YA ARC Review: Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen

Dangerous Alliance
Author: Jennieke Cohen
Publication: HarperTeen (December 3, 2019)

Description: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue meets Jane Austen in this witty, winking historical romance with a dash of mystery!

Lady Victoria Aston has everything she could want: an older sister happily wed, the future of her family estate secure, and ample opportunity to while her time away in the fields around her home.

But now Vicky must marry—or find herself and her family destitute. Armed only with the wisdom she has gained from her beloved novels by Jane Austen, she enters society’s treacherous season.

Sadly, Miss Austen has little to say about Vicky’s exact circumstances: whether the roguish Mr. Carmichael is indeed a scoundrel, if her former best friend, Tom Sherborne, is out for her dowry or for her heart, or even how to fend off the attentions of the foppish Mr. Silby, he of the unfortunate fashion sensibility.

Most unfortunately of all, Vicky’s books are silent on the topic of the mysterious accidents cropping up around her…ones that could prevent her from surviving until her wedding day.

My Thoughts: Lady Victoria Aston has what looks like an ideal life. She has a happily wed older sister and doting parents. However, things are not quite as they seem. When she is rescued from an attack by a childhood friend she hasn't seen since they were young, it appears that trouble is coming her way. And then her older sister arrives home on the run from her abusive husband. The only way to prevent her husband - Lord Dain - from eventually owning her family's estate is for Vicky to marry.

She and her family travel to London to take part in the social events which could lead to her finding a suitable husband. Her father is championing Mr. Carmichael who is untitled but a wealthy man who has had business dealings with him. She likes him but isn't in love and isn't sure that he can be trusted.

Meanwhile, the childhood friend Tom has become Lord Halworth after inheriting the estate of the abusive father who threw him out as a teenager and who has left the estate deeply in debt. Tom has been working in an uncle's posh hotel in Switzerland and wants to begin such a hotel in London if he can find backers. Shame because of his father's behavior has kept him from telling Vicky about his past which has broken their friendship.

But Tom and Vicky keep running into each other in London, often when he is saving her from some sort of accident, and the two are becoming friends again. But Mr. Carmichael is definitely opposed to Tom and feels he's taking advantage of Vicky's former friendship.

While Vicky is a devoted fan of Miss Jane Austen and wishes to live her life like Miss Austen's characters, it seems that her life is becoming a lot more like the more melodramatic and sensational novel of Mrs. Radcliffe.

The story was entertaining and well written. The characters were interesting people and the romance builds nicely. I liked the mystery aspects of the story.

Favorite Quote:

She would always love Miss Austen's stories, but after all that had transpired, Vicky no longer believed life could be summed up by one author's perspective of the world. For why else would so many books exist if not to impart different truths about life and all its complexities?

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