Rachel Reads & Reviews

As I’ve previously stated Courtney Milan’s historical romance novels are a breath of fresh air. The characters act like adults who communicate. The third act breakup is usually not because of miscommunication but more compelling external/internal factors. Time passes. People evolve. It touches on serious issues but remain fun and romantic. Always look forward to her work, thus ranking this was very very hard. All of them are great.

1. The Suffragette Scandal: This edges out The Heiress Effect by the barest margin. I just happen to enjoy Edward’s forgery skills and honest scoundrel persona born out of real PTSD from war and torture. Frederica is a delightful protagonist, admirable investigative reporter and I loved them together. I also enjoyed the minor background romance between Amanda and Genevive. And generally, how it served as a fulfilling end to the Brothers Sinister series.
2. The Heiress Effect: A near-perfect novel of a hero learning that the difference between pragmatism and cowardice, using his working class background to forment real change instead of obeying the system. The heroine comes to unlearn the persona she formented for herself is something she can outgrow and she can be loved for herself. Plus it has a meaningful storyline regarding treatment for disabilities, and interracial marriage, making Jane’s sister, Emily a full-realized person herself not defined by her epilepsy.
3. The Duchess War: The Duke of Claremont may have a bastard father, but he doesn’t brood about it. He’s wholesome, horribly neglected and tries so hard to be palatable to other people. Yet his privilege does get in his way sometimes when it comes to his secret union activities. Meanwhile, Minnie has a huge secret that keeps the plot going, provides real stakes when Robert accidentally implicates her in his activites. I love a wholesome romance, and admire how she made Roger’s neglectful mother a real person. Still kinda cold and neglectful but human. Comes third because it felt like it could have honestly stopped fifty pages earlier.
4. A Kiss in Midwinter: Normally, I’m not a Christmas novella person since I feel like I see it everywhere. But Milan had me feeling the magic of the season. She did such a unique and nuanced take about medical malpractice, the aftereffects of grooming, caring for an aging parent, and toxic positivity. All in a hundred pages. She’s masterful when it comes to making three-dimensional characters with a well-paced grumpyxsunshine romance.
5. The Governess Affair: A nice prequel setting up the background for The Brothers Sinisters generation with a well-done romance dealing with the aftermath of assault. The only reason it gets lower is because with the novella’s heavy premise and Hugo/Serena’s subplots regarding their families, I felt like it could have been a full novel itself.
6. Talk Sweetly to Me: As a stand-alone novella, this was a sweet book. Pun not intended. Stephen and Olivia are wholesome characters and their date at the observatory was wonderful. I also admired how Milan dealt with the issue of dismissal of women of color when it comes to medical/pregnancy issues. A issue relevant today and more pernacious back in the racist 18900s. It just feels off to have this be the coda to the whole series. More like a bonus.
7. The Countess Conspiracy: This one comes last because I know characters can be different in their internal perception of themselves, but Violet seemed so different from her more lighthearted depiction in The Duchess War, and The Heiress Effect that the bitter, insecure, self-hating insecurities seemed to come from a drastically different person. The disparity kept me from fully investing in it.