Jasper starts the book as your standard dark hero with a mysterious past. From the explanations of what we would today call her coping mechanisms in the form of horseback riding and novel-reading, to the way society demonizes those pursuits and uses them as justification to subject her to “curative” measures like bloodletting, I love the way this nuances with which this depiction of mental health care was rendered. And back when a woman’s main responsibility was to marry, and one typically found a suitable spouse to marry through socializing, I found it poignant to read about how she navigated that. Julia resonated with me immediately, particularly in her experience of social anxiety. I love how Matthews incorporates some common archetypes of the “sensation” novels of the Victorian era, like the broody, Byronic hero or secret identities, but does so in a very grounded, realistic way, depicting her characters as real people dealing with the realities of the time they’re living in.

Initially, I could see the connections to Beauty and the Beast, but there are other fairy tale and myth references, as well as some to classic novels as well. This one, as Matthews discusses in her author’s note, is influenced by a lot of classic literature. It can be read as a stand-alone, although I do recommend the first book highly. The Belle of Belgrave Square is a deeply emotional, moving second installment in Mimi Matthews’ Belles of London series. But the more she learns of the beastly former hero, the more intrigued she becomes… He readily agrees to her conditions, with one provision of his own: Julia is forbidden from going into the tower rooms of his estate and snooping around his affairs. To ride-and to read-as much as she likes without masculine interference. In exchange for her dowry and her hand, Jasper must promise to grant her freedom to do as she pleases. Unfortunately, a young lady can’t spend the whole of her life in the saddle, so Julia makes an impetuous decision to take her future by the reins-she proposes to Captain Blunt. The only time Julia feels any degree of confidence is when she’s on her horse. What he requires now is a rich wife to ornament his isolated ruin, and he has his sights set on the enchanting Julia Wychwood.įor Julia, an incurable romantic cursed with a crippling social anxiety, navigating a London ballroom is absolute torture.

Tall, dark, and dour, the notorious Captain Jasper Blunt was once hailed a military hero, but tales abound of his bastard children and his haunted estate in Yorkshire. ISBN-13: 978-0593337158 | $17.00 USD | 432 pages | Victorian RomanceĪ London heiress rides out to the wilds of the English countryside to honor a marriage of convenience with a mysterious and reclusive stranger.

The belle of belgrave square