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Our book starts off with Adele, a spirited but sometimes selfish German aristocrat. She has been sent to live with her aunt in New York after scandal stops her from finding a respectable husband in Germany. Adele soon befriends her maid, Sophie, and sneaks out for a night on the town. That night, she meets Nick, and they fall in love at first sight. Adele doesn’t realize it, as she is not fully aware of the concept of racism at first, but it’s more than social class differences keeping her apart from Nick. Nick is black, and not everyone takes kindly to their romantic relationship.

Adele struggles deciding whether to run away with Nick or do what her family expects of her. Just running away seems like the best option, but if she does so, she risks her grandfather not just disinheriting her, but no longer funding her aunt’s lifestyle. The repercussions of this would not just affect Adele’s aunt, but also the servants in the household, like Sophie and her family. Adele’s internal struggle is only intensified at the end of the novel, when she gets to know Theodore, an American bachelor of her social standing whom she actually gets along with very well.

I found the characters in this book to be so compelling. Adele is selfish at the start, but undergoes some major character development throughout. She also rejects a lot of the not-so-feminist tropes found in historical romance. She’s sexually experienced, to a degree, and ends up fully embracing her sexuality with Nick. The other characters, including side characters we see snippets of, are equally complex and interesting. Nick is very sweet, and while he’s my romantic preference for Adele, I think my favorite characters are Theodore and Sophie.

There are some issues with this book, namely historical inaccuracies and a few inconsistencies (though I received this book ahead of the publication date, so it’s possible at least the latter will be fixed by then). There were a few times I felt that word choices were drastically off. Also, despite the detailed characters, I found it difficult to connect with them due to the writing style. Silverthorne largely shows us Adele’s POV, but this book is written in third person omniscient. That particular POV is not my favorite in romance with erotic scenes. I love a steamy sex scene, but because I just wasn’t fully in the characters’ heads, the love scenes in this did nothing for me.

Finally, I think it is important to note that this is not romance novel. It is a novel in a series with a plot that largely concerns romance. By this I mean that to qualify as a romance novel, a book must have a Happily Ever After or at least a Happy For Now. Baroness ends on a cliffhanger with Adele and Nick separated in spite of their love for one another, at least for now.

Overall, I found this to be an exciting debut by Anya Silverthorne, and I am eager for Book 2 in the series. It’s imperfect, but the characters have a lot of heart, and that makes it a 3 star read for me. I will keep an eye out for Book 2 in December! Thank you Anya Silverthorne, Platen Press, and HF Virtual Book Tours for giving me a copy!

About the Author

Anya Silverthorne makes her debut with The Baroness of New York. She enjoys writing fiction about the late Victorian and early Edwardian era. In “real life,” she is a historian of a completely different time period.

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The Baroness of New York by Anya Silverthorne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the characters in this one and am looking forward to Book 2 in the series! It ends on a cliffhanger and I can’t wait to see what happens next. This book wasn’t perfect for me – there were some inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and third person omniscient just doesn’t do it for me in romance. However, the characters are all interesting, from spirited, albeit selfish Adele to sweet and loving Nick to funny and kind Sophie to charming and entitled Theodore. The character development is great. Look for my full review at bitchbookshelf.com on May 5! Thank you to the author, publisher, and HF Virtual Book Tours for giving me a copy in exchange for my review.

View all my reviews

Blog Tour Schedule

Friday, May 1
Review at Passages to the Past

Sunday, May 3
Review at Carole Rae’s Random Ramblings

Monday, May 4
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Tuesday, May 5
Review at Bitch Bookshelf
Excerpt at I’m All About Books

Wednesday, May 6
Excerpt at What Is That Book About

Thursday, May 7
Review at Mommy In Color

Friday, May 8
Review at Gwendalyn’s Books

Sunday, May 10
Guest Post at A Darn Good Read

Monday, May 11
Review at YA, It’s Lit

Tuesday, May 12
Excerpt at Donna’s Book Blog

Wednesday, May 13
Review at Books and Zebras

Thursday, May 14
Guest Post at To Read, Or Not to Read

Friday, May 15
Feature at Chicks, Rogues and Scandals

Monday, May 18
Interview at Passages to the Past

Thursday, May 21
Review at Books in their Natural Habitat

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, we are giving away a paperback copy of The Baroness of New York! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on May 21st. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Paperback giveaway is open to the US only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud will be decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner is chosen.

Baroness of New York

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