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.

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
Series: Montague Siblings #2
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 10/2/18
Genres: Historical, Young Adult
Pages: 464
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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A year after an accidentally whirlwind grand tour with her brother Monty, Felicity Montague has returned to England with two goals in mind—avoid the marriage proposal of a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh and enroll in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science.

But then a window of opportunity opens—a doctor she idolizes is marrying an old friend of hers in Germany. Felicity believes if she could meet this man he could change her future, but she has no money of her own to make the trip. Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicity’s way, so long as she’s allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid.

In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girl’s true motives are revealed, Felicity becomes part of a perilous quest that leads them from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.

Short and Sweet

After joining her brother Monty on his grand tour of Europe, Felicity Montague is determined to make her dreams of enrolling in a medical school and becoming a doctor come true. But her ambitions are usually ignored by male superiors who believe that practicing medicine is a job for men only. When Felicity finds out an old friend of hers is marrying one of the doctors she idolizes she believes this is finally her chance. The only problem is that Felicity has no money to make it to Germany on her own, but a women offers to pay for Felicity’s journey just as long as she gets to come along and pretend to be Felicity’s maid. Felicity doesn’t know what the girls motives are but when she finds out Felicity ends up on a quest around the countryside.

Characters

Felicity: Our main character who will do anything she can just to get a chance to learn more about medicine and become a doctor. We obviously learn a lot more about Felicity in this book because its her story. I did learn that though Felicity is more level headed and thinks things through more than Monty she seems to think she’s more superior than those who don’t see things the way she does. Even though she was a little off-putting and judgmental she grew so much throughout the book and I loved that and who her character turned out to be.

Sim: Sim our mysterious pirate who pays for the journey to Germany. Sim is the daughter of the most feared pirate commanders, and since she’s the first born she wants to prove herself but this proves to be hard because she’s a woman. Sim joins Felicity, because she wants to take something from Johanna’s house that she believes rightfully belongs to her family. I liked Sim despite all of the obstacles in her way she never gave up and was determined to do what she had to even if her means were wrong.

Johanna: Johanna… I loved Johanna so much. When Johanna and Felicity were teenagers they didn’t end on the right foot mainly because Felicity was into medicine and learning more and Johanna liked spending her time getting dressed up and going to functions. I think what I loved the most about Johanna was that she was seen as a girl who is soft because she preferred dresses and makeup but Johanna is fierce, smart, and loves her dog Max.

Platt: The Doctor that Felicity idolizes and Johanna’s fiancé. Platt obviously seems like a good person because he’s willing to Felicity a chance, but he plans on going on an expedition after the wedding but the details aren’t fully exposed.

Monty: Felicity’s older brother. I loved Monty in his book and I loved him in this book as well. He’s a sibling and as most people know siblings can get on your nerves but he does care about Felicity and wants to look out for her.

Percy: Monty’s boyfriend. I love Percy he’s like another brother to felicity and cares about her too I just love him so much and his sweet demeanor.

Romance

Felicity and Sim: Hmm well these two have an interesting relationship. They’re not very fond of each other in the beginning but as they get to know each other more they begin to form more of a friendship.

Monty and Percy: Well Monty and Percy are still as lovable as ever. They care for each other and we can see this in the book and they genuinely like each others company they balance each other out.

Johanna and Platt: I don’t know how their relationship started but this is one of those things where these two are just together to be together, mainly because Platt wants something he can only get if he says he’s Johannas husband.

Quotes

~ “Well,” I reply, “good thing I’d rather not be any man’s protege.”

My Thoughts

~ Lots of girl power in this book! I loved that Felicity never gave up on her dream to learn more about medicine. Johanna and Sim are also strong female figures in this book.

~ I like adventures and this one was perfect I mean all Felicity wanted was to go to Germany to meet Platt but the next thing she knows she’s going around the countryside trying to help Johanna proclaim her mothers work.

~ We also get some pirates in this book. At the beginning of the book we see Scipio and his crew again which is also where Felicity and Sim meet.

~ My favorite thing about this book was seeing Felicity grow as a person I mentioned it earlier but I feel like its worth mentioning again. Felicity becomes a softer version of herself  and more understanding to the fact that other people will have interest that are different than hers.

~ There were a few things I weren’t expecting in this book like Platt being an awful person, Johanna knowing this, Felicity finding out and being smart enough to find Johanna, and Sim trying to find something to keep her father’s territories safe from the English.

~ I was also so happy with the ending its not really what I was expecting but it was still good and I am impressed with all of the characters!

Overall

I’m glad we got a book with Felicity’s point of view and she got to go on an amazing quest on the German countryside and showed us just how amazing girls can be, especially when they work together. We get to see our favorite characters from the last book, meet new characters who are just as amazing. I definitely recommend this book if you’re looking to go on an adventure with our characters, I would also recommend picking up the first book and starting there if you haven’t already!