What a delightful romp through this fanciful yet decorous world. It was a unique and eccentric story with writing that was witty without being overbearing. Full of whimsy with some feminist undertones, I wanted to live in this world alongside Cecilia. This story would make for a great television series as it was so entertaining and I enjoyed every minute spent reading.


Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I fell in love with India Holton’s whimsical world from that spectacular cover on. And her enchanting story — different from anything I’ve ever read — with lady pirates, flying houses, proper Victorian teas, and menacing male assassins. The writing is so lush that I fell headlong into the tale, grew to love the fantastical characters and swooned over the slow-burn romance. Ahhhhhhhhhh!

My fav book so far in 2021. Sequel, please! Netflix film, pretty please!

Thanks to the author, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.

Pub Date 15 Jun 2021

#TheWisteriaSocietyofLadyScoundrels #NetGalley

Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
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Cecilia Bassingwaite is everything a proper Victorian lady should be, she's also a pirate, like all the other members of the renowned Wisteria crime Society. Even with her dark past and overbearing aunt, Cecilia enjoys her life of thieving, flying through London in her beautiful house, drinking tea, and acquiring treasures. Ned Lightbourne has been smitten with her since their first meeting, unfortunately he is also the assassin hired to kill her. Mortal perils, house-stealing and sizzling passion will bring them together, but will Cecilia be able to save herself from the same fate as her mother?
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First things first, this was a an incredibly well crafted story. However, just reading the synopsis I didn't get that there was magical elements involved, and because we jump right into action it took a while for me to piece everything together and get a good picture of the world these wonderfully dressed lady were thieving in. I wish there was a clearer world-building to start us off. But maybe that's just my fantasy-averse brain talking. I loved how unapologetically Victorian this book was, it felt authentic and real even if literal flying houses with canons and pistols were firing at each other. I loved how unique the story was, and how it transported us into its world, it made me want to dress in petticoats and umbrella lace with frills, go drink tea and eat buttery scones. The whole assemble had great chemistry together, and the main couple's banter was brilliant. I wish there was a little more heat, a little more focus on them as a couple instead of the action-packed story. I loved everything that was hiding beneath the surface, the universal themes and the incredibly smart feminist dialogue and commentary that was sprinkled through the novel.
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Thank you @berkleypub for gifting me an advanced reader's copy via @netgalley . As always all thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

“It is violence that best overcomes hate, vengeance that most certainly heals injury, and a good cup of tea that soothes the most anguished soul; thus ran the motto of the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels.”

This book is about a fabulous group of lady pirates who fly around, quite literally, in their houses, dodging assassins and trying not to fall in love. The first 20% was a tad slow for me because this is more of a fantasy/romance/historical fiction mish mosh and definitely not what I was expecting. But once it got going I really enjoyed this wild ride! You just have to go into this one knowing it is probably not like anything else you have ever read.

If you enjoy the enemy to lovers trope, one in which the enemies are 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 trying to kill each other, then give this one a try. There are some steamy love scenes, albeit under the multitude of layers of Victorian era gowns and despite constricting corsets. Come, let us enjoy the wit and whimsy of this piratical story!

“ ‘When do you propose we become friends? Before or after you murder me?’ ‘Please, assassinate. After all, we’re not corsairs.’ ‘We are exactly that, Signor. Corsairs, robbers, pirates. I, however, am also a bibliophile, and you are impeding my visit to the library. So either assassinate me now and get it over with, or kindly step aside.’ “

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Happy pub day to The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels and my thanks to Berkley Romance for this free finished copy! Y’all. This book is absolutely BONKERS in the very best way. I truly had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started. It’s about lady pirates who have the ability to fly houses. They’re all fully trained to kill and travel armed to the teeth, always on guard for a new assassination attempt (that’s how you know you’ve truly made it as a pirate). In this book, the typical gender roles and stereotypes are flipped on their heads and the dry, direct way the author presents examples of this shocked laughter out of me every time. The dialogue and banter are so smart and quietly hilarious. I will not do justice with this review how truly funny this book is.

I got a bit of Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes from this because Cecilia is a pirate and Ned is too, but he’s also an Italian assassin, and a fencing teacher (with very tight very infamous pants), and a member of the Queen’s royal guard. He’s been hired by one of the other members of the Wisteria society to assassinate Cecilia, but he’s been hired by multiple other people to do other things as well. When she isn’t slaying him with her verbal swordplay, Cecilia is quietly falling in love with him. When he isn’t making half assed attempts to both assassinate and protect her, Ned is doing the same. This book is just delicious, five enthusiastic stars. I cannot recommend it enough.

Funny, witty, entertaining...I was definitely there wondering, wait WHAT? Flying houses?

Also, you must read this book with tea and biscuits.

Multi-tasking women are at the heart of this whimsical regency romance filled with action.

It checks all the boxes for most readers!

“We only have three laws in our Society, Cecilia. No killing civilians. Pour the tea before the milk. No stealing each other’s houses.”

———————-
“Did they not understand that pirates only stole from the rich to give to the– er, to themselves?”
———————-

“When do you propose we become friends? Before or after you murder me?”
“Please, assassinate. After all we’re not corsairs”
———————-

Oh my, what a madcap adventure this book is. If those quotes above tickle your fancy, then this might be the book for you. I’ll admit, at first I was super confused, the world is quite unusual and the world building is not obvious, it just sort of unfolds around you. The Wisteria Society is a group of Victorian female pirates who fly their houses around trying to steal from the rich and have endless vendettas against one another. The plot is a bit nonsensical, but the writing is hilarious if you can keep up with it.


Cecilia is the daughter of a famous female pirate and an infamous male pirate (rare in this world) and is trying to do something dastardly in order to earn her place amongst the society. She is targeted by an assassination plot and the hitman is quite the stud. Immediately, they are drawn to one another and quickly go from being on opposite sides to teaming up in order to free the society from her father’s grip.


If you’re looking for a goofy escape with a little steam for your summer reading list, this is a great choice. There are also fabulous literary allusions throughout. Lovely to see knowledgeable, strong women carry a narrative even if it is about crime and if they are still unnecessarily terrified of the Great Peril (freckles).

Can I put 4.25? Almost 4.5?
What an incredibly fun book. From the very first page I was laughing out loud and so invested in this lady's society.
Cecilia was such a great main character. She was hilarious and piratey and ladylike and quite the scoundrel. As was her hired assassin Ned. Quite the scoundrel. Both these characters were such a hoot. I also loved Cecilia's relationship with her Aunt who she lives with because her evil father murdered her mother when she was a child. The side characters were all great. I loved the maid Pleasance, Oply and Thomas, the queen, Jane, they were all their own characters and they were all interesting.
The plot was wonderful, we start out with Cecilia trying to become a senior member of the Wisteria Society and it turns into all the ladies' houses being stolen and then the actual ladies being stolen by Cecelia's evil father so he can take over England.
The writing style was absolutely fantastic. I started highlighting quotes in my ebooks and they are usually meaningful or something, but almost all the quotes I highlighted in this book were because they were absolutely hilarious. It took me a while to read this book because of time issues on my end, but I ended up reading the last 40% in one evening. I just blew through it in a few hours.
The only thing that confused me a little bit was the magic system. It wasn't really explained at all, we were just thrown into it. And while it really wasn't a confusing magic system, it just threw me off. We were told that people's houses had landed on top of each other without really being told that these ladies actually flew their houses and without that it was immediately hard to picture until I got a little bit farther into the book.
I really can't see what the future holds for Cecilia because this book was great!

It absolutely kills me that I could not finish this book, as it was one of my most anticipated books of 2021, but I just did not connect to any of the characters 30% in.

Now, I read the synopsis but really was not aware that this was a fantasy historical romance. And while I love both genres, I am not sure how I feel about them together.

My biggest issues with why I could not continue was what I LOVE about historical romance is the female friendship and family this genre is typically centered around. Maybe after 30% it gets better, but with all the talk of assassinations and how back-shabby all the Wisteria Society ladies were, it was hard to want to continue on.

But as this didn't work for me, I could totally understand why others would love it. It is certainly unique and I think if I saw this as a movie or tv series, it would be a hell of a ride. Unfortunately it just did not translate to me while reading and it may be a book I need to come back to later on to see if it's something I would enjoy.

This was definitely my type of fantastical Victorian historical romance! This is the first in the Dangerous Damsels Series.
Strong trained proper women of all ages trained in all sorts of killing, pirating, etc. This is more humorous than thrilleresque. The witty banter between Miss Cecilia and Captain Lightbourne is delightful as he is hired to assassinate her but also is tasked to protect her. Which will end up happening it really depends on how they feel it seems. All the while they are flying their houses all over the country side.
This was such a fun and witty book! I really didn't want it to end! It is non-stop, you really have to pay attention and I am not sure if I caught all the references in this book but I was definitely entertained.
Loved how feminist it was and how secondary all the men were. They really were just inconveniencing all the women all the time. I loved that the women just let them be there with all the grace and dignity of the haut ton. While also concealing knives and guns and incapacitating people.
I loved their lineage with the great Brontës and their constant need to find a library but all this subterfuge and piracy is getting in the way.
There were even some steamy scenes albeit quite proper because those stringent societal manners are hard to put aside for passion.
I wish I could speak like Cecilia but my husband would really be rolling his eyes and leaving the room... hmm unless I guised it as role play (tabling that).
Also, if you do get lost there is a lovely listing in the front of the characters and events that you can refer to if you need to be reminded who is who. There is a lot happening.
Also, can we point out the unique names of the chapters?
Instead of one title they are recaps of what will happen in the chapter. My favorite being - "10. Lord Albert and Lady Victoria— Free Wine!— A Fair-weather Friend—Cecilia Is Disarmed—Flying Fish, Wayward Spirits, Bare Arms, and Other Scandals—Cecilia Is Disrobed— A Bad Idea" It is a study in outlining.

This was definitely a unique historical romance, it was definitely for me!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you berkley romance and net galley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

India Holton has a voice unlike any other I've read in romance in a long, long time. This book reads like a movie--stunningly visual. Every character was wonderfully clear in my mind. The one downside of this is that the comical tone was occasionally over the top, to the point that I put the book down for several weeks while in the middle of it because I was overwhelmed by an "alright we GET IT" feeling. We get it--the tone is clever! I eventually came back to the book thought, which I am very glad about. This story is a lot of fun and full of adventure and even its heavy handedness couldn't take away the fact that I did want to know how the adventure concluded.

This was so witty, charming, and fun to read. In tone the closest thing that came to mind was the Parasol Protectorate series, though they are different in genre and plot. Very glad that this is the first in a series as there seems like a lot of fun potential with the characters.

Thank you so much to @BerkleyPub and @NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels in exchange for an honest review! You definitely won’t want to miss this one hitting shelves TOMORROW (6/15)!!

Part cozy mystery, part historical romance, part pirate adventure, fully hilarious and witty! Needless to say, I loved India Holton’s debut, The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels!

The book sucked me in right from the beginning and had me quickly turning pages while snorting with laughter! I loved the characters! Cecilia, Ned, swoon! And the ladies of the Wisteria Society! I love the world that Holton has created full of badass, posh-pirates. I mean who doesn’t want to read about lady pirates and flying houses?!

I’m so excited this is going to be a series as I can’t wait to see what else lies ahead for these characters! This is the perfect light, fun, quick summer read!

I feel like this book would make a fabulous Netflix series--the flying houses, the magical elements, the land/air pirates, the bonkers atmosphere...it would absolutely be a treat to see on screen. As a book, I couldn't get into it. I'm sorry. I'm probably the minority here, but The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels felt mostly invested in how bonkers it could get, throwing readers for so many loops that I couldn't get a good read at all on the main characters. There's a story in all of these pages that I know I wanted to read, and probably would have liked had I been able to tease it out from being throw in to weirdness every few seconds, but I just didn't have the patience to continue. I'm sure many will love and enjoy this book, but I'll wait for the film adaptation.

The nitty-gritty: A lively adventure with plenty of romance, The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels lost me when it came to the unexpected fantastical elements.

I wanted to try a different genre, and because a publicist from Berkley invited me to read this title, I thought why not? At first glance, The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels appears to be a historical romance, and although it has those elements, I was surprised to discover it was a fantasy as well. I know what you’re thinking: What’s wrong with a surprise fantasy element? I think it boils down to expectations. I went in expecting one thing but got another, and because of that this didn’t completely work for me.

The story is set in a Victorian era-like time period and involves a group of lady thieves who call themselves the Wisteria Society. Cecilia Bassingthwaite is a young member of the group whose only wish is to be granted acceptance as a senior member, ladies who have proven their worth and are part of the inner circle. She lives with her great-aunt Miss Darlington, an overprotective woman who won’t allow Cecilia to go outside alone, and certainly not without protection from the Great Peril (also known as the sun—Miss Darlington does not want her to get freckles!). When the story opens, Cecilia is confronted by a mysterious man calling himself Eduardo de Luca, an assassin who has his sights set on assassinating none other than Cecilia herself. Rather proud of the fact that she’s been targeted for assassination (which could be her ticket into the inner circle of the Society), Cecilia is shocked when Eduardo tells her that the woman who hired him is Lady Armitage, another member of the Society.

She’s also dismayed to realize she finds herself attracted to the rather handsome Signor de Luca. In an interesting twist, we find out that de Luca, who also goes by Ned Lightbourne, has been hired by Cecilia’s father Captain Morvath to bring Cecilia to him unharmed. But Morvath has an ulterior motive: he’s determined to bring down the women of the Wisteria Society once and for all. In order to save her fellow Wisteria Society members, Cecilia needs all her wits and bravery, and she must keep Ned at arm's distance no matter what.

It sounds like fun, right? And guess what? It was a lot of fun. Holton has a true gift for perfectly timed comedic dialogue, and I found myself laughing out loud over and over again. The banter between Ned and Cecilia was snappy and funny, and their sexual chemistry is off the charts. In fact, speaking of sex, I was a little surprised to find some pretty explicit scenes between the two, despite the restrictions of the time period. So yes, I loved the romance and thought it was nicely done, although it might be a little on the bawdy side for those who are expecting something more restrained.

The story is also a treat for fans of classic literature and includes lots of references to the Brontë sisters and Jane Austen. Holton does some interesting things with her story by making Morvath a relative of one of the Brontës, and Cecilia spends a good part of the story trying to read Wuthering Heights (a shocking book according to her great aunt!). Cecilia’s childhood home is cheekily called Northangerland Abbey, a nod to Jane Austen, and those are just a few examples of the many delightful mentions from the classics. 

But let’s talk about the fantasy element in the story and the main reason this book didn’t quite work for me. The ladies of the Wisteria Society live in flying houses, controlled by magic. Think of a pirate ship, if you will, and the Society’s houses as those ships, but flying through the air rather than sailing the seas. I’m sorry, but I found this idea to be ridiculous, and after the first mention of Cecilia and her aunt and their flying house, I had a hard time enjoying the story. This element changed everything for me and turned what could have been a fun historical romance into an absurd story that was just too silly for my taste.

I also found the story to be crammed full of too many things and confusing in places. Ned AKA Eduardo goes by at least four names (and I honestly don’t feel like looking them all up), which adds to his mystique but doesn’t make it easy to figure out what role he’s playing at any particular time. The story becomes overwhelming at times, with all sorts of elements like gun fights, ladies with concealed weapons, flying houses chasing each other, Cecilia’s and Morvath’s complicated backstories, and much much more. In the midst of all this are the steadfast traditions of Victorian society, like drinking tea and wearing the proper clothing for the occasion. Although I have to mention that one of the funniest running gags in the story is that Cecilia and her aunt never miss an opportunity to drink tea, even in the midst of battle.

But despite these issues, there is a wonderfully playful quality to the story that I quite enjoyed. Cecilia is a complex woman who isn’t afraid to stab her enemies to death, but constantly worries about her aunt’s wellbeing and will do anything to keep her safe. And Ned and Cecilia together are simply delightful, and I never tired of their scenes. This is the first book in a series, and I’m not sure where the author will go next—perhaps a new couple will take the helm? In any case, I’m tempted to keep reading the series, now that I’m aware of the odd fantastical elements. Holton’s dialogue is nearly perfect, and I am curious to see what she does next.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

This is such a difficult book to review. I enjoyed so much about it, especially the romance between Cecilia and Ned. I wanted much more of those two interacting and trading witty banter.

I enjoy smart but wacky humor, like the Princess Bride, but this book went a little too far. The elements that I loved were overwhelmed with side details and events that made it just too much for me to fully enjoy.

I really do think there is genius to this author’s writing and would absolutely pick up another book written by her.

3.5 rounded up

3.5 stars

A rollicking romp featuring houses that serve as floating battleships, a duplicitous yet affectionate group of female pirates, and a lot of characters with complicated relationships.

Cecilia Bassingwaite is waiting to be confirmed as a full-fledged member of the Wisteria Society -- but the other members are holding off because of her villainous father. Cecilia has vowed to revenge kill him in retaliation for his murder of her mother. In the meantime, the Society is full of politics and cross-rivalries. It is common for a member to have hired an assassin to rub out another member. They all apparently forgive each other and just move on to the next crisis.

Cecilia is the ward of her "aunt" and is fending off a killer employed by one of the Society. But the killer, Ned, who has several identities and employers, is smitten with Cecilia which naturally is an obstacle to his finishing his contract killing. But wait -- he has also been hired as a secret agent by the Crown to protect Cecilia.

This crazy adventure is full of wild plot swings and spontaneous mood shifts. Fun dialogue, lots of jousting for position, and much humorous feminism abound. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had to DNF this one. From the beginning it seemed like too much. I kept trying in hopes of changing my feelings on it. Got 60% done and just couldn’t continue. It’s too much, too many things going on and I didn’t find it a good read. From flying houses, to scoundrels, to magic just everything was too much.

The humor occasionally wasn't my cup of tea, but I fully appreciated how unique and whimsical the overall story was, especially the idea of Victorian lady pirates. So much fun! The writing is also fabulous so I'd love to read something else from this author.

DNF at 10%

I think this book will probably work for some readers but there was just too much going on for my taste. It's kind of a bizarre mashup of historical romance (I think) with pirates and magic and very silly humor, but written as if it's a play. But in novel form, not script form. Yeah...it's rather strange. I didn't expect when the description mentioned the main character would "fly around London" that I should take that literally. I feel like if you are in the right mood for this kind of book and it's your thing, you may have a good time with it. Unfortunately I don't think it's really my cup of tea so I won't be finishing. The humor wasn't landing for me. It feels like it's trying too hard with things like the excessively lengthy chapter titles. But if this sounds fun to you, other reviewers have been enjoying it, so if it sounds like your thing it may be worth a shot! I received an advance copy for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.