So Della Rose is a really excellent pickpocket in 1879 London. She is so good that she has code name a reputation so obviously when one needs something stolen one would naturally seek her out and this is seemingly easy to do even though she is so apparently so good she’s never been caught. Anyway that doesn’t matter, the point is Cole Winthrop needs something stolen back and Della is the one to do it. She just has to learn to be posh and wheedle her way into high society. Pigmalion and all that. I wanted something fun and light and a bit silly to read and that’s what I got, it’s highly enjoyable not to be taken too seriously and generally good times had by all.

I devoured this book in one sitting! I love Regency Romance books so throw in the excitement and the spice, whew I loved every word of this book! I will be buying a physical copy of the book so I can reread it again and again! 6 out of 5 stars if I could!
I just reviewed The Lady Thief of Belgravia by Allison Grey. #TheLadyThiefofBelgravia #NetGalley
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I loved this book! I thought it was very original and I loved the chemistry between the main characters.

The story is about a girl living in the Dials, a poor neighborhood in London. Then one day she meets an earl of a huge estate, who's coming for her help in a personal matter. The girl, Della, is a bit hesitant to help the earl, but eventually she decides to help him. It will give her a chance on a new life if she fulfills the deal. But what she didn't expect, was the way things started progressing during her etiquette lessons, riding lessons and music lessons and everything in between. There's danger lurking in the dark places of the earl's life. How can Delle deal with them and eventually walk away from it all so she can start her new life with her best friend Violet?

I am hoping there will be a second book about Della and Cole. However, I think there won't be, because the author did a good job in rounding up the book. Much praise for the way she ended the book with at first a flash forward to a few weeks later, then a year later and ultimately three years later.

I'm a bit obsessed with stories set in Victorian England. I could read or watch almost anything set in that era, though as a black woman, I would never dream of existing then. Anyway, I immediately jumped on Netgalley to request an ARC for The Lady Thief of Belgravia after reading the synonsis on Goodreads.

London, 1879. Cole Winthrop, a sought-after gentleman, hires Della Rose, a book loving pickpocket from the notorious Seven Dials, to steal important documents that were stolen from him by the treasonous Duke of Salsbury. In order to get the duke's attention, Della has to train to become a lady of high society. Can she fool the dastardly duke and lift those files before he exposes what's in them?

What I liked
- My Fair Lady meets To Catch a Thief
- Cloak and dagger theme
- Two likable characters with great chemistry. Cole's lovable, generous, and openhearted; Della's witty, brave, and guarded.
- Surprisingly smutty

What I didn't like
- The dialogue is monotonous at times. I was like, okay, I get it. The documents contain information that could ruin lives.
- So are the descriptions of sex scenes. Cole lets out a "guttural growl" two too many times for me.

Thank you, Netgalley, for sending me this read. Overall, I enjoyed the story. I would recommend to readers who like romance with intrigue and enjoy rooting for lovers from opposite sides of the tracks.

"The Lady Thief of Belgravia" by Allison Grey offers a captivating journey to Victorian London, where Della Rose, a skilled pickpocket from Seven Dials, finds herself thrust into high society. The plot takes an intriguing turn when she agrees to steal from the nefarious Duke of Salisbury for the handsome Cole Winthrop. To succeed, Della must navigate the intricate world of the upper class, posing as Cole's cousin.

I rated "The Lady Thief of Belgravia" 4 stars because Grey skillfully blends historical romance, intrigue, and a strong-willed heroine. Della's transformation from a street-smart pickpocket to a lady in high society adds depth to the narrative. The chemistry between Della and Cole is palpable, adding a layer of romance to the story. Overall, the novel delivers a delightful mix of charm, romance, and a touch of mystery, making it a compelling read for fans of historical romance.

In this late Victorian novel, clever thief Della Rose runs into Cole Winthrop, an earl, on the streets of London. Instead of turning her into the police, however, he recruits her to steal some papers from the Duke of Salisbury. Over the course of this exciting, romantic novel, Della learns to become a noblewoman, passing as Cole’s cousin from the country, to infiltrate the Duke’s circle and gain his interest. Of course, things are much more complicated than they seem, and Della and Cole’s relationship grows and becomes more complicated as they both work to make this mission succeed. Grey’s characters are witty, charming, complex, clever, and kind, and Della is a fascinating protagonist -- a thief with a love of books and a dream to raise herself and her friend into a life of leisure. Cole, on the other hand, is much more mysterious and complex, with a hidden and somewhat tragic backstory. The backdrop of late Victorian London and English high society is a fascinating contrast with Della’s background, and the novel reminds one of Pygmalion or My Fair Lady in some elements. Grey’s novel is a fascinating, enjoyable, romantic whirlwind with some high stakes and wonderful characters to keep readers guessing.

I was very excited about reading The Lady Thief Of Belgravia, I love historical romances and this book had a very promising plot! But unfortunately, although I really liked the story and it entertained me, I didn't really like the choice of pace of events, the romance happened very quickly and the robbery (which I thought would be the main event of the book, since this in the synopsis) took a long time to happen. It's still a good book, but it had the potential to be much better. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

'The Lady Thief of Belgravia' is a historical romance that, with the right expectations, is a fun little romp of a book - emphasis on the romp. However, the publishers did the audience no favors in the way it was marketed. The blurb and cover, which is wonderful by the way, may lead you to think, it's a cozy historical romance with a bit of thievery. It is a heist story, but the emphasis is much more on the relationship and there is nothing left to the imagination. The bedroom doors are flung wide open. And there are many many scenes.

Now, if that's the kind of book you like, you'll probably enjoy this one. But if you're going into it the game , it's a cute historical romance you will be surprised.

Overall, it was a cute story. The extra romantic parts didn't really interfere with it for me. It broke no new ground And is clearly a debut novel. The writing is fine, but could certainly be improved. It felt like the author had a thesaurus on standby, which often broke up the flow of the prose, in what I assume would be an attempt to make it sound very Victorian. And, while I do think the F-word was used back then, I'm not sure it was used in the same context. When the character spoke in this book it sounded very modern.

I do think the author's next book will be better. She certainly has the capability. This book just wasn't quite there technically. Also, along with the premise, if she had landed the ending differently I could definitely see this becoming a series.

Side note, if you, like me, have no idea where Belgravia is and expected it to be another country. It is not. However, Belgravia was a fictional country in an old movie. So, maybe that's where I was thinking it was from. In this novel, however, they never mentioned Belgravia at all, that I recall. But Google did not let me down and it is an area of London. I'm not sure why they didn't just call it 'The Lady Thief of London.' I don't think 'The Lady Thief of Belgravia' is significantly better and it gives a different expectation.

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc copy of this book for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed this book. I finished it in one sitting. I had just finished a similar book last month and was definitely keen to stay on the genre train. A good suspense. Historical setting and a badass character.

I would definitely recommend!

Della Rose (a.k.a Rosie Diver) is a successful pickpocket. She lives in a brothel with her best friend Violet, and both dream of better lives for themselves.

One day Della attempts to pick the pocket of a gentleman, Cole Winthrop, Lord Branford, and fails, with him chasing after her, then hiring her for a job. He wants an attractive young woman who can charm the Duke of Salisbury, then steal some of Winthrop's papers, containing the country's secrets, back from the other man.

Della agrees, and then we get a version of Pygmalion, and My Fair Lady, but with two people who fall in lust with one another almost immediately after meeting. *sigh* This book, instead of being a humorous, fun heist story, was really just a story about getting two people in bed, several times, without any of the following:

-interesting analyses of class and economic differences
-sparkling dialogue
-interesting prose. For example, "intense feelings in the belly", or similar phrases, used waaaay too often to denote attraction in Della and Cole
-credible retention of new skills (she can play the piano well enough to fool other gentry??? I've learned various instruments, an it took me some weeks longer to play more than scales, and the simplest tunes, on a piano.
-credible style of speech from the period
-believable reward for the theft. Della demands 10000 pounds from Cole to do the job. This sum is beyond ridiculous, as this would be well over several million dollars. Nope

The first few pages of the book were fine, but the whole story went downhill fast, and stayed there.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Regency romance meets a heist?? What's not to like!! After devouring the Bridgerton series - and being disappointed at the 'heist' book there not having enough... well, heisting, I was chuffed to discover this delightful historical romance romp. The characters are extremely lovable, the plot is fun and fast-paced, and the book had the right balance of mystery versus romance to tick all the boxes without swaying too far in either direction! Would definitely read more by this author.

Writing this review, I'm a little torn. I enjoyed the story, although it certainly wasn't what I was expecting. When I read the blurb and saw the cover I was expecting a sort of Arsene Lupin/Raffles gentleman-thief style narrative, but this is definitely not that. I enjoyed the premise of pickpocket Della helping out Lord Bradford with his mission, but the mystery itself was perhaps a bit too easy for someone who reads a lot of crime/mystery books. I won't begrudge the novel that, as it wasn't sold as a crime novel, but I would have liked a little more intrigue. However, what I was not expecting at all were the bodice-ripper scenes. They were very well written, but I did fear that they overtook the narrative a bit and I did find myself skimming through some of it to get to the actual story. If I had picked up the book for the romance, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more, but it wasn't what I expected from the packaging.

Notorious pickpocket Della Rose is caught by the Cole Winthrop, a spy and member of the landed gentry, and then persuaded to work for him. It's a bit of a My FaIr Lady sort of thing where Della Rose is transformed into an aristocrat within a few weeks. It's all about getting her to steal papers back from a nasty duke before they can be decoded and cause considerable harm.

This book was enjoyable enough although it sometimes seemed to take the easy route to accomplishing what was needed. The transformation, for example was accomplished in record time. Not just pretending to be one of the ton, but also learning skills like horse riding and piano. While I agree it's possible to pick up these skills quickly, it seemed a bit unlikely when so much was being required of her at the same time. I also would have liked a bit more intrigue than actually existed in the story. That said, the book was fine to read and for historical romance lovers, would be quite suitable and fun to read.

Overall, I liked this and will rate it 3 stars. I would like to thank Netgalley and Storm Publishing for giving me an advanced reader copy. I have provided my review and opinions voluntarily.

I found The Lady Thief of Belgravia a fun and light read. The characters are well developed and have distinct personalities and Allison's writing paints a vivid picture of each scene. Well worth reading!

I went into this expecting a crime caper but instead it was more of a steamy romance with some crime sprinkled in, very much not my cup of tea I'm afraid.

✨My Thoughts✨
I’ll be honest in saying that it was the cover that made me request this book on Netgalley, isn’t it just stunning?.

This story jumps straight into the action, which I loved. Della agrees to Cole and proposal almost instantly, that amount of money can set her up for life and make all her dreams come true.

I just glided through this story, it was easy to read and so much fun plus I adored the spicy element which came as a little bit of surprise but I loved it and it added that extra something special to an already great story.

unfortunately this was a massive letdown for me and i’m so disappointed. i expected more from it due to the blurb and title even, and i felt like there was no character development either. i felt like some of the language did not fit during the time period either.

Firstly, let me just say that the cover is beautiful. But beyond that this is a bit of a weird one for me because I just couldn't figure out what it was trying to be. The pacing was wrong for it to be a romance, and equally the espionage plot was too thin for it to be a mystery. And because of the fact it hadn't decided what it wanted to be, both sides fell flat for me. There's not enough characterisation and character development in either of the leads - you don't really ever know why they're into each other or what they like about each other. The turning her into a lady lessons are a nice device but she seems able to grasp a ridiculously large amount of knowledge in not a lot of time and the combination of all that just made it all just a stretch too far for me. Never mind.

Victorian My Fair Lady vibes with glow up but she was perfect for him the whole time.
The third person duel perspectives gives us that delicious tension where they like each other but clearly have no idea of the other’s feelings. That is, of course, until the lust overcomes them both! The dirty talk was on point, the smut was simultaneously sweet and steamy, and I swooned when Cole asked Della for permission to kiss her and continued to request consent every time after. These two are seriously perfect for each other.
And an absolute bonus for me, as a big fan of historical costuming, I adored all the descriptions of Della’s outfits.
I’ll be eagerly anticipating more from Allison Grey!

I loved this story so much!

Della captured my heart immediately with her fierce sharp wit, intelligence, courage, and independence. She was witty, smart, and went through an amazing arc along with Cole.

Cole was a great spy with an ice heart that melted because of Della’s quick wit and feisty spirit. The plot was so well done. I enjoyed the take down of the Duke and how he was a villain through and through. Not just a rake but a terribly evil person.

The characters all went through their own character arcs, had amazing chemistry, and lines. The writing kept you so thoroughly engaged and the plot on the edge of your seat.