Author: Tilly Wallace
Genre: Paranormal, Mystery, Romance, Gothic, Historical Fiction
This collection includes the first 3 books in the series:
Book 1: Manners and Monsters
Publication date: June 2019
Book description: A lady never reveals the true extent of her decay...
Hannah Miles lives a quiet existence, helping her parents research a terrible affliction - until a gruesome murder during her best friend's engagement party pulls her from the shadows. With her specialist's knowledge and demure disposition, Hannah is requested to aid the investigation.
Except Hannah discovers her role is to apologize in the wake of the rude and disgraced man tasked with finding the murderer. The obnoxious Viscount Wycliff thinks to employ Hannah purely as a front to satisfy Whitehall, but she'll have none of that.
The two must work together to find the murderer before the season is ruined. But the viscount is about to meet his greatest challenge, and it's not a member of the ton with a hankering for brains.
Thoughts:
Hannah is a classic strong female but still ladylike. She is a young woman who believes herself as a woman who wants to be a doctor and seeks knowledge but still tends to compare herself to those of her sex based on looks and the ability to attract marriageable men to her. She is of plain looks and as her family fell off the grace of most social circles since the curse hit her mother, she does not possess a fortune to attract a husband. With that, I was already rolling my eyes. This is a very classical YA paranormal romance with a grouchy emotionally distant man who has no manners and looks down on the young females of his time. And of course, in comes Hannah, with nothing to gain for herself but to help the other ladies who are in need of fair treatment.
The pair are paired together to look into the course that creates zombies, the only affected people are women, or at least that's what is believed. The few men who are affected are hidden in secrecy even more than what the women are. There is a bit of social commentary about how men are unable to control themselves (they are unable to control their hunger and urges of all kinds). The feeding of the human brain ( I thought it was a joke initially) is the only thing that satiates their hunger, heals their wounds, and also gives them sexual pleasure.
How did the zombies come about is interesting. So there is a war between England and France, the mages are to fight for their own sides, and everyone knows that magic is a very strong advantage. So in an attempt to undermine the English soldiers the male mage from the French side put a curse in powder ( yes makeup), and of course, the 3 mages from the English side who just so happens to be female, all get the curse because they are out in the front and fighting for their lives and those of their people and yet they need to look good while doing it, So they fall for the course- they die but then they do not stay dead. They come back but once awakened after death they have no hunger, no wish for sleep, and as the days pass they start to rot while in movement- until they realize what their sustenance is going to be from then onwards.
The society where there are mages and they're highly considered. We have again a bit of a social commentary where women with magical abilities are looked down upon by the more "traditional" misogynist men of high society. Mages be it women or men have a high social standing as they dedicate their lives to serve their king. The way the magical abilities are passed is quite interesting. Once a mage dies, the magical abilities are transferred to a newborn child. That seems interesting, it seems a very unique way to operate. I wanted more explanations about it.
Book 2: Galvanism and Ghouls
Publication date: August 2019
Book Description: Together beyond death...
A new unnatural horror is about to rattle Hannah Miles' quiet existence, and it's not the short-tempered viscount prowling the hallways. Someone is creating a monster by stitching together pieces of different people. When a limb makes an escape attempt, Viscount Wycliff is called to investigate. All of London knows there is one mad scientist among them capable of creating such an ungodly monster... Sir Hugh Miles.
Hannah's father is suspected of a most heinous crime and she is determined to clear his name, even as Wycliff works to see the murderer hang. Buried secrets that touch all their lives will be brought to the surface. One such secret belongs to Hannah and could tear her world apart.
With Hannah and Wycliff on opposing sides, can they find the real monster and will it be the hand that wields the scalpel, or the creature hiding in the dark?
Thoughts:
The second book picks up again with the Miles family life. They decided to invite Viscount Wycliff to live with them, the invitation actually came from Lady Miles, Hannah and her father are just used to going along with the lady of the house's ideas.
Hannah is still very annoying MC, she is forced to come to terms with what she really wants. And she accepts that her true dream is to have a loving husband. She had resigned herself to dying an old maiden because she felt she is not beautiful enough to attract men and she always thought her family had fallen into hard economic times, so a man was not going to be attracted to her due to her family fortune.
Sir Hugh is trying to convince the medical guild to accept Hannah so she can be present when they get together to work and discuss their experiments and the exposition of their recent discoveries. They continue to refuse, she is a woman and is believed to lack the constitution to stand to see human bodies or blood.
There is a discovery of bodies, but the most shocking news of all. A group of sailors find a limp, a hand, that is overly lively. The Paranormal unit is sent out to investigate, of course, that means Wycliff. He starts to investigate - the rumors start to go around, and there is a monster loose. The bodies that have been discovered are noticeable mainly because they are made up of parts of different bodies stitched together. The suspicion falls on Sir Hughs. Hannah again begins to react overly antagonist and she is set against Wycliff. She blames the Viscount for the blame that has befallen her father. She is very illogical but in a very difficult situation. As women in the era, if there is no father, her mother and she will be left destitute. The big secret about Hannah is revealed, and if it is openly known, then she will be unable to inherit, get married, or own property therefore she and her mother will be lost.
The eye-rolls continue for me, we have an interesting storyline. The main focus of this book was Frankenstein's monster- it was a nice retelling.
The Miles family drama was my least favorite part of the story. We have Wycliff living up to his honor and proposing to Hannah. The only reason he gives is to provide protection for both female Miles and also they have a fortune and he has nothing but his name with a huge family debt to pay.
Hannah goes through a bit of an annoying whiny period- she feels betrayed by her mother as she reveals her secret affliction, and then she feels offended by Wycliff's proposal. She is even more irritating in this volume than the first.
Book 3: Gossip and Gorgons
Publication date: January 2020
Book Description: The newly married Lord and Lady Wycliff are cordially invited to a house party--to be mocked and ridiculed as entertainment. Wycliff insists on attending to discuss business with the host, while Hannah longs to hide in the library with its rare volumes on the Fae.
Bound to Wycliff even beyond death, Hannah wonders how she will survive the week--when a guest unexpectedly expires. A notorious cad is discovered turned into a statue in the garden. The dead lord had many enemies, including Lord Wycliff.
Hannah's accord with her husband is tested when a trail of footprints leads to their window. What secret is Wycliff hiding and does he know more about the magical death than he admits? Someone among the house guests has murder on their mind and the newlyweds need to determine who, before anyone else is immortalized as stone.
Thoughts:
So as you can see in the end Wycliff and Hannah did get married. They agreed on a marriage of convenience and that there would be no marital rights demanded from her. So of course, after she is the one who insists that she wants nothing to do with Wycliffe, she spends so much page count worrying about the fact that her husband has not demanded to consummate their marriage.
I am clearly set against Hannah, she is a very annoying MC. Wycliff is not far behind, he continues to feel so 'ashamed' about his own affliction and refuses to discuss it with his wife. They do not trust each other. Before they can find their common footing, Hannah is invited to a ball, something that normally does not happen. The invitation comes from a high-standing family, moreover, the father of the lady in question is someone Wycliffe wants to do business with so off they go to spend a week at the Manor for a ball; the first ball they are assisting as a married couple.
The family they visit are goblins, the fact they are considered to be good with finances is pretty funny. I could not stop imagining the goblins short, chubby, and with very pointy facial features.
I don't want to make references to any specific series, but I keep remembering Gringots and the goblins there.
Anyway, the couple quickly discover that they were invited as a comedic relief. They are placed on the ground floor, in a single room not designed to receive guest of their standing. Wycliff is incensed and wants to make a fuss, but Hannah has more practice sidestepping this type of abuse.
She decides to meet their insults with politeness, she is at the top of the passive-aggressive comments. While they are in the middle of the visit a man is frozen to stone. The mystery starts, and the suspicion falls to Wycliff and Hannah. The party overall, had spent every opportunity trying to humiliate them and Wycliff had been more than once allowed his temper to get the best of him. The investigation starts, and as they're still trying to figure out the culprit, another man falls victim to the same course.
The title alone gives you the answer, Gorgons, a Medusa-like monster is the culprit but they are focused on finding a curse or mage that is able to do that for most of the story. We do discover the reason for the attacks and honestly, I can see the reason. I felt guilty that they did arrest the woman in question, she was after all taking revenge on the men who attacked and caused the death of her sister. Not only that but thanks to the thoughtless actions of those men, the rest of the family's honor was compromised and their lives were ruined. She was unable to get married and ended up as the lady companion of her friend; her life expectancy went from illusions of becoming the housewife of a rich man to living off charity and an uncertain future.
The story overall was interesting, my annoyance with the main couple was still present though.
I gave this story a 3 stars.
Overall collection I gave this
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