Cecelia is a lady pirate. She wants to belong to the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, like her late mother before her. She is doing everything right, just as her aunt has taught her. An assassin is after her. He tries to break into their home, but Cecelia will not let him. Ned, the assassin, is known by many names. He fascinates Cecelia. He also claims to be protecting her and lets her know who is after her and where is really from. Cecelia is not sure about him, but he does make her feel new feelings. Can she trust him? How far? Will she become a member of the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels? Will she rescue her aunt and the other ladies?

This is a rib-roaring, rip-snorting book. I had so much fun reading it. Tongue-in-cheek is the only way to read this. I loved Cecelia. She seems so prim and proper, just like those Victorian ladies, but Ned has a way about him that makes her take chances with him and her behavior. She had her mission--finding and killing her father but she gets off on a tangent each time with Ned. She also has to deal with her Aunty Army (not the aunt she lives with) wanting her dead. She's able to charm her and get her help when the Wisteria Society needs help.

I plan to read more of this series. I want to see If Cecelia and Ned's dreams come true. ( )

This book is the first in the Dangerous Damsels series by New Zealand author India Holton. It is a whimsical feminist historical fantasy romcom set in Victorian England.

Cecilia Bassingwaite is the perfect Victorian lady, sipping cups of tea with her Aunt and minding her Ps and Qs. She is also a pirate, a thief, and aiming to make a name for herself as a fully-fledged member of the house-flying Wisteria Society of pirate ladies, by proving she is as much of a scoundrel as the best of them. Captain Ned Lightbourne enters as her would-be assassin and the two of them embark on a series of adventures, becoming embroiled in Captain Morvarth’s fiendish plan to banish all women back to their tea-rooms.

This is a light-hearted quirky romcom which began as entertaining and funny, but soon became just too silly and almost slap-stick for me. It’s a nice idea, but the humour in making a caricature of the Englishness of the English has been done many times, and often very badly by non-English authors. There were some entertaining moments but I’m not sure I could face the second book in the series. ( )

An absolute delight! ( )

I am not a huge steampunk fan but THIS Book hit all the spots. I loved the humor, the witty battles between our protagonists, the gradual softening of Cecilia to Ned, PIRACY, the dancing instructor, LOOOVED Constantinpla and her fiance, Stealing houses, even the cartoonish villian.
What an absolutely delightful book!

Can't wait for Alex's story ( )

Steampunk-style romance. In a Victorian England, Cecilia Bassingthwaite lives as a proper lady with her aunt but longs to become a pirate and member of the Wisteria Society.

library book read 8/24/2023 ( )