The Baleful Godmother series

This is historical romance series with a fantasy twist.  Once upon a time a fairy was helped by a woman.  In exchange, she asked for each of her female descendants to be granted one wish when they are in their early twenties.  This series covers a few of the descendants as they choose their gift and then deal with the consequences in their lives.  I hadn’t read a series before that combined fantasy and Regency romance.

In the first book Charlotte decides to wish for the ability to shapeshift.  She uses this gift to disguise herself as a man to attempt to live an independent life.  This is a good opening for some social commentary about the restrictions on women.  The book is also funny as Charlotte tries to control a male body with its over large hands and obvious responses to sexual attraction.  Her employer (and eventual love interest) thinks he is taking a young, particularly naive man under his wing and teaching what life in London is like.  As their friendship and attraction deepen, both need to comes to terms with their own understanding of what it means to be attracted to a personality no matter the shape of the body that it is in.

Resisting Miss Merryweather by Emily Larkin
on December 5th 2016
Pages: 157
Series: Baleful Godmother #2

Sir Barnaby Ware made a mistake two and a half years ago. A massive mistake. The sort of mistake that can never be atoned for.
He knows himself to be irredeemable, but the captivating and unconventional Miss Merryweather is determined to prove him wrong…
The daughter of a dancing master and a noblewoman, Miss Merryweather had an unusual upbringing. She sees things no one else sees—and she says things no one else says.
Sir Barnaby knows he’s the villain in this piece, but Miss Merryweather thinks he’s the hero—and she is damnably hard to resist…

Barnaby Ware was introduced in book 1 as the man who broke up a marriage and a lifelong friendship by having an affair.   When the wronged party attempts to reach out to him in forgiveness, he resists because he feels that what he did was unforgivable.  When he visits his former friend he meets Miss Merryweather.  Unbeknownst to him, she is due to receive her fairy gift in a few days.

This is a novella instead of a full length novel.  It is also the most forgettable of these books for me.  I was more interested in the friendship that was trying to be repaired instead of the romance that is supposed to be blossoming.

Trusting Miss Trentham by Emily Larkin
on January 9th 2017
Pages: 375
Series: Baleful Godmother #3
Published by Emily Larkin

Letitia Trentham is noteworthy for three reasons. One, she’s extremely wealthy. Two, she can distinguish truth from lies. Three, she’s refused every man who’s ever proposed to her.
Until Letty receives a proposal she can’t turn down.
Icarus Reid barely survived the Battle of Vimeiro. He lives for one thing—to find the man who betrayed him to the French. He doesn’t want to marry Miss Trentham; he wants to use her talent for uncovering lies.
Suddenly, Letty finds herself breaking the rules, pretending to be someone she’s not, and doing things a lady would never do. But her hunt for the truth may uncover more than one secret—including the secret that haunts Icarus day and night. The secret he intends to take to his grave…

This is one of my favorites of the series.  Lydia has been living with her gift – the ability to tell lies from truth – for several years.  She has refused all offers of marriage because she knows that the men have only wanted her money and not her.  She gets involved with an injured former soldier who hears about her ability (but not the magical reason).  He wants her to help him find out what happened in the ambush where he was injured and all his companions were killed.

I liked the fact that this book had an older and wiser heroine.  She’s seen it all moving through society with the ability to cut through all the games and polite phrases.  The chance to do something new thrills her.

Icarus is suffering from severe PTSD.  He’s suicidal and has nightmares every night.  It is a good representation of this.  As the wife of a veteran with PTSD, I appreciated the thoughtful portrayal.

Claiming Mister Kemp by Emily Larkin
on February 6th 2017
Pages: 220
Series: Baleful Godmother #4
Published by Emily Larkin

Lucas Kemp’s twin sister died last year. He’s put aside his mourning clothes, but not his heartache. If Lucas ever needed a friend, it’s now—and who should walk in his door but Lieutenant Thomas Matlock…
Lucas and Tom are more than just best friends; they’ve been in love with each other for years. In love with each other—and pretending not to know it.
But this time, Tom’s not going to ignore the attraction between them. This time, he’s going to push the issue.
He’s going to teach Lucas how to laugh again—and he’s going to take Lucas as his lover…

I did not like this book.  I wanted to.  This book focuses on two male characters who were important in the last book.  I liked them.  I wanted to find out more about their relationship.  My problem with this one was the way the sex was handled.  I’m not a huge fan of sex in books anyway.  I much prefer slow burn romances and fade to black sex scenes.  While the other books have had sex scenes there was enough romance and character development to balance them.

In this book, there is just sex.  You don’t get the romantic parts that were seen in the other books.  I think that the difference was here because it was switched to a m/m story instead of a male/virginal female story.  I don’t think that is a good reason to leave out the romance and tenderness though.  Relationship development is still important and that didn’t happen here.

Ruining Miss Wrotham (Baleful Godmother, #5) by Emily Larkin
on May 25th 2017
Pages: 390
Published by Emily Larkin

Eleanor Wrotham has sworn off overbearing men, but she needs a man’s help—and the man who steps forward is as domineering as he is dangerous: the notorious Mordecai Black.
The illegitimate son of an earl, Mordecai is infamous for his skill with women. His affairs are legendary—but few people realize that Mordecai has rules, and one of them is: Never ruin a woman.
But if Mordecai helps Miss Wrotham, she will be ruined.

Eleanor is searching for her sister, who ran away to marry a soldier.  Eleanor’s fiance ran off because of the scandal her sister caused.  Her father and aunt kept her sister’s letters from her.  Now she has found a several month old letter saying that her sister is in trouble. The only person willing to help her is a relative of the man who jilted her. 

This ends up being a road trip story like book 3.  I don’t think it is quite as strong as that one but is enjoyable nonetheless.

Discovering Miss Dalrymple by Emily Larkin
on October 24, 2017
Series: Baleful Godmother #6

At the age of four Lord Vickery was stolen by gypsies and sold to a chimney sweep. At the age of five he was reunited with his father. His history is no secret—everyone in the ton knows of his miraculous rescue.
But when Vickery finds his father’s diaries, he discovers that there may be a secret buried in his past…
Georgiana Dalrymple knows all about secrets. She has several herself—and one of those secrets is her ability to find missing people.
When Lord Vickery turns to her for help, Georgiana sets out to discover just who he actually is…

Georgiana can find anything, including the answers to old mysteries if she just asks the right questions.  But is uncovering the truth always for the best?

I liked this book a lot.  It was nice to see the heroine trying to convince the hero that she would stand by him instead of the other other way around like it is common in a lot of historical romances.  There is no meet-cute here.  They have known each other all their lives and their relationship is formed out of their friendship.  It was a nice end to the series.

Overall, I’d highly recommend this series if you like historical romances.  Just skip the third book. 

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• Books Set in Europe