A Review of An Improper Situation, by Sydney Jane Bailey

An Improper Situation, is a fun historical romance that starts on a rural Colorado homestead and ends in glittering 19th century Boston. The hero and heroine do indeed find themselves in an improper situation more than once!

Setting

Spring City, Colorado, and Boston, Massachusetts, 1884

Main Characters

Charlotte Sanborn lives alone on her late parents’ homestead, outside Spring City, Colorado. Under the pen name Charles Sanborn, she supports herself as a freelance writer, and she has no interest in changing anything about her life.

Reed Malloy is a Boston lawyer charged with bringing a pair of orphans to Charlotte to raise, per his client’s – Charlotte’s deceased cousin’s – will. The children are delightful, but the obstinate woman insists they should return to Boston with Reed.

Romance

When Reed arrives, with the children in tow, Charlotte almost slams the door in his face. But he insists on her getting to know the children, despite her writing deadlines. As the children begin to win her heart, so does Reed. But he must return to Boston.

When Charlotte’s aunt threatens to challenge the will to take custody of the children away from her, Charlotte must go to Boston to prove she is a suitable guardian for the children. She is dropped into Reed’s world of Beacon Hill society and intrigue. Reed tries to woo her stay, but he is not the only man wooing her.

As the most eligible bachelor in Boston begins to court Charlotte, Reed has to prove he is worthy.

Plot

Charlotte’s Aunt has heard a rumor that Reed stayed in Charlotte’s home, unchaperoned. That would make Charlotte an utterly improper guardian for the children. As Charlotte moves in with her aunt, her aunt encourages the attention of the eldest son of one of Boston’s first families to burnish Charlotte’s reputation.

But just as Reed is not the only man interested in Charlotte, she is not the only woman with her eyes on Reed.

These are Boston’s wealthy elite, and with money comes greed. And with greed comes danger. As Charlotte begins some investigative reporting in Boston, she discovers they may all be in danger. If she doesn’t figure out who to trust, she may lose more than love.

Historical Worldbuilding

The books stars out in a small, rural, western town, that has both the sleepy feel of the location and the highly accurate hum of 1880s commercial energy. The possibilities of the railroad and the telegraph made almost any endeavor seem achievable. That comes to life in the first portion of the book.

Then gilded age Boston shimmers in a way that competes with Regency London while remaining true to Boston’s unique ability to feel like a small town big city. That should be an oxymoron, but if you have been to Boston, you know it isn’t. And we don’t often get to see Boston of this era in novels, which this book proves is a crying shame.

Tropes

There is very much a country versus city trope, with Charlotte feeling out of place in the city of her mother’s birth. There is also a wonderful opposites attract element. Charlotte lives happily alone and avoids society as much as she can while she spends her days writing in solitude. Reed is a Harvard education lawyer, born and raised in Boston high society. There is also instant family with the children, and Reed plays out the protector trope with understated panache.

Secondary Characters

Charlotte’s aunt Alicia is a paragon of Beacon Hill society, wielding her social power to either help or hinder, as she deems necessary. Reed’s bevy of sisters are vivacious (and get books of their own later in the series), and his former mistress is a delightful villain. Charlotte’s errant brother, Thaddeus, also adds spice to the story (and he, too, gets a book later in the series, as he well deserves). The children, Lily and Thomas, are lively and full of personality. Finally, Jason Farnsworth is a worthy adversary as he, too, tries to woo Charlotte.

Point of View

This is Charlotte’s story, and we see it primarily through her eyes.

In Summary

• This story has a delightful romance between a strong, independent woman and an intelligent, caring man who has to work to earn her love. It captures the effervescence of the time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
• It is a historical romance that takes place in rural Colorado and Boston, Massachusetts, capturing the driving energy of the 1880s.
• The main characters are intelligent and fun, and you can’t help but root for them as they fight for their happily ever after.
• The historical detail brings to life the essence of Gilded Age America.
• The tropes are country v. city, opposites attract, instant family, and protector (in a more intelligent than brawny manner).
• The heat level is about a 2 out of 5. There is sex on the page, and is sensual, but not overly explicit.
• Their is danger to the children in the wilderness of Colorado, and danger of a more human variety in Boston, including an attempted sexual assault and physical and psychological abuse of someone imprisoned in an asylum.

Keep them coming!

I am loving getting people’s recommendations for historical romances set in the Americas. But I am starting to run short. Please send any recommendations you have! You can contact me via my contact page, or simply put recommendations in the comments below. Let’s share the wealth!

I am doing my bit to add to the options. My first historical romance, Devil in Our Hearts, has been selected as a finalist for a Maggie Award in the historical romance category (woohoo!). And I just got my next novel back from my fantastic beta reader, so I will be diving into edits on that to have it ready to go to my editor in September.

Image by John Kespert from Pixabay

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