I loved this novel. Following Wei and Glory is love story was wonderful and there are science of intimacy which I feel have been lacking in the books I have read lately even if I enjoyed them. I did not read any of the previous novels but that did not cause me any confusion in the story as it is a true stand alone. I liked that this was a romance book where the MMC was not white, and I don't think recency romance has a lot of non white characters. I also liked the society story of being a PI for Glory and I liked the Wei wasn't a rake, it made the story different and unique from the norm. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy for my honest review.

4.5/5. Releases 3/28/2023.

For when you're vibing with... a high heat historical romance, a Victorian romance that isn't! centered on white leads, a mentor/mentee romance, and a srs bsns man paired with a playful, plucky heroine.

As the vigilante daughter of a half-Chinese duke and a woman he had an affair with before they married, Glory has always felt a bit isolated by the ton. Now that all of her best friends are married and experiencing motherhood, she feels even more alone. Perhaps that's why she seeks out the tutelage of Wei Chen, a dangerous--but kind--man with a dark past. While Wei is willing to teach Glory how to fight, he's more hesitant to acquiesce to her desire for a very different kind of lesson... Despite how much he wants her. But the more Glory learns from and about Wei, the less they're able to resist their feelings...

Whew, this was good. While I do think that Pippa and the Prince of Secrets remains my favorite in this series (thus far--I am dying for Charlie's book) Glory and the Master of Shadows is an excellent counterpart, and is definitely my second favorite.

Quick Takes:
--To be clear, all the books in this series are great and you should read them. And I would say that they can be read as standalones, but why skip a fun Victorian Era take on Charlie's Angels where the heroines are girly girls who kick ass, support each other as friends, and get absolutely railed by growly dangerous men?

--Grace Callaway is of Chinese descent and mentioned in her notes that this is perhaps her most personal work. Here's what I really loved about it. You could see the influence not only of Grace's experiences as a bicultural woman and the very real history of the Opium Wars, but also Chinese art and cinema? Wei is inspired by the heroes of Cantonese dramas--tortured, graceful, elegant, DADDY--and there's this sense of wuxia throughout, or at least there was to me.

At the same time, a lot of attention is paid to the fact that Wei, a Chinese man who came to England as a young adult in the 1800s, has a very different experience from Glory, a woman who is not officially recognized as her father's child (like, he is her dad, he functions as her dad, but due to Reasons he basically had to adopt her, and a white man was known as her father by blood). While it's clear that rumor has circulated the fact that Glory is the daughter of a biracial man, it's still not official, and she's been raised as many debutantes in England would be. She's learning Chinese, but she's not fluent; she's curious about that part of her background, but she has to seek it through Wei, versus her father. And that's part of how they bond. A lot of Glory's individual journey is about finding her place, not only as a debutante of (partially) Chinese descent, but as a girl who just doesn't feel like she fits in. Yet never does she come off as NLOG--she's girly, she loves attention from Wei, she loves being feminine with her friends. She's a bit quirky, a bit out of place, a bit... perhaps, a late bloomer?

--And speaking of that--I love that this is the second historical romance I've read recently that exemplifies this sense of "all my friends are getting married without me". When you're on the last (or in this case, second to last, but Charlie is different) heroine in a series, it makes sense that she would feel a little delayed. And Glory has a super protective father, and wasn't super interested in sex or romance until her crush on Wei began... So yeah, it makes sense that she's a late bloomer. She doesn't seem quite as sexually aware as Livy and Fiona, the other virgin heroines in the series, are. Which... does add to the "teach me daddy" vibe she has with Wei. And I was not mad at that.

--However, I do want to make it clear that Wei and Glory's dynamic is very different from Livy and Hadleigh's (the most explicitly dom daddy/little girl romance in the series, though Hawk and Fi also had this vibe). While there's a similar age gap between Glory and Wei and Livy and Hadleigh and Hawk and Fi... Wei is very restrained. He doesn't launch himself at this girl. He also doesn't struggle with the same type of guilt Hadleigh did for wanting Livy; he does feel guilty, but it comes from a different perspective personally and culturally. Also--unlike Hadleigh and Hawk, Wei knew from day one that Glory was a vigilante. This was great to me. The one thing I didn't like when comparing Olivia and the Masked Duke and Fiona and the Enigmatic Earl is that there was a bit of repetition to the heroes not knowing until they knew. While I get why this is the way it is and I literally can't think of a way around it, I loved that in Pippa and the Prince of Secrets, Cull knew from the jump and just had to fucking deal. Wei is in a similar position, except I would say that of all the heroes in this series, he has the most confidence in his heroine's abilities. He's still protective, he still worries--but he knows Glory is a badass, and he loves that about her.

--So coming back to Wei... A fantastic hero. His backstory is achingly sad. He's been set up as very calm and above it all throughout the books, and of course, as we discover, he is NOT. He has a freakout in this book that is actually pretty fucking daring. I was surprised that she went there, and I liked that she did. Still waters run deep with Wei, and, it must be said, he's also SICK HOT. A cool, calm, and collected badass who chucks his heroine on the cheek and also does in fact do dirty shit to her feet away from where her parents are sleeping? We love this. We looooove this.

--If you like the "dating who daddy [father] hates" thing... Yeah, this does that really well. It's all very "BUT DADDY I LOVE HIM" and I was a-fucking-bout-it. I also read some interesting things into it, and I feel like some readers might have their expectations subverted.

--This one does kind of burn slow (by Grace Callaway standards!) and then speed up. I liked this. Some might feel like the ending is a bit too quick, but for me, it all came together very well.

The Sex Stuff:
I just love how like... sexual these books are. While being romantic. Like, there is a lot of focus on sex acts that are not p in v, which? Great. This is a debutante, she's a virgin, she can't get pregnant out of wedlock, it makes sense that p in v happens late in the book. But a lot of shit happens beforehand. There are some VERY VERY VERY good oral scenes in this one. Like. Some of the best oral scenes I've read. And yes, it is all very, very "teach me", if you.... happen to be into that.

I loved this one, and I can't wait for the next. If you've been hype for Wei and Glory, you won't be disappointed. If you're new to the series, I think you'll have a great time.

Thanks to Netgalley and Grace Callaway for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoy Callaway’s romances and this was a treat to read. I loved learning about the Chinese culture. The romance was a bit too rushed for my taste but otherwise, this was another fun book.

Glory is the daughter of a half-chinese duke and a lady fossil hunter. She meets the mysterious Wei, a master of healing and martial arts. She convinces him to take her on as a pupil.... They fall for each other along the way....

Love Wei and Glory's relationship. I love how they fit so well together. Wonderful charcters! The mystery is fun and the plot is fast moving. An enjoyable read.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

There are honestly no words to express how much I adored this regency romance book. It was so captivating that my mind was blown and I could not put it down once I started.