I love anything with a bookish/artsy theme, and this poetess heroine/artist hero duo was a lot of fun!
This story takes place in Victorian London, with Musa, a romance poetess who writes anonymously under a secret pen name… until she suddenly finds herself without a publisher. Women authors had difficulty being taken seriously at that time in history, and without the security of her publisher, Musa worries she will no longer be able to support her family through her passion—writing.
Musa decides to try her hand at writing for children in the hopes that she can be published in a more respectable genre. She teams up with an illustrator for her book–only to discover that the artist is actually her secret pen pal (and biggest fan of her alter-ego’s erotic poetry books). Secrets and scandal drive the story forward, and create plenty of drama for the duo to navigate in this You’ve Got Mail-esque historical romance.
Our heroine takes on a lot of responsibility and burden in order to protect her family, and I found her to be a commendable, strong, and hard-working MC that readers can look up to. Though she basically leads a double life, I think she had some good intentions, and I still found her to be noble and well-meaning.
I enjoyed the buildup of the love story between Musa and Sebastian and thought the element of secrecy offered some depth to their journeys. They have a lot in common, more than they realize at first, and they made a really cute couple!
I really enjoyed the references to famous literature and art, though at times the dialogue felt a bit forced. Miscommunication was a heavily used trope throughout the story, and at points I was left wondering why characters were driven to their actions. Overall this book had a really charming premise, and I loved the historical tone.
This was a really solid debut and I would love to see more by this author in the future
MUST READ IF YOU LIKE:
•historical fiction
•stories about female authors
•enemy-to-lovers
•books about books
•poetry & art
Thank you to the author Delphine Ross for sending me an early copy of this book! I loved it!