Olivia Waite: The Hellion’s Waltz

It’s not a crime to steal a heart…

Sophie Roseingrave hates nothing more than a swindler. After her family lost their piano shop to a con man in London, they’re trying to start fresh in a new town. Her father is convinced Carrisford is an upright and honest place, but Sophie is not so sure. She has grave suspicions about silk-weaver Madeline Crewe, whose stunning beauty doesn’t hide the fact that she’s up to something.

All Maddie Crewe needs is one big score, one grand heist to properly fund the weavers’ union forever. She has found her mark in Mr. Giles, a greedy draper, and the entire association of weavers and tailors and clothing merchants has agreed to help her. The very last thing she needs is a small but determined piano-teacher and composer sticking her nose in other people’s business. If Sophie won’t be put off, the only thing to do is to seduce her to the cause.

Will Sophie’s scruples force her to confess the plot before Maddie gets her money? Or will Maddie lose her nerve along with her heart?

CW: Grief, fraud

Third in the sapphic “Feminine Pursuits” Series, which kicked off with the fantastic The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics, Waite brings us the story of two working class women who engage in a scheme to defraud a villainous small town exploiter.

Sophie’s family has come to Carrisford for a fresh start after a devastating loss. It is while out and about exploring the new town that the striking Maddie catches Sophie’s eye. Bold, passionate Maddie is first dismissive of Sophie, but soon the pair find they can’t keep away from each other. Both have some personal trauma/history to overcome, adding an emotional depth to each of the MCs that was enjoyable. There is a bit of grief (from both death and loss) but its handled gently, although I added a CW for those who may be too raw to dive in. There is also a lot of fraud/schemes within the book that may be problematic for some readers. Although the main thrust is to run a scam to unseat a local tyrant, its still fraud nonetheless.

The romance is fairly insta-love or insta-lust, so there isn’t a slow burn factor…in fact there isn’t much of a burn at all, more of instant ignition. This was one of the hardest parts of the novel for me, and I think contributed to me liking the MCs but not feeling their romance. I just wasn’t invested because there was no build up, which may be ideal for a reader looking for low angst (at least in the romance department).

This is more of an early Victorian novel, or at late Regency, with much of the background tension being on the mechanization and industrialization of the textile industry. There are lots of references to Peterloo and the historical details don’t end there. Waite obviously did a considerable amount of homework to understand scientific inventions (including loom works) from the era, what would have been plausible in terms of manufacturing, processing, and dyeing. I loved the emphasis on the impact to workers, how workers were beginning to adjust to the new economy (which feels prescient for today’s economic shifts), and how unions really did function to support laborers.

Waite also spends some time walking through musical elements which were less accessible to me but will probably strike all the right chords with some readers.

The intimate scenes were vanilla and light, but were on the page. I found the whole book to be very LGBQTIA+ positive, with no homophobia.

There were also several secondary characters that were people of color, a polyamourous color, more f/f couples, and generally more diverse representation than the average historical romance.

Waite is a strong writer and a great researcher, so I enjoyed this book and finished it quickly, even though a few aspects fell a bit short for me. I would definitely recommend the series (although I have yet to read the 2nd, which I have read is fantastic).

5 Stars 4.5 out of 6 Third and final book of the Feminine Pursuits Series featuring two talented women coming together for the common good.