ARC Review of The Last Lady B by Eloisa James
Rating: 3.75/5 Heat Level: 3.25/5 Pub Date: May 12th
Premise:
Genevieve marries her wealthy, seventy-year old husband to secure her younger sister's dowry. When she arrives at his remote Scottish abbey, she's met with multiple ghosts, strange inhabitants, and her husband's very attractive former ward and solicitor Sir Godric.
My review:
This is a pretty unique historical romance, and there was definitely an experimental vibe to go along with the new cover style (one of the better illustrated historical covers I've seen in terms of realism, though I'd have loved to see both the hero and heroine on the cover). I do think it was a mixed bag in terms of execution, especially as a primarily romance reader... but maybe non-romance readers will feel differently.
First, this is single POV, and it is in the first-person. I loved Genevieve's voice— it's droll and witty, worldly in some ways, naive in others... very early-twenties, basically. That being said, this is one of those single POV romances where I did not particularly get a sense of the hero without his POV. We know Godric is an accomplished jurist, clever, mildly judgmental... and not much more. He's there to act as temptation to the newly-married Genevieve and is a foil to her shitty husband, his former guardian. He's supportive and hot, while her husband is ugly, old, sexist, and rapey. No wonder she falls for Godric almost immediately... and so does he, once he realizes she isn't a gold-digger. While they fall for each other real fast, there is an element of longing the author drags out thanks to Genevieve's shitty, very-much-alive husband.
The actual plot is very murder mystery-centric— like, imagine if Catherine Morland had been RIGHT about the fucked shit happening in Northanger Abbey. And there are LAYERS to this mystery! A remote Scottish abbey, multiple ghosts of dead wives, illegitimate children, a secret will, etc. Eloisa's prose is bright and snappy, and I like how she builds the villains up from unserious assholes to outrightly cruel. Her (good) secondary characters are equally charming— special shoutout to Colette, a biracial Black French aristocrat who Eloisa took care to point out was not based on fantasy a la Bridgerton casting, but rather, the historical realities of the time.
The sex:
The sex is very slow-burn, and that is 10000% thanks to Genevieve's husband being alive, and the author unwilling to cross the line and write physical cheating. Is there an emotional affair brewing within days of Genevieve and Godric meeting? Absolutely. The sex itself is pretty standard stuff, a little less explicit than your average open-door historical, I would say, but that's on par for this author.
Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Eloisa James for the advanced copies.
