Description de l’éditeur
One of Kirkus's Best of Fiction 2025 · NYPL Best Books of 2025 · An NPR Books We Love Pick for 2025 · A Library Journal Best book of 2025 · BookBub's Best Romances of 2025 So Far · BookPage's Best Books of 2025 · A Marie Claire Best Romance of 2025
A Most Anticipated Romance for Paste Magazine · The Nerd Daily · Marie Claire · Book Riot · Bookish · Fangirlish
No one betrays the Academy. But now Euphemia must decide: break the rules for her enemy, or let the rules break her heart.
On the outskirts of London sits a seemingly innocuous institution with a secretive aim—train young women to distract, disrupt, and discredit the patriarchy. Outraged by a powerful lord’s systematic attack on women’s rights in Parliament, the Academy summons its brightest—and most bitter—pupil to infiltrate the odious man’s inner circle. A deal is struck: bring down the viscount, and Miss Euphemia Flite will finally earn her freedom.
But betting shop owner Gabriel Royce has other plans. The viscount is the perfect pawn to insulate Gabriel’s underworld empire from government interference. He’s not about to let some crinoline-clad miss destroy his carefully constructed enterprise—no matter how captivating he finds her threats.
From the rookeries of St. Giles to the ballrooms of Mayfair, Euphemia and Gabriel engage in a battle of wits and wills that’s complicated by a blossoming desire. Soon Euphemia realizes it’s not the broken promises to her Academy sisters she should fear. . . . It’s the danger to her heart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two scrappy orphans connect when they infiltrate London's high society in this splashy Victorian series launch from Matthews (the Belles of London series). Effie Flite and Gabriel Royce both have their sights set on Viscount Compton, albeit for very different reasons. Compton is blocking a women's rights bill in parliament and firebrand Effie seeks to orchestrate his ruin by digging up dirt on his past. Meanwhile, Gabriel needs Compton's social influence to secure funds to reform the Rookery, the London slum where his betting shop is located. Though Effie and Gabriel's conflicting goals put them at odds, attraction and mutual admiration develop across their meetings, intensified by a kiss shared after Gabriel rescues Effie, who is afraid of heights, from a balcony. It's refreshing to see characters from the lowest echelons of society star in a historical romance, and Matthews expertly fleshes out both leads' Dickensian backstories to explore class, gender, and racial inequality. Their romantic relationship primarily grows in moments of danger and tragedy, which leads to an intense connection, though some readers will wish they got to see how these two would relate in quieter moments as well. Still, the plentiful action keeps the pages turning. It's a moving exploration of family, identity, and personal freedom.
