the Welsh borders. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association.
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