Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Historical Fantasy Romance
Length: 498 pages
Author: Jacquelyn Benson
Publisher: Vaughn Woods Publishing
Release Date: February 1st, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

London, 1914. Lily’s visions could stop a killer… if she’ll trust a reclusive aristocrat with her darkest secret.

A monster stalks the gaslit streets of Edwardian London, draining the blood of the city’s mediums. Lily Albright knows who’s next.

Lily is plagued by visions of the future she can never change. When a mysterious fiend threatens someone she loves, she’s determined this time will be different.

But she can’t do it alone. To save a life, Lily must reveal her darkest secrets to someone she has little reason to trust—the reclusive Lord Strangford, a man haunted by his own unusual powers.

From the glittering galleries of Bond Street to the rookeries of Southwark, Lily and Strangford plunge into a dark conspiracy that lies at the heart of England’s rising eugenics movement. To thwart it, Lily must face a past rife with betrayal—and embrace the power she has spent her entire life trying to escape.

TOO LONG.

I found a lot of this really interesting and somewhat in the veins of Stalking Jack the Ripper. I am coming to realize I really enjoy historical fantasy books. I like the old world vibes with a bit of magic thrown in.

I enjoyed both Lily and Strangford as our main duo. It’s very much a slow burn romance between them as they both learn to release some of their long held secrets and hurts to each other. I was looking for a bit more romantic build up/interactions with them, but as I see this is a series I think there’s plenty of room to continue the romance.

This book is easily 100+ pages too long. Even listening as an audiobook (at 3x speed) I noticed that things weren’t happening. When the action scenes came up, they were good. When soft moments came up, also good. It was some of the in-between that felt dragged out along the plot lines.

I do have plans to read the next book because I’m curious if it upticks from here. It’s got a concept I like seeing and good themes too.

Overall audience notes:

• Historical Fantasy + Romance
• Language: a little
• Romance: kisses
• Violence: moderate-high
• Trigger/Content Warnings: human experimentation, loss of life, murder, near death experiences, alcohol and drug use, absent parent, blood/gore, anti-Semitic remarks, sexist remarks, physical altercations, sexual assault

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