No Place for a Lady

The Regency Rags to Riches #1

by Jade Lee

The London rookeries are slums, rife with criminals, and shunned by the upper crust.

But someone there intends to murder one of England's greatest leaders, and Marcus Kane, Lord Chadwick, will follow every clue, even into the bowels of London's underground. But he can't find his way alone.

A partner is required.

Fantine (Fanny) Delarive is perfect. She knows the slums better than any, has survived its labyrinth alone for years, and knows every criminal lurking in every dark corner.

Then, the investigation detours the pair into the bright ballrooms of the ton.

And Fantine fits in here, too.

Which changes everything.

Lord Chadwick knows a woman of Fantine's ilk is entirely unsuitable for him. But she's infinitely more exciting than any well-born lady he's ever met.

Now much more than an acquaintance with the independent, self-reliant Fantine is required... and it must end with nothing less than marriage.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Regency, Mystery

323 pages, ebook

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: Also writes under the pen name Kathy Lyons.

A USA Today Bestseller, JADE LEE has been scripting love stories since she first picked up a set of paper dolls. Ball gowns and rakish lords caught her attention early (thank you Georgette Heyer), and her fascination with the Regency began. An author of more than 40 romance novels and winner of dozens of industry awards, her latest series is RAKES AND ROGUES. The first one, 50 WAYS TO RUIN A RAKE, is an awesome tale of love and laughter.
And don’t forget Kathy Lyons.. She’s Jade’s paranormal half. Check out her new shifter series GRIZZLIES GONE WILD.
To find all the latest news on Jade or Kathy, visit them at www.jadeleeauthor.com or www.kathylyons.com! And find out where you can meet her at: http://jadeleeauthor.com/appearances

Reviews

[Lynn]

Genre: Historical romance (side note, I read somewehere that it was a romantic comedy but I didn't think this was an accurate description).
Standalone/series: I think stand alone
Cliffhanger?: No
Cursing?: Not that I remember
Descriptive Sex?: Yes
Descriptive Sex Between H/h With OW/OM?:No
Contains Cheating?: No
Overall Chemistry: Meh
Overall Couple's Rootablity: not that good until the very end
HEA/HFN/etc Ending: HEA
1st/2nd/3rd Person: 3rd
Character(s)POV Spoken: dual

Any Triggers/Warnings: threats of rape.

Overall Rating: Not the best fit for me.
Would You Read More Books By This Author: Probably not
Safety Gang approved? Yes, though as the book starts the Hero has just sent off his mistress back to her kept house. Blech!

I read this on vacation and it took forever. Not sure if part of the problem is because I picked it up so sporadically over the week. I liked the idea of a strong heroine but I didn't like how her head was ruled by her physical reactions to the hero. It took till the very end of the book before I could stand the hero. He just came off as a jerk for too long to me. The description said this was a romantic comedy but it wasn't that funny. Overall, it was okay.

[Babs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jade Lee is a great writer and author. The book started out decent and then I could not get into the read. I wanted more of the time period and there were things that did not add up. Women wouldn't be openly talking about a mistress for the hero. She rips her dress and shows a lot of leg which would lead to a scandal but nothing is made of it. Things like this just didn't add up for me. The writing is good just not the plot.

[Tracey Madeley · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a NY Times bestseller, this was not too bad as it attempted to do something different. Fantine is the illegitimate child of Lord Penworthy and lives amongst the poor, but she chooses to use her unique skills to help her father to protect Lord Wilberforce who has introduced a bill to ban slavery. She also supports her friends with food and money when she can.

One of the interesting things about the book is the way it shows the tension between Marcus Kane, Lord Chadwick and Fantine. He wants her to be his mistress as he cannot contemplate her being his wife and she does not want to end up like her mother, an actress who gave her away. When she is taken in by his sister to train as a lady to uncover the plot behind who is trying to kill Wilberforce the dynamic between Fantine and Marcus changes. Even the seedy gangsters who seek to punish Fantine for her deception pale in comparison to the Lords who think they are above the law.

There is some nice historical detail that adds to the atmosphere and authenticity of the book. Also, Fantine’s use of dialect to show how she straddles two worlds adds colour to the book. Like all good romances there is a satisfying happy ending. From Dickens to George Bernard Shaw this a refreshing and entertaining read.

[Thom Swennes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Answering an urgent and unexpected summons from Lord Penworthy MP, Marcus Kane, Lord Chadwick, immediately goes to his townhouse on Grosvenor Square. He is surprised to see his old friend in apparently poor health and in a state of considerable agitation. Before he could inquire about the sudden emergency, the peace is broken by the sudden appearance of a diminutive streetwalker in a blaze of swirling color. Marcus was taken aback at this guttersnipe in the library of his powerful and distinguished friend. Lord Penworthy, instead of being outraged and mortified at the sudden interruption, was practically beaming at the sudden intrusion.
Lord Penworthy tells them both that an assassination attempt on William Wilberforce was narrowly thwarted. Who was behind the attempt was still a mystery and he wants them to team up to hunt down both the perpetrator and whoever gave the order. The two unlikely personalities would scour the hypogeal world of the London rookeries, to the highest echelons of society in search of leads. What they find is much more encompassing then either one of them could imagine.

Set in 1807, the two main characters could not be more different or further apart is the social spectrum. My first impression is of Simon Templar, with a devil-may-care attitude and tenacious patriotism for king and country, and Eliza Doolittle, an enigma incarnate, a mysterious mix of intelligence, charm, beauty, and that je ne sais quoi that sets her apart from other women. One is the cream of London society and the other a Cockney strumpet and whippersnapper. As another testament to the axiom that opposites attract, Marcus and Fantine (Fanny / Rat) Delarive, soon form a love/hate relationship that serves to muddy the waters of their investigation. The characters are complete and compelling; giving the story an epic feel. Drama, suspense, humor, romance, and steamy sexual interludes combine to provide the reader with a literary smorgasbord upon which to feast.
This is the first book in the Rags to Riches series and my first introduction to the talents of Jade Lee. Although I received this book as a freebie (I’m a sucker for a bargain), in retrospect, and with foreknowledge of the author’s writing and imaginative skills and talents, I would have readily paid for the pleasure she provided. I look forward to experiencing more of her positively delightful prose.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yep, a trashy romance novel, but I did laugh out loud in a few places, which is rare for me lately. Just fun characters.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great Regency read taking place in 1807. A woman living in the rookeries, born to a poor woman but rich nobleman, is hired to protect an older nobleman and while doing so meets a charming gentleman. She ends up falling in love with him but he just wants her as his mistress. She does not want the same fate as her mother so decides to make a deal with him to have a proper coming out. While trying to uncover the murder scheme against the older nobleman, she encounters all sorts of trouble with unsavory men from the rookeries. But in the end, the older nobleman is saved, the murder scheme revealed and she wins over the charming gentleman and they get married properly.

[Cindy Sickenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting Adventure

Keeps you riveted to the expectation of the next scrape Fantine and Marcus find themselves in. Expect the unexpected! Funny, too!

[Ashlyn Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jade Lee’s historical romances! Her characters are always unique and believable. I enjoyed the backstory which was sprinkled in, adding layers to the main story and characters. Delightful!

[Gypsie Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Fast, fun read. Thoroughly enjoyed tho' a total load of rubbish.

[Cecilia Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in 1807 London, when William Wilberforce’s life is threatened, Marcus Kane is assigned to protect him.
Complicating his mission is Fantine Delarive an unlikely partner.

[Varshaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book......

[Karena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.

[Natalija · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 35%
It's not a book for me. The comedic flair ruined my reading experience.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unusual story with many twists and turns.

[Zimt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read the "Jade Lee Bundle: Almost an Angel; No Place for a Lady" and wrote a combined review for both books you can find here on goodreads if you prefer that.

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"No Place for a Lady" by Jade Lee is book 1 in the theme-linked series "The Regency Rags to Riches" where a poor soul (Rags) is taken up and finds itself back in polite society (Riches). It place in the time of Regency England and shows the hardships of that period like life in the rookeries.

When the lines between working class and the ton blur then it needs two exceptional persons to solve the mystery and save all of England. Fanny is such a person and together with her 'forced' partner Lord Chadwick she will rise above her station and show everyone what she is made of. It helps that Lord Chadwick is such a handsome and nice man who also happens to possess some bright brain. Together they will sneak through the slums and blow through the ton to find answers. In the end, it won't be simple to stop an assassination, but when a "Lady" and a Lord work together nothing is impossible.

Fantine or Fanny is 25 years old and her life wasn't easy until now, so she developed quite a sarcastic streak, which I loved and also some interesting personas to go with in the rookeries. Both results in a lot of dark humour situations in this Novel and I'm a fan of that.
Nevertheless, Fanny manages pretty good, but then problems occur with Lord Chadwick popping up in her life. He shows her possibilities for her and her protégés and Fanny begins to question her way of living. Maybe she should accept proper help.

Marcus is your typical, 30 or so gentleman. As an ex-spy, he thinks he saw and knows it all. It is quite a shock for him to get a glimpse of Fanny's life. Because of this, he begins slowly to alter his view of society and way of thinking. He even tries to establish Fanny as a Lady in his sister household.

Mrs. Lee accomplishes to balance a love story with an assassination plot. Whilethe story is told in third person by Marcus and Fanny it is easy to follow the complex plot. Everything is closely intertwined with the action story line, the assassination attempt on the House of Commons MP Wilberforce. It seems very realistic, because assassinations happen today as well against political critics.
And finally, a woman leads the rescue! While the investigation scenes vary between the slums especially at the beginning of the Novel and later the ballrooms Fanny is the perfect guide for Marcus and he has to accept that she had superior knowledge in this field.
Besdies, I enjoyed to read about the "working class". One the one hand, there were rival gangs controlling the money and the daily struggles for money, a bed and a job. But on the other hand, the people stood by each other when they could and there was hope. It would be reassuring if there were really humans like Fantine and Marcus who gave ideas for possibilities out of the slums.

The Novel addresses a serious topic. Homelessness is terrible and Mrs. Lee gives through Marcus and Fanny ideas on how to make a difference. I loved that and that is why I am happy to have read this historical romance book.

[Gali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those "well, it's a freebie and I haven't read any romance books in a while, so why not" reads. Overall, it is much better than a lot of what's found in the genre but I must admit that I was not too much into the school-ground antics/pigtail pulling that Fanny and Marcus got into for about the last three-quarters of the book.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantine (Fanny/Rat) lives in the rookery, the rookeries being the slums of the city among the worst of the criminals. She does her best to protect and feed the orphaned kids along the docks, all little hellions and don’t mess with them kind of kids. She’s also the bastard child of an English politician, a man who never claimed her, never provided for her, and left her and her mother to their own wiles of support. When she does introduce herself to her real political father he hires her to help him with certain investigation within the Parliament. During one of these so called assignments she meet Marcus Kane, Lord Chadwick. And wow, does the sparks ever fly.

Marcus Kane, Lord Chadwick in line to be the next Earl of Chadwick is a handsome blond haired, blue eyed hunk of a package with his own demons. After he and his brother involved in a spy investigation for the crown in France, Marcus loses his brother. This is an loss that Marcus cannot forgive himself for. He should not have left his brother to go it alone, it should have been him, but, it wasn’t and now March is left to have to deal with the loss and the consequences of his actions.

When he is called by a dear old friend, a member of the Parliament, Marcus goes to his aid to help catch and stop a murder. The murder of a top politician trying to get an anti-slavery bill passed and someone in the ton does not want this to happen. But when he is paired up with a juicy talking little street urchin he trys to draw the line and refuses to work with this ill tempered little slip of a ratty looking, tough talker of a human being if she can be called that. But as the story flows they do work together to find the murderer and how the story does take off.
I liked this book, the author keeps the story moving at a good pace and some of the scenes are funny. I found especially funny was the way the hero is constantly being drawn into the skirmishes that the heroine seems to get herself into and the hero trying to ward off the feelings for her that seem to be growing by leaps and bounds.

The editing was I would have to say good, there were only a couple words that were missing a letter here and there, nothing that distracted me from the story at all. No the author does not stick to conformity of the time period in this book, she steps out of the zone on historical facts and the way a proper woman or any woman should act back then, but hey, all women are not alike and it takes all kinds in this crazy world of ours. And common sense would tell you that all was not proper even in the old days.

[Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our heroine, street urchin Rat/Fanny also new member of the ton Fantine Delarive, and hero, Marcus Kane, Lord Chadwick, meet by request of Lord Penworthy to save the life of a Member of Parliment (Mr. Wilberforce) whose slavery bill is due to pass. With an threat to his life, Penworthy insists that Fantine and Chadwick work together as their search takes them not only through the slums, which Fanny knows inside and out, to the ballrooms of the ton, where Chadwick and his family preside.

Fantine brings Chadwick out of his doldrums after loosing his brother, and through their investigation, he discovers that she brings a excitment, adventure for life that he craves. Although he at first wants her for his mistress, eventually he realizes that he wants much, much more.

This book started off very slow for me. It was hard to follow exactly where the author wanted to lead the reader. However, the more that is learned about Fantine, the better the book became and about half way through, the book really picked up and I found myself enjoying it.

True, it may take liberties with the time period, but if read more for the interaction between the two characters, its a great book to pass the time with.

[Karla Brandenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun historical with a bastard child of a politician who grows into a spy for her father and is thrown into intrigue with a titled gentleman to stop a murder.

What distracted me: There was some inconsistency in Fantine's character, from the beginning where she remarks how she knows Spanish, and yet when called upon to learn a foreign language (French) is concerned with applying herself. Her spoken English jumps back and forth between cockney and cultured on a whim. She went to a proper school, but dropped out, so how did she learn to fit in so well? If she wasn't willing to apply herself, seems as if she wouldn't have made an effort to mimic her roles so well.

What I liked: There was plenty of humor with Fantine and Chadwick while they tested each other's abilities to solve the crime. Fantine's character was developed nicely, from street rat with no desire to be respectable to wanting to be part of the swells.

Overall, I enjoyed the read.

[Kyra Dunst · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed out loud so many times throughout this story. Fantine is a bastard woman with a noble father, but she won't let her father set her up on the side. Instead, she makes her own way as a spy in the underbelly of London. Lord Marcus has put his espionage days behind him, but when called for one last case, he can't help but step up to protect his country. When the two are forced to work together, sparks fly. Fantine is a wonderfully unique woman. She is kind and compassionate, but still innocent at her core in spite of her growing up in the seedier section of London. The romance was well written and the characters were engaging. I would definitely read more from this author.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the streets to the ball? It's the one place she doesn't want to conform to then again she just might have to. Work has made her partners with the one things she doesn't like, aristocrats and their snobbish ways. Yet t appease her father she will do as he wishes yet the pan to get rid of him easy enough seeps into her mind. How easy it will be. Or will it?
This had the right amount of everything. From keeping me on the edge of my seat to keeping me in stitches. I laughed so hard I had to but the book down till I could read and absorb the words without the fits of laughter. I have to put this author on my must read list.

^^ free for honest review

[Tina Ullrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robberies to mansion

Fantine and Marcus have a lively, romping, thrilling good time protecting so mms e one from death in the robberies of grand London. Fantine is raised by her actress mother until her death when she found out who her father was. Then as a spy to help her father she does odd jobs and gathers information. Marcus is a spy who is no sure of his abilities any convenience his brother's death. Now the two have to protect an MP from being murdered and locate the man behind the plot. In all the mayhem the two banter and bicker and act their way throughout this outrageous comedy of errors romance. In the end they earn their HEA.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, loved, loved it! A great story that went through to the end, loved all the little stories that began along way too. There would be times that the smaller stories never really ended just stopped abruptly and then would pick back up again. It made this book full from beginning to end but not confusing and it didn't feel like there was too much happening because it never happened all at the same time.

The chemistry between Fantina and Marcus was amazing, hot, frustrating and ridiculous at times. I loved these two. I'm definitely a fan of Jade Lee!

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was confused through most of the book. There was hardly any character development and I was never sure why characters acted the way they did.
The whole book felt rushed. Maybe another 50 pages to develop the story would have helped it but I'm not sure.
The hero? Didn't like him. That extra 50 pages could've been his character going from a stuffy Regency lord to someone we could all like and fall in love with!

Jade Lee has written excellent work before so I was disappointed. This won't deter me from her other work though.

[Zena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting story about a girl living by her wits, in poverty and an aristocrat. Both work undercover as agents and in their own way, get 'things' done.
They are brought together to prevent a potential murder and so the adventure begins and continues.
Love blossoms and grows long before either of them realizes what is happening.
This is a romantic mystery which has been well written and cleverly thought out. I am impressed with this author's ability to keep one enthralled and entertained.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this rather confusing to be honest, with too many characters and a plot that seemed thin at the best of times. Fantine's frequent and unnecessary use of gutter-speak was annoying as well as distracting. There were also some editing errors that should have been picked up I think. e.g:

..so she teased the clientele like a two-bit tart. That is a term used in the US and Canada, not in London.

[A.C. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolutely fun book to read and I loved the story. It was genuine and quirky along with the stiff Regency status that normally comes into view. I felt for Fantine and the boys that she kept fed. I liked that she didn't want to succumb to the creature comforts offered to her by her father and by Marcus without making sure she could further help the children of the rookeries. Brilliant book! I'm going to keep reading!

[Deborah Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has some typical elements. Heroine goes from poverty to wealth. The hero provides her with a season, so that she can learn about and experience the life of the upper crust.
The unusual is that both the hero and heroine are spies. That the hero wants the heroine as a mistress. The heroine already has had some exposure to the upper crust. She plans to marry for practical reasons. it was fun and interesting to see how these two came together.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know by now I love strong women. Jade delivered. Fanny has a mind of her own in a time where that was not appreciated, much less encouraged. She is not willing to back down and be less than she is, even knowing her life could be easier. Marcus's mother might make a great role model for her. Check it out.