Ravishingly beautiful and accomplished, Helena has her pick of suitable bachelors—and because she is the only daughter of a powerful duke, her mother is determined she makes a good marriage. But Helena won't marry any of them, because she is in love with the son of her family’s most dangerous enemy. Though she has now been rebuffed by her beloved, she is resolved to win him back—no matter the cost. Tom’s forbidden love for Helena has only intensified over the years of their separation. But the discovery of his true roots has changed everything. His secret spells danger for his family and everyone he loves. Devoted to Helena, he will sacrifice anything—even his one great love—to keep her safe. And soon, caught between warring factions and hounded by a deadly assassin, the couple will be swept back together in a fight for their lives, and their destiny…
Tom and Helena are basically Romeo and Juliet with horrible parents, twists and a much better ending. This book had its good points and it’s not so good points. I liked both main characters but the the book dragged a bit. I wasn’t really sure why Helena’s mother treated her the way she did. Overall the book wasn’t bad.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

This is the first time I have read this author that being said I enjoyed this book and read the other books I this series. I felt lost at times because I felt I was missing something. But overall I liked Helena's and Tom's story. I will read again once I have read the others in this series.

I received this book for an honest review.

I haven't read something set in the sixteenth century before but found that the characters had such wonderful chemistry, and the touch of mystery made me enjoy this visit very much.

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley.

I have to say that I couldn't really get into this book until the second half of it. The beginning was just so boring to me that I put it down several times and did something else. The second half did get much better, but not enough to make this more than an ok read for me.

Veena’s review of Wild Lavender (Emperors of London, Book 7) by Lynne Connolly
Historical Romance published by Lyrical Press 28 Mar 17

Even though the Dankworths are bitter enemies of her family, it was love at first sight between Helena and Tom. As the series has progressed, Lynne Connolly has been slowly but surely redeeming Alconbury into a friend of the emperors so it’s only fitting that Helena, our empress, should be the one to bridge the divide. Get ready to be blown away as long-hidden secrets are revealed, bringing the series to a conclusion which will leave fans begging for more.

Readers have been long aware that Helena’s sadness conceals a deep hurt which goes beyond her difficult relationship with her mother. In the previous book, Ms. Connolly hints at a possible doomed relationship between Tom and Helena, given the strained relations between their families. Even knowing some of these so-salient facts, you’ll be pretty blown away as, without further ado, the author sweeps you right into the love-at-first-sight meeting between Helena and Tom. After some intrigue and hidden meetings, their short-lived love affair comes to a grinding halt.

Fast forward five years, Julius is newly wed and looking for some privacy with his new wife and settling to wedded bliss. Helena, who has long lived with Julius to escape her mother, needs to look toward her own future. Having watched her brothers and cousins find love, she is determined to elude all the suitors who come her way and look for a solution to finally win a future with Tom. A forceful suitor determined to win her for wife at any cost forces Tom to come out of the shadows, even though Tom’s actions, while saving Helena, end up compromising her in the eyes of London society.

Helena’s choices are even more limited now. Will Tom come up to scratch and work through the issues that divide them? Before Tom can really come up to snuff, Helena takes matters into her own hands and ends up at his doorstep, escaping her harridan mother who’s determined to get her way, regardless of her child’s happiness. London society watches agog as Julius crosses his enemies’ threshold to negotiate a marriage settlement for his sister and publicly acknowledge his acceptance of the Dankworth family.

The story doesn’t end here. The author has a lot more surprises in store for her readers. Prince Charlie still lurks in the shadows, complicating matters. Sad to say this series has definitely damaged all my romantic notions of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Ms. Connolly is full of surprises that definitely caught me off guard, since I didn’t pick up on the hints that were there if I had cared to add two plus two to make four. It’s a good thing this is a happily-ever-after story, because I was afraid that these two wouldn’t have a future together several times during the book.

I really liked Augustus, whom we really get to meet in a meaningful way for the first time in the series. I do hope Ms. Connolly will delight us with a story about him in the future, as well as some of the delightful characters in the series who are still to tell their stories.

Grade: B

The Emperors of London series seven books in still has the ability to hold readers undivided attention. Lynne Connolly's over arching storyline revolving around the secret children of "The Old Pretender" and the ambiguity over their legitimacy makes for an addictive series full of danger and brilliant puzzles that this author reveals in steamy historical detail. The Earl of Alconbury, Tom Dankworth, steeped in mystery and long suffering Helena Vernon are two secondary characters whose presence in this series has always teased the plot but Wild Lavender brings them to the forefront in an elaborate web of intrigue. This author blends the themes of love at first sight and forbidden love adding a few twists for a fabulous pairing. Tom and Helena's devotion and undying love for each other despite the interference of their rival families was well devised by Ms. Connolly. Tom was a hero to be held up to and Helena was a heroine to admire and respect. Once again Lynne Connolly has written a tale fit for a marathon read!

This is book seven in Lynne Connolly’s The Emperors of London series, and my third read of that series. This story of happily ever after of Helena and Tom I liked the best of the three I read.

As a huge fan of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, I was pleasantly surprised to encounter historical figures (Hello Bonnie Prince Charlie!) of Georgian era as well as wonderful fictional characters such as Tom and Helena. Their love for each other shone through from the pages and I was vested in their happily ever after.

If you’re willing to leave your Regency world for just a wee bit and venture into this world of sixteenth century, I promise you’ll love it all, from the Georgian setting, to our great hero and wonderful heroine.

Listen, if you’re a sucker for a Forbidden Love trope, you can’t miss this one!


Melanie for b2b

I enjoyed this Romeo and Juliet like story and it didn't end tragically! There's a lot of history in this book which made it hard to follow (for me) at times. But the characters were interesting and there was a bit of mystery. There's good chemistry between the hero and heroine and there is plenty of steamy goodness. Overall, a very satisfying read.

This is apparently the 7th book in the Emperors of London series. I had absolutely no idea, but fortunately the book stands perfectly well on its own. It's apparent that Julius, the heroine's brother, has a romance and gets married during the 5-year hiatus period in the middle of the book when Helena and Tom are separated, but there's no requirement to have read previous books to get a sense of what's going on.

The cast of characters is sensibly kept to the immediate families of both protagonists, one notable villain and a couple of important historical figures... Bonnie Prince Charlie being one of the latter.

I love non-Regency historicals and this is another great example. Set in the years 1750 and 1755, it's beautifully detailed and includes verifiable historical facts such as Charles Stuart's clandestine visit to London in 1750 and Fleet marriages, which became illegal in 1754 and forced those who wanted a hasty wedding to head for Scotland instead. Hence the many mentions of Gretna Green in Regency romances - getting married in England required a minimum three-week wait for the banns to be called.

I never quite understood why Helena's mother had it in for her quite so badly, and why if she disliked Helena so much would she be determined to have her as a companion for life? Surely she'd be determined to marry her off and get rid of her? Money to hire a companion instead is after all no object to a duchess. It was a plot point that never quite made sense, to me.

Tom and Helena, however, were a perfectly charming couple, from the adorable falling in love at first sight to the agonizing separation they had to endure. The love scenes between them were delightfully done, and made me very glad I didn't live in the Georgian era... all those hoops and stays must have made a lady's life perfectly miserable!

An enjoyable Georgian romance by an author who really knows her stuff. Four stars.

DNF. The characters were SO irritating, especially Helena. I couldn't stand her idiotic behavior at all.

'Wild Lavender' by Lynne Connolly is book Seven in the "The Emperors of London" series. This is the story of Helena and Tom. This book is broken down in two different parts in their lives. One being where Helena and Tom meet before they know who the other one is which this first part coincides with the previous book "Veiled In Blue" which has Helena brother Julius as the main character in that book. Tom and Helena try to secretly keep meeting but then Tom ends things without explaining. The next part of the book has Helena settling into being a spinster and wanting her own home but her mother still wanting to marry her off. Tom is there to help her when a suitor takes to make her marry him. This opens up old wounds and Helena wants to know why Tom ended their relationship.
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Even though the Dankworths are bitter enemies of her family, it was love at first sight between Helena and Tom.  As the series has progressed, Ms. Connolly has been slowly but surely redeeming Alconbury into a friend of the emperors so it's only fitting that Helena, our empress should be the one to bridge the divide.   Get ready to be blown away as long hidden secrets are revealed bringing the series to a conclusion which will leave fans begging for more.
Readers have been long aware that Helena's sadness conceals a deep hurt which goes beyond her difficult relationship with her mother. In the previous book the author hints at a possible doomed relationship between Tom and Helena given the strained relations between their families. Even knowing some of these so salient facts you'll be pretty blown away as without further ado the author sweeps you right into the love at first sight meeting between Helena and Tom.  After some intrigue and hidden meetings their short lived love affair comes to a grinding halt.
Fast forward five years to today with Julius newly wed and looking for some privacy with his  new wife settling to wedded bliss. Helena who has long lived with Julius to escape her mother needs to look towards her own future.  Having watched her brothers and cousins find love she is determined to elude all the suitors who come her way and look for a way to finally win a future with Tom.   A forceful suitor determined to win her for wife at any cost forces Tom to come out of the shadows even though Tom's actions while saving Helena end up compromising her in the eyes of London society.
Helena's choices are even more limited now. Will Tom come up to scratch and work through the issues that divide them? Before Tom can really come up to snuff, Helena takes matters into her own hands and ends up at his doorstep escaping her harridan mother who's determined to get her way regardless of her child's happiness.  London society watches agog as Julius crosses his enemies threshold to negotiate a marriage settlement for his sister and publicly acknowledge his acceptance of the Dankworth family.
The story doesn't end here. The author has a lot more surprises in store for her readers. Prince Charlie still lurks in the shadows complicating matters.  Sad to say this series has definitely damaged all my romantic notions of Bonnie Prince Charlie.   Ms. Connolly is full of surprises, that definitely took me by surprise since I didn't pick up on the hints that were there if I had cared to add two plus two to make four.  It's a good thing that this is a happily ever after story because I was afraid that these two wouldn't have a future together several times during the story.
I really liked Augustus whom we really get to meet in a meaningful way for the first time in the series. I do hope that the author will delight us with a story about him in the future as well as some of the delightful characters in the series who are still to tell their stories.

I got this book from Netgalley in early February and honestly tried to wait til March to read it. But I couldn't hold out. Then again, who can hold out against Connolly's magic? The final book in the Emperors of London series (which is simply amazing) was worth every bit of the wait to get here. And I was waiting for it even before I read Julius' book!

Tom and Helena, made very clear to us in Dilemma in Yellow Silk, explode onto the page in typical Emperor fashion. Helena is everything I could have wanted. Her long running struggles with her nasty mother are phenomenal. Her tenderness and love for Julius and his daughter are sweet. Her strength and stubborn will in the face of disaster is amazing. Her intelligence is put to good use.

And Tom (who I simply cannot call Alconbury anymore) is well... Tom. In trying to find something that summed him up best, I admit I drew a line from a completely unrelated Connolly book, a line spoken about another Connolly hero. And yet it truly sums Tom up perfectly. "He’s consumed with a violent desire to care for you." And Tom is smitten from the start (though it is a little insta-love-y) and is consumed by a desire to care for Helena at all costs.

What I simply adored about both Helena and Tom was that both truly *cared* for the other. Sometimes the way they did it or showed it was a bit wrong (or a lot wrong) but it was always done with love. My heart just melted.

When Helena needs help, it's to Tom she runs. And his family is forced to deal with their enemies, how tied together in the most strong of bonds. Julius and Tom together are just scary! The end of a Jacobite dream and the acceptance of a new reality for the Dankworths is all thanks to Helena as the catalyst. The union of such powerful families is not explored but how powerful that union is... well, London should be wary. After all, the Dankworths open their arms to Helena and it is beautiful.

There are a couple things worth noting. First, Connolly turns an antagonist into a hero in grand fashion and does it so slowly throughout the series that it is an absolute work of art. Second, Connolly's attention to detail and historical accuracy are phenomenal. Because I read this series, I recognized things later in news articles and learned a great deal. (White's didn't start out as a club. It was a chocolate house! The Cocoa Tree (which I could have sworn made an appearance in one of the books) is a real place and has quite a history!

Even better, I don't have to say good bye to everyone just yet as a spin off series, The Shaws, is on the horizon. Thank you, Lynne, for a wonderful series!

I really enjoyed this story of Helena and Tom, Lord Alconbury. The introductory chapters set the stage for a fast-paced story where two families are at war with each other. Helena’s mother is determined to make her life miserable but Helena is a strong character who, together with her broth Julius, is able to hold off her mother’s desire to marry her off to an older man. Helena and Tom meet at a ball, and find themselves instantly attracted to each other, before they learn of their family’s connection. Tom belongs to the opposing Dankworth family even though he learns that his parentage is questionable, a pivotal aspect of the story. This aspect sees the story skip another five years, where Tom and Helena have been forced apart, only to find themselves drawn back together.
I was surprise to learn that Wild Lavender is the final in the Emperors of London series but very pleased as this means that I can go back to previous stories.
Both characters of Helena and Tom were well developed. The intensity of their feelings was palpable and didn’t diminish throughout the entirety of the story. I particularly enjoyed the link to the Jacobite’s and felt that this gave further depth to the story, giving it context.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ravishingly beautiful and accomplished, Helena has her pick of suitable bachelors and because she is the only daughter of a powerful duke, her mother is determined she makes a good marriage. But Helena won't marry any of them, because she is in love with Tom, Lord Alconbury the son of her family’s most dangerous enemy. Tom’s forbidden love for Helena has only intensified over the years of their separation. But the discovery of his true roots has changed everything. His secret spells danger for his family and everyone he loves. Devoted to Helena, he will sacrifice anything, even his one great love, to keep her safe.
Wild Lavender is the final title in the Emperors of London series and can be read as a stand alone, it is the first of the series I’ve read, I will now buy the other books to read the whole series. Helena's mother makes her miserable with her edicts and demands despite her brother Julius's attempts to interfer. During her first full season in London, Helena encounters Tom at a ball and both feel an instant connection. Caught by her brothers alone with Tom, his full identity as Lord Alconbury, a member of her family's enemy the Dankworth's. Despite her attempts to resist the attraction, Helena finds herself drawn to Tom and they soon find themselves married in a Fleet marriage. Before Tom can make plans for them to flee, he is confronted by his father and learns a secret that makes his relationship with Helena impossible and forces him to break her heart.
The story then skips forward to five years later, circumstances bring the two back together gives them a second chance. Tom truly adores Helena and is drawn despite the knowledge that their relationship cannot be. Helena matures from the young girl who falls in love with Tom to a strong woman who knows what she wants and is willing to fight for her future. There were a couple of twists later in the book which I feel answered some questions from earlier books but didn’t deter from this story at all. A new author for me & I thoroughly enjoyed the book

Overall, I liked the story, although I detest situations that go unresolved for years, which this story has. Portions were a little far fetched, but the author acknowledges she has done that. The story involves two families of the peerage who are arch enemies ala the montagues and capulets. A son and daughter of the families fall in love and secretly marry. They are then separated when he discovered a horrible family secret, though he never tells her the truth about the situation. Apart for five years, they are reunited when she is abducted and eventually the truth is revealed. There is an eventual HEA, but getting there was a little convoluted. This is part of a series, of which I had read one book. I may read further in the series. There is a bit of sexual passion in the book.

another great story by Ms. Connolly. Enjoyed this historical from start to finish. excellent writing.

Outstanding book!! I would have given it 5-stars if they had done something with the beginning. Since this was an ARC copy, I hope that by the time they actually release the book they will have fixed it somehow. So -- what is my peeve? Well -- if you have read all of the other books in the series and you pick this one up to read, you will be very, very, very confused -- and will stay that way for about 8 chapters. The book is actually written in two parts, but NOTHING at the beginning explains that. If they just added a short sentence/paragraph saying something like -- 'Five years ago . . . ', it would make it all a little clearer. So, when someone familiar with the series begins reading, their thoughts go directly to "Say What???" because it is talking about things that we all know are long past, but they are talked about in current terms. So -- Julius is still with his first wife, etc. The way it is done just really kept taking me out of the story and making me wonder about the whole thing. Just disconcerting. So, I'll tell you in advance -- so you won't be surprised. The first 8 chapters take place 5 years before the last book in the series -- then, in chapter 9 it switches to the time period at the end of the last book.

I've loved Helena through all of the books and am so very glad to see her with her own story. (I wouldn't mind seeing her mother fall off a cliff though). I'd also begun to feel that Tom wasn't really a villain and I'm so glad that turned out to be true. I'm happy to see them get their HEA.

The villain in this book is a real piece of work and I was happy to see him get his comeuppance. I hope to see the Jacobites leaving their 'king' in droves, but then -- what would Julius and the Emperors of London have to do with themselves?

Helena and Tom are such a compelling couple and their love never waned even though they were separated for five years. Both remained loyal and true. However -- as with almost all of the romance books -- if they had just discussed the issue, they would have saved themselves a lot of grief. Then again -- maybe they really needed that time to grow up and recognize really true love.

Anyway -- except for the minor part at the beginning -- it was a wonderful read!

"I requested and received this book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher."

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. Wild Lavender is the final title in the Emperors of London series and can be read as a stand alone, but readers of the series will enjoy seeing Helena finally get her happily ever after. The daughter of a duke, Helena's mother makes her miserable with her edicts and demands despite her brother Julius's attempts to run interference. During her first full season in London, Helena encounters Tom at a ball and both feel an instant connection. Caught by her brothers alone with Tom, his full identity as Lord Alconbury, a member of her family's enemy the Dankworth's. Despite her attempts to resist the attraction, Helena finds herself drawn to Tom and they soon find themselves married in a Fleet marriage. Before Tom can make plans for them to flee, he is confronted by his father and learns a secret that makes his relationship with Helena impossible and forces him to break her heart. Five years later, circumstances bring the two back together gives them a second chance. I enjoyed getting to know Alconbury better after glimpses of him in other books. He adores Helena and is drawn despite the knowledge that their relationship cannot be. Helena matures from the young girl who falls in love with Tom to a strong woman who knows what she wants and is willing to fight for her future. There were a couple of twists later in the book that helped wrap up the story with the Pretender and his offspring that helped wrap up the events that have run throughout the series in a satisfying manner. I've enjoyed this entire series and the glimpse into the Georgian era and am looking forward to the offshoot of the Emperors of London to learn more about the Shaws.