#belles of london | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whimsicaldragonette · 3 months

Text

Blog Tour and Arc Review: The Lily of Ludgate Hill by Mimi Matthews

Order

Add to Goodreads

Publication Date: January 16, 2024

Welcome to The Lily of Ludgate Hill book tour with Berkley Publishing Group. (This blog tour post is also posted on my Wordpress book blog Whimsical Dragonette.)

Synopsis:

Lady Anne Deveril doesn’t spook easily. A woman of lofty social standing known for her glacial beauty and starchy opinions, she’s the unofficial leader of her small group of equestriennes. Since her mother’s devastating plunge into mourning six years ago, Anne voluntarily renounced any fanciful notions of love and marriage. And yet, when fate puts Anne back into the entirely too enticing path of Mr. Felix Hartford, she’s tempted to run…right into his arms. No one understands why Lady Anne withdrew into the shadows of society, Hart least of all. The youthful torch he once held for her has long since cooled. Or so he keeps telling himself. But now Anne needs a favor to help a friend. Hart will play along with her little ruse—on the condition that Anne attend a holiday house party at his grandfather’s country estate. No more mourning clothes. No more barriers. Only the two of them, unrequited feelings at last laid bare. Finally free to gallop out on her own, Anne makes the tantalizing discovery that beneath the roguish exterior of her not-so-white knight is a man with hidden depths, scorching passions—and a tender heart.

Author Bio:

USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews writes both historical nonfiction and award-winning Victorian romances. Her novels have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, and Shelf Awareness, and her articles have been featured on the Victorian Web, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and in syndication at BUST Magazine. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney. She resides in California with her family, which includes a retired Andalusian dressage horse, a Sheltie, and two Siamese cats. Learn more online at www.mimimatthews.com.

Author Photo Credit: Vicki Hahn

Rating: ★★★★

*My Review, Favorite Quotes, and Non-Exclusive Extract below the cut.

My Review:

I loved this. It was exactly the sort of banter-filled stubborn hero and heroine who are gone for each other but refuse to admit it story that I love. It's easily the best of the Belles of London series. Anne and Hartford are perfect for each other but it takes them a while to admit it. The only problem I had with it was that it was *extremely* predictable. I knew exactly how it was going to go from the beginning and there was no deviating from that. I actually stopped about 75% of the way through and checked goodreads to make sure I hadn't already read it before. I hadn't. And yet I had predicted every. single. thing that happened. It was like deja vu but more so. The last quarter unfolded exactly as I expected it to. I don't know if the foreshadowing was just really intense or what but that did lessen my enjoyment of the story. Aside from that, however, everything else was exactly as I like in a historical romance. I am curious about the next one, as well, after meeting who will obviously be the new wheelchair-bound, artist hero. I have high hopes because neither of those is something we typically get in a romance hero. *Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an early copy for review.

Favorite Quotes:

"I wish I were more eccentric," Anne declared, rousing her spirits to the cause. "I might have traveled to Yorkshire weeks ago and saved Julia from her fate."

Non-Exclusive Excerpt:

The twin fragrances of pipe smoke and parchment met her nose. Lemon polish, too, though there was no sign that the maids had done any recent tidying up. The library was a place of spectacular clutter. Bookcases lined three of the walls; leather-bound volumes on botany, agriculture, and natural history were pulled out at all angles as if an absent-minded researcher had wandered from shelf to shelf withdrawing tomes at random only to change his mind midway through extracting them. The fourth wall was entirely covered in framed sketches of flowers and greenery. Some images were produced in pencil and others in delicately rendered watercolor. They were-along with the teetering stacks of botanical journals and drooping maps that spilled over the sides of the earl's carved mahogany desk-evidence of his prevailing passion. Lord March's love of exotic plants was legendary. He'd spent much of his life traveling the globe, from the wilds of America to the highest peaks of the Himalayas, bringing back rare seeds to nurture into bloom. A distracted fellow at the best of times, but a kind one, too, as far as Anne recalled. It had been a long time since she'd darkened his doorstep. A lifetime, it felt like. She tugged restlessly at her black kid-leather gloves as she paced the worn carpet in front of the library's cavernous marble fireplace. She'd never excelled at waiting for unpleasantness to arrive. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long. "Hello, old thing." A familiar deep voice sounded from the library door. Anne spun around, her traitorous heart giving an involuntary leap in her breast. Mr. Felix Hartford stood in the entryway, one shoulder propped against the doorframe. Lord only knew how long he'd been observing her. She stiffened. After all these years, he still had the power to discompose her. Drat him. But she wouldn't permit her emotions to be thrown into chaos by his attractive face and figure. What cared she for his commanding height? His square-chiseled jaw? For the devilish glint in his sky-blue eyes? And devil he was. The very one she'd come here to see. "Hartford," she said. Her chin ticked up a notch in challenge. It was a reflex. There was no occasion on which they'd met during the course of the past several years that they hadn't engaged in verbal battle. This time, however, he made no attempt to engage her. He was dressed in plaid trousers and a loose-fitting black sack coat worn open to reveal the dark waistcoat beneath. A casual ensemble, made more so by the state of him. His clothes were vaguely rumpled, and so was his seal-brown hair. It fell over his brow, desperately in need of an application of pomade. There was an air of arrested preoccupation about him, as if he'd just returned from somewhere or was on his way to somewhere. As if he hadn't realized she was in the library and had come upon her quite by chance. An unnatural silence stretched between them, void of their typical barb-filled banter. Greetings dispensed with, Anne found herself at an unaccountable loss. More surprising still, so did Hartford. He remained frozen on the threshold, his usually humorous expression turned to stone on his handsome face. At length, he managed a smile. "I knew one day you'd walk through my door again. It only took you"-withdrawing his pocket watch from his waistcoat, he cast it a brief glance, brows lifting as if in astonishment at the time-"seven years to do it." She huffed. "It hasn't been seven years." "Six and half, then." Six years and five months, more like. It had been early December of 1855, during the Earl of March's holiday party. She'd been just shy of seventeen; young and naive and not formally out yet. Hartford had kissed her under a sprig of mistletoe in the gaslit servants' hallway outside the kitchens. And he'd proposed to her.

But Anne refused to think of the past. Never mind that, living in London, reminders of it were daily shoved under her nose. "You're not going to be difficult, are you?" she asked. "That depends." He strolled into the room. "To what do I owe your visit?" "Presumptuous, as always," she said. "For all you know, I'm here to see your grandfather." Hartford was the only child of the Earl of March's second son-the late (and much lamented) moralist Everett Hartford. Anne well remembered the man. He'd been as straitlaced and starchy as a vicar. Rather ironic, really, given his son's reputation for recklessness and irreverence. "My grandfather is in his greenhouse," Hartford said, "elbow deep in chicken manure. If it's him you've come to speak with, you're in for a long wait." She suppressed a grimace. There was no need for him to be crass. "Really, Hartford." "Really, my lady." He advanced into the room slowly, his genial expression doing little to mask the fact that he was a great towering male bearing down on her. "Why have you come?" Anne held her ground. She wasn't afraid of him. "I've come to ask a favor of you." His mouth curled up at one corner. "Better and better." He gestured to a stuffed settee upholstered in Gobelins tapestry. "Pray sit down."

Excerpted from The Lily of Ludgate Hill by Mimi Matthews Copyright © 2024 by Mimi Matthews. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

#shilo reads #blog tour #berkley romance #historical romance #regency romance #netgalley #arc review #book review #romance #mimi matthews #the lily of ludgate hill #belles of london

7 notes · View notes

mercerislandbooks · 1 month

Text

Book Notes: Belles of London Series

Some of you may have noticed a new addition to our store — Island Books now has a dedicated romance section and I couldn't be happier. Cheerful covers in bright colors, containing stories where all kinds of people find their HEA (happy ever after) or HFN (happy for now). As a person who decidedly prefers books to end on a happy (or at least hopeful) note, romances are a genre I can count on. And often an author will write a series that lets you watch everyone out of a friend group find love, allowing me to linger in a delightful fictional world.

One series that I just discovered, a little late to the party, is Belles of London by Mimi Matthews. Lil recommended the first book, The Siren of Sussex, a few years ago, and I was finally able to pick it up. I barely needed Cindy’s "first page test" to be hooked and quickly finished it. I then raced through the next two books, The Belle of Belgrave Square and The Lily of Ludgate Hill, in this planned four book series. (The fourth being The Muse of Maiden Lane, coming out 11/19/24).

Set in Victorian England, all the heroines are equestriennes, and finding the marriage mart challenging for a variety of reasons. The Siren of Sussex features Evelyn Maltravers, the second daughter of an impoverished family. After her older sister embroiled herself in scandal instead of making the advantageous marriage she was supposed to, Evelyn is tasked with snaring herself a wealthy husband and saving her family. But she knows her best chance to catch the eye of eligible noblemen is not in the ballroom but on the back of her horse, a place she always feels confident. And to really make an impression, she needs the most fashionable riding habits she can afford.

Enter Ahmad Malik, who only needs the right influential woman of the ton to wear his designs to help him finally realize his dream of owning his own dressmaker's establishment. When Evelyn commissions him to make her riding habits, he decides to take her as his muse and dress her for the season. It's not long before fitting sessions blossom into something more, but Evelyn is bound by financial constraints. And Ahmad is reluctant to entangle his own heart with a woman society says he could never have. The path of true love never did run smooth!

I loved the way Mimi Matthews took on the challenges of an interracial couple with significant class differences as the heart of her romance. And I also loved every lushly described detail of the gorgeous clothes Ahmad designs for Evelyn. Throughout The Siren of Sussex, enough teasers are dropped for the other heroines of her series (and their prospective beaus) that I was eager to continue on and see what romances lay in store for them. Matthews builds romantic tension masterfully and employs a dual point-of-view so the reader can appreciate the inner journeys of both leads.

Pick up The Siren of Sussex if a swoony Victorian historical romance series sounds like the escape read you need right now. Or come check out our new romance section and see what else catches your eye!

— Lori

#island books #lori robinson #book notes #mimi matthews #siren of sussex #belle of belgrave square #lily of ludgate hill #belles of london #victorian romance

2 notes · View notes

chocolatepot · 1 year

Text

I can't believe how much I'm enjoying The Belle of Belgrave Square. It is a heterosexual romance, I thought I was done with those!

(It's because the book, and the series that it's part of, are intensely romantic. This is perhaps a super aspec thing to say but I usually find historical romance to lean so hard on the characters being physically attracted to each other that there's literally nothing else for them to connect with, but Mimi Matthews writes the characters as actually liking, being interested in, and helping each other ... and it really works.)

#books #belles of london #mimi matthews

8 notes · View notes

overflowingshelf · 1 year

Text

Audiobook Review: The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews

The Siren of Sussex was not as tempting as I wanted it to be. Plus, I wish I read this in print over audio (they made some CHOICES having two narrators). See my full review:

The Siren of Sussex Mimi Matthews Narrators: Vidish Athavale & Lydia Hanman Publisher: Berkley Publication Date: January 11, 2022 Series or Standalone: Belles of London Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads – StoryGraph Overall Rating: Performance Rating: Story Rating: MY REVIEW CW: Racism/racial slurs; misogyny/sexism; sexual harrasment; colonization; death of parent; references…

View On WordPress

#3 Stars #Audiobook #Audiobook Review #Belles of London #Berkley #book review #Lydia Hanman #Mimi Matthews #Review #The Siren of Sussex #Vidish Athavale

0 notes

marvelousgeeks · 1 year

Link

Mimi Matthews’ new installment of her Belles of London series, The Belle of Belgrave Square, has made its way to my top historical romance novels. It follows The Siren of Sussex, which introduced all the Belles brilliantly and solidified their friendship. This novel focuses more on romance than the previous installment.

While I enjoyed the plot and the friendships in the first, I did want a little more romance, and my wish was granted in the Belle of Belgrave Square! I would have liked to see more of the girls in the second installment, but you still feel the friendship even with Julia Wychwood separated from her friends for most of the novel. It was essential for Julia’s development to be on her own and have herself in unfamiliar territory after she had been sheltered for most of her life.

#the belle of Belgrave square #mimi matthews #belles of london #romancelandia

1 note · View note

booksandwords · 2 years

Text

The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews

Series: Belles of London, #1 Read time: 2 Days Rating: 5/5

The quote: Evelyn recgonized the feeling of leashed power. The way it coiled just beneath the surface. She knew it well enough from riding a station. But this wasn't only power restrained. This was something else. Something stronger and more hazardous still. It was passion. Ahmed's passion for her and he was holding it back. Leashing it as though she needed protecting from it. — Evelyn Maltravers

The Siren of Sussex was a joy to read, causing me to stay up past my bedtime to finish it. There is a welcome blend of the historical and the fictional. All the characters are likable in their own ways. Even the antagonists such as they are are of their time. They feel kind of period-appropriate, the overly handsy and bitchy as f**k Lady Heatherton; Rosamond Deveril, Countess of Arundell is the sort of character that exists in all Victorian novels of this type the chaperone and aid in helping the protagonist come out in society. The hero actions of Ahmed are as noble and endearing as they are frustrating. Evelyn is a strong, loyal woman with a serious streak of ingenuity. Both these characters are romance novel catnip, things readers love to see.

The leading couple is Evelyn Maltravers and Ahmed Malik. I adore Evelyn. We meet her when she is breaking propriety for the first of many times throughout the story, meeting Ahmed Malik without a chaperone to request he make one of his stunning riding habits for her. Twenty-three-year-old Evelyn is in London for the season, her debut season to be her only season giving her only weeks to find a wealthy husband. Her haste to marry is so she may support herself and the dreams of her four younger sisters. It has fallen to her after her older sister caused a scandal by running off and marrying for love during her season. Her favourite thing in the world is to ride her beloved stallion Hephastious that is how she intends to make a name for herself during the season. Hence the riding habit to make her stand out. She immediately endears herself to Ahmed by treating him as something closer to an equal rather than a servant in stark contrast to the behaviours we see from his other clients. Her intelligence and spine show through a lot. She is as one would expect strong, intelligent and kind of enjoys reading, riding and fashion. She is at times very modern, as is quite the norm for this genre but in The Siren of Sussex it works. Notably, for a historical fiction protagonist, Evelyn wears glasses and her hair is red. Not sure about the red hair but the glasses feel a bit unusual in my experience. Thirty-year-old Ahmed Malik is a carer and protector by nature, he has spent years looking out for his cousin Mira and the fallen women he worked with. This has made him remarkably non-judgemental to actions of desperation, particularly of women. In some ways, he even accepts racial ignorance (even malicious action). Now he works as a dressmaker trying to make a name for himself in a world that does not welcome him. He is a truly skilled dressmaker he has an eye for designing clothes and choosing the right colours and materials to accentuate a woman's assets and flatter her colouring. There is a wonderful moment with Evie's friends and her chaperone that just made me smile it says a lot about Ahmed in a way. "Love!" Lady Arundell scoffed. "How can that possibly be!" "He sewed pockets in all of her skirts," Anne said. "Pockets." Julia sighed. "Imagine." "And she didn't even have to ask him to do it," Stella said. "Pockets?" Lady Arundell frowned as she shepherded them back to the pavilion. "This is all very vexing," (p. 350). What can I say, the more things change the more they stay the same. Ahmed caters to the needs of his clients without them having to ask. His skill has been recognised by a tailor giving him a professional opportunity if only he can find a suitable woman to showcase his designs in fashionable society. He is a gentleman at all times he's succeeded in maintaining his professionalism right up until he meets Evelyn until they make contact and sparks fly, she becomes his muse. He knows with his being half Indian, half English and a tradesman nothing can possibly happen between him and Evelyn it would destroy her, and he loves her too much to subject her to the treatment he receives regularly. That behaviour is endearing. Ahmed Malik is written with the perfect mix of culture, self-sacrifice, skill and love that makes for a very appealing hero. You want his success but occasionally you may want to slap him (come with the historical fiction territory).

Together Evie and Ahmed are a charming combination, I adore their actions towards each other (when you read it that ill make sense. They can feel a bit like a genderbend at times. She is so strong, sure of herself, her opinions, he is much more reticent and concerned about image, slander, propriety. Also, Ahmed is the arty one I feel that needs to be pointed out, that muse element does go both ways though. She is inspired to act in ways she may not have otherwise because of him. Their dynamic just feels right, it does make me smile. I do like how their relationship plays out. Among the rest of the characters, all or are realistic, or as realistic as one would like in fiction. The actions of the characters always feel like they are plausible and do not betray the character traits or world built up. There are unwelcome propositions in a boudoir, an unwelcome proposition for Evelyn (which I want to into here because spoilers), varying levels of social comfort and realistic friendships. Oh and for those that care about such things it does pass the Bechdel test, I've always found it a little dicey but you know it's a thing and better than nothing.

As this is Victorian era historical fiction there are some content warnings for period-appropriate racism, sexism and something akin to ablism (though this will be much more relevant for The Belle of Belgrave Square). The only thing I was a bit shaky on was some of the phrases used. Quite a few of them are not used frequently even in historical fiction, most are understandable in context. The most frequently used of these is bluestocking it's a derogatory term for a scholarly, literary or cultured woman. Though the definition Evelyn provides early on is more limited in scope defining a member of the bluestocking society "I am not a bluestocking. I don't attend intellectual salons or meetings on rational dress. I don't secretly write novels or newspaper editorials. And I certainly don't dabble in scientific experimentation." (p. 5). What I really appreciate is the wording and the world. Mimi Matthews knows how to build her world and her cast. She gives us enough to make us understand the world, to give us a reasonable cast to draw upon and variety among them. She gives them individuality and a hint of what is to come in future stories.

The Belles of London looks like it could be a promising series. I do like the way Mimi Matthews writes her romance is clean, her women are strong and her men honourable. Next in the series is The Belle of Belgrave Square with heroine Miss Julia Wychwood and hero Captain Jasper Blunt. Captain Blunt is not what he initially appears and is surrounded by rumours. Julia is shy and suffers from anxiety except when she's on the back of her horse, Cossack. I would suspect it will be a quadrilogy with the last two heroines being Miss Stella Hobhouse and Lady Anne Arundell. All of them are equestriennes and need husbands as is the norm for a woman in Victorian society. On the back of a horse is the place they are most confident, comfortable and over this, they bonded.

I'm going to add a collection of comments and quotes here because this will get out of control if I don't.

"They make the ladies look beautiful, too. It's a sort of magic I believe. To create clothing that can do that to a person. That can transform them into something extraordinary" — This is a brilliant quote and absolutely accurate. It's the reason I love fashion so much, the right piece of clothing can do so much for a person. Someone come up with these wonderful pieces. (Evelyn, p.6)

"And why should I admit to a label?" Evelyn demanded, nettled. "First it's wallflower, then it's bluestocking, and then it's old maid or spinster. I don't wish to be filed away in a neat little category, labelled and dismissed by society as if I weren't a person full of mysterious complexities. I don't even know the full depth of what I am yet—or what I'm capable of. How can a man? How can anyone?" — At one point Evelyn goes through a series of labels a Victorian lady does not what attached to her. Look I just like this I like her thoughts like this. And this feels so relevant to labels now. You either want them and will attribute them to yourself or you want nothing to do them. (Evelyn, p.26)

• The three Furies. Evelyn smiled to think of that. She'd rather be thought of as a Fury than a wallflower or a bluestocking. The Grecian Furirs were formidable sisters. Women of justice—and vengeance. The thought appealed to her. — (Evelyn, p.91) This is my favourite mythology reference in the book. There are more mythological references than I expected coming into this. The three in question are Julia, Stella and Anne. They are also called the three Fates, it's a derogatory term. Evelyn is referred to as having lines of Venus, I really like the phrasing. Evelyn's horse is a mythological reference to Hephaestus, the Greek God of among other things craftsmen and artisans (though he is best known for others). Not least of all Ahmed likens Evelyn to both a Siren and a Muse.

"It was my older sister who was the beautiful one, not me. She looked like the plates in the ladies' magazines. An English rose, people used to call her." "You've mistaken sameness for beauty." "I beg your pardon?" "Sameness is comfortable. People like it because it reassures them. But it's nothing extraordinary. It's not true beauty. Not the kind that moves the soul." — I love this quote okay. It's brilliant. (Evelyn and Ahmed, p.42)

"Yes well... My mother always told me that, in a difficult situation, one must proceed from a position of strength." — Just sound advice really. (Evelyn, p.73)

The spiritualism aspect is actually quite well done. It is both written as belief and disbelief.

"Faded wealth, more like it. The drawing room was littered with worn caprets and old-fashioned furnishings. "Miss Maltravers appeared a little faded herself. Not only that, she seemed smaller somehow. He never noticed it so much as when he saw her directly after having watched her ride. She was majestic on a horse. Almost queenly. Another person entirely." — There is a lovely imagery to this. That idea of being an entirely different person in a different setting, different clothes. It appears again and again throughout the book. (Ahmed, p.142)

The first habit Ahmed makes for Evelyn is the one on the cover and oh man that illustration does not do it justice. Dark green to the point of almost being black it shimmers in the sunshine. The colouring is perfect for her adding to her mystery. All the outfits in this dress are fashion p***, particularly that dress that Stella ends up wearing to the pleasure gardens.

"You're hiding again." "Can you blame me?" "No indeed. If I had chocolates and a novel to keep me company, I might withdraw to my bed, too. But that's no excuse. We must all face the season, like it or not." — Julia has anxiety and lives in a family of hypochondriacs. This is why I love these characters. All of them are there for each other but very much just leave me with my 📚 and 🍫, who needs men. (Anne and Julia, p.159)

"You're the last man in the world I'd worry about trying anything. After what you did for me " "It's your reputation I'm concerned with." "My reputation?" she laughed. "Only you would say so. To everyone else, I'm a whore." Ahmed frowned. He briefly took her arm to guide her around a puddle of filth in the road. "You're not a whore. You're a seamstress." — When Ahmed worked in a brothel Becky worked there too, he protected. Becky is a gifted embroider. It is through Becky that we learn the truth of Ahmed's past and Mira's present. (Becky and Ahmed, p.171)

"He had the sense they were breaching some kind of unspoken barrier. A wall they had been chipping away at Ittstood between them from the first moment they'd met. The same impenetrable barrier that separated every man and woman of different races, different classes. One forged long ago, fortified with centuries of fear, resentment, and mistrust." — Honestly I can't read this and not think of one of my favourite all-time love matches. Catherine of Valois and Owen Tudor. A queen consort and a courtier, founders of the Tudor dynasty. As a widow, Catherine should have been untouchable or married off to a man of status. But she fell in love and ran. For their love, they broke all kinds of rules. Is it relevant to this story, hell no. But oh man it was my first thought. (Ahmed, p.242)

There is a joyous section with Evelyn trying to educate herself on Indian culture. Trying to better herself for the man she loves and failing because of damn colonialism basically. She only gets some help from Captain Blunt of all people. The whole section culminates in the exchange between Anne and Evelyn "If you want to learn about India, why don't you just ask him?" Evelyn didn't need to inquire who him was. "It's not his responsibility to educate me. The ignorance is mine, and so must be the remedy for it." (p.301)

Read for Dymocks 2022 Reading Challenge. Filling the prompt: "Love Story" Not the original prompt I intended to use this for (illustrated cover) but I'm glad I used it for this. It's been a while since I read a romance novel that I enjoyed as much as this. While the women are strong it feels possible and the men get their just desserts which is oh so pleasant and not always guaranteed.

#book review #ktreviews #read 2022 #the siren of sussex #mimi matthews #belles of london #historical fiction #spoiler on goodreads #dymocksreadingchallenge #booklr

1 note · View note