Suitors and Sabotage

Written By: Cindy Anstey

Publication Date: April 17th, 2018, by Swoon Reads

Date Finished: March 31, 2018

Would Recommend To: fluffy-romance readers who like a little intrigue

Rating: 4/5 stars


This. is. so. cute! If you ever need an adorable, fluffy romance to read, READ THIS! So frickin cute.

When the novel begins, we meet two best friends: our main character, Imogene, and her best friend Emily. They are young ladies just finishing their Seasons in London in the year 1817, and Imogene
has a charming suitor by the name of Ernest Steeple. Ernest visits Imogene's estate with his brother, Ben, in hopes of courting Imogene and proposing to her. As Emily becomes increasingly attracted to Ben, and as Imogene becomes torn between following her heart and following her mind, things get... a little more complicated. It doesn't help matters when odd occurrences begin hurting people, and no one will listen to Imogene and Emily when they insist there is a conspiracy lurking behind these "accidents."

Firstly, like I mentioned earlier, this book is so adorable! I loved all the relationships, but not just the romantic ones. The friendships that develop between the characters are so sweet and are representative of what friendships should be like, in my opinion, and I think the characters learn a lot about that through their experiences. And, of course, the romance is very cute and sweet (obviously 😉 ).

Disclaimer: there is only a tiny love triangle in this book. It's one of those where the reader knows who the main character is going to end up with, so it isn't one where you have to pick a guy and hope for the best, if you know what I mean.

But... if you're one of those people that doesn't want a whole lot of romance with their YA, that's perfectly fine! You might want to look into other books first, but this one is a little more than just a light read.

Surprisingly, the plot gets pretty complex, first with the romance aspect. People begin to start "liking" who they aren't supposed to, and then that gets intertwined with the mysterious "accidents" that are becoming increasingly dangerous. Overall, the plot is executed perfectly, and the readers are constantly thinking, "Oh no, it can't get worse than this!" Come on, you all know what I'm talking about - it always gets worse. But... it has to get worse before it can get better, and that's all I'm going to say 😉 .

Now, I have read some other reviews where the reviewer claims the plot and the characters aren't true to the time period. I am, to be honest, not quite sure if that's true or not. However, I can tell you that the novel's purpose isn't to teach about the society in which the story takes place; Anstey's purpose is to entertain her readers with an adorable story that doesn't have any need for a setting outside of the families' various estates. With that being said, I think that Anstey did a great job of creating her own kind of world that teenagers can better relate to in this time, and the dialogue and descriptions enraptured me into believing its authenticity, personally, so it can't be completely inaccurate.

To sum it all up, this is such an enjoyable read! It didn't quite give me enough feelings for it to make it to my 2018 favorites shelf, but it was pretty close. It just made me happy inside and gave me that feel-good... well, feeling.

Thanks for reading, and au revoir, my fellow bookworms!

Thanks, Goodreads, Swoon Reads, and Cindy Anstey for giving me this sweet novel. All of the opinions in this review are my own.

Make sure to leave a comment on your feelings, too! I always love to talk about books 😉 .