“Captivates with a mix of history and fantasy. [An] immersive, action-packed narrative.” —USA Today’s Happy Ever AfterFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Eon and Eona; a Regency adventure series starring a stylish and intrepid Buffy-esque demon-hunterLondon, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids … presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her intelligence and headstrong curiosity wind up leading them into a death trap?
* Includes a bonus Dark Days Club novella! *
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A PHENOMENAL read.
I absolutely loved this book…
my parents and I are Christian so we (as in my parents) don’t read a lot of reading non-Christian books.
My mother is a pastor so she is really picky on my book reading (a.k.a. books). But this book is for ALL type of people..at least that’s MY point of view.
…some people may not like/love reading this book or this book period.
The book is about a girl (Lady Helen) who is chosen as something but her aunt/uncle do not agree. The worst part is that she is in…business with a killer (or as they think). She is also (sadly) betrothed (against her will) to (how do we Americans say it?) “She is also betrothed to da Duke”…nope…to teeny. But Lady Helen IS “…betrothed to da Duke.”. As said before…it is against her will (yippee…nice one Duke. *grumbles my head of* ). Which isn’t cool. She goes of with “the killer”, quote-to-quote, and lives “happily-ever-after”? Nuh-uh.
They gotta battle and ass-kick these monsters.
So…above all…this book was THE BEST!!
Book Reader/Christian
Amelia
This book was amazing! At times I wanted to reach thru and shake some sence into some of the characters, but for the most part I loved the characters. I think my favorite relationship has to be Helen and Darcy. They seem to complement each other very well and I can’t wait to see how they grow with their new found strength.
I loved this first book in this series. The characters are wonderful with complexity and depth. The writing is rich and descriptive. I love the combination of history mixed with fantasy. It captivated me fully from the very beginning to the exciting can’t put it down ending.
I didn’t know that there was a sad little gap in my reading life until I read this book. I found that I now have a new favorite genre that I never even knew truly existed before: a historical book with fantasy or paranormal elements. Seriously, I am hooked and I need more books like this pronto!
What did I like, you might ask? The WRITING! OMG, the writing is insanely good! Everything is written so beautifully and flawlessly. There are plenty of details to gain an understanding of how this time era is and what is happening within the story, but not so much that it gives away anything. It is just brilliantly written. Goodman definitely did her research and it shows. This world is complex and all of the elements come together perfectly.
The character development is outstanding. The characters are written in such a way that you get the sense that you know these characters completley. Especially the main character, Helen. She is an engrossing character and I felt so many of the things that she felt while reading this. I tremendously liked the way that the two main characters come together. While there wasn’t really romance involved, there is a tension between them that cannot be denied. It is invigorating! I can’t wait to see what happens between them in the next book in this series. I also very much loved the female friendship between Helen and her personal maid.
I felt that the supernatural part of the story took a long while to come to light. I expected to be thrust into it more quickly. I can’t say that it necessarily took anything away from the story, but I can’t deny that I felt less than immersed in the story at the beginning. After the supernatural part of the story presented itself, I was immediately hooked. If you are the type of reader to put a book down if it isn’t immediately gratifying then this book may not suit you.
I would absolutely recommend this! This book has so many compelling components and leaves you wanting more. I couldn’t put this book down, and I am sure that it will have the same effect on you. I truly loved this book! The next book in this series will not be released soon enough for me!
Too long
I have no idea why when I know I am going to love a book that I “save” it. New Goal read all the books I know I am going to love. This book sat on my shelf for way too long.
This story checked so many of my boxes:
Regency area checkmark
Strong female character checkmark
Some hate to love romance vibes checkmark
Fantasy elements checkmark
So in the story, Lady Helen has lived with her aunt and uncle since her parent’s death when she was younger. Helen has long been told that her mother was a traitor to the crown, but this may not be the case. Helen soon learns that her mother was part of a secret society that fights demons.
I really enjoyed the character Helen and how she was a very strong female character even though this is it any regency time. Of course, Lady Helen’s views cause some problems because she is definitely not a product of her time, she is an educated woman and proud of it. She’s also very opinionated which seems to get her in more trouble than anything else.
I won’t lie I really want horrible things to happen to her uncle, I think he is just scum. Then you have Carlston I really want to see more happen there. And there is just something about the Duke of Selburn that I can’t quite like. I think he has an ulterior motive and he does not have Helen’s best interest in mind at all. I think he showed interest just because he thinks Carlston has.
I cannot wait to pick up the next book. I already have it pulled off my bookshelf and on top of a stack of books ready.
I LOVE this series!!!
The historical component, the set of characters deserve a round of applause (especially Lord Carlston :)).
I’m gonna keep this simple by saying that TDDC was an ok start to this series. It got started really slow and had to build up the mystery of things going on a bit before we get into the real plot of the story. I felt it dragged on a bit before I truly started understanding what was going on. But once I did, I thought it was very interesting and was dying to know and learn more. Not too much is revealed about this Dark Days Club, but enough that I want to know more and the impact Lady Helen will have on it. So I’m very much looking forward to what happens with Lady Helen next.
I love how well Alison Goodman writes historical stories because I think she captures the time in her writing very well. I loved that the most about this book. Lady Helen was a very strong and smart character that I really liked. I love that there wasn’t really a romance and it focused mostly on Lady Helen and her discovery of the Dark Days Club. I hope to see her be more badass in the next book. I also liked Lord Carlston. You don’t really know if you should like him or not or trust him. His intentions always seemed pure and I just wanted to get to know him more.
TDDC was a decent start to this series and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.