ARC Review: The Lily of Ludgate Hill by Mimi Matthews

The Lily of Ludgate Hill
Author: Mimi Matthews
Series: Belles of London (Book 3)
Publication: Berkley (January 16, 2024)

Description: Fortune favors the bold—but is a confirmed spinster daring enough to loosen the reins and accept a favor from the wicked gentleman who haunts her dreams?

Lady Anne Deveril doesn’t spook easily. A woman of lofty social standing known for her glacial beauty and starchy opinions, she’s the unofficial leader of her small group of equestriennes. Since her mother’s devastating plunge into mourning six years ago, Anne voluntarily renounced any fanciful notions of love and marriage. And yet, when fate puts Anne back into the entirely too enticing path of Mr. Felix Hartford, she’s tempted to run…right into his arms.

No one understands why Lady Anne withdrew into the shadows of society, Hart least of all. The youthful torch he once held for her has long since cooled. Or so he keeps telling himself. But now Anne needs a favor to help a friend. Hart will play along with her little ruse—on the condition that Anne attend a holiday house party at his grandfather’s country estate. No more mourning clothes. No more barriers. Only the two of them, unrequited feelings at last laid bare.

Finally free to gallop out on her own, Anne makes the tantalizing discovery that beneath the roguish exterior of her not-so-white knight is a man with hidden depths, scorching passions—and a tender heart.

My Thoughts: This engaging historical romance is the third in the Belles of London historical romance series set in the 1860s. Lady Anne has been her mother's companion in grief for the loss of her father for over seven years. She feels obligated to follow her mother's ever-more-eccentric demands including wearing only black and visiting every sort of spiritualist that London offers. 

When Anne was just sixteen, she fell in love with Felix Hartford but her mourning and his trip with his uncle to gather specimens of all sorts of plants separated them. When he returned to wed her, she put him off because she felt she couldn't leave her emotionally fragile mother. He took it badly and said hurtful things still resonating in Anne's mind.

Felix had problems of his own. When he learned that his supposedly upright and righteous father left a mistress and three children upon his death, Felix feels compelled to care for them. But their demands, especially those of the eldest son who is a gambler, threaten to ruin him financially and ruin his family if their existence becomes public knowledge.

Each character is carrying secret burdens which complicate the resumption of their romance making for an interesting story firmly set in the social mores of the day. Information about aristocrats entering trade and the role of women in society infuse this novel. So does the whole topic of grief and the changes it makes in a person. With Anne's mother embracing her grief and unwilling to let it go, she mirrors the grief of Queen Victoria with the same consequences to her daughter as the queen faced with her children. 

This was a thought-provoking historical romance with engaging characters. 

Favorite Quote:

Good Lord, but she was tired of being confined! She wanted life -- real life -- in all its vividness and clamor. Even if it was unfamiliar at first. Even if it made her feel ignorant and untutored about the world around her.

Despite all its sadness and uncertainty, life at the moment seemed very much worth living.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.