Book Review: "Dangerous Alliance" by Jennieke Cohen
“Dangerous Alliance” by Jennieke Cohen
Synopsis: 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.
Rating (out of 5): 3.75
Trigger warnings: spousal abuse, dueling, gun violence
Review: It should surprise you…absolutely zero…that I am not only an avid reader of Jane Austen, but also a fan of well-written Jane Austen fan fiction works (really just those by Elizabeth Aston, which continue the story in a fabulous and believable way). So, when I was choosing my BOTMYA this month and I saw this descprtion — “An avid Jane Austen fan gets caught up in a marriage scheme similar to her favorite author's characters. Coincidence?” — I was immediately sold.
Victoria is drawn much like an Austen heroine (her favorite is Elizabeth Bennett, though she does try to channel her inner Fanny Brice when she deems it appropriate), and her situation wouldn’t be out of place in an Austen book. She’s planning for a quiet life, managing her family’s estate, when all of a sudden she must get married because of something happening with her older sister. We get to go through the London season with Victoria, watching her be wooed by the charming Mr. Carmichael and get reconnected with her childhood best friend Tom.
At the same time, there are weird and dangerous things happening around her — carriage accidents, masked attackers, lurking men in great coats on street corners — and she doesn’t know who she can trust. Couple that with parents pushing her towards a favorable match and a complicated relationship with big sis Althea, and there’s all the ingredients for a great Georgian mystery-romance.
Victoria is a wonderful main character — she’s bookish, brave, and smart — and all she wants is her own Austenesque romance. She’s living at the same time that “a Lady” is writing, but given that they are neighbors in Hampshire, she knows that Miss Austen is writing her favorite books. She turns to “Mansfield Park” and “Sense & Sensibility” when she’s unsure of how to best behave, and she looks for answers in her favorite books. Tbh, that sounds a bit familiar. We also get to see things from Tom’s point of view; Tom was her best friend and childhood neighbor who was thrown out of his father’s house for reasons unknown at the start of the book. He’s recently returned to England, and he of course has his own secrets while popping up all over Vicky’s London season.
This isn’t just a fluffy romance or a mild mystery; it is a well-researched book that goes into the terrible legal landscape for women in the early 1800s. Althea is being abused by her husband and needs a divorce, but that’s almost impossible to attain; Victoria must get married to ensure that her family estate stays together and doesn’t get entailed to another relative (remember the entail in “Pride & Prejudice”?). I am so happy that women (and their money and property) are no longer the actual legal property of men. While we have a long way to go, at least that has been mostly left behind in the past.
Tbh, this book surprised me with its depth, both in plot and character development. This wasn’t just a simple historical romance with nods to Jane Austen’s books, there was much more there (and the mystery was actually good!), and all of the other characters were fully-formed people, and I’d love to read either Mr. Carmichael or Althea’s stories in the future. If you are a fan of Jane Austen, this is definitely one I would recommend you to pick up.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and I actually tore through it in an evening (even though it’s a little over 400 pages). It’s part historical romance, part mystery, and part social commentary, all wrapped up with a happy ending.
TL;DR: A well-written and amusing nod to Jane Austen’s romances, coupled with a touch of mystery and a dash of social commentary about the rights of women.
If you liked this, try these:
“The Masque of the Black Tulip” by Lauren WIllig (my favorite of the “Pink Carnation” series, but they are all charming!)
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