A Lady’s Guide to London, Faye Delacour (Review by Sara D’Onofrio)

Historical Romance is not my go to genre, and so when I write reviews for genres that aren’t my personal choice, I try to pick out my likes and dislikes that aren’t just a reflection of the style. A HUGE like for this book is the female main character. It was so refreshing to read a fmc that was strong, independent, and did not give a rip about other’s opinions. While she had her moments of being overwhelmed, she never wavered in her confidence and her loyalty. The way she stood by Lord Ashton in all of his dark moments from his past and through the present issues, I was HERE for it! We need more female main characters like her, in my opinion! Loyalty was a strong theme throughout this story for me in general. Jane, Annabelle, Della, and Ashton proved over and over again how they wouldn’t let society or expectations dictate how they treated others. One thing that I didn’t particularly love was the speed of the book. It all felt pretty slow moving to me, and like issues were “not that big of a deal”. I do understand that it goes back to the time period it was supposed to reflect though, but I also kept waiting for something more exciting to happen. On the one hand, Della was so confident and in control of her sexuality, but then some descriptions of the intimate scenes felt immature, and lacking the depth to really put my mind in that moment. One other thing that was sort of a let down for me was the ending. They spend this entire book not being able to do anything they want because of societal norms, and fear of judgment from others, and then bam, in the last three pages they just magically get to run away together. As I was getting closer to the end, I was like okay is something going to start happening here? There’s not much time left. Okay, what’s going to happen? Then, it’s just a quick wrap up, and easy conclusion. I needed more oomph!