The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels
Series: Dangerous Damsels #1
Author: India Holton
Published June 15th 2021 by Berkley Books

Goodreads Synopsis
A prim and proper lady thief must save her aunt from a crazed pirate and his dangerously charming henchman in this fantastical historical romance.

Cecilia Bassingwaite is the ideal Victorian lady. She's also a thief. Like the other members of the Wisteria Society crime sorority, she flies around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by interesting means. Sure, she has a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, but all things considered, it's a pleasant existence. Until the men show up.

Ned Lightbourne is a sometimes assassin who is smitten with Cecilia from the moment they meet. Unfortunately, that happens to be while he's under direct orders to kill her. His employer, Captain Morvath, who possesses a gothic abbey bristling with cannons and an unbridled hate for the world, intends to rid England of all its presumptuous women, starting with the Wisteria Society. Ned has plans of his own. But both men have made one grave mistake. Never underestimate a woman.

When Morvath imperils the Wisteria Society, Cecilia is forced to team up with her handsome would-be assassin to save the women who raised her--hopefully proving, once and for all, that she's as much of a scoundrel as the rest of them.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via Edelweiss. This in no way impacted on my view.

Cecilia Bassingwaite may be a proper Victorian lady, but she is also a thief, and a pirate. Her and the rest of the Lady Scoundrels are doing alright for themselves, but when Ned Lightbourne arrives, and claims he has been sent to kill her, and the rest of the Wisteria Society, Cecilia needs to forget about her feelings for Ned, and fight to stop him, and the wicked Captain Morvath, who wants to control all of England. Forced to team up, Cecilia and Ned need to get other their differing work styles, and their growing feelings, to save the women who mean the world to Cecilia.

I'm going to admit, I wasn't too sure about this book. I was buzzing when I was approved for the eARC, and attempted it on three different occasions, but couldn't get past chapter 3. However, when I decided to try again at the beginning of the year, I flew through the entire book in one sitting. The writing is unlike anything I've read before. The chapter titles, the characters, and the world building was impeccable, and I found myself proper belly laughing times. There's happiness, and sad times, and romance, and anger, and all the range of emotions shown - and felt - throughout the book, and I'm sort of kicking myself that I didn't persevere earlier because I've missed a trick. Cecilia and Ned's romance was witty, and heartfelt, and sometimes I felt like I was Barbossa shouting 'JUST KISS'.

I was blown away the most by the plot. There was so much happening in the book, and at times I thought our heroes were in over their heads, and they would never save the day. I was on the edge of my seat until the very end, and I'm so looking forward to reading The League of Gentlewomen Witches. An absolutely perfect debut!

Dates Read:
January 15, 2022

Rating
4 Stars