general

• quick summary - lonely-hearts columnist and love lover amelie teams up with serious detective baker to catch a charming but possible wife killer in a cozy mystery and ends in romance <3
• key themes - grief, romance, trust, disabilities, secrets.
• fav character - charlotte; I loved how intelligent, mature, levelheaded, and determined she was and I am looking forward to reading how her romance unfolds.

interests

• what i found interesting - the inclusion and acknowledgment of disabilities in characters in such a setting was a pleasant surprise, and I loved how amelie reacted to meeting alexander. the banter between her and michael was an absolute delight to read, and I was so glad the romance was slow-paced. the relationships between the couple and their respective families were heartwarming. the ending of each chapter kept me on the edge of my seat!
• fav quote - "different is good. different is wonderful" + "(...) what a pity it would be to lose the possibility for happy opportunities because of fear".

books it reminded me of

• lucky lovers of london series - the setting is pretty much the same, and although these are not a mystery and are definitely smutty (and queer!), they gave me the same fanfiction vibe that I was craving.

further reading

• follow-up context research - I have watched a yt video about lonely hearts columns in victorian times, but I might need to look into it a bit more after reading this book.

rating

• 4/5 - this book is for the 19th century + murder mystery obsessed girlies. I feel like the plot does not really deserve a 4-star, but I was obsessed with it for three days so it kind of does. I wish michael's grief hadn't been forgotten, because while I did not want an angsty story, at least it could have been explored a little bit more. I think amelie convinced him too quickly to forget what had happened to his brother-in-law lol other than that, it was a perfectly cute and adorable romance, and the set of side characters were interesting too. while amelie played a little bit too much into the naive and innocent main protagonist, her quick mind made up for it. i am super excited to read the next two books!