I will admit that I went in with some trepidation. Henry is an antagonist, of sorts, in the second book, but by the end of that book he’s shown as an honest, caring man trying to figure out what the right thing to do is, rather than a religious zealot, and he’s already questioning some of his black-and-white stances. The book is the third in the series, set in the 1750s, but it can be read as a standalone.

It’s a tough spot because either way he’s going to displease one of the factions. Partly due to Elena’s influence, he has come to see the issue as more complex, and he’s considering that “progressive reform” might be best. He’s a man divided, though: Going in, he felt sure that cracking down on sex work was the way to go. Henry is leaving London in part because he wants some peace to write a report to Parliament with his recommendations to curb the sex trade. It’s winter, and they set off on a borrowed curricle on a journey supposed to take only a few short days. Alice is put off by Henry, but she accepts the offer since it’d be a lot faster than traveling by the mail coach. Henry, coincidentally going the same way, offers her a ride. Henry Evesham, Methodist preacher, former editor of a “evangelical news rag,” and a Lord Lieutenant tasked with investigating London’s sex trade, is saying his goodbyes to Elena Brearley, the owner of the “whipping house” at the center of the author’s The Secrets of Charlotte Street series.Īlice Hull, one of the house’s employees, interrupts them to tell her boss she needs to head home as soon as possible because she just got a letter saying her mother is at death’s door.

Granted, I’d sign up for pretty much any story featuring a snowy road trip, but I got a lot more than that by the end of this book. Theme: Road Trip, Taboo Relationship/Forbidden RomanceĪfter reading a slew of perfectly adequate but largely forgettable romances lately, reading The Lord I Left was a nice, trope-tastic surprise.

The lord i left by scarlett peckham