Karin A. (Jerseygirltoo) - reviewed on 2/11/2017 + 455 more book reviews

This is a Regency historical with a magical element, namely the heroine can metamorphosize into any creature she wants to be, and back to herself, as often as she wants. Charlotte finds this out on her 25th birthday, when a fairy godmother appears and grants her a magical power of her choice. This is something which all the women in her family get, because of something a female ancestor did. She's an orphan, and has been living as a poor relation/unpaid drudge with some horrible relatives, so the first thing she does is change herself into a man, so she can escape them and go earn a living. She's a practical person, so the ability to change form seems to her to be a more useful form of magic than say, flying.
So Charlotte goes to London and in the guise of a man, gets a job as secretary for Lord Cosgrove, who is being persecuted, by someone unknown who is trying to ruin him and even possibly kill him. It's not really a spoiler to let you know that she falls in love with him, but now has a dilemma because he only knows her as a man. Aside from the love story, the book mainly revolves around the two of them trying to find out who is trying to harm or kill him.
I thought this story was wildly original and compelling. The prose was not especially lyrical, and the historical background and minor characters were somewhat wallpapery. And the author leaned on the metamorphosis trick a bit too much, with Charlotte changing back and forth into lots of different animals, and from male to female. But the plot was so imaginative that when I got to the midway point, I had absolutely no idea where the story was going, and how often does that happen after reading hundreds of historicals? I couldn't put the book down.
Other good points: the development of the sexual relationship between the hero and heroine was more realistic than most romances. Their first lovemaking is awkward because they are almost strangers and is not satisfying for the heroine. In each subsequent encounter, the level of intimacy, affection and satisfaction increases. Also, Charlotte was an original heroine, and it was fun to see how her mind worked. Lord Cosgrove was worthy, a serious minded and responsible man, who was seeking to do good in the world. One jarring note to modern sensibilities: on one page, he exhibits an alarming degree of homophobia, but that's probably realistic for the time period. It seemed true to character that he is horrified and upset when he thinks Charlotte has betrayed him. I did like that he felt some small degree of sympathy for his ex-wife, in spite of her horrible behavior.
All in all, Emily Larkin is an author worth watching, so I'll definitely be reading the next in this series.

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