Penwich School for Virtuous Girls Series by Sophie Jordan / Historical Romance Book Series

Sins of a Wicked Duke by Sophie Jordan (2009)

Historical romance. Regency or Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Penwich School for Virtuous Girls series. We start with a tragic prologue of three girls who become friends at a terrible girls’ school where meals are withheld and punishments are severe. Fallon escapes the unwanted advances of her employer’s son, and meets a devilish duke who attempts to both save her and seduce her. She rejects him as well and decides to dress as a boy for her next employment. Unfortunately, the employment agency has sent her to the demon duke himself, where she obtains a position as a footman. Although she hopes to escape Dominic’s notice, she sees firsthand the wicked behavior that he engages in and can’t help expressing signs of disapproval. Dominic has his own troubled backstory with a pious grandfather and physically punishing governess and seeks to live up to his wretchedness. He’s baffled by his unease around the new footman and unsure why he cares so much about the boy’s approval. He doesn’t yet realize that the footman is the very same woman he can’t get out of his mind since that chance meeting long ago. This one was fun to read to see all the chaos and calamity unravel, which is often the case with a servant in disguise.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Hoopla.

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In Scandal They Wed by Sophie Jordan (2010)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Penwich School for Virtuous Girls series. The prologue starts with Evie’s younger sister Linnie giving birth to an illegitimate child and Evie’s stepmother wants to send the baby away; Evie convinces her father to let her raise the baby as her own to save her sister’s reputation. We time-jump a few years later, and find out that Linnie’s suitor was a soldier and was sent to war before they could marry. As he’s dying in battle, he asks his cousin Spencer to take care of Linnie and the child. When we catch up to Evie in her impoverished living situation, the reader finds out that her sister had married and passed away in the intervening years. Spencer does eventually show up at Evie’s cottage and believes her to be the Linnie that his cousin had pined over all these years. Since Evie doesn’t want to lose custody of her son, she lies and says that she is Linnie. It’s a tangled mess and everyone feels guilty for being attracted to someone they shouldn’t, eventually ending up with a marriage between Evie and Spencer for the benefit of the child (and so that Spencer can fulfill his duties to his new title). There’s lots of potential for betrayal here with Evie lying about being a mother and Spencer not being forthcoming about him being a viscount. This book keeps the pages turning just so you’ll find out what calamity happens next.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Wicked Nights with a Lover by Sophie Jordan (2010)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the Penwich School for Virtuous Girls series. Marguerite has a run-in with a fortune-teller who tells her that she will be dying before the year is out. Having lived modestly for years and saving up for the future, Marguerite decides to take a year of sabbatical from work as a nurse and go on an adventure. Before she can go do that, she ends up being kidnapped by her father’s business associate, Ash, and carried off to be married. Based on what the fortune-teller had said, Marguerite believes that the marriage will be one step closer to her death, but she also is terribly attracted to Ash. There’s a ton of back and forth on whether Marguerite will agree to marry Ash, which isn’t terribly interesting to read. This book is light on the plot and pretty average on the romance. On the plus side, we do get to meet a couple of Marguerite’s sisters, who end up being featured in a future series.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.