I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen
Published by HarperTeen on 12/3/19
Genres: Historical, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 448
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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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.

Short and Sweet

Victoria Aston has everything she wants, and her life is great until she learns that she has to marry to make sure her family’s estate doesn’t go to someone else. Now Victoria has to enter society’s season to try to find a husband. All Victoria knows is that she’ll be using Jane Austen’s novels as a guide, but Miss Austen’s novels don’t have advice on how to make it through the season when strange accidents keep occurring around her.

Characters

Victoria: Victoria is our main character and she’s just the best. Victoria has a strong sense of family and would do anything for them which she displays multiple times throughout the book. Vicky is described as having childlike ideals by the other characters but she’s also quite smart. Vicky takes interest in things that most women during that time period wouldn’t such as learning about estates and she isn’t afraid to talk about matters that most would consider inappropriate for her to hear.

Althea: Althea is Victoria’s older sister and she’s been through a lot. Althea ends up leaving her husband and going back to her family’s estate. It turns out that Althea has been mistreat and she’s a shell of her former self. I did like how Althea did progressively get better throughout the book and I loved the bond between Althea and Vicky.

Tom: Tom is a childhood friend and he lives in the neighboring estate. Tom has been away for a while and when he comes back he doesn’t really know anyone except for the Astons. Tom always tried to do the right thing and sometimes it didn’t work out but he genuinely tried and thats something I really liked about him.

Carmichael: Carmichael is a gentleman that is a potential husband for Victoria. Carmichael is pretty wealthy and Victoria’s parents admire him.

Dain: Dain is Althea’s husband we don’t see a lot of him but he is around. Dain is an awful person and he’s pretty cruel.

Romance

Victoria and Tom: Victoria and Tom would always play as children but after Tom left it was a pretty big blow for Victoria. When Tom comes back the two have to get reacquainted and during that time they do realize that the feelings they had for each other never went away. I loved these two so much and their friendship was great and I liked how they spent time getting to know each other again.

Victoria and Carmichael: Carmichael is already a business partner of Victoria’s father so they’ve already met but become more acquainted when Victoria takes part in the season. Carmichael seems like a great fit for Victoria but he doesn’t really see things the way she does and to her its a deal breaker.

My Thoughts

~ I loved the time period that this book took place in and it all felt accurate and the writing was great.

~ We get to read from Victoria and Tom’s POV. I liked them both and it was interesting to see what they both thought about certain situations especially when they were both at the same place.

~ I liked seeing Victoria go on dates and getting her opinions on those suitors and it was funny because some of those guys were just awful.

~ So there’s a lot of strange things happening like someone attacking Victoria on the estate, one of her dates going extremely wrong, and being followed. Someone is trying to get rid of Victoria and now she’s trying to figure out who and this was honestly a good mystery because I wasn’t completely sure who it was.

~ Tom has been going through a lot because he has to keep his family afloat because they’re in debt and he’s trying to get a business deal to go through.

~ In this book Victoria uses characters from Jane Austen’s books to guide her through the season and I loved it. I haven’t read any of Austen’s books but this book got me interested.

Overall

I loved this book! It put a smile on my face and I loved seeing Victoria go on dates and try to find someone who would truly love her. Victoria was an amazing heroine and even in her time period she knew she would not be treated as a women who would be taken lightly. I would definitely recommend this book it was such a fun read and the mystery aspect was great!