The Lady and The
Highwayman
Proper Romance
The Dread Penny
Society #1
By Sarah M. Eden
Publisher : Shadow Mountain (September 3, 2019)
Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a girls school in
1865s Victorian London. She is also a well-respected author of silver-fork
novels, stories written both for and about the upper-class ladies of Victorian
society. But by night, she writes very different kinds of stories--the Penny
Dreadfuls that are all the rage among the working-class men. Under the
pseudonym Charles King, Elizabeth has written about dashing heroes fighting
supernatural threats, intelligent detectives solving grisly murders, and
dangerous outlaws romancing helpless women. They contain all the adventure and
mystery that her real life lacks.
Fletcher Walker began life as a street urchin, but
is now the most successful author in the Penny Dreadful market, that is until
Charles King started taking all of his readers. No one knows who King is,
including Fletcher s fellow members of the Dread Penny Society, a fraternity of
authors dedicated to secretly fighting for the social and political
causes of their working-class readers. The group knows King could be an asset
with his obvious monetary success, or he could be the group s undoing as King s
readership continues to cut into their profits.
Determined to find the elusive Mr. King, Fletcher
approaches Miss Black. As a fellow-author, she is well-known among the
high-class writers; perhaps she could be persuaded to make some inquiries as to
Mr. King s whereabouts? Elizabeth agrees to help Fletcher, if only to insure
her secret identity is never discovered. What neither author anticipated was
the instant attraction, even though their social positions dictate the
impossibility of a relationship.
For the first time Elizabeth experiences the
thrill of a cat-and-mouse adventure reminiscent of one of her own novels as she
tries to throw Fletcher off her scent. But the more time they spend together,
the more she loses her heart. Its upper-class against working-class, author
against author where readers, reputations, and romance are all on the line.
The Gentleman and
the Thief
Proper Romance
The Dread Penny
Society #2
By Sarah M. Eden
Publisher : Shadow Mountain (November 3, 2020)
A gentleman scribes penny dreadful novels by
night and falls in love with a woman who is a music teacher by day—and a thief
at night.
LONDON 1865
From the moment Hollis Darby meets Ana Newport, he's smitten. Even though he's
from a wealthy, established family and she isn't, he wishes he could have a
life with her by his side. But Hollis has a secret: the deep coffers that have
kept his family afloat for generations are bare, so he supports himself by
writing penny dreadfuls under a pseudonym. If not for the income from his
novels, he would be broke.
Ana Newport also has a secret. Though she once had a place in society thanks to
her father's successful business, bankruptcy and scandal reduced his fortune to
nothing more than a crumbling town house. So Ana teaches music during the day,
and at night she assumes the identity of the "Phantom Fox." She
breaks into the homes of the wealthy to reclaim trinkets and treasures she
feels were unjustly stolen from her family when they were struggling.
When Hollis's brother needs to hire a music tutor for his daughter, Hollis
recommends Ana, giving him a chance to spend time with her. Ana needs the
income and is eager for the opportunity to get to know the enigmatic gentleman.
What neither of them expects is how difficult it will be to keep their
respective secrets from each other.
When a spree of robberies rocks the city, Ana and Hollis join forces to solve
the crimes, discovering that working together deepens the affection between
them. After all, who better to save the day than a gentleman and a thief?
Proper Romance
The Dread Penny
Society #3
By Sarah M. Eden
Publisher : Shadow Mountain (August 17, 2021)
London, 1865
Vera Sorokina loves reading the Penny
Dreadfuls and immersing herself in tales of adventure, mystery, and romance.
Her own days are filled with the often mundane work of running the book and
print shop she owns with her father. The shop offers her the freedom and income
to employ and protect the poverty-stricken Londoners she's come to care about,
and it gives her father something to do other than long for their hometown of
St. Petersburg. She is grateful for the stability in their lives, but she often
feels lonely.
The Bachelor and
the Bride
Proper Romance
The Dread Penny
Society #4
By Sarah M. Eden
Publisher : Shadow Mountain (September 4, 2022)
London, 1866
Dr.
Barnabus Milligan has always felt called to help people, whether that means
setting a broken bone or rescuing the impoverished women of London from their
desperate lives on the streets as part of his work with the Dread Penny Society.
Three
years ago, he helped rescue Gemma Kincaid by secretly marrying her to protect
her from her family of notorious grave robbers.
But
six months after Gemma and Barnabus exchanged vows, she realized her love for
her new husband was unrequited. To protect her heart, she left, telling Barnabus
to contact her if his feelings for her ever grew beyond a sense of duty.
When
Barnabus sends a letter to Gemma inviting her to return home, she hopes to find
a true connection between them. But unfortunately, he only wants her help to
foil the Kincaids, who have been terrorizing the boroughs of London, eager to
gain both money and power.
Heartbroken,
Gemma agrees to help, but she warns Barnabus that she will not stay for long,
and once she goes, he'll never see her again.
Yet
as the couple follows the clues that seem to connect the Kincaids to the
Mastiff, the leader of London's criminal network, Gemma and Barnabus realize
they might make a better match than either of them suspected. Perhaps the
marriage that had once saved Gemma's life might now save Barnabus―and his
lonely heart.
But
before the once-confirmed bachelor can properly court his secret bride, they'll
need to evade the dangerous forces that are drawing ever closer to the hopeful
lovers and the entire Dread Penny Society itself.
SPOILERS HERE—Skip
to my thoughts if you want to avoid spoilers
Proper Romance
The Dread Penny
Society #5
By Sarah M. Eden
Publisher : Shadow Mountain (September 5, 2023)
London, 1866
Móirín Donnelly has spent the last five years
working in the shadows for the Dread Penny Society, a secret fraternity of
penny dreadful authors who use their profits, influence, and street smarts to
protect the poor and vulnerable of Victorian London. But spending so much of
her life in secret is taking its toll on her soul—and her heart.
When members of the Dread Penny Society begin
disappearing, Móirín turns to her friend Detective Constable Fitzgerald
Parkington for help. The two have developed a friendly rapport, and Móirín
feels like she can trust him, though perhaps not with all of her secrets.
Fitzgerald Parkington has a sixth sense when it
comes to tracking down criminals, which is why he's recently been transferred
to the Detective Department at Scotland Yard. But when roadblocks and red tape
keep him from tracking down the criminal mastermind known as "The
Tempest", he must rely on the one woman who has unexpectedly captured his
heart—the brash, bold, and fiery Irish lass, Móirín Donnelly.
As the Tempest's deadly reach threatens to
overwhelm all of London, Móirín and Fitz are caught in an elaborate game of cat
and mouse that leads down back alleys, through dark London buildings, and right
to the gates of Kensington Palace. Móirín has one chance to save Fitz and the
Dread Penny Society from the Tempest, and she might have to sacrifice her one
chance at love to do so.
My Thoughts:
This series of five books is complete. I had read #4 not long
ago, but I’m so glad I took the chance to binge read the whole series in a week
when I received the final ARC. You can read them as individual books, but
the stories are so tightly interwoven that you really should get the whole five-story
plot arc together.
Foul play,
including thievery and murder, fighting, perilous situations, dishonesty, poverty.
Fans of clean
romance, Victorian London, mystery and adventure.
