Title: Once a CourtesanAuthor: Liana LeFey
Series: Once Wicked #2
First Published: March 27, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Pages: 352
Genre: Historical Romance, Romance
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Rating:
Constable Will Danbury has infiltrated a school to investigate an alleged crime. What he finds is a deeper, darker mystery—and a potent attraction to the alluring headmistress, Jacqueline Trouvère. But a constable can't get romantically involved with a suspect; even one he thinks is innocent, without committing career suicide.
As headmistress of a school devoted to saving the innocent daughters of London's soiled doves, Jacqueline’s life is complicated. Will tempts her in ways she never thought to experience, but she believes no respectable gentleman could love a former courtesan.
Despite their best efforts to fight it, a romance blossoms. When danger jeopardizes the school, however, his deceptions and her omissions come to light, threatening to destroy their love. They must look beyond the past to save both their future together and the lives of those they’ve sworn to protect.
Review
Once a Courtesan exceeded my expectations for what romance novels could be, there was a lot of excitement and action. Jacqueline Trouvère is the headmistress of a school that rescues young girls from brothels and educates them in the skills they need to start life anew. I knew that the story would be a bit different from the average historical romance, but I was happy to find a daring romance about trauma and learning to trust and love again.
Jacqueline is an unconventional heroine and I adored her. Jacqueline was a courtesan forced into a brothel out of desperation and a victim of extreme violence and trauma. Despite her dark past, she holds her head high and has founded a new home where she helps children out of the same situation she was in, forming a new family from the ashes of tragedy. With a charitable establishment protecting the most vulnerable in society, you wouldn’t think the place would come under suspicion. That’s where Constable Will comes in. After receiving a tip about a notorious crime syndicate of flesh peddlers. Will is sent undercover as a teacher to investigate the school, where he meets the alluring headmistress and encounters a wall of silence.
I loved the mystery aspect of the story, the investigation of the crime syndicate, and the mysterious Archangel attacking brothels dealing in darker merchandise. There was an extensive cast of characters introduced throughout the book, which made the school and the city feel alive and bustling. Many of the characters had distinct personalities and I found many of them charming. Jacqueline and Will were both such different people and thankfully their romance was not a case of instalove, as tends to be an issue in many romance novels. In fact, the two of them start the story off highly suspicious of the other, and their romance develops over time in a way I could believe.
As the story carried on, there were certain points where plot points or a character’s actions did not make a lot of sense to me, such as when Will is caught sneaking around – I just expected Jacqueline to react a little more angrily. The development of the love story also takes place at a rather peculiar point in the story. While it unraveled in a satisfying way, it sort of takes place at a point of immense danger, and it just didn’t seem like the proper time to me.
I don’t want to spoil too much, but I will note that there were times that it felt like the story was going in a certain direction and then the plotline is suddenly dropped. It felt like there were a few plot holes like there was more there but was either cut out or just never followed-up on. Thankfully these minor holes for the most part could be shrugged off, as there was plenty going on in the story as it is now.
This story had much more than I expected: a great romance, a charming school, daring constables, assassins, a shady crime syndicate, spies, a mysterious vigilante – there was no shortage of action and suspense. This book had a lot of heart, and I loved that even despite all the pain and trauma of the past, Jacqueline tried to teach the girls, and perhaps herself, that love is always possible. Despite my criticisms about how the plot unraveled I rather enjoyed this story. I found myself pleasantly surprised and devoured the book quickly. Once a Courtesan is the second in a series with some characters from the first making appearances. This book however is standalone and can easily be read without having read the first.
Quote
“I often find that once a child unlocks the secret of words, they hunger for them. There is a kind of magic in reading. It takes the mind to places where the body may not go, allowing one to forget, for a while, life’s troubles.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Liana LeFey
Liana loves to weave incendiary tales that capture the heart and the imagination, taking the reader out of the now and into another world. The glory and splendor of the 18th Century provides a lush, glittering backdrop for her fairy tale romances. It’s a time of sensuous lovers, passionate music, lavish royal courts and deadly intrigues.
Liana lives in Texas with her own dashing hero of nearly twenty years, their delightful progeny, one spoiled-rotten feline overlord, and several tanks of tropical fish. She’s been devouring historical romances since her early teens and is now delighted to be writing them for fellow enthusiasts.
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