Title- The Secret Life of a Lady
Author- Darcy McGuire
Genre- Regency
Publisher- Boldwood Books
Publication Date- 14 June 2024
Page Count- 4282 Pages
Comments- I received an advance ecopy for review by the author and Rachels Random Resources. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced by matchmaking mama’s and the eagle eye of the ton.
Synopsis
Lady Hannah Simmons is a quintessential wallflower, unassuming, dowdy yet ignored by most. But underneath her plain exterior, Hannah is hiding a thrilling secret! Unbeknownst to the rest of the ton, she is Queen Victoria’s leading femme fatale, slipping unnoticed through the streets of London and listening to scandalous whispers from lords and ladies. But with daggers in her stockings and pistols in her pockets, Hannah’s mission is to apprehend a deadly killer.
Private Investigator to the Prime Minister, damaged, yet devastatingly handsome ex-war hero Duke Robert Killian always puts duty first. However, when he finds himself competing with the intriguing Lady Hannah on the same daring task, his blood boils with frustration – and desire! Is it possible to seduce this vexing woman whose not afraid to put herself in danger and achieve the upper hand?
Hannah enjoys Killian’s attempts to distract and tempt her, but she has never faced an adversary she couldn’t overthrow. And Killian has never met a challenge he couldn’t conquer…until now. The gauntlet has been thrown, can they finish their jobs and resist the temptation?
Review
Ever since the new season of Bridgerton was announced I have been living my regency era and loving it. There has always been something wonderful to me about the swishy dresses and dances and pent up frustration. And maybe the breeches.
Also why is that gif 2 hours long?
Ahem.
In The Secret Life of a Lady we meet Hannah Simmons who is one of the wallflowers of the ton, hiding away in the back of rooms in her plain brown and grey dress and being completely ignored as she steals in and out of ballrooms.
Which is probably a good thing since being a spy and an assassin does mean being part of the furniture comes in handy.
So she is understandable less than pleased with Duke Robert Killian catches her snooping and realises that there is more to this wallflower than meets the eye. Both of their employers want the same man caught but only one wants him brought to justice; the other simply wants him dead.
In their line of work the only thing more dangerous than catching a villain is catching feelings.
Thoughts
An interesting plot which was executed well. It didn’t feel like it was just tacked on to a romance unlike many other regency mysteries. You could see the reasoning behind their actions and I was very interested as to who was the true villain. The reveal was actually a surprise to me which never usually happens.
I enjoyed the character of Lady Phillipa and absolutely adored how she was with Hannah, part-ways mentor and mother figure. Hannah was also a brilliantly complex and nuanced character that I really enjoyed getting to know.
The only things that did irritate me slightly were the men (ain’t that always the way.)
While I could absolutely see how Killian became entranced and captivated by the mystery that was Hannah, I found it much harder to decipher why she fell for him.
He was a brooding hero with self-esteem issues and, other than charm and cash, he really didn’t come across very well.
However, I suppose when held up against his friend, Drake, he’s a paragon of pure virtue.
THIS man made me actually rage and Thor only knows how the author going to redeem him if he’s the next hero in the series because he was misogynistic, dismissive, bitter and an all around capital A hole.
I get that he’s been disappointed in love and war wounded but there is such a thing as manners.
Other that I did enjoy the book. Both the dialogue and the spicy scenes were well done and I’d be interested in reading this author’s next book.
3.5 stars.
Leave a Reply