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Allison Grey’s The Lady Thief of Belgravia is a fun and enjoyable Victorian romance perfect for Bridgerton fans.
London, 1879 and Della Rose learned how to survive on the city’s streets at a very early age. Della is one of the capital’s most skilled pickpockets having honed her craft and polished her talent on the vice-ridden alleyways of the Seven Dials. Having seen some things on the streets that would have a dowager reaching for her smelling salts, Della is not easily shocked, but she’s taken aback when she is offered a huge sum of money by Cole Winthrop to steal from his arch-nemesis. But there’s a catch: in order to get her hands on the cash, she must go undercover in high society and transform herself into the perfect aristocratic young lady – which is no easy feat for a girl from the Seven Dials!
There’s a lot riding on Della’s masquerade. Cole wants nothing more than to make his enemy pay and he is sure that Della is the perfect candidate for the job. With so much on his plate, romance is the very last thing on his hand, but as he finds himself spending more and more time with her and teaching her how to talk, flirt and act in society, Cole finds himself falling head over heels in love with her. With such a vast social chasm dividing them, is a future for the two of them possible? Or will Della and Cole be left with no other choice but to go their separate ways once this charade is over?
Allison Grey’s The Lady Thief of Belgravia is a sparkling Victorian romance readers who enjoy historicals will swoon over. With a resilient and resourceful heroine and a brooding and honourable hero, The Lady Thief of Belgravia sizzles with witty repartee, intense emotion, laugh out loud humour and red-hot sexual tension that will certainly keep readers turning the pages!
A captivating historical romance that I had a hard time putting down, The Lady Thief of Belgravia is a first-class page-turner from a writer to watch out for – Allison Grey.
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A very misleading synopsis cause where was the heist? I felt we'd get chapters upon chapters of plotting and planning and things going wrong and whatnot but what we got instead was explicit sex. Now, I'm not against on-page explicit sexy times but... That was not how this book is marketed. If I wanted that, I'd have turned to erotica, or even to ao3.
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What a great concept, with huge potential for character development, evocative settings and some thriller action.
Unfortunately this is a steamy romance that has been positioned as a Victorian thriller. The characters, while engaging, were a little flat and the settings were not elaborated upon sufficiently. As someone who knows Belgravia and Seven Dials quite well, I added my own layer but a reader who’s not familiar with these parts of London would find the narrative a little flat.
Suspending belief was ok but this is very far fetched. I love the premise but can’t quite believe that people would be so accepting of this intriguing woman that they know nothing about. And she learnt to play the piano to that standard in 3 weeks!!! Hmmmm.
Anyway an enjoyable read pulled down by the slightly too superficial character development and the steamy romance that I wasn’t expecting (and certainly didn’t enjoy on the tube at 8am!) too much and too many s*xy scenes for my liking
Marked down to 3* but overall I did enjoy it but it could have been even better without the steamy romance scenes
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Well this was rather different to the story I was expecting! It is a tale of the meeting of two different worlds and has some really interesting historical comparisons. It is also a love story (a bit raunchy at times!) and I found myself routing for Della throughout the story. All in all rather entertaining.
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Ich weiß ehrlich gesagt nicht, wie ich dieses Buch bewerten soll, da ich es aufgrund relativ kurzer Ausleihdauer (ohne Verlängerung) nicht lesen konnte.
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The Lady Thief of Belgravia is a smart, sexy, swift novel that captures from the start and takes you on a fun journey. I enjoyed the writing style, the characters, and the heist!
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I'm a lover of historical fiction. Allison Grey is a new author for me, but I intend to look forward to reading more. To say the least both of the MC's where charming and a good fit.
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Fans of My Fair Lady and The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels will love thus Victorian historical romance.
Great characters and an intriguing heist storyline make this book a fast captivating read. I thouroughly enjoyed this romp and cannot wait to read this writers next offering.
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A great setting of London in 1879, we find Della Rose go form pick-pocketer to ging undercover to steal from the arch nemesis of Cole Winthrop. But is there more to this new partnership than meets the eye?
Great characters, a good read and it kept me interested. The writing was not as good as I would have expected but all in all it was faun, interesting and worth reading. I would give it 3 1/2 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
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I found this a good read. It was difficult to put down and the characters were fascinating. The mystery kept me captivated. A well written book.
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As usual in my reviews, I will not rehash the plot...
I requested withis book as the publisher's blurb led me to expect a historical novel about a daring heist, with a hint of "sparkling romance". But the book is not at all as I expected from that. Yep, the setting is in the past, and there is indeed a heist, and a romance, but there is also waaaay too much gratuitous sex (skipped over, but recurs in many chapters), and more than a few anachronisms.
I also thought that the book felt as if it wasn't written by the same person throughout - maybe that's down to the editing to include less "sparkling romance" and more "rumpy pumpy" (as it were)??
3 stars from me - enjoyed the overall story but with the above reservations - maybe the publishers should change their "blurb" to reflect the actual book...
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.
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Many thanks to NetGalley and to Storm Publishing for letting me see an advance copy of THE LADY THIEF OF BELGRAVIA by Allison Grey.
I really did like the premise behind this story. I enjoyed the setting. The writing itself is excellent. And yes, I liked the characters too…
However, I did feel a bit deceived by the cover, the title and the strapline. I thought this was going to be a nice historical caper with a mystery or two thrown in. Yes, it is historical, but there are several historical inaccuracies, including the way English people will have spoken in Victorian England and the words they would have used and the words they wouldn’t have even known yet. Meaning the Americanisms.
No, I have nothing against Americanisms, I really don’t. But if I was attempting to write an American historical mystery set in the wild west, I’d jolly well make sure I learned the lingo, both for the period and for the location.
I believe that American readers are quite capable of reading British English, especially for stories set in the British Isles. They really don’t need to be spoon-fed. Likewise, English readers are quite capable of reading stories set in America using American language.
My final gripe with this story, and perhaps the most important one, is there is far, far too much gratuitous graphic sex. There were entire chapters of sex. And when one chapter filled with sex finished, another one, also filled with sex, started. Honestly, if I wanted to read porn, I’d buy clearly labelled material off the top shelf of newsagents. If I wanted to read erotica, I’d choose erotic novels.
The blurb promised a delightful romp about a notorious pickpocket who’s hired to do a specific job, and she simply falls in love along the way. I was not expecting the story to be padded out with so much explicit sexual detail. Take it away, and you have a novella, not a novel. Gratuitous sex is NOT ‘sparkling romance’.
Disappointed it didn’t live up to expectations.
Three stars.
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Della is a new favorite character. A super engaging story with just the right amount of romance and adventure.
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Im not a huge lover of historical fiction but I really did end up enjoying this book. The perfect amount of romance and is such a light hearted read which I have definitely needed recently !
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The Lady Thief of Belgravia was a twisting historical romance with a touch of mystery and thriller thrown in for flavor.
This is the type of novel that reminds me that sometimes historical romances can be just as much fun as a fantasy, and even more thrilling. I already know a good bit about the historical time period this novel was based in, and was please to find nothing that ruined the immersion in the time period, as I was able to allow myself to be swept away to London in 1879. The atmospheric nature of this novel made me dig into it's world and easily become hooked, I could see why Della Rose thought the way she did and feel the world around her that had created her life story come off the page.
For Della Rose herself, I found her to be a stubborn, self sufficient, and intelligent leading lady with a hidden heart of gold. Watching her step into a life of luxuries and try to make her own way in the world right from the start, with no helpless heroine antics made the experience much more enjoyable for me.
I will say the highlight and main focus of the book is not so much the heist, though that is a well executed part of the novel, but more the slow burn romance the happens between the main leads. The novel is a romance that starts slow but by the end has quite a bit of heat and I would avoid if you do not like spicy romance. For those who do, this is more tame then many out there, but the slow burn is exceedingly well down and quite enjoyable.
I would recommend this book to you if you like:
- Historical Romance
- Cozier Thrillers/Suspenseful Novels
- Cozy Mystery
- Lightly Spicy Romance
- Strong Female Lead
I received an advance review copy of this book and I am leaving this review voluntarily and all thoughts and opinions are wholly my own and unbiased.
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I have loved historical romance and this book grabbed my heart. It was sweet and fast passed love story between a thief and a lord! I absolutely loved how both of them developed relationship slowly and I could connect with them. The action resolved quite quickly but the end action definitely made up for it. The cover is stunning and the story too.
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I am not an historical fiction reader usually, but I really enjoyed this book. I laughed at parts and shook my head at parts. I actually wanted to be in the story and help!! I would definitely recommend this book.
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I went into this book expecting more than was delivered. From the title and cover to the blurb, I think we were duped yet again.
There was promise of intrigue, mystery, and a heist situation, but all we got was a lot of stomach stirrings and oddly placed f-bombs that pulled me out of the story.
The heist part of the storyline was used to introduce the lead characters, and I don’t know if it was needed. The Duke (who they were stealing from) was stupid, and I don’t think the whole setup was needed. She could have just pickpocketed the key, copied it (as she did), and then given the key to Cole and moved on.
The relationship between Cole (the Hero) and Della (the Heroine) seemed a little forced. I didn’t feel the chemistry building up like in the many other historical romances I have read. I didn’t get any butterflies, and I want butterflies! In saying that, the inner dialogue of each of them lusting after the other during important moments was too much. I skipped those parts.
Some language and societal anachronisms didn’t fit the time period. I can’t imagine the f-bomb being used in *that* context. Maybe I’m wrong. And I don’t think there would be any way Della would have been accepted into society with the Earl. I was expecting to find out that her parents were of noble birth and she was indeed a lady, but no. She’s still a thief from the Seven Dials (London Slum).
Hey, if you are looking for a historical romance with lots of sex, some foul language, and a heist that goes too smoothly, then this is your book.
Thanks to Storm Publishing & NetGalley for the eArc of The Lady Thief of Belgravia. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinions about this book.
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I did not have any idea how to dip my toes into the historical romance genre, so I wanted to try one of the new ones as an ARC from #NetGalley for the first time. I think my experience was not as lovely as I expected but it was a quite fun read for me considering all of my readings generally are fantasy or epic fantasies.
I like the idea of this book and a lady from a historical setting being a thief is very interesting. But in my opinion, the stakes could have been a little higher to keep the story more interesting. The writing was good and accessible for historical fiction and the romance part was fun. The anxiety between the two main characters is interesting and not too spicy if you would like to know about the level of spice in your romances.
I don't think you are new to the genre this is the greatest thing to read first but it would be fun if you are a fan. however, what I understood was that I love the setting, atmosphere and writing but romances would always be my least favourite thing in a book. So I'm considering this as a good pallet cleanser for me and 3 starts read overall.
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This book is such a fantastic blend of historical romance and a grand heist. When Cole a spy for the home office recruits Della, a highly skilled pickpocket from Seven Dials to steal something for him, the two begin a thrilling adventure and a steamy romance.
The Lady Thief of Belgravia is an entertaining take on romance. It's filled with secrets and a ton of passion. Honestly, I wasn't expecting this book to be as steamy as it was and was very pleasantly surprised.
Overall, this was such a fun read, and I especially enjoyed the My Fair Lady vibes.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.