Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! HFVBTs is one of the very first touring companies I started working with as a 1st Year Book Blogger – uniting my love and passion with Historical Fiction and the lovely sub-genres inside which I love devouring. Whether I am reading selections from Indie Authors & publishers to Major Trade and either from mainstream or INSPY markets – I am finding myself happily residing in the Historical past each year I am a blogger.
What I have been thankful for all these years since 2013 is the beautiful blessing of discovering new areas of Historical History to explore through realistically compelling Historical narratives which put me on the front-lines of where History and human interest stories interconnect. It has also allowed me to dive deeper into the historic past and root out new decades, centuries and millenniums to explore. For this and the stories themselves which are part of the memories I cherish most as a book blogger I am grateful to be a part of the #HFVBTBlogTours blogger team.
I received a complimentary copy of “Lady August” direct from the author Becky Michaels in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
On why I elected to write a smaller review for this novel:
Earlier in May, I was able to resume full-time hours at work and since then, I’ve been working a lot of double shifts – which has altered some of my readings this May all the way round as I’ve been a bit more fatigued than I expected to be as I’ve been slowly re-adjusting to working full-time again since February. I decided to give a sampling of a preview of what my first impressions of “Lady August” were today rather than to feel guilty I’ve been reading this story a bit slower than others given the fact I’ve also have been working on most of my days off rather than to stress about trying to read this too fast. I am enjoying working again but I’ve found it to be a bit of an adjustment to re-find the balances in my life.
I still remember when this novel first arrived – the author, takes a page out of my own book in how to SURPRISE someone receiving mail! I used to be quite the correspondent when I was younger and into my twenties – I used to always include confetti with my letters and that was a special treat for me to see an author enclose a heap of confetti with their book! Such a charming surprise – the whole parcel was a delight to open and I thank Ms Michaels for giving me a bit of #bookmail JOY!
Lady August
by Becky Michaels
Source: Author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
August Summer thinks she is a nobody until a London solicitor barges into her employer’s drawing room, revealing not only is she the daughter of an earl but a wealthy heiress as well. Optimistic about a new life, she travels to her ancestral home of Linfield Hall, only for her brother to banish her to London to live with her aunt, a dowager duchess with a reputation.
When Lord Bolton asks him to fetch his illegitimate daughter, solicitor Samuel Brooks does not expect himself to become so invested in the young woman’s debut after wanting nothing to do with dinners and balls before. But as August navigates her way through this new world of the British aristocracy, Brooks is the one who is most dazzled by her unexpected charms.
Since society demands every young girl must marry, August decides she will accept nothing less than someone’s heart in exchange for possession of her newfound fortune. Forced to reexamine his negative views of love and marriage or lose August forever, Brooks soon realizes his heart is the only thing in danger of becoming possessed.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1735140131
Also by this author: Lady August
Published by Mildred Press
on 30th March, 2021
Format: Trade Paperback
Published by: Mildred Press
Converse via: #HistFic or #HistNov as well as #HistRom
+ #LadyAugust and #HFVBTBlogTours
Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook
About Becky Michaels
Becky Michaels is a historical romance author and self-proclaimed Anglophile. After graduating from Boston University with a degree in English, she reluctantly decided to get a day job but never stopped writing—or dreaming. THE LAND STEWARD’S DAUGHTER, a Regency romance set in 1815 England, is her debut novel. Despite the cold winters and high rent, she still lives in the Boston area with her boyfriend and cat.
| Lady August | by Becky Michaels
The weight of childhood was a bit unbearable for young Samuel as he wanted to make good choices in regards to how he spent his time with his childhood friends and cousins; but between the dares and the activities they insisted in doing – he found himself at odds with them more than he was happy. He was a young boy with a lot on his mind – his own parents didn’t treat him and his younger sister very well and when he was with his relations, he was on guard for fear of what might happen if he didn’t behave properly. There was a scene where he was meant to steal a bit of liqueur and it was endearing due to the ways in which he was discovered by Lady Bolton.
She clearly loved being a mother, unlike his own and she took him under her wings. It was nice to see someone understand the fears in Samuel but also respect him enough to give him time and space to come to terms with how he wanted to work through the difficult choices he was making whilst endearing peer pressure as well. It was quite a charming opening scene and it gave a lot of insight into Samuel as a person, as he truly cared about things most his age never would and he had a good heart despite the fact he was full of anxiety about the things he couldn’t change but still had such a hard impact on him.
August is an interesting character – for starters, she doesn’t let her current status affect her choices and she lives her life (even at eighteen) as if she had the full freedom of choice as women a full century later than the era in which she was living herself. She didn’t see boundaries when it came to men and women or in the choices of relationships. She wanted to take charge of her life to have a bit of freedom away from the pressures of what was expected of her as an orphan without choices in her life. She knew she had to endure the path set before her once she left the orphanage but until then, she refused to believe she couldn’t live on the edges of society if that is what she chose to do with herself. In many respects, I think Lady August would have loved the 1960s because she was quite a bit ahead of her time with feeling that women should have the right to choose their own mind in regards to their choices with sex and relationships.
Counter to August though was Jane and you have to love Jane! She was the voice of reason and although she didn’t convince August of anything she hadn’t set her mind towards – hearing Jane’s logic and friendship was quite the balm against the frustrations you could feel in August. It was almost like she wanted to grow up too fast in order to counteract the fact she felt she wasn’t in control of her future. On the other hand, Samuel is now fully grown and a man who inherited his father’s law practice. He’s quite practical and logical in his life’s choices – much to the disdain of his Mum who’d prefer to see him settled down with a woman who would be his equal and match.
The quality that Samuel and Lady August share between them though they haven’t yet met – is the fact they both feel they have transcended past the wants and needs of a marriage. They both feel delishly independent of the conventions of society and with it, the needs of seeking a mate and someone to marry. They both seem to have the same philosophical murmurings about ‘why’ marriage would be a bad idea and of course, being the fact they both were bourne without a title in their lives, they both see themselves as equally unequal to their peers. It is an interesting set-up for a novel – to have two characters just at the start of their lives peering forward into the future and finding themselves not in need of anything except what they can provide for themselves and continuously live on their own terms without the dictation of the society in which they live.
On the Historical & Romantic styling of Becky Michaels:
You easily fall into step with Ms Michaels reading this lovely story because of the charm and the delivery of the novel itself. She has captured the Regency well, with descriptive narrative and dialogue which alights through the pages as if we were timewinders ourselves and could easily remove ourselves back into the Regency to experience these scenes firsthand. I love whenever I find a writer who can write a Regency like this one, as it allows your mind to suspend itself into a timescape you enjoy reading! It has all the essences of the Regency, too, from the mindset of the men to the priorities of the women – Michaels happily carts you backwards into a time where there wasn’t as much equality between men and women as much as the fact young children oft found themselves betwixt and between their parents rows! (ie. arguments)
Michaels is exploring topics and subjects not generally inclusive of a Regency Romance – such as a woman’s right to explore her sexuality even at a young age such as Lady August – there were a few content warnings attached to this novel post-receival but so far, I haven’t had any issues in the pages I’ve read this far along. It is a wonderfully Feminist driven storyline as well – as Michaels have all her female characters in the story feel more well-rounded in their abilities to choose their own paths and speak their own minds; which wasn’t always the case in the Regency.
Even when she shifts back to the male perspective in the novel, she is writing with a realism that is oft found in more contemporary novels than historical; though there have been quite a few I’ve read in the Historical market too, which re-explores sentiment and opinion on these subjects as well. It was a bit refreshing to find this kind of voice in a Historical Regency – wherein its not your traditional Regency by the constructs you’re familiar with finding inside one – but rather a more contemporary Regency by way of how this novel re-explores a look into a time period in History with the sensibility and perspective of a 21st Century writer who is tapping into previously unspoken moments in people’s lives which has merit of being explored.
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Reading this story contributed to my 2021 reading challenges:
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Lady August”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Becky Michaels the tour host badge and HFVBTs badge were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: 2021 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge banner, #HistoricalMondays banner, #25PagePreview banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2021.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2021 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
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