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Friday, June 10, 2022

Review: The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton


The League of Gentlewomen Witches
(Dangerous Damsels #2)
India Holton
Release: March 15, 2022
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Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the teahouse...

Miss Charlotte Pettifer belongs to a secret league of women skilled in the subtle arts. That is to say—although it must never be said—witchcraft. The League of Gentlewomen Witches strives to improve the world in small ways. Using magic, they tidy, correct, and manipulate according to their notions of what is proper, entirely unlike those reprobates in the Wisteria Society.

When the long lost amulet of Black Beryl is discovered, it is up to Charlotte, as the future leader of the League, to make sure the powerful talisman does not fall into the wrong hands. Therefore, it is most unfortunate when she crosses paths with Alex O'Riley, a pirate who is no Mr. Darcy. With all the world scrambling after the amulet, Alex and Charlotte join forces to steal it together. If only they could keep their pickpocketing hands to themselves! If Alex's not careful, he might just steal something else—such as Charlotte's heart.

Review:
I finally read The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels earlier this year and I adored it! Lady pirates! Assassins! Flying houses! So many gothic romance references! I fell for not only the main characters, Cecilia and Ned, but also for Ned's best friend and pirate, Alex O'Riley. Let's just say I squealed in excitement when I found out the next book in the series was his story! Add in the fact that we'd get to learn more about the witches that were mentioned a couple times and I needed to get my hands on a copy immediately!

I didn't know what to expect going into The League of Gentlewomen Witches but I was hoping for a similarly delightful and fun story as the first book. And it blew all of my expectations out of the water! In fact, I loved this book even more than the first one. Part of that is because I was already familiar with the world so this book read a lot smoother and I was instantly pulled into the story. The shenanigans in this book are still absolutely bonkers but they are also delightful! I thought flying pirate houses were an excellent and refreshing twist. I didn't know I needed these witches in my life who were constantly trying to slightly maim or murder each other!

I loved Cecilia in the first book but Charlotte quickly replaced her as my favorite! I loved seeing her interactions with Cecilia and the other lady pirates! But what I adored was her interactions and constant banter with Alex! Y'all! The romance hit me in the feels and I just needed everything to work out for them to get their happily ever after. They both have some serious baggage they needed to work through.

And can we talk about all of the Jane Austen references in this book! It made my inner Austenite so, so happy! I found myself loving the side characters in this book as much as the first one. I can't be the only one absolutely intrigued by the butlers and maids in this series, can I? Y'all! They could easily have their own series and it would be just as delightful and bonkers! It was also fun seeing so many familiar faces from the first book as well as seeing a different take on the overbearing aunt trope.

My one critique of this series in general is that there isn't much plot in the two books. It is a very character driven series. That being said, I think that the lack of plot didn't phase me as much as it would in other books because the book was just so much fun to read! Honestly, I didn't recognize there really wasn't a plot besides steal the amulet until I started to write this review because of how delightful the story was.

I ended up listening to the audio of this one on my morning commute and Elizabeth Knowelden did an amazing job on the narration! I would highly recommend picking it up! It's one of my favorites of the year so far!

I hope we get more books in this series! Hopefully, one that follows a certain butler.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.


    1/2
  4.5 / 5 Stars

 
My reviews of other books in this series:
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

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