About the Book
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Author:
- Joanna Lowell
First Impressions: Pretty As A Painting
What’s Your Type? Reformed Rake, Slow Burn, Allies to Lovers, Happy Queer Love Stories, Art Lovers
Meet Cute: Alliance of Convenience
The Lean: Feels Like the First Time
We Need to Talk: Celebrating Queer Historical Love
Was It Good For You? Yes
First Impressions: Pretty As A Painting
This cover is so bright and adorable; Kit and Muriel are front and center riding their bikes (although I do not feel like Muriel would be wearing such a flamboyantly bright outfit; she’s too practical for that). There’s even little things referenced in the background like the bathing machines and the shore where Muriel is often searching for seaweeds. It’s perfect for the book!
What’s Your Type?
- Reformed Rake
- Slow Burn
- Allies to Lovers
- Happy Queer Love Stories
- Art Lovers
Dating Profile
Muriel Pendrake is a widowed botanist who is about to make a big lecture debut in New York City, but because of Misogyny, she’s forced to switch her lecture focus to…seaweed. So off to St. Ives she goes to find specimens.
Kit Griffith is a unrepentant rake, biking enthusiast, and an artist who can’t even pick up a paintbrush without feeling dizzy. He won’t admit it, but his problems began soon after a confrontation with his (former?) best friend, Lucy, and the debut of his new name and life.
Meet Cute: Alliance of Convenience
Muriel is desperate to find one of the famous St. Ives painters to depict the seaweed she’s collecting in such a light that it will make hearts want to weep during her lecture (or something to that effect, just, like, go with it, okay?). After a literal run-in with Kit, she learns he is the artist behind a beautiful painting of a columbine she can’t forget, and yet—he refuses to paint for her. Rude! But a bet between Kit and the local biking club president that hinges on Muriel’s help may prove to be the key to everyone getting what they want.
The Lean: Feels Like the First Time
It’s somewhat of an instant attraction for unrepentant rake Kit and loveless-marriage Muriel, as Muriel has never had someone flirt with her so blatantly, and Kit loves Muriel’s frank and practical nature. I was charmed by their chemistry but never completely wowed, but I do think the pacing worked.
Dirty Talk
Things get steamy in the latter half of the novel, though we never veer into extremely explicit. Lowell keeps it relatively straightforward in her descriptions, and while you won’t pick this book up for the sex scenes, they are pleasant, and also lead to deeper intimacy between the characters (as Kit, being a trans male, has some personal issues to work through before being truly open and comfortable with his sex partners).
Ms. Perky’s Prize for Purplest Prose
I’ve been delighted by Lowell’s writing for multiple books now; she always has wonderful characters, well-researched Victorian settings, and thoughtful plots. Her writing isn’t overly flowery or dry and always hits that sweet spot that makes me eager to pick up her next new release!
We Need To Talk: Celebrating Queer Historical Love
I know some people don’t ever read the author’s notes, but I do, and in this case I do think it brought some extra context that made me appreciate the book even more. This story is particularly personal to Lowell as a queer woman with a trans male partner, and they actually envisioned and researched this story together, as her partner is a gender and sexuality historian. I would encourage you to read the Historical Note at the end of the novel (it totally brought me back to being a kid reading the end of the Dear America novels and the historical notes, haha) that highlights what was factual in the story and what they had to infer while writing due to a lack of first-hand accounts.
This book is not listed as part of a “series” officially (although I have chosen to list them that way on the site), but characters from Lowell’s first book, The Duke Undone, and beyond do appear in small cameos. (Kit himself is actually Lucy’s best friend from that first book, though he appears under his dead name, and I find it interesting to see his character progression throughout the novels and wonder if this was always planned or it was happenstance that came out of the author making a deeper connection to this character.) All that to say, if you don’t want any “spoilers” or would like to know more of Lowell’s “world”, then feel free to click on the series link above and start with Lucy’s book.
Was It Good For You? Yes!
I think this is the second recent book I’ve read that features the importance of bike riding to women’s independence in Victorian England, so perhaps this is romance’s new vampire trend. Seaweed and biking are not exactly my subjects; I think this was a book that I loved despite some of the material and not totally because of, but I did like the representation and the couple was sweet and caring. It wasn’t my favorite Joanna Lowell book, but it had a lot of heart and I think it will find plenty of fans!
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from Berkley Books. I received neither money nor peanut butter cups in exchange for this review. A Shore Thing is available now.
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