The Hellion’s Waltz is a lot of fun, but has a few flaws that knock it out of the DIK bracket and make it the weakest of Olivia’s Waite’s Feminine Pursuits series.  It’s still well worth the read though, though.

Sophie Roseingrave is a piano teacher, tuner and composer with a problem.  All she wants is to make her father proud of her, but with the whole family forced to flee London after they were fleeced out of their music shop, the most important thing is to make sure they manage to keep bread on the table. The large Roseingrave family has started over in the small English town of Carrisford, and they simply hope they can live without losing their shirts.

Ribbon weaver Maddie Crewe is trying to get out of her old life as a thief, but with wages so low and the need to fund her weaver’s union (The Weaver’s Library and Reform Society) she’s tempted back into the world of the light-fingered for one more heist.  The entire union agrees that her selected mark – Mr. Giles, a greedy draper who’s betrayed all of them in some manner or another, stiffing them on money and taking credit for their work – makes a perfect target

Maddie and Sophie meet at the shop where Maddie sells her wares, and it’s lust at first sight.  But Sophie – able to sniff a scam out with ease after being a victim of one herself – is suspicious of Maddie while Maddie decides to protect her plan to take down Giles by seducing Sophie – but she doesn’t expect her heart to become involved.  Let the games begin.

I really liked Maddie and Sophie as individuals - they’re good people, working against hard odds to come back and make their lives better, and improve the lives of the people they know.  I had a problem with the insta-lust-y nature of their story; Maddie walks into the room and that’s it for Sophie, which is such a cliché compared to the way the other love stories in the series play out. However, once their romance settles into a mutual attraction, it’s filled with appreciation and is steamy and sweet in equal doses.

My other main quibble lies with the transparent nature of Mr. Giles, who is such an obvious villain you can practically see him twirling his mustache every time he speaks.  He made me yearn for a some nuance, and a villain with some grey shades.

The other minor characters – Mrs. Money and the other folks in Maddie’s union, Sophie’s family – all ring true and are wonderful additions to the story. And, as always, the interconnection between the books in the series is light enough that it’s possible to jump into this one without reading any of the others.

The Hellion’s Waltz is warm, sensual and lovely at heart.  It’s not perfect – and if you only read one book in the series, pick up The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows – but it’s a damn fine story nonetheless.

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Sophie's family has moved to a small English town to start over, after a conman cost them her father's piano factory. Now they run a modest music shop, and Sophie has stopped playing piano, teaching, or composing. When she sees what appears to be a con against a local shopkeeper, Sophie confronts the perpetrator--the beguilding Maddie, a ribbon weaver with secrets. The two are instantly attracted, but possibly on opposite sides of a growing conflict in town. If they want a chance at happiness, they'll both have to take some big leaps.

Waite continues her lovely, historical f/f series with this tale of workers' rights, past trauma, and a chance at real love. The characters here are refreshingly open about love and relationships of all kinds. She obviously does her research--I learned about everything from looms to piano construction.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

*3.5 stars*

I keep reading an enjoying all of Olivia Waite's WLW historical romances, and I hope she never stops writing them. Even though each book has been just a bit off for me, I'm loving how this author is making F/F romance more mainstream. Bring it on!

Where The Hellion's Waltz really shines is with its dynamic plot and pacing. The plotline was exciting and suspenseful, and that's what really kept me reading. I loved these daring women who took control back in their lives, and I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how they were going to pull everything off.

I also really enjoyed Sophie's accepting, musical family. I thought the piano details were very rich and interesting, and even though I'm not musically inclined (to say the least), I still dug it all.

However, where the story faltered for me was in the romance department. I'm a sucker for a slow-burn romance, and here it was insta-lust city. I felt like these two had this intense connection after one minute that didn't quite translate to the reader. The lust and the fast romance felt very underdeveloped, and that's where the story lost me.

I think I actually would have preferred this not be a romance at all and just a story of women in the textile industry getting revenge on an unscrupulous businessman. The romance just wasn't there, and for a story that is supposed to be a romance book, it let me down a bit.

I'm all for Olivia Waite and her writing, but I think the romance needs to get to the same level as her imaginative, interesting plotlines. Still, I'm already ready for the next book, so more ladies loving ladies, please.

*copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

⭐️ Q: what do you feel like is your most common star rating?

A sapphic heist romance between a pianist & a weaver, Olivia Waite’s The Hellion’s Waltz has some sentences that really stand out to me in that wow kind of way 🤩, an intriguing premise, & two leads who find ways to make use of their great talents for the good of others.

That sounds divine to me. Ultimately I didn’t swoon as much as I might have hoped for this one but I did find *a lot* to appreciate about the story.

Sophie Roseingrave & her large, musically-inclined family have just moved from London to a much smaller town after being taken advantage of by a conman who used musical instruction to pull off his scheming. She hasn’t played piano in the months since, & she’s anxious at the thought.

So when she sees a beautiful stranger—who turns out to be Maddie Crewe—apparently trying to pull one over on a local fabric shop-owner, she’s determined to stop it.

It turns out, however, that Maddie & a crew of members from the Weavers’ Library are working together to right injustice & take down the fabric shop-owner, who’s been taking advantage of people who have no legal recourse to fight back.

Sophie wants to help Maddie. She also wants to kiss her & vice versa.

What works for me in The Hellion’s Waltz is first its consideration of social issues & how it includes some pertinent items of material history. Through Maddie & the other members of her library I learned more about factory conditions, the lack of options available to the women who wished to protest them, & Combinations (a term I had never heard of before). Similarly it was cool learning more about pianos & weaving.

Emotionally, Sophie has an intriguing arc, facing her anxiety & being brave thanks to applause-worthy moments like her mom’s speech. Later Sophie herself has a fantastic speech about making mistakes & it’s so good I could envision it celebrated on a motivational embroidery hoop.

When it comes to the relationship between leads, the pacing was a bit off for me. First, I wanted to see the leads together more & later, when things start really moving they rush a smidge for my taste.

But ultimately The Hellion’s Waltz is well-written, wise, & soft & I recommend it.

4 .5 ⭐️. Release date: 06/15.

i received an arc of this title in exchange for an honest review. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in advance of its release.

because i enjoyed the first book in this series so much, i absolutely had to request an arc of this one!!! i was really excited to delve into this one. what is super interesting about this series is that it doesn't exclusively focus on the romance - all of the main characters have outside interests that may or may not overlap with their romantic partner.

that being said, i thought the pacing of this book was kind of off. things go mach speed in this novel and left me reeling and trying to catch up with what was happening. i'm not saying that lust at first sight isn't enjoyable or that it isn't realistic, but i think it's my own personal preference that there's a bit of a build-up between the two leads. i didn't ever really feel like sophie and maddie really got to know one another other than a couple of conversations. i would have liked to see there be a bit more between them other than sexual attraction, which they obviously both have for one another. it made it less entertaining for me. i think that there was a lot of telling that they were attracted to one another and had a bond rather than showing it.

that being said, i still liked the book. i think this series is such a different concept for historical romance. in this novel, the two main characters are working class women rather than the usual where one or both main characters are wealthy. it was nice to read about that.

This book was exactly what I needed. I love historical lesbians and Olivia is truly a master at the historical lesbian novel. Do you know what the only thing better than a historical lesbian romance is? A historical lesbian romance with revenge. Also bonus points to me for reading about workers taking down an evil corrupt business owner in order to fund a union on May Day.

I love how well researched Olivia’s books are. I always feel that I learn something while being thoroughly entertained and enthralled in the story. In this book I learned about pianos and how they were tuned and made. I also learned about labor laws, unions, and the bad practices of factory owners. Additionally, as someone who works in intellectual property I enjoyed the references to patents, trade secrets, and other IP released things. While she didn’t really get into the subject I also caught the reference to punch cards developed by women weavers to semi-automate looms, which is the earliest form of computer programming.

More than being a history book, this is a romance. I adored both Maddie and Sophie. I appreciated that both were commoners so there wasn’t an awkward wealth discrepancy. I love that both were unapologetic about their feelings for one another. I especially loved seeing that Sophie’s parents were in the know and supportive of their daughter being with another woman. I am very excited to see what Olivia Waite writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In general, I felt that the impressive research done outshone other elements of the story. The beginning was too heavily weighted towards period detail for me to get wrapped up in Sophie and Maddie's romance and this imbalance carried through the book. It never felt like I needed to keep reading to know what was going to happen - there was very little tension in the romance from the outset and whatever tension did exist was dissipated at about halfway. I found the characters to be delightful in theory, but their journeys weren't fleshed out enough for me to be invested in practice.

I have read Olivia Waite's other books, and they are all really great. This one gets into the intricacies of piano and weaving. I am always so impressed with the research Waite puts into her characters and their occupations. While you are enjoying the building relationships between characters, you are also learning about beekeeping, telescopes, the textile industry, etc. And as far as relationships go, this one is STEAMY. I like that neither character has to change to love and be loved. They are fully formed women when they meet, and they help each other achieve their dreams. They also have smashing good chemistry and the love scenes between them were a delight. Highly recommend this book.

I loved reading this! It was sooooo cute! I thought the romance was adorable and I found myself intrigued by the plot of the scam. It was also fascinating to see a character who is a musician and who struggles to perform because of some of her past history.

The Hellion's Waltz is a historical lesbian romance about Sophie and Maddie. Sophie is an accomplished piano player new to town while Maddie is a weaver who's out to take revenge on a man who has stolen from the town. I greatly enjoyed the premise of this novel and I especially enjoyed the historical aspect of it. I can tell that the author did her research about the old ways silk weavers used to make their craft and it was awesome to learn about it!

When it comes to Sophie and Maddie's romance, I felt like it took a bit of a backburner to the main plotline of getting revenge. At first Sophie is wary of Maddie despite their clear attraction towards one another. The heat between them before Sophie ultimately succumbs to Maddie's advances is spicy and I loved it! Once they got together, there wasn't much steam. I could tell that they cared about one another but the declarations of love fell a little flat for me because I didn't really see much of a steady rise to their feelings for one another. I would have also liked a few more steamy scenes, especially towards the end of the book as there weren't many after Sophie and Maddie got together.

Overall, a nice quick read that will cleanse your reading palate and invite you to read about some historical lesbians!

Olivia Waite has written a fun book with an interesting heist at the center of it. The book felt a bit light in places, like the romance just happened without fanfare and the heist was easily put together. But it was an enjoyable read and I do recommend it for fans of queer and/or historical romances.

This is Waite's best romance yet. A beautiful musician who has been hurt tunes pianos to scrape out a living, and doesn't play piano any more. A fiesty weaver isn't too busy with labor organizing to do crime, if that's what's needed to give a bad man his comeuppance. Do these two women even have time to be in love? Yes. Yes, they do.

I loved this book so much! First off thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC. I really really enjoyed the setting and the atmosphere of this book it reminded me why I love historical romance so much, I also thought the writing made this an extra quick read. The cover is also stunning. But what I loved was the romance I feel like both of the characters really balanced each other out and I just thought it was super fitting for this story. The characters were also well built and written to the point where it was like I knew them. I cannot wait for more books by this author and cannot wait to continue this series!

I was really looking forward to this book, but the relationship felt rushed and underdeveloped. I really loved book 2, so this was a letdown.

#TheHellionsWaltz by Olivia Waite is a f/f historical romance between Sophie, a brilliant but blocked pianist, and Maddie, a reform-minded weaver bent on taking revenge on the fabric merchant who cheats her and her colleagues.

There's a pretty involved Sting-type (see: The Sting, a 1973 Newman/Redford movie) plot going on, where Maddie Crewe and her colleagues are planning an elaborate con on a most deserving mark. Sophie also has a detailed backstory, and there are quite a few well-developed side characters. Since it's a romance, there's also the budding love affair between Sophie and Maddie.

With all that going on, I'm not entirely sure why this book feels kind of....insubstantial? I feel like some of the love story was a bit glossed over. Sophie sees Maddie a time or two, and boom, they're in love. I don't know. I enjoyed this book; it moves at a brisk pace and Waite's prose flows well. I just feel like I wanted more emotion between the main characters.

ARC graciously provided by #NetGalley, opinions my own.

Olivia Waite's The Hellion's Waltz is a shockingly tender romance placed in the center of a grand fleece. Sophie Roseingrave and her family's piano shop was left reeling when a swindler promised them fame and left them with unfulfilled promises and debt. Now, they have sold everything and left London and started again in Carrisford, an honest, quiet town. In walks Maddie Crewe, a swindler who is trying to sell magic cloth to a local draper, Mr. Giles, with the aim of funding the weavers’ union with the proceeds. But, when Sophie comes across the swindle, she will do anything to stop it. Will Sophie be able to stop the crime in time, or will Maddie's honesty steal her heart?
The third novel in the Feminine Pursuits series does not disappoint with its historically accurate depiction of pianists, silk weavers, and unionists alike. The entire series centers on the products of female labor, the intellectual theft involved in many respectable male enterprises, and the value of undervalued work products. you may be happy to hear this novel is not an exception.
Not to mention the splendid characters. Sophie is a kind, honest, and enthusiastic bisexual protagonist with a family that knows about and supports her partners. I love the way she teaches children and composes them with ease. Then you have Maddie, a talented silk-weaver and unionist. Her position in her community and commitment to her cause is commendable. Their relationship is interestingly balanced without a transition period where either had to discover their attraction to women. I enjoyed the primary characters, but Sophie's rambunctious family of musicians and Sophies supportive network of weavers brought the story to life.
Now, the con at the center of the story was a bit ridiculous, but then again, it was a plot conceived with the premise that he knows nothing about science and is greedy enough to believe the ruse. Nevertheless, it was satisfying to see nonsense sold to a man who had terrorized local weavers for years.
If you are looking for historical romance novels that center on queer women, these are the books to turn to. Be ready to pick up The Hellion's Waltz by Olivia Waite upon its release on June 15, 2021.
Thank you, Avon and Harper Voyager via NetGalley for providing the eARC of The Hellion's Waltz by Olivia Waite in exchange for my honest review.

The plot was pretty stagnant at times, but that’s to be expected with romance novels, especially historical ones. I love seeing sapphic relationships in historical settings, so I adored this book!

A quick and enjoyable read, can be read independently from the rest of the series for sure.

I have a hard time with stories that rely on an instant, physical attraction between characters. Being more on the demi edge of the spectrum, it's something I don't experience and have a hard time believing. That's just from my perspective; does the prevalence of animal attraction-based relationships in romance indicate how most people feel, or is it just a handy plot device?

The story is less romance, more a story about two people doing their best in an unjust society and there are some steamy bits. I think of a romance as a story in which the relationship between the two love interests is the most important part, and sometimes even a character in itself; that was not the case with this book. Still enjoyable, and it's wonderful to have a historical romance(ish) with regular people who don't have titles and inherited wealth.

Still recommended, just heads up that it's a little different in tone from what a reader might expect of "historical romance."

The Hellion's Waltz was truly great! Dare I say, it might be my favorite book in the series. Right off the bat there was some strong chemistry between Sophie and Maddy. But what I really loved was that for the majority of the book, the characters were working together, not against each other. So many romances have the main characters pursuing opposite goals and one or both of them end up having to compromise. In The Hellion's Waltz, Sophie and Maddie have goals that are either aligned or adjacent. This allows their relationship to blossom without the weight of potential betrayal or thinking they will have to give each other up in the end.

I also really appreciated the diverse cast of characters. Historical romance is generally very white, christian, and Eurocentric. Along with the solid queer representation, there are Jewish characters, Black characters, and Indian characters (to name the ones I remember). Their characters aren't defined by their ethnic identity, but it does inform them and makes the world of the book feel a little richer. I'd definitely love to see more of this in historical romance!

Alongside the great romance, there was a fun plot. Maddie is plotting a swindle to help the local weavers. Sophie and her family have just been swindled, and she's initially concerned about what's going on. But let's just say that things aren't set in stone.

I highly recommend this book both if you've enjoyed Olivia Waite's earlier books and as a jumping point into queer historical romance! It is books like The Hellion's Waltz that really show what the historical romance genre can be at its best. So go forth and enjoy!

Publish date: June 15, 2021

I was a little unsure about this book going in, since the only other Olivia Waite book I've read I liked, but didn't love. This one, however, completely blew me away! I thought the story was wonderful, the plot sucked me in and kept me engaged, the characters were fun and well-developed, and the chemistry between the main characters was great! I definitely recommend this to any fellow romance fans.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for a review copy.