I’m the kind of reader who prefers to read series in order and I’m usually very good about vetting my titles upfront. That said, I’m not perfect and must have been in a hurry when I picked up this piece as I was a few chapters into Mary Hart Perry’s Seducing the Princess before I realized it was book two of the author’s series on Queen Victoria’s Daughters.

Much to my surprise, this realization didn’t ruin a moment of my experience as the novels are written are standalone installments. Characters from book one do make cameo appearances, but I didn’t feel I was out of the loop for having started where I did.

Much like Alan Robert Clark’s Prince of Mirrors and Karen Harper’s The Royal Nanny, Seducing the Princess is inspired by a royal who did not inherit the crown and I love the perspective that gifted the novel. The characters are familiar enough to place, but the fact that the content is lesser known gives the story a freshness a novel on Victoria herself would be hard-pressed to match.

That said, it should be understood that Perry’s work is highly fictionalized. A number of recognizable figures are represented in the novel’s cast, but Seducing the Princess is a romantic piece that is less concerned with historical accuracy than it is entertainment and may not be well-suited for those who favor heavier historical content or themes.