Baleful Godmother #3
Emily Larkin
Historical Romance
Pub date: January 9, 2017 [requested review]
H/h - Major Icarus Reid/Letty Trentham
Setting: Regency.
Read in January, 2017.
My rating:
[spoiler alert]
Trusting Miss Trentham marked book 3 of Emily Larkin’s Baleful Godmother series and I must admit, this series is getting better with each installment! From the storyline to the characters, there’s always something new to expect!!
The Baleful Godmother is a Regency-set series based on female characters who have special “gifts” or powers. But if you want to start from the very beginning, you can with The Fey Quartet. These are a set of novellas listed as “prologue” to this series. Set in Medieval-era England, this series explains exactly how our unique heroines come to inherit their “gifts”. I found The Fey Quartet absolutely delightful, couldn’t wait to find out how the protagonists’ descendants deal with their gifts, bestowed by a Fey in exchange of a favor done to her.
Books 1 and 2, Unmasking Miss Appleby and Resisting Miss Merryweather had something common in them apart from Bale Tongue, our dubious Fairy Godmother. Heroines of both of these books, Charlotte and Anne AKA Merry (respectively), 1. Were bestowed their gifts at the age of 25, which I thought was THE age they were supposed to have their wish fulfilled and 2. They were cousins so the stories were linked that way.
Charlotte
had no idea about her gift because she became orphaned at an early age,
so Bale Tongue took her by complete surprise. She was living quite
miserably with her mean uncle’s family and this gave her the opportunity
to get out of there and earn money on her own. She chose shapeshifting
and transformed herself into a man to get the lucrative job offered by
Marcus, Lord Cosgrove, our H, in a newspaper advert. Merry, on the other
hand, wasn’t introduced in book 1 but she was already aware of her Fey
inheritance. She knew she’d be visited by Bale Tongue but was ever
unsure what to choose. She was also an orphan by the time her story
began so she was living with Charlotte and Marcus when she met Sir
Barnaby, who is also Marcus’s closest buddy. Well, at that time, they
had a falling out but book 2 helps mend that bridge bit by bit. His
visit also brings Merry and Barnaby together. Something closer to a
tragedy later in the story prompts Merry to choose the gift of healing
to save people’s lives. By the time Trusting Miss Trentham begins, both girls were happily married and expecting.
I mentioned the above because Trusting Miss Trentham
isn’t connected to the first 2 books for various reasons. First of all,
unlike Charlotte and Merry, Letty Trentham had had her gift of hearing
truth and lies in people’s statement at 21, long before the story even
began. Her mother was alive at that time to explain her inheritance to
her. She also seemed like a descendant wasn’t directly connected to
Charlotte or Merry. She actually thought she was the only one with such a
gift! So, in that sense, this book can be read as a standalone because
it doesn’t connect to the first 2 books, but I would still recommend
that you read all the books AND the prologues for full enjoyment. I also
think this book was longer than the other two and had more layers in it
in the terms of relationship building between the H and the h. There
was no straightforward or easy love-at-first-sight here for sure!
Letty
Trentham is the richest heiress in all of England. But she’s also too
plain, too thin, too tall...too everything that a man wouldn’t find
attractive. Had it not been for her enormous inheritance she’d not see
any suitors. Hence, she’s been in the marriage mart for the past 5 or so
years. Because, for the unfortunate fortune hunters, Letty debuted
after she received her gift (her inheritance being the deciding factor
in her gift choosing) and immediately knew every single lie those men
told her to get to her money. Result, she’s still single, still waiting
to find the right man, even though every day she’s a little close to
giving up. Letty would rather not marry being so disillusioned in men
but her eldest step-brother won’t let it pass. Barnard want to get rid
of her ASA he can, a fact Letty was well aware of. But what can she do?
There was no way she was succumbing to those liars just for the sake of a
marriage!
It was in one of those balls where she’d just rejected
her latest suitor is where she meets Icarus Reid, a tall, gaunt looking
soldier who seemed a bit touched in the head. Who knew about her
“trick” (as others thought her gift was) and wanted help. He was
investigating something that happened when he was a soldier, could use
all the help he can have. I did wonder how many people know of Letty’s
“trick” and why no one questioned anything but I guess money made
everything possible for her, except for the type of marriage she wanted;
something made of love and passion. I gathered as much because she
asked the question of fidelity to every suitor and came off disappointed
hearing them lying through their teeth.
Anyway, when Letty heard
that Icarus was investigating a possible traitor, she decides to help
right away. After all, lives were lost in Vimeiro (allusion to the
Battle of Vimeiro is also made throughout the story). But that wasn’t
all. Letty was instantly drawn to this haggard looking man for some
reason and wanted to help just more than the investigation. She wanted
to help him. But for any type of help, they needed
elaborate plans to avoid Letty’s watchdogs AKA her chaperons and other
people that Barnard has employed to check on her so she’s not found
missing and no one starts looking. IF Barnard figures out, Letty knows
she won’t be able to do anything.
The first leg of the
investigation was pretty easy, where Letty invites Icarus to a
house-party to interview Tom Matlock, one of the soldiers on Icarus’s
list. He didn’t think Tom was the one but he had to be thorough. While
talking to Letty, he finds out she knows Tom very well. Letty, Julia and
Lucas, Julia’s twin brother, had grown up practically together. They
are cousins, though not related by birth but her mother’s marriage. Tom
is Lucas’s closest friend, who had also known them since his boyhood so
that bond is there. The whole setting works, where we get to know new
characters including Tom and Lucas. Unfortunately, Julia, who was very
wild and tomboy-ish, had passed on a year ago from a riding accident,
something that still haunts them all.
I specifically need to
mention Lucas and Tom specifically as they’re the couple of the next
book. While investigating Tom, Icarus finds that he was correct about
him. But anyone who knew Lucas intimately, they could see that he was
still hurting from Julia’s death. Letty was very sympathetic towards
everything but she hardly had any idea how to help him. Only Tom was his
constant companion, would drop by whenever he could to keep Lucas
company, only no knew the nature of their relationship. No one obviously
suspected anything seeing they were buddies since boyhood. It’s all
revealed to Letty in such a fashion that it left her quite dazed and
confused in her innocence. Icarus was also present when it happened but
neither Tom not Lucas knew they’d been found out. However, Icarus knew
the importance of keeping the whole business a tightly-kept secret.
That, how much of a trouble they’ll be in if they’re ever found out by
someone else. Having that, and Letty’s innocence in mind, Icarus
repeatedly asks her to ‘forget what she saw’, refusing to explain
anything about Lucas and Tom’s relationship to her.
By then,
Letty and Icarus had this very complicated thing going on. Letty was
even more attracted to Icarus and was quite forcing him to eat more
because it seemed liked he’d forgo eating completely if he could. If not
investigating, he was always in his own world. And he did tell Letty
he’s dying. Only he won’t tell her of what; a question that has been
rebuffed by him no matter how many times she asked. Letty is nothing if
not tenacious, but she fails to get a clear answer out of him. He seemed
quite angry at her most of the times so she was sure he hates her, a
fact hurt her a lot. I admired Letty’s strength and what she was doing
for Icarus even if he disliked it and struck out by being rude. Someone
had to put their foot down if that man was to be saved. Letty, it
seemed, made it her life’s goal to see that Icarus Reid was fed well, if
nothing else.
After their first stop, Letty makes plans to
accompany Icarus wherever the investigation was taking them, posing as
“Mrs. Reid”. She knew the dangers to her reputation but in truth, she
didn’t care. She wanted to be around, taking care of him. On their way
through the planned destinations, they meet more people. A girl named
Eliza who was raped, then turned out from a house where she was working.
Letty immediately takes the girl under her wing, making her a temporary
lady’s maid until something can be done later. Icarus also finds a boy
named Green who was working for one of the soldiers related to this
case, now serving his sentence in prison (whom they met up with the
first thing after Icarus approached Letty). He makes the boy his valet.
Then they rescue Private Houghton from an abysmal living. Icarus liked
the man and was glad when Letty confirmed he was not guilty. He also
explains most of it to Houghton, offering him a job of sort then asking
him to accompany them.
But at night, when Icarus would cry out
shuddering from his never-ending nightmares, Letty would make sure to be
by his side. She also tries her best to track down a better sleeping
drought for Icarus so he could sleep a little better. At daytime, Icarus
seemed unhappy at her interference with his life, but at night, cold
and shivering, weak and unstable from his nightmares he’d not utter one
caustic word. Letty knew something was very wrong with him, that he’d
also suffered something terrible but she couldn’t make Icarus say
anything on this matter. This was the reason why he was so dark and
brooding, so gaunt, wouldn’t eat. The man was barely living at all.
Letty
was already half-way in love with Icarus for his integrity, and his
kindness to the fellow soldiers. The plans he was making to help the
destitute and physically unable soldiers to be able to do something with
his own money...but always as if he won’t survive this year. It
terrified Letty but she had no idea how to reach him because Icarus
would close himself off. It’d try the patience of a saint but Letty was
still pushing through, trying to find a way to get through to him. At
one point, she realized Icarus thought himself already dead from
whatever happened to him in Vimeiro, which is the reason why he had no
intentions of living. It was becoming clearer that he planned on taking
his own life! When the realization struck, Letty couldn’t have been more
horrified. She was desperate to change it.
But for now, Icarus
was bend on finding the traitor of Vimeiro. The incident ended in the
deaths of 4 of his men. He was a man possessed, to bring justice before
his supposed death. He also, privately, deeply relied on Letty’s company
to push on. Especially at night when she’d be in his room to wake him
up and give him his sleeping drought. Then she’d read to him........in a
few days, they were also kissing and holding each-other until he fell
asleep. But Icarus never quite expected it to escalate to full on sexual
exploration until Letty initiates something that took him by stunned
surprise. I get that seeing Lucas-Tom together gave her ideas, though it
wasn’t the right way to start things of. But she just wanted to see
Icarus a little happy and would’ve done anything in her power to make
that happen. Anything to make him feel alive again. Icarus couldn’t say
‘no’ even if he felt bad cause it looked like he was taking advantage of
Letty to forget his woes. But Letty was pretty determined and Icarus
wanted it AND her and whatever comfort she could bring in his bleak
world quite bad.
But in the light of the day, none of them had
any idea how to handle this budding but quite intense relationship
between them. Icarus didn’t expect to live, Letty had no intentions of
letting him die so, yeah, it was quite the battle of wills. And it
seemed despite all the odds stacked against them, despite Icarus’s super
disinterest in living, he begins feeling like he wanted to. He was
eating a bit better each day, sleeping much better since Letty started
sharing his bed. He had FINALLY also opened up to her about what exactly
happened in Vimeiro and why he was so depressed, which helped of
course. He felt jealous when Letty was so jolly and open with Sergeant
Houghton FGS!
I’d say, at times, Icarus looked so morose and
literally someone who wasn’t living in this world as far as his psyche
went, I felt rather hopeless. But Letty continued to fight for him until
the day the real traitor was found. She did her utmost best and made
Icarus see that there’s a life waiting for him here, in this world and
that he doesn’t need to end it needlessly. In the end, thankfully, Letty
succeeds in bringing Icarus back into the world of the living.
Letty
does meet Merry in this story when both couple of books 1 and 2 drop by
in one of the inns they were staying at. This visit also brings forth
some revelations, including the fact that she’s, in fact, not the only
one. Having cousins, however distant they are, made Letty extremely
happy. Excited beyond words, she confides in Icarus, who initially finds
the whole story complete nonsense, it showing quite clearly on his
face. It kinda hurts Letty but it couldn’t have been avoided I guess.
However, when she continued to separate the truths from lies accurately,
he somewhat gives in. Not a complete believer but somewhere in the
middle. Phew!
Before starting Trusting Miss Trentham, I wasn’t sure I’d like to continue with Claiming Mr. Kemp
since M/M is not a genre I generally prefer to read. But now, I
definitely wanna find out what happens! Ms. Larkin tells me we’d be
seeing more of Letty and Icarus there so, yesss! Meanwhile, I’d
recommend this one because Trusting Miss Trentham was probably the best read this series so far. I loved it. 4.25 stars.
Complimentary copy received from the author, thanks Ms. Larkin!
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