In Her Lady's Honor Renée Dahlia delivers a thought-provoking love story in a rich and interesting setting.

This was not for me. I did not enjoy the relatonship at all and it just over all felt like everyone involved was mean and miserable.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I’m sure I’m in the minority in this opinion, however I did not click with the writing. The pacing was too slow and it did not hold my attention.

The great war is over and Lady Eleanor “Nell” St. George, who served as a veterinarian for the war horses has been tasked with returning Tommy, beloved warhorse of her Colonel. It’s been a long journey, but all she has to do is drop the horse off, get him settled, then head home for her life as a Lady. All of that changes when she meets the colonel’s eldest daughter, Beatrice, and is almost immediately smitten. Though the years were tough, war was actually a relief for Beatrice, who was free of her tyrannical father and his temper. It’s gotten worse since he returned home, but when Nell shows up, Beatrice feel a little hope that there might be something outside this servant’s life. Despite their differences in social standing, the two kindle the embers of their attraction and will have to pull Beatrice’s family together when tragedy strikes.

This book was solidly okay. I didn’t love it, and I didn’t dislike it. It was melodrama at its finest, something I can definitely appreciate, but I didn’t always connect with the characters like I wanted to. Historic lesbians, you got me there. I’m a sucker for period pieces starring strong, female leads, and bonus points for queer ones. I didn’t like the colonel, which you’re not supposed to, but his temper and the events leading up to and following the pivotal point in the book didn’t flow as well for me as I would have liked.

I loved Nell and Beatrice but would have liked to see their relationship blossom a little more slowly, though tragedy does bring desperate people closer together, so it wasn’t unrealistic. Overall, I’d recommend this one for a quick, melodramatic read, and I am looking forward to more books from the Carina imprint.

Sadly, this failed to deliver what I was hoping for, a heart-warming or exciting f/f romance story. Like other reviews mention, my main issue was one of the main characters Beatrice acted and spoke. She was very annoying and frustrating to read about. Therefore, I couldn't really fall for this love story... At every opportunity, she took what the other woman said the wrong way. It felt like Nell was constantly apologizing to her and that got old pretty fast.

I didn't particularly enjoy the plot about Beatrice's father and her mother's accident/murder... It was all very predictable and the ending didn't feel very satisfying since Beatrice and her siblings didn't get official justice because of those stupid policemen who couldn't be bothered to believe women...

Anywayyyy, I wish I had loved this book as I adore historical lesbian romances. This one is a miss for me even though it was a quick read but I'm hoping to find a new one where I'll be able to gush and ship a cute couple.

<i>(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

Unfortunately I can only say I read most of this book and not all of it. There are intriguing elements to this historical f/f romance: grief, mysterious death, ptsd, examination of privilege and class... but this is all lost in having half of the romance be unbearable. While Nell is an intriguing figure as a woman of high class who was also a medic in the war, Beatrice is an irritatingly naive girl who demands constant control and holds grudges incessantly. Nell’s every move was cut down and rejected in the name of Beatrice nitpicking. Her trauma was marked as insignificant when it comes to Beatrice’s needs.

In a romance, the relationship has to work and this one simply doesn’t.

"Her Lady's Honor" by Renee Dahlia is a fine addition to a romance section; there's a bit of a mystery and a dashing rescue of a damsel in distress. It's a fun read, and it's also nice to see a sapphic historical fiction that addresses some more complex issues that surround our heroes' different backgrounds. However, the conflict is the usual thing in a historical fiction centered around women: there is a Bad Man, and Women Can't Do Much in the time period.

Well, it wasn't quite as bad as the previous book I read by this 'new' imprint. But, while it was supposedly a historical romance. It honestly felt much more modern than that. Not to mention the themes it took on were repeated over and over and over, and it was not done subtly at all.

I don't usually mind a historical. And I think what made it better than the previous Carina Press book that I read was that it did have to operate in that time and so I gave it a little more leeway (as I usually do with historicals).

But, it just wasn't super fun to read. The characters were flat and unlikable and, it was just a slog to get through. Maybe if I were more "Woke" or whatever I'd like it more. But, with this one done, I do believe that I'll be staying away from Harlequin/Carina Press from here on out.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Harlequin - Carina Press

Dnf at about 25% and it truly breaks my heart, because this was one of my most anticipated books of the year. But reading it made me truly, truly miserable. The atmosphere was miserable, the writing was really rough, and I didn't like where the story was going. The characters have no depth and nobody acts like real human beings in the situations they find themselves. I kept shouting at the book "nobody would say that in this situation!! Nobody would act that way!!"

But my biggest gripe with the book was the main relationship. Eleanor kept constantly belittling Beatrice and her and her siblings' experiences of abuse at the hands of their father, whom she also kept defending, which made my blood boil. She was so awful to her and I was confused as to why I would ever want them together? Also looking at the other reviews, either they suddenly switch personalities halfway through the book to where Beatrice becomes a horrible person, or I'm reading a different book.

Anyway this book sent me into such a disappointed reading funk I couldn't read anything else for a month afterwards.

More like a 2.5 with a LGBT+ rounding bonus. Nothing terrible about this book, it just didnt super engage me. There were times that the arguments between Beatrice and Nell felt a little disproportionate or out of place and section where the plot dragged. Still, I would give the author another go if I have the chance.

The War is over. At least, that’s what the newspapers say, but for Eleanor — and so many others — she’s still caught halfway between home and the front. Loud noises, unexpected movements, strange situations, all of them can and do catch her into a whirlwind of nerves. At least she has Tommy to keep her grounded. The gelding, like Nell, and unlike so many horses and men, survived the war and, while his condition is poor, he has a home to go to and Nell intends to get him there. The Captain, the man she served under as a veterinarian, has asked her to bring his horse home, trusting that with his money and her rank as a Lady, Nell will be able to get the job done.

Beatrice Hughes has barely had a moment of peace since her father returned home from the war. Demanding his family cal him “Captain,” he’s cold, abrasive, brusque, and violent — when he’s not drinking, smoking, or locked away and ignoring them. When the lovely woman arrives on their doorstep with, of all things, her father’s horse, Beatrice is torn between two emotions: rage that her father wasted his money, the money they need to support the farm and put food on the table and clothes on their backs, to bring home a worn down horse that’s just another mouth to feed; and a strike of sudden attraction for the tall, fine-boned woman who enters her gray life like a ray of sunshine.

When Beatrice’s mother goes missing, Nell and Beatrice are thrown into a whirlwind of fear, loss, pain, and anger as the truth about what happened is brought to light.

Nell is a privileged member of society. Born the granddaughter of a Duke, she has both a title and money. She was able to gain an education as a veterinarian and, at the front, tending horses and getting them ready to head back into battle, she earned the title of doctor and the respect of her Captain, who protected her and fought for her. Coming back to England and seeing him again, no longer the heroic figure she remembered, but something all too human, Nell is forced to face her own reflection. She’s not who she was, and the idea of going back home to her parents, going back to normal life as though she hadn’t been elbows deep in wounded and dying horses day after day, as though she hasn’t faced the horrors of the front, feels impossible.

While trying to find a path through the maze of her own thoughts and feelings, Nell finds Beatrice. The other woman is calm, strong, beautiful, and feels like home. The smell of violets, the way she takes care of the children and the house and Nell, it makes her feel safe. Beatrice becomes a refuge, one Nell can’t let go and will do everything she can to keep. Even as she promises never to lie to Beatrice, Nell makes choices to hide things from her so it isn’t technically lying … and she’s doing it for Beatrice’s good. She’s doing it, all of it, to make Beatrice love her back, to want her, to want to keep her. That’s what love is, right? Making someone else want you?

Beatrice has grown used to managing things between her mother, worn down by childbirth after childbirth, and grief as her eldest three sons were killed in the war, and who now endures an abusive drunkard of a husband who sees her as something worthless; her siblings, to whom Beatrice’s more mother than sibling; and her father, who ignores her unless he needs her and who treats her equal parts as servant and soldier. She’s bitter and angry, and she knows it, but she can’t seem to let go of it.

With Nell, everything is at first bright and splendid as she allows herself to dream of falling into the arms of another woman, until she realizes that Nell, too, is a person. One who is far from perfect, who carries a past born of rank and wealth on one hand and the war on the other. What Beatrice wanted was a story; what she got was Nell. Even when Nell promises love, it’s abrupt and flawed and Beatrice knows she hurts the other woman when she won’t accept it.

This book had some interesting moments as Nell was struggling with identity, both as a lesbian, looking to find a way to live her life on her own terms and find love with another woman, and as a soldier coming home changed by a horrific war. Unfortunately, every time Nell managed to take a step forward, growing as a person, she’d look at Beatrice again and make herself smaller and meeker in the hopes that Beatrice would want her back. I didn’t feel much chemistry in the pair, personally. I understood why they fell into bed (good old fashioned lust), but as a couple, they didn’t work for me. Nell seemed to want the image of Beatrice, while Beatrice wanted someone from a story. Unfortunately, while Nell did her best to please Beatrice, Beatrice was a bit of a bitch to Nell. She was cold, curt, manipulative, and unkind. She may have had her reasons, and I’m not denying that they were fair, but it made her very hard for me to like.

The pacing was fair, and the story moved along without any spots dragging on too long, but the writing was a strange combination of stilted, stiff formality, which added to the atmosphere, and a relaxed, modern approach, which made some conversations feel rushed or abrupt. The research the author did both into female doctors and veterinarians on the front in WWI is interesting, and the thoughtful, mindful approach to Nell’s trauma and PTSD are very well done. I just can’t help but think Beatrice’s manipulation and cruelty is a poor reward for Nell.

This is one of those books where I recommend the author, but not this particular story. Some people may like Beatrice, and I’m not saying she was in any way a bad character. She just felt a poor match for Nell and not the sort of person I enjoy reading about. So, read at your own risk, but my personal reaction to this book was a lukewarm one.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review of the story.

I love books that can take you to another place and time - this one does.

The author captures the atmosphere of Britain after WWI - male dominated, political unrest and women wanting control of their lives and bodies. The story brushes on unquestioned male dominance in a family, PTSD and how difficult it was to trust your feelings when you met the right women.

I desperately wanted to like this book and actually started it weeks ago, but I just kept not wanting to actually read it and the more I forced myself, the more I didn't like it. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style, which I could have looked past if I'd liked the characters more, but honestly, I didn't. Hopefully, if it sounds interesting to you, you will have better luck!

This is a Sapphic romance between two women who are both lesbians (I think) and takes place in the aftermath of World War I when Lady Eleanor returns Captain Hughes' horse to his home. Nell served as a veterinarian's assistant during the war and is definitely dealing with the emotional and physical scars that experience has left. Beatrice Hughes is the Captain's daughter and she suffered in a different way during the war and is again suffering from dealing with the Captain's mood swings, verbal and physical abuse. The two are immediately physically attracted to one another. Beatrice's mom goes missing and they try and solve that mystery while falling in love along the way.

A well written and often thought provoking historical romance.
Dahlia has created a story that is insightful and shines light on many historical injustices that are still prevalent today, race, gender, social standing, misogyny, and sexuality to name a few. I really enjoyed how these issues were incorporated into the story, often making the reader reflect.
I never really connected with Beatrice’s character. I agree with many of her views and feelings but felt she took all of her frustrations and insecurities out on Nell and it made it difficult to root for their romance. Sometimes she had good points and I was proud of her finally standing up for herself but more often than not I felt like she was unfair and obstinate.
Nell is sweet and caring although often thoughtless. She makes mistakes either due to the damage done from her time in the war or sometimes from her wealthy upbringing. She is so genuine despite her trauma.
I really enjoyed the overall story but for me at least the romance felt forced. Both characters shared mutual attraction but it felt more like lust than anything else for most of the book. They never seemed to click with each other, I often wondered why they kept pursuing a relationship as it often felt like Beatrice disliked Nell other than physical desire. I wish there had been a few more moments of them truly connecting early on so that when things started going wrong I would still want them to end up together.
When Beatrice and Nell did connect it was often a bit clumsy but oh so sweet. Both women are genuinely good people and I loved watching them try to heal and grow from the effects of the war. Their love story is full of strife and complications, I loved seeing them try to overcome any obstacle to be there for one another.
Even though this story is full of dark and heavy themes it is still fun and exciting. Overall a great read full of passion and heart, well written and entertaining.

Her Lady’s Honor by Renée Dahlia

Lady Eleanor “Nell” St. George is the daughter of a Duke’s second son. Both of her parents are well educated and have allowed Nell to study in the field of her own choice. With money and education behind her she headed off to war, with a letter from her titled relative to get her through the door, only to find that work was difficult, tedious and draining when caring for horses on the front lines. She believed she was honored for her skills but at times wondered if she had truly been seen as equal with the men she worked alongside of.

Beatrice Hughes, eldest daughter of Captain Hughes, the veterinarian Nell worked with on the front lines, has been relegated to female-servant status within her own home. The home is not a happy place, her father is a classist misogynist abusive sort that did not learn much good from the war.

When Nell shows up with Captain Hughes horse, Tommy, there is obvious attraction between Nell and Beatrice. The two are quite different not only in status but in outlook on life although their romantic preferences are both the same. The two have much to work through before they can achieve a HEA by the end of the book.

What I liked:
* Nell: intelligent, strong, caring and dealing with what is now known as PTSD. Being a veterinarian on the front lines was not what she had hoped it would be but she dd what needed to be done.
* Beatrice: strong, capable, able to keep the family going when left home with younger siblings, a depressed mother and not much money at hand.
* The historical references throughout the book…it made me think about what it might have been like to come home from The Great War with everything so difficult, so many men dead, few jobs at hand and the Depression and Spanish Influenza lurking in the wings
* The growth of the relationship between the two women…not an easy one and at times I became frustrated with Beatrice’s attitude toward Nell
* That hard issues were not glossed over
* Nell’s ability to “play the game” when necessary to achieve her ultimate goals for Beatrice and her family.
* Stepping into the past and thinking about what it might have been like

What I did not like:
* Being reminded that war kills and in killing leaves so many family members without loved ones and so many soldiers that survive damaged.
* Seeing the numbers of horses that died and then finding out what happened to most that survived
* Captain Hughes…despicable person though perhaps good at his job during the war
* Seeing the impact of race, class, gender on those living back then

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

Nell has fought bravely in the Great War as a veterinarian. Constantly healing horses and other animals only to send them back out into the fray has made her a changed woman. She's no longer the lady she was when she left. She brings her captains warhorse back to him, taking months to travel by foot. When she arrives, she is drawn in to a number of family problems and her interest captured by the captain's daughter, Beatrice.

Beatrice has basically lived the life of a servant for her family. Her father, who she cannot even call that name as he demands he call her Captain, is overbearing, selfish, and cruel. And war has made him that much worse. Beatrice takes care of everything and everyone in the house. When she sees Nell, she begins to dream of everything she's been missing in this life.

I think you should give this book a try if you are looking for
-a FF story – neither woman is a virgin, but neither is extremely experienced
-a post WWI time frame – It seems so hard to find romance that takes place in this time, so kudos for adding another
-class differences – Nell is a lady and comes from money while Beatrice has lived her life with much less
-a diverse character map that includes people of color, discussions on slavery, problems with class distinction, and the unbalanced world between the sexes.

Kudos for this author for being one wanting to tackle all of this. There's a lot of heavy themes being addressed in this book and I respect that. I really hope this hits all the spots for some readers.

But, as a romance reader, I was not a fan of this book. I was so excited to try my first FF relationship, and especially excited about the time frame of the book. I found myself liking Nell as the book started but as it went on, I couldn't find anything I liked. I found Nell's behavior a bit disappointing on a number of occasions and also slightly out of character for what I had seen from her thus far in the book. But nothing compared to Beatrice. I found her utterly unlikable. She seemed like a miserable, jealous lump that couldn't wait to lash out at an available victim. This story I found so depressing. I had to force myself to read it. I felt morose reading it. I felt like I needed to put on a large black billowing dress, climb the tallest gothic tower I could find, and stare out in to the mist while I finished the book. There was a lot of mopping up water. I still don't understand how it could rain that much. It was overwhelming and constant themes of how unfair life was to women, to other races. There seemed to be no relief, I was just continually beat over the head with it until the book ended. I also read the words “Oh, crap.” and wasn't a fan of that. I guess for that time period it might be appropriate. For me, it felt out of place. It feels almost like Beatrice just uses Nell for sex because of her looks. Because she surely doesn't seem to like her. She repeatedly makes nasty comments about Nell's aristocratic family and background and it's like she wants to punish her for that. She reprimands Nell for her coping strategies from the war and calls them dirty little habits. She's just...ugh. I felt like Nell walked into a house of horrors when she brought back the horse. She should have run away. But she stayed to be abused. I did have issue with some of the things Nell said too. But not to the level of Beatrice. Beatrice demands things of Nell then cruelly pushes her away because she's not family. She's downright cruel. Sadly, I didn't like anything about this book.

Thanks to net galley.com and Harlequin- Carina Press for the advance ARC copy for my honest review.

This was my first read from author Renee Dahlia, liked the setting of Wales right after World War 1, did like the Lady Eleanor “Nell” St. George character, it's well research for the time it's set in, very detailed, repetitive and felt Beatrice Hughes the way she wrote the character keeps derails the storyline at times.

I just never really got into it fully, think with these historical novels, you need to like all the characters or it'll be a slogfest like this one got for me and was glad to finish it.

Historical lesbian romance with horses? Heck yes! Unfortunately, this didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

“I might not have fought at the front, but the war wasn’t without some danger. There have been some…effects on me. One of which is my lack of manners. The old Lady Eleanor, before the war, was polite and restrained. Now, I find I have no patience for it.”


After the end of the first World War, Nell, who had worked as a veterinarian, is charged with returning her captain’s warhorse to his farm in Wales. Nell is suffering from shell shock and a loss of self – she’s reluctant to go home as she knows she’ll have to resume her role of “Lady Eleanor” rather than simply be Nell. Beatrice, the captain’s daughter, has her own problems. She’s lived with her father’s rages all her life, and after the death of three of her brothers in the war, her mother has completely shut down, leaving Beatrice to mother her four younger siblings and run the farm. Despite that, she still manages to be kind, something Nell struggles with. To be frank, Nell is absolutely awful to Beatrice, from initially thinking she’s the family’s maid to constant thoughtless remarks, even during pillowtalk, that hurt Beatrice deeply. To fit in with the Army Veterinary Corps, Nell had to become this angry, nearly perfect person in order to be accepted as “one of the men,” and she’s not sure how to shed that persona.

“My existence is already dictated by one person. I’m not simply going to swap my allegiances to you because of a few kisses.”


A major problem with the book for me was that it was very depressing. I thought I was prepared for it, given that I knew it would be dealing with the after effects of the war, but on top of that there was also the Captain’s horrible treatment of his family, and to compound that, an additional death (with a bit of a murder investigation subplot.) Bad things just keep happening to Beatrice – she never has more than a moment to contemplate how she feels for Nell before she has another crisis to deal with or something thoughtless pops out of Nell’s mouth. Because of all this, I had problems accepting the HEA. Nell latches onto Beatrice and quickly falls in love with her, but Beatrice is more reticent. Her father discouraged her from having friends, and her only experience with a lover was a woman who left her without a second thought. In the end, Beatrice is just so lonely and desperate for love that I wonder if Nell is just a convenient savior for her. There’s definitely a sort of Cinderella feel to the relationship.

“You know me—scars and all—and you balance out all my sharp edges.’
Beatrice’s mouth quirked up on one side. ‘Balance? No, what I want to be is your whetstone. I want to sharpen your edges even more and watch you help people like me be seen.”


There were some beautiful moments where I felt like Nell and Beatrice really communicated, but I felt like they came too late in the book to really establish their relationship. As for other things I liked, I also thought the exploration of class and privilege was fascinating, especially as how it affected Nell and Beatrice’s relationship. Nell is deeply aware of how prejudiced the world is against her as a woman, but she forgets that her class (and her relation to a duke) give her a leg up, as well. Watching her come to terms with that, with Beatrice’s help, was one of my favorite parts of the book.

Overall, this was probably a 2.5 star read for me, rounded up to 3. The overall depressing nature of the book, coupled with the couple’s relationship issues, didn’t work for me.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Renée Dahlia scrutinizes the role of women in a male dominated world in Her Lady’s Honor, befitting the era as well as setting the tone of the book. The time is post-World War I, and as the story opens, readers are introduced to Lady Eleanor St. George, whose ship has just docked upon her return to English soil for the first time since the end of the war. Nell is an accomplished veterinarian, assigned to the frontlines in France to doctor the horses wounded in battle, no small achievement for a woman, but that doesn’t mean she was granted the perfunctory respect she’d have received were she a man, either. The patriarchy rules, so Nell has to work twice as hard as her male counterparts to prove she has what it takes to do the job. She earned her stripes, as much as was attainable, under the auspices of Captain Hughes, who, upon injury and his return to Wales, assigned Nell with the task of returning his battle horse, Tommy, safely to his doorstep. Nell succeeds in accomplishing her Captain’s final command, delivering the horse as ordered, which is where she’s introduced to the oldest Hughes daughter, Beatrice, and their relationship begins to build in fits and starts, through mutual attraction tempered by misstep after misstep.

I grew to like Nell quite a lot over the course of the story, and felt a great deal of compassion for her too, for what she’d seen and endured during her military service. She did not return home unscathed or unscarred, suffering the emotional trauma of war as well as recovering from a physical injury, and Dahlia reveals these things in a way that endeared her to me greatly.

To say that she and Beatrice started off wrong-footed would be a bit of an understatement, as Nell initially and quite mistakenly assumes Beatrice is a servant in the Captain’s household. Truth be told, it’s not far off from the truth, as the Captain, who has come home a raging alcoholic, doesn’t hesitate to make clear that his wife and daughters are little more than chattel, but Beatrice is insulted nonetheless, rightfully so, and then jumps to the conclusion that Lady Eleanor is spoiled rotten and couldn’t possibly know the hardships Beatrice has faced. The central conflict between the two women evolves into a sort of “who’s had it worse” competition at times. Nell’s post-war trauma when coupled with the disparity of the social and economic standing between her and Beatrice, is a barrier.

Unfortunately for Beatrice, her issues come across more as a chip on her shoulder, though there’s little doubt her circumstances are fraught with the indignity of the way her father, and society as a whole, dismisses her worth. Her resenting Nell for the mere circumstances of her birth didn’t do much to win me over to her side, so I had a much harder time warming up to her, and, in the end, I didn’t. While she undeniably had her sweet and gentle moments, some of her reactions to Nell and the verbal lashings Beatrice handed out under the appearance of teaching Nell a lesson about what it means to be born without a silver spoon in your mouth were just so abrasive that it left me wondering why Nell kept making the effort. That’s not to say that Beatrice didn’t deserve to grind her ax—she had more than enough reason to, being the daughter of an abusive father—but I felt that she took her anger and frustration out on the wrong target much of the time.

Added to the romance is a murder which can’t be classified a mystery, given that there was a confession not long after. It did, however, add a touch of poignancy to the story and was the catalyst for Nell and Beatrice finally finding a more level playing field on which to build their relationship. I can’t say that I loved Her Lady’s Honor as much as I wanted to, but it’s not without some lovely moments along the way.

An ARC of this novel was sent to me by NetGalley for reviewing purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm such a big fan of this book! The characters are extremely well developed, and the pacing was great.