Book Review: Bombshell by Sarah Maclean

Genre: Historical Romance

I'm a dedicated Sarah MacLean fan. I have loved every single one of her books and I listen to her podcast, Fated Mates, regularly. There was no question really that I was going to love this book, especially since it's such a long awaited love story in the MacLean universe.

Summary

Sesily Talbot is the only unmarried Talbot, a boisterous family raised to aristocracy because of her father's success in the coal industry. She's easily the most scandalous and wild, a reputation she revels in, especially as it aids her in her purpose: to take down nefarious men within the ton. Her and her friends, The Belle's, move among society using their outcast reputations as masks. When Caleb comes back to England, after having fled across the ocean to resist temptation, he's immediately pulled in by Sesily and her mischief because of course he is. 

This book blew me away. With every series, every book, Sarah MacLean is pushing the boundaries of her own writing as well as what the genre of historical romance can do, and this book is no exception. She really gets into the time period (1838, right at the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign) and doesn't confine herself to the Mayfair ballrooms. Her characters are bright and dimensional, her settings diverse and fun. In this book alone we move from Covent Garden taverns, ballrooms, country cottage, and the streets of Brixton.

Sesily Talbot is probably my favorite MacLean heroine; she is vibrant, fierce, loving, and deeply competent. Caleb Calhoun is her perfect match, a man with well buried secrets but with so much love in his heart who can't help but be swept away by the force of Sesily. It's magic. It's not just the main couple that sparkle this way though! Fellow dedicated fans of MacLean's work will recognize all the cameos and quick snapshots of past characters, a fun game of hide and seek for readers. And the rest of the Belle's! I cannot wait to get their books, I am totally hooked.

5/5 Stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"They came for my friends, and I fought. And it wasn't harebrained or misguided or a lark. And I didn't do it without thought. And it wasn't stupid and it wasn't reckless and I don't have to explain it to anyone —least of all my sister who adores calling me reckless—simply because you couldn't keep your hands off me long enough to walk away."