A Matter of Grave Concern

by Brenda Novak

Bestselling author Brenda Novak unearths love in the darkest of places.

When Maximillian Wilder hides his noble identity and joins the notorious body snatchers known as the London Supply Company, the last thing on his mind is love. He’s worried about Madeline, his vanished half sister, who was last seen in the company of Jack Hurtsill, the gang’s conscienceless leader. Raiding graveyards, stealing corpses, and selling them to medical colleges as dissection material is dirty work, but Max knows he must gain Jack’s trust. He’s determined to find out what happened to Madeline—and to bring Jack to justice if she was murdered for the coin her body could earn.

Beautiful, spirited Abigail Hale, daughter of the surgeon at Aldersgate School of Medicine, detests the challenging, hard-bargaining Max almost as much as Jack. But she must procure the necessary specimens if she is to save the college and her father’s career. She believes she is going to be successful—until Jack double-crosses her. Then she’s swept into a plot of danger and intrigue, one where Max must intervene to protect her, no matter the risk to his plan…or his heart.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Historical, Historical Romance, Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2014

About the author

It was a shocking experience that jump-started Brenda Novak’s bestselling author career.

“I caught my day-care provider drugging my children with cough syrup and Tylenol to get them to sleep while I was away,” Brenda says. “It was then that I decided that I needed to do something from home.”

However, writing was the last profession she expected to undertake. In fact, Brenda swears she didn’t have a creative bone in her body. In school, math and science were her best subjects, and when it came time to pick a major in college, she chose business.

Abandoning her academic scholarship to Brigham Young University at the age of 20 in order to get married and start a family, Brenda dabbled in commercial real estate, then became a loan officer.

“When I first got the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book,” Brenda admits. “I learned how to write by reading what others have written. The best advice for any would-be author: read, read, read….”

Brenda sold her first book, and the rest is history. Now a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, she continues to publish two or three novels a year, in a variety of genres.

Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of five children—three girls and two boys. Now that they are empty-nesters, she spends her free time babysitting her two grandchildren.

When she’s not with her family or writing, Brenda is usually raising money for diabetes research. To date, she's raised almost $2.6 million. Her youngest son, Thad, has diabetes, and Brenda is determined to help him and others like him. She also enjoys traveling, watching sporting events and biking--she rides an amazing 20 miles every day!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-...

Reviews

[Danielle (Love at First Page) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oh dear. What a mess. Frankly, I am shocked this book was written by the same author who wrote Through the Smoke. I am going to keep this brief, because literally nothing about A Matter of Grave Concern worked for me.

Summary: London, 1830s. Abigail Hale, daughter of the surgeon at Aldersgate School of Medicine, longs not for marriage but for a place at her father's side. In order for the college and her father's career to thrive, they need to procure more corpses for dissection material. She takes matters into her own hands by hiring the London Supply Company to snatch one for her. Only the leader, Jack Hurtsill, and his infuriating companion, Max Wilder, double cross her, and she loses a purse of money the college needs. Abigail thinks to steal the money back by breaking into Jack's home in the middle of the night, but she's discovered and winds up a prisoner under the care of Max.

Maximillian Wilder is actually a nobleman in disguise, having joined the body snatchers in order to learn the whereabouts of his missing half sister. He’s determined to find out what happened to Madeline, and to bring Jack to justice if she was murdered for the coin her body could earn. Already Jack has his suspicions of Max, and Abigail only complicates things further. Max promises to protect her, but at what cost to his heart?

My thoughts: When I saw this book go up on Netgalley I immediately requested it. Through the Smoke is one of my favorite Historical Romances, with its Gothic vibes and foreboding atmosphere. With a title like "A Matter of Grave Concern", I thought I'd find the same thing here. I couldn't have been more wrong. This book feels like child's play. Where's the danger? The intrigue? Or, if you're not going to heighten any of my senses, at least give me a lush romance to devour. Unfortunately, none of that is the case here. The first few pages start off well enough - a woman hiring a bunch of thugs to steal her a corpse? I can roll with that. But it become increasingly clear that things would only go downhill from there.

For one, Abigail is an idiot. She makes stupid decision after stupid decision, hardly in keeping with the time period and endangering her own life in the process. The men from the London Supply Company are obviously dangerous and unscrupulous, yet she thinks it's a wise idea do a little breaking and entering in the middle of the night. Nothing bad could possibly come to a woman in a situation like that. Abigail is foolish, naive, and not a character I ever came to care about.

It's by the 30% mark when things go from bad to worse. I was very close to DNFing it, because on top of everything else I was bored out of my mind. There's no forward momentum. Abigail becomes embroiled in the plot to bring Jack down, learning much later about Max's sister, but I couldn't care less about the happenings. The suspense isn't thrilling, the basic plot is dull as nails, and the romance is most definitely not romantic. Abigail is forced to stay with the men when she is discovered in their house - lest she go to police - and Max, not really the shady guys he's making himself out to be, vows to do all he can to safeguard and let her go at the right time. Abigail doesn't know if she should trust Max, yet she falls for him anyway. It's very confusing because I know more about Max than she does, and without that information I don't see how it's possible she isn't more afraid of him. The romance is kind of icky. There are several secrets Max is keeping from her, including one big one that isn't revealed to even the reader until much later. When that comes to light, any favorable opinion I had of him is entirely lost. What. A. Jerk. Nope, this story just went beyond the point of redemption.

By then I started skimming the book, just to finish it. I still can't believe how big of a disappointment it turned out to be. It's not often I give a book one star, but there's so little to recommend that I don't feel bad at all. Better luck next time, I hope.

This review can also be found at Love at First Page.

[WhiskeyintheJar · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

****Full Review****

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

When does the end justify the means? Is it when individuals who have limited options become
resurrectionist? Is it when medical colleges pay for bodies procured from nefarious ways to study and try to further knowledge of human anatomy? How about when a daughter lies to her father to help further his career or a man lying to the woman he is falling in love with in order to keep searching for his missing half sister? A Matter of Grave Concern takes on all these scenarios and leaves the reader questioning just what constitutes right and wrong.
 
Abigail lost her mother at a very young age leaving her to grasp even more for love from her absent surgeon father. She essentially has taken on the role as caretaker at her father's medical college hoping that some day she will be admitted to follow in her father's footsteps. As family members cringe from the thought of their deceased loved ones being inspected after death, colleges are having a hard time supplying specimens for their students to learn from, thus Abigail contacts the London Supply Company. However, when this company of body snatchers arrives, they prove to be a bit much for Abigail to handle, especially one particular member. Max Wilder is looking for his half sister Madeline which has led him to Jack, the leader of the London Supply Company. As he sticks close to Jack looking for clues he finds himself in Abigail's home looking for a way to simultaneously protect her from Jack and teach her to never deal with resurrectionist again.
 
This book started off incredibly intriguing as it deals with a topic often shied away from and had a dark intensity emitting from the characters. Abigail and Max had good banter and friction but when Abigail embarks on a rather dubious course and gets essentially kidnapped, I thought her and Max joined together way too soon; their love connection just wasn't believable yet. Abigail is sweetly naïve but her blunt speech and terms she uses can be rather jarring at times. Her willingness to use a word like cock is explained away by her having no real world experience and learning everything from medical texts but her lack of shyness with Max seemed a bit unrealistic at times. Max was a hard character to connect with as his reasons for why he is with Jack and his very identity are doled out sparingly, hidden, or kept secret for most of the book. In fact, when certain details are revealed as to why he is trying to keep Abigail at a particular distance are made known, he comes off as kind of a jerk. One of these details is rather unneeded as it (the character) add nothing to the story, is never seen, and seems tagged on to an already full list of why Max can't be with Abigail; in other words, very overdone. Together, they definitely had a beginning spark but as the story moves on it fizzles out as Abigail quite suddenly decides to give up her lifelong dream of being a surgeon to stay with Max and Max "wants" Abigail but continues to (sort of) push her away because he "can't" have her.
 
As I said, this had a strong start but seemed to lose its way as the middle gets bogged down with repetitiveness, unanswered questions about Max, and a slow pace. The dialogue between Abigail and Max can get fairly vulgar at times, which didn't bother me like it may some but was surprising for the time period this takes place and how I originally pictured Abigail's character. The ending with all its mysteries revealed and problems solved wrapped up a bit quickly and with a little too neat of a bow; the epilogue was also very gooey sweet.
 
Ms. Novak's writing is meritorious; she just seemed to lose her way in the middle. If you are looking for a regency that deals with something other than ballrooms, want a little more spice to your bedroom dialogue than is usually seen in this fare, and a bit slower moving then this could be for you. A Matter of Grave Concern is definitely different, I'm just not sure it's good.
 

[Caz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review from 2014

B for narration /C for content. 3.5 stars.

A Matter of Grave Concern is one of those books that has an interesting premise and starts strongly, but which loses momentum fairly quickly and ends up not living up to its potential.

The story is set in London in 1830, at a time when the study of the medical sciences was increasing disproportionately to the number of corpses and cadavers that were available to medical students for study, meaning that many colleges resorted to purchasing corpses illegally. One such institution is Aldersgate College in the East End of London, where anatomy is taught by Edwin Hale, a highly respected surgeon and anatomist. His daughter, Abigail, more or less runs the college and is devoted to her father, in spite of the fact that it quickly becomes apparent to the listener that her devotion is not reciprocated. In fact, Hale has been rather a neglectful father since the death of his wife when Abigail was six, and the only education she has received is one she has gleaned herself from her father’s books. She is thus rather ignorant of the ways of society, and also dreams of one day being admitted to the college to study rather than just supervise the accounts.

The college is in desperate need of a new subject of study, so Abigail, unbeknownst to her father, contacts the London Supply Company, a gang of body-snatchers, in order to obtain one. But things do not go well, principally due to the interference of a member of the gang she has never seen before who keeps driving up the price and whose marked insolence makes Abigail very uncomfortable. When she discovers that the gang has not only cheated her, but stolen money from the college, Abigail decides that the only thing she can do is to go to the gang’s lodgings when they are all out and retrieve the money. She reasons that confessing to her father would not serve the purpose as then he would want to call the authorities, and she cannot allow him to risk his reputation (and his possible knighthood).

Abigail is in luck on arrival at the gang’s house in Wapping, because they are all away from home – or so she thinks, until she is accosted by the very man who had caused such trouble earlier, Max Wilder, (who is, incidentally, well-spoken, less dirty and more handsome than the others!) who hauls her bodily into his room, telling her to keep quiet and do as she’s told if she wants to get out of there alive and unharmed.

Terrified, Abigail nonetheless tries to bolt and is seen by the other gang-members. Max knows that there’s no way they will let her go now they’ve seen her for fear she’ll go to the authorities, so he tells them she’s his lover, as it’s the only plausible reason he can give for keeping her with him and out of the clutches and beds of the other men. It’s been clear since the start that Max isn’t exactly what he claims to be, and he eventually tells Abby that he joined the gang because he’s searching for his half-sister, who was last seen in company with Big Jack Hurtshill, the gang’s leader. There’s more he doesn’t tell her, too, and because the listener isn’t made privy to it until Abigail is, it makes it difficult to connect with Max as the hero of the story and of the romance.

There’s a strong physical attraction between the couple and Abby’s “natural curiosity” about the male form – she’s seen plenty of dead ones but no live ones! – means that it’s not long before they’re exploring that attraction, although Max refuses to ruin her completely, much to Abby’s frustration. She’s never going to get married anyway, so what use is her hymen?!

This part of the story is fairly static, but things start moving again when Abby manages to persuade Big Jack that she could be useful as a part of the gang – a woman tagging on to a funeral procession is much less suspicious than a man, and she will be able to locate new graves and then lead Jack to them under cover of darkness. Max is appalled at the prospect of Abby becoming so embroiled in the gang’s activities – he wants to keep her safe until he can return her to her father, but Abby is determined to help him search for his sister.

This is mentioned several times throughout, but that part of the plot only gets going in the last few chapters, so it feels very rushed and is resolved rather too conveniently. The pacing is uneven overall, in fact, as there are large chunks where nothing much seems to happen and the action feels disjointed. When Max’s true identity is revealed, so is something else which not only makes him look like a total git, but is actually completely unnecessary in terms of the main plot and seems to have been put in simply to create a romance roadblock.

The author does a good job in evoking the atmosphere of the seedier parts of London, but while the writing is good, the characterisation is very thin, and the heroine verges on the TSTL too often for my taste. The mystery isn’t suspenseful and the romance is not well developed. Max and Abby are fooling around between the sheets within two or three days of meeting each other, and even Abby’s unconventional upbringing isn’t enough to explain both that, and the fact that she bandies around words like “cock” and “spermatozoa” without even the slightest blush.

My main reason for picking up this audiobook was that Michael Page is the narrator. He’s someone I’ve enjoyed listening to in the past (I really liked his narrations of Amanda Quick’s The Paid Companion and of Victoria Alexander’s The Importance of Being Wicked ) and who I wish would narrate more historical romance, as the genre is sadly short of good, male narrators. His performance here is as accomplished as I’ve come to expect – he’s a good vocal actor and his characterisations are varied and always appropriate. Big Jack sounds every bit the rough, East-End thug, with real gravel in his voice, and each member of the grave-robbing gang is clearly differentiated. Max sounds suitably refined, with a hint of danger kept under wraps, and Mr Page performs the female characters well, for the most part – although on one occasion I found myself thinking of Terry Jones uttering those immortal words – “he’s a very naughty boy!” But the character in question is supposed to be a squawking old busybody, so that interpretation works. Mr. Page speaks deeply, sounding resonant and powerful, yet he’s able to perform young women very effectively by means of a softened tone and a heightened pitch that is never screechy (unless called for). His portrayal of Abigail is very good, expertly painting the picture of a young woman forced into a difficult situation and rising to the challenge. He performs the narrative expressively and at a good pace, and overall, I found myself more caught up in the story in audio than when I read the book, solely because his performance is so engaging.

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t have a lot of experience with Brenda Novak works. I read Through the Smoke and absolutely loved the Historical Romance and Gothic feel of that story. She has written fifty books, which is a huge accomplishment, but I have only read one so I’m not sure if her overall style is geared more towards Through the Smoke or more like A Matter of Grave Concern. While I liked certain aspects of this novel I did not like it nearly as much as my first experience with Brenda Novak.

The Story - Abigail has been raise by her very intellectual father since her mother died. She grew up in a college for anatomy and wants desperately to keep the collage going in hopes that one day she too may attend the all-male school. She has pretty much been neglected for most of her life and had learned almost everything she knows through medical books.

Max has led a pampered life. But after the disappearance of his half-sister he joined a body snatcher gang in hopes of discovering what happened to her. His spot in the gang is precarious as the leader knows there is something a little off about him but can’t really put his finger on it.

Max and Abigail meet when she tries to purchase a body for her father’s college and instead she finds that body snatchers might not be a trustworthy bunch to do business with. She ends up in a perilous situation where she must depend on Max to keep her safe from Jack and the rest of his crew. But staying in the same room with him and pretending to be a couple has come with a few complications for Max who is trying to remain a gentleman.

”If you are trying to make me want to come back to bed, it’s working.”
She arched her eyebrows, “You are all talk.”
“If only I could do as I wished.”
“Someday I will have you so desperate for the feel of me that you will give in.”

The Characters - Abigail oh Abby. I liked her sometimes. She has this extreme naivety and honestly that is somewhat adorable. There is also the fact that she is a very smart woman with absolutely no live experience so she makes terrible mistakes often and really has very little insight into the real world.

“Did your father’s medical journals mention anything about kissing?” he asked.
Her eyes, wide and honest, never wavered from his. “No, they concentrated on the viscid whitish fluid of the male reproductive tract that consists of spermatozoa suspended in secretions of accessory glands and –“
“Spermatozoa?” he repeated, incredulous. “I’m sure I have never heard a woman use that word before or a man for that matter.”

But Abby got on my nerves a little with how quickly she gave up on most of the dreams she had for the idea of possibly something with Max. It was all just a little too quick. She was so lonely and desperate for any kind of attention it was a little sad. I felt bad that her father didn’t know where she was but at the same time I didn’t want her to go back to such an empty life where everyone was too busy to notice her.

Max, was ruthless in the beginning and it made him a little hard to like initially. While he did grow on me a bit and I respected that he was trying to keep Abby mostly pure for when she returned to her life I again had issue with him when honor and duty got so far in the way later. It seemed like an unnecessary road block of sorts.
Jack and the gang were despicable. There really weren’t any redeeming qualities to any of them. Even when I wanted to have a shred of sympathy for Jack later I couldn’t after everything terrible that he had already done. The bad guys might have been just slightly over the top.

Why I didn’t fall head over heels in love with this - A few of the reasons for my luke warm feelings are:

The early sex scenes seem a little incomplete. I’m all for non-penetrating intercourse especially in HF where contraception and reputation are such big deals but….I want to feel like both characters get off and in two scenes it is clear what Max did for Abby but then really glossed over the Abby to Max part.

Abby is desperate to be accepted into the college so that one day she can become a surgeon. But later it seemed like she just gave up on the idea completely. She did have something else going on but, I thought that even though her dreams changed maybe she would still want something to do with changing laws or women’s rights or something, anything. But due to circumstance it all just went away.

Does every historical fiction novel have to have the threat of rape so in the forefront of the story? It seemed like the looming threat of rape was really over used and some of the comments made by Jack and Tom were so disturbing. I know it was another time but I’m sure they could be dangerous men without threatening to rape Abby.

Why I’ll still read another Brenda Novak Story - Overall I liked the direction the two main characters took and I liked the ending of the story. It isn’t a bad story I just gave Through the Smoke 5 stars and was hoping for another story along those lines. I like that Brenda Novak writes flawed characters. Abby and Max both had character flaws that added to the believability of their characters. Abby was a semi-strong woman in a time where women didn’t have a lot of power over their own lives it is a difficult balance to have.

If you haven’t read a Brenda Novak book then I recommend reading Through the Smoke before picking this one up.

Thank you to Montlake Romance via Netgelley for the ARC

[C Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I certainly did not expect to like this book but given my 4-star rating, I did. Very much.

This is the first novel from this brilliant author I've read that has a historical romance genre. I love her Whiskey Creek series and given her writing style, I read on and took the plunge.

I was really intrigued by the characters especially our curious and headstrong heroine, and the hero in disguise of a crook. Grave robbing was an issue before in the medical field and I read about it in a separate book from Tess Gerritsen.

I don't want to sound negative about not expecting to like this. It's just that I didn't expect anything so I was drawn into the world of grave robbers and alpha males, murder, Stockholm Syndrome, and finding love in the most unlikely places. I like that the knots were tied and they get a HEA.

The romantic suspense angle was something to read about, it really kept me on edge, and it always made me wonder.

Excellent work Ms Novak!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a huge historical fan but when I am reading them by Brenda Novak I get so lost in the story I forget the time period the book book is set in and just get caught up in the story making them rudely special. I loved this book from start to finish. I found myself laughing at some of the things that were said. I could just see a proper lady using the word cock like it was thrown around a few times in this book and I about died laughing. The plot was great and hooked me from the start when fa surgeons daughter was buying a dead body from a resurrection one had no choice but to see where the story was going to go. The mystery was intriguing throughout the book and the love scenes were pretty hot for that time period as well. I would highly recommend this book even for people who are not fans of historical romances.

[Caz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've given this a C- at AAR, so that's 2.5 stars.

There seems to be a bit of a vogue in historicals at the moment for stories which involve anatomists and/or resurrectionists in some way, as this is the third I’ve read in recent months which features characters who are somehow connected to one of those “professions”. That’s not to say the books themselves have used the same plotlines, because they haven’t – I just thought it was an interesting little trend. In A Matter of Grave Concern, Brenda Novak has taken the unusual step of having her heroine actually join a gang of grave-robbers, which is certainly something I haven’t come across before!

Abigail Hale is the daughter of a respected surgeon and anatomist who teaches at Aldersgate College In London. The up-and-coming sciences of surgery and anatomy are creating high demand for cadavers so that students can study the human body and perform the dissections necessary to arrive at a greater understanding of how the body works, while supply is an even more difficult business than usual, thanks to the recent exposure of the activities of the infamous Burke and Hare.

Abigail is devoted to her father and has hopes of one day being admitted to a course of study at the college, something from which, as a woman, she is currently barred. Knowing that the need of a new subject for study is becoming desperate, (otherwise the college will have to close its doors) Abigail secretly arranges the purchase of a corpse from the London Supply Company, a group with which her father has had previous dealings.

When the gang cheats her – and the college – out of a great deal of money, Abby feels she has no alternative but to locate the gang and steal the money back. She knows she’s taking a huge risk, but without that money, the college will not be able to pay its bills, so it’s imperative she makes the attempt.

She makes her way to the gang’s address in Wapping without incident, but upon entering one of the bedrooms to start her search, Abigail is interrupted by Max Wilder, one of the men she’d argued with earlier in the evening, and the one who’d seemed to be directing the operation. She’d disliked his superciliousness and found his air of ruthlessness intimidating, even as she recognised that he was something different from the other men in the group.

In order to protect her from the gang leader, “Big” Jack, Max tells Abby that she’s going to have to stay at the house – and, more specifically, pretend to be his lover. When Jack sees her, he’ll want to bed her, and then dispose of her to stop her from reporting them to the police, and the only way Max can protect her is to keep her physically out of Jack’s reach and keep her with him at all times.

Abby’s sense that Max is not all he seems is borne out when, after a day or so, he admits to her that he’s not a body-snatcher and has only joined the gang to ferret out information as to the whereabouts of his half-sister, who was last seen in Jack’s company. (Hint – he’s well-spoken and considerably cleaner than the other men – surely he must be an aristocrat in disguise!)

The next section of the story is primarily concerned with developing a romance between Max and Abby, and while normally I’d be jumping for joy about time spent on relationship development, I didn’t feel any real connection between them as a couple. There is a strong physical attraction but little else, and while much is made of the fact that Abby’s education has mostly been a matter of reading whatever books were lying around, and that she has no real experience of society or its expectations of a young woman, I nonetheless found her willingness to use words like “cock” to be rather jarring! Max is only too happy to allow her to indulge her “natural curiosity” about the male body (she’s seen plenty of dead ones, but no live ones, after all!), but is clearly trying to keep her at some sort of distance as he’s happy to indulge in several rounds of “everything but” – yet draws the line at going the whole way, much to Abby’s frustration.

All the while Abby’s willing to put out for Max, she’s also wary of him and continues to be suspicious of his motives. And because the reader doesn’t get to know what’s really going on until Abby does, we’re in the dark about him, too, which makes her falling for him when she doesn’t really trust him rather questionable. Romance readers want and need to connect with the hero – and that’s a very difficult thing to do when his motives remain shrouded in mystery for well over half the book. It’s also difficult to do when something is revealed about him that makes him look like a complete git – and even worse, when it’s something that is present only to throw a roadblock into the way of his relationship with Abby and has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the story.

A Matter of Grave Concern has a great premise and starts off really strongly, but it very quickly loses momentum, and the initial spark between the protagonists just fizzles out. There are chunks of the book where nothing very much happens other than Abby mooning over Max and wondering why he won’t shag her witless, interspersed with a few threats from Jack and Max being snarlingly protective of her. At some point, Abby seems to completely forget her desire to be admitted to the college to study surgery and Max acts like a complete idiot when he decides that as he’s fessed up to Abby about who he really is, he is now free to bestow upon her the gift of his mighty wang. Surprisingly, he’s thrown off balance when she tells him where to stick it.

While the writing is good, and Ms Novak very skilfully evokes the seedier side of early nineteenth century London, the characterisation is thin, and Abby frequently verges on the TSTL given the number of downright stupid decisions she makes. The suspense plot isn’t very suspenseful, and it isn’t until a few chapters from the end that the storyline concerning Max’s search for his sister really gets going, so it ends up feeling as though it has been tacked on as an afterthought.

All in all, A Matter of Grave Concern turned out to be a big disappointment, and isn’t a book I feel I can recommend to others.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Matter of Grave Concern by Brenda Novak is a 2014 Montlake Romance publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


I must say this is certainly an interesting historical romance. Certainly not your run of the mill regency, that's for sure. This one is just a tad dark and deals with subject matter some might be surprised to find in a historical romance.

The setup:

Alison is the daughter of a surgeon and an only child whose mother died when she was young. Her father is consumed by his job and the only way Alison has been able to gain any attention from him is to involve herself in his work any way she can. This gets her into a real bind when the surgery gets low low on cadavers to train with. Alison finds herself dealing with some real lowlife characters who take more of her money than was agreed upon and also take an artifact that was precious to her sentimentally. She can't tell her father what she was up to and she can't tell the authorities because her father could wind up in goal. So, she sets out to recover her prize elephant only to be taken against her will and held captive.

Maximillion Wilder has disguised himself as a body snatcher in order to get close to the man who may have been involved with his sister. She has disappeared and he is desperate to find her. His associations put him in direct contact with Alison and when she shows up looking for he elephant, he has no choice but to keep her there with him for her own safety. The two of them grow close as they learn a little about one another. Trying to convince the crew he is working with that he and Alison are sexually involved puts them in a small room together sharing a bed. The temptation is almost more than Max can take, especially when he finds Alison would like to learn all about intercourse. However, the more pressing concerns are keeping Alison safe and finding Max's sister.

What didn't quite work:
The romance taking place under these circumstance was really gross, for lack of a better word. The talk of corpses and the fact that Alison was being held against her will was just not a combination that worked for me. This was sort of sick in a way. I tried not to let the creep factor figure in to the story too much. It may just be me, I mean I deal with detailed forensics in novels today ( which doesn't bother me) and the characters have romances and such, but I guess maybe they do that away from the job, and not while being held captive.

What did work:
I am always SO relieved when I come across a historical romance that is NOT a regency or not a traditional regency these days. I am dying for something more original. This one was certainly that. I applaud the author for moving away from the cookie cutter format. I love a good mystery or in this case intrigue and a missing persons case. This part of the story redeemed the book for me. The story wasn't all dark and morose, there were some comedic conversations I couldn't help but smile at. The writing is fine, no issues there at all. The characters were well drawn and developed. I think if this book had toned down the romance it would make an excellent historical mystery.

Final thoughts:
If you have read other works by this author, you might find yourself puzzling over this one a little. However, most of the book was enjoyable and I am glad I got to read this one. I'm going to go with 3 stars.

[Tiffany Readz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just Wow. Brenda Novak can write a historical romance like no other. While I will admit it took me a few chapters to get into, once I did I couldn't finish it fast enough.

In A Matter of Grave Concern we are introduced to the underground world of grave robbing in the 1800's. Max Wilder is looking for his half-sister that went missing. She was last seen with Big Jack, the leader of The London Supply Company. Big Jack, his brother and two other guys supply the local colleges with cadavers to use for teaching and dissecting. Jack was the last man to see his sister, so Max infiltrates the gang to gather information. While robbing graves at night, Max is questioning the town folk during the day for any leads on his sister's whereabouts.

Abigail Hale dreams of being a surgeon like her father. Losing her mother at the age of six, has meant a lot of time at the college with her father reading and studying. She is now twenty one and still has not been admitted to the college and doesn't think she ever will. The operating room isn't a place for a woman in this day and age. Abby's father is waiting for his knighthood, so to keep him away from the ugly business of body buying, Abby takes it among herself to broker a deal with The London Supply Company.

While dealing with Big Jack, Abby also meets the handsome Max Wilder. While he is a fine looking man, he is also a grave robber and way beneath her. The deal goes south and Abby ends up in way over her head. I am being a bit vague as to not reveal spoilers.

Max Wilder is looking for his sister while protecting something else that is very big. He has the gang and Abby in the dark about what is really going on in his life. While he isn't looking for love, he just may find it in the strangest of places, however cannot act upon it.

Such a well written book that just pulls you right back in time. I wasn't much for historical romance, however the more I read, the more I enjoy them. Brenda Novak does a brilliant job at setting up the story and holding just enough back to keep you wanting more.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fourth of Brenda Novak's Historical Novels - loved it just as much as the first 3!

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had an opportunity to review “Through the Smoke” by Brenda Novak and until I started reading the novel, I didn’t realize that I had agreed to read a historical romance. I initially felt like a deer caught in the headlights in agreeing to read the book let alone to complete a review and instead became enamored with the story. When the opportunity came to read another historical romance by Brenda Novak with the title of “A Matter of Grave Concern”, I couldn’t wait to discover if my previous excitement was a moment of happenstance after a long absence due to past experiences.

I started reading “A Matter of Grave Concern” and was totally captivated by the character of Abigail (Abby) Hale, daughter of the surgeon at Aldersgate School of Medicine. Setting aside dreams of her own, Abby’s focus is on the welfare and survival of the college and to try to put her father in the best possible light as his knighthood seems imminent. In the midst of a most harrowing experience to Abby, she meets a man who captures her heart. Simultaneously, the man introduced as Maximillian (Max) Wilder and the man that captures Abby’s heart has a few secrets of his own. I loved this story! On the surface it may seem as the classic romance novel of any era in which either the heroine or hero are deemed unsuitable for one another due to socio-economic differences.

As I was trying to find the perfect words to share how deeply ensconced the reader becomes in this story, how enduring the characters, how perfectly the setting provides intrigue and suspense, it made me think of the description I read recently of “I Opened a Book” by Julia Donaldson.

I Opened a Book
“I opened a book and in I strode.
Now nobody can find me.
I’ve left my chair, my house, my road,
My town and my world behind me.
I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,
I’ve swallowed the magic potion.
I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king
And dived in a bottomless ocean.
I opened a book and made some friends.
I shared their tears and laughter
And followed their road with its bumps and bends
To the happily ever after.
I finished my book and out I came.
The cloak can no longer hide me.
My chair and my house are just the same,
But I have a book inside me.”
--Julia Donaldson

Open “A Matter of Grave Concern” and find yourself in the midst of a time when cadavers were needed by medical students but legal means was not meeting student needs so provision of cadavers came through an underground network who were often underground criminals, a time when females dreamed about becoming surgeons but were not encouraged to pursue their dreams, a time when a young woman was sent to live in the country with a maiden or widowed relative if the father felt his daughter needed further guidance on how to act to become a socially acceptable candidate for marriage, a time when that relative felt the burden of responsibility to provide the opportunities for a suitable courtship to marriage, a time when a marriage of business arrangement is deemed more important than a marriage of the heart and these are but a few examples. Turn the pages, follow Abby and Max as their lives intersect at a crossroad in each of their lives, share their adventures, feel the engaging emotions of their time together, and try to decide if each of their paths will lead away from each other or become entwined forever. As Julia Donaldson says, “I finished my book and out I came…but I have a book inside me.” I’m out from between the covers to share my book review but I will continue to giggle and smile as I remember some of Abby’s conversations with Max, to remember and admire Abby’s strong will and choices, to remember and admire Max’s choices for his sister, his nephew, his fiancée Hortense, and for Abby, and I will keep Abby and Max’s story forever inside of me.

I was lucky enough to receive a pre-publication copy of this title from the author to read and review.

[Brandee (un)Conventional Bookworms · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a long while since I read a good Victorian era historical romance. A Matter of Grave Concern is so, so good. It has mystery, intrigue, and two main characters who are strong, willful, and determined, and the sexual tension/chemistry between them is fantastic.

Abigail Hale is the daughter of the chief surgeon at Aldersgate School of Medicine. She is an unconventional young woman, to say the least. She has been raised by a distant father while living at the college, being exposed to medical academia, and attending lectures. Abby dreams of admission to the medical school and following in her father's footsteps rather than marrying and the tedious life that would entail. It is because of this dream, and the duties she takes on at the medical school that she happens to meet Max Wilder.

Max Wilder is a member of the London Supply Company. When he and Abby first meet, he's delivering a corpse to Aldersgate. Max is certainly handsome and seemingly well-educated. He's also cunning and manages to take more from Abby than the ten guineas the corpse should have cost her. He also manages to protect her from the less than honorable intentions of the leader of his group of resurrection men. As we get to know Max, we see there's more to him than meets the eye - he has a few secrets.

The London Supply Company provides a service to medical colleges that is important, necessary, and illegal. This period of time in London, medical schools receive cadavers for study from the government. Those hanged, for example. However, there aren't enough to go around and as it's a requirement to have studied anatomy and dissection to obtain a medical degree, the resurrection men fill in the supply...by, as their name implies, resurrecting, or robbing, graves. This historical element really added that much more depth to this story.

Of course, the resurrection men weren't necessarily honorable men and after the first meeting between Abby and the body snatching men of the London Supply Company, Abby finds herself held against her will, at least initially, and then working alongside Max to solve the mystery that brought him to Wapping in the first place.

As this is an historical romance, I quite enjoyed the evolution of Max and Abby's relationship. The sparks were flying from their first meeting as Abby speaks her mind and never does what Max expects her to. But the mystery and intrigue elements made for a much more complex, rich read. There were twists and red herrings thrown about that had me constantly second-guessing what I thought I'd had figured out. And as it turned out, I was wrong.

A Matter of Grave Concern was enormously entertaining. I've read and enjoyed Novak's contemporaries but I think I enjoyed this historical even more. I'm certainly going to be checking out her other historicals. If you like historical romance that incorporates interesting history along with the romance, I highly recommend this one.

**I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.**

[Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t read a historical in a long time however when one of my favorite contemporary authors releases one, I just have to read it. I was very happy to receive a copy of Brenda Novak’s A Matter of Grave Concern in exchange for an honest review, and I am very glad that I did read it. The characters, in the timeline, were very believable – so much so that the social injustice of the time (women, chattel, you get the idea) made me angry. Now that’s a GOOD thing! It means that Ms. Novak did her job well and had me invested in her story.

Abby, the heroine, was fighting for the right to become a surgeon (unheard of in the time period) and without knowing it, was starving for affection. For her to find it within the band of “ruffians” is a great quirk of the story. Max, later known as Lucien, was a pretty typical male during the time period. I won’t give any more details as they would be spoilers, IMHO. He was hurting but felt he had to do “the right things” when it came to how he lived his life. Little did he know that a sprite named Abby would affect him so deeply.

I truly enjoyed the story! It was a different read for me but I was pulled right into the story. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of Brenda Novak’s . And if she is a new author to you? Give this historical a try!

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by NightOwlReviews

I officially fell in love with this book. There are so many things that I loved about this that I cannot just name one. There are quite a few quotes throughout the book that made me love these characters more.
Abby is the daughter of a surgeon at a college. She has had dreams of becoming one herself even though she knew it would be impossible because women did not do those things. Women were good for being mothers and wives. But one night when she was trying to help out her father college, it changed her life forever. She met a man she knew she could love.
Max was with a group of people because he was tryin to find his sister. All he wanted was to find her and bring her home with him. He never thought that one night meeting one remarkable woman would make him think is decisions for his future.
Throughout the book baby and Max tried their hardest to survive in the streets of London and find Max's sister as well.
By the end of the book Max admitted he loved Abby and finally came to his senses and asked her to marry him.
This book made me laugh. I loved how the author brought humor and life to her characters. I highly recommend this book. You will not be disappointed.

[Jan Coad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abigail (the heroine) leads a sheltered life as the daughter of a prominent teaching surgeon. I don't normally read historical romance. With rich characters, realistic historical setting, and sensuous romance, Brenda Novak's A MATTER OF GRAVE CONCERN has made me a convert. The setting was believably accurate and I was drawn right into the story of grave robbing "resurrectionists" selling bodies to the medical colleges for anatomy & physiology dissection. Abigail is such a delight in her naïveté that you feel for Max... I won't spoil, but trust me you will not want to miss this one. There is suspenseful scenes and moments you'll be sighing with satisfaction. I can't wait to give more historical romances a chance. I catch myself thinking this is my favorite Brenda Novak novel until I read her next one. Don't wait, I highly recommend pre-ordering right away.

I was given an advanced reading copy.

[✨Susan✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was much better than I thought it would be, I thought it would be more shallow because of the soft looking cover. A young woman who is trying to break through the stereotype of "only men in the medical field", gets herself wrapped up with some very grizzly grave robbers. She is a smart and formidable character and it was exciting to see what crazy thing she would do next. The rest of the characters are colorful, ronchy and keep the story intriguing throughout. Their are some pretty steamy, well written sex scenes that flowed excellently with this story of Mystery and Romance. Michael Page had some really great voices and he did a believable job with the female voices. I would enjoy reading more stories with these characters.

[Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received a free ARC of A Matter of Grave Concern directly from Brenda Novak in exchange of an honest and unbiased review*

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story with a little mystery mixed in with it. I enjoyed the medical aspect of it also. It tells the story of Abigail, who is the daughter of a surgeon at a medical school who meets Max, a body snatcher. She joins up with his group - the London Supply Company - raiding graveyards, stealing corpses and selling them to medical colleges as dissection material but along the way they fall in love and it gets complicated. Read on to see how complicated.........

[Jaclyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Matter of Grave Concern is a bit of an unusual historical romance. Instead of balls and fancy clothes, we get dead bodies. The nontraditional focus of this one brought it to my attention; it’s always nice to try something fresh in a genre that you read a lot of. Unfortunately, this one did not live up to my expectations.

Abigail Hale is a surgeon’s doctor and she’s been assisting at the college where her father works for years. What’s always a challenge for the anatomists at the college is access to corpses for them to study. Abigail takes it upon herself to acquire these specimens since no one else seems to be able to do so, or willing to get their hands dirty in an illegal trade. However, when she is purchasing a new body, she’s runs into more trouble than she bargains for and not only loses her money, the body, but a sentimental item given to her by her deceased mother. In a misguided attempt to set things to rights, Abigail decides to go to the resurrection men’s house and steal back the money before anyone is the wiser.

Max Wilder is one of the resurrection men that swindle Abigail; only he’s trying to protect her from falling further into harm’s way. With Max as a reluctant protector, Abigail has no choice but to trust a man she should find repellant, but she soon learns that there’s more than meets the eye with Max, namely a missing sister.

What I really disliked about this book was the premise on which the romance is founded. I simply can’t get past the fact that Abigail takes it upon herself to purchase bodies for the college, and then decides tracking down the men that stole from her (who also threatened her with rape) to get back her money is a good idea. Then, when she is found out she quickly comes to trust Max, who kidnaps her. This was not how I was expecting this situation to play out and I can’t help but think that the heroine has no brains. We kept getting told that she’s studying anatomy and wants to become a surgeon, but I’m not seeing a whole lot of that intelligence in her actions. For me, this lack of consideration on Abigail’s part really set the tone for the book and I personally couldn’t get past this inconsistency. I have zero understanding for Abigail’s thought process.

The ridiculousness of the heroine really hampered my enjoyment of the story, which is disappointing since there is a lot to like. The unusual setting and the historical details about the difficulty in scientific study for anatomists are interesting. I also liked the atmosphere of the less glorified areas of London. It’s always nice to see a historical take a different approach, and with respect to the setting, I think this was well done.

Despite the fabulous setting of A Matter of Grave Concern, I simply did not like the romance between the heroine and hero. In my opinion, the romance just did not make sense. Abby simply decides she’s in love with the man that kidnaps her, despite the secrets he has kept, and Max reluctantly falls in love with. This happens in, like, a week. I just don’t get it. While the chemistry was good, it with the actions and thought processes behind the leads that just didn’t work here.

The other thing that I found inconsistent is Max’s search for his sister. He finally finds, in truly awful circumstances, and it’s completely glossed over. His search for his sister was a major part of this book and I don’t feel like the conclusion of that was as well developed as it could have been. His sister was kidnapped, but after Max the savior rides in, she seems to recover quickly enough, and I just don’t buy that. There is no way she would be over those experiences and then be there to offer love life advice to Max. This was unusual and seemed out of place considering what had happened to Max’s sister.

Ultimately, I was really disappointed by A Matter of Grave Concern. The premise had a great deal of promise, but for me, the execution left something to be desired. I didn’t like the hero or the heroine, and for me, this made it a struggle to get through this book.

Originally published with similar reads at The Book Adventures.

*Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Matter of Grave Concern
Abby Hale lives at Aldersgate College where her father is an esteemed teaching surgeon. Recently the school has had difficulty acquiring cadavers, which is necessary for the surgery students. Thus, Abby takes it upon herself to "acquire" a cadaver from Big Jack, one of the most vile resurrection men in London.
Max Wilder is really a duke posing as a resurrection man in Big Jack's gang. Max's missing sister Madeline had mentioned marrying Jack so she can support her illegitimate son. Showing respect to his mother, he isn't as kind and supportive to Madeline as he should be and lets her go off on her own. Suddenly she disappears and Max is searching for clues to her disappearance.
Abby has "placed an order" for a body for the school through Jack's "company" the London Supply Company. Jack and his gang show up with the body but demand more money. The haggling begins and Jack threatens to take Abby and her virtue along with the money. Max steps in to keep Abby safe. Half an hour later, Abby has no body, no money and her treasured ivory elephant ( a last gift from her deceased mother) are all missing. Abby knows the address where she sent the letter to Jack, and even though it is very late and Jack's home is in a dangerous section of town, Abby sets out to at least retrieve the "household money" for the school and her elephant.
When Max sees Abby at Jack's house, he is livid. He is concerned his cover will be blown and now he has another person he has to protect. Max takes Abby to his room with the cover that when he's finished with her, he will pass her off to the others. Thus their story begins.
I am not a huge fan of historical fiction, but Ms. Novak has written a story that draws the reader in. You feel the dampness and the dirt and filth that abounds in Wapping and its citizens. You feel the danger the characters face. You empathize with Abby and her empty, hurting heart.

[Cherise · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s London 1830 and Abigail Hale isn’t your typical gentile single lady. She is the daughter of a renowned surgeon and she aspires to follow in her father’s footsteps. The Aldersgate School of Medicine, along with other medical schools, is in danger of closing as they do not have enough cadavers for the students to dissect, study and learn from. So what is a young woman to do? She hires a gang of resurrection men, aka grave diggers, to get a corpse for her school.

Even though she thinks she has taken every precaution and is prepared to take on the dangerous and shady men who work in this field, she is taken by surprise and then robbed by the group. She plans on getting what’s hers and ends up a captive of one of the grave diggers.

Max has his own agenda that has brought him to this gang of resurrection men… And the intriguing Ms. Hale could quite easily ruin the trust which he’s worked so hard to maintain. He holds her captive in order to protect his own plans, but soon finds himself mesmerized by the unusual Abigail.

I loved this book from start to finish. Abigail is quite simply hilarious. She’s kind of a geek – she knows nothing of human emotion and tends to be clinical and brutally honest in her speech. It made for some shocking and funny conversations. She’s absolutely adorable. Her and Max were about as opposite as they come, but fit together perfectly. I loved their friendship and romance.

This book is a little darker than traditional Brenda Novak historical – but not gloomy and is wonderfully entertaining. It has everything and the plot and the characters are perfect.

I really enjoyed every part of this story and it had me laughing, sighing and crying. Definitely a keeper!

Cherise Everhard, September 2014
This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[JG · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Matter of Grave Concern is my first historical romance by Brenda Novak. Like her contemporary romance, Ms. Novak gives us characters that will initially try the patience of the reader when it comes to liking or identifying with them. A Matter Of Grave Concern is no different. I mean I really didn't think that I would like a book were the male lead is engaged in the activity of body snatching. Granted this was during 19th century England and those surgeons/anatomists really did need specimens to help with the advancement of Medical Science. But digging up dead bodies and the author was very true to historical details when it comes to this, doesn't really put you in a romantic frame of mind. I mean Max Wilder aside from his unusual occupation fits hero material perfectly, handsome, cultured, relatively clean despite his background. While the female lead, Abby, is our typical headstrong, naive and beautiful heroine. There were moments that I questioned her sanity. I mean its one thing to procure dead bodies for the college to help her surgeon father , its another thing to actually go out in the middle of the night to try and track down said body snatchers and get back what was stolen from her. But once you get into the mystery of what Max Wilder is really about, whether Abby is ever going to be able to go back to her former life unscathed or better yet more knowledgeable about the male anatomy, where the story is headed and everything falls into place, in the end you will find yourself engaged and captivated with A Matter of Grave Concern.

*Copy provided in return for an honest review*

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never read any of Novak's historical romance but I love her Whiskey Creek books so I thought I would give this a shot. I love that the main character is involved in such a different world than a traditional Victorian heroine. Grave robbers? Underground black market on bodies for surgical schools? Bring it!
Because this was such an "out there" social circumstance and because Abby had such an odd upbringing I could forgive her impulsive nature by thinking she could sneak into the resurrectionists home and steal back her money but it was a little "really? I don't think so". And her behaviour towards Max was great...at first. I loved how clinical she was about the whole sex thing. And then the pendulum swung and she wasn't much better than those prostitutes. Even with the fact she didn't have a female role model, she still would have had some education about proper conduct and no sex before marriage, etc etc. And Max was a total jerk the way he behaved. No noble born would behave the way he did, not one who seemed to have some sort of moral compass.
And I won't even go into what I though of Abby's father. Seriously? He needed a kick in the head.
I will say a lot of the book had me gritting my teeth over how it wasn't as true to the Victorian era as I would have expected. That being said, dealing with body snatchers and that under belly of society made it for a fabulous read and I liked Abby and Max's chemistry. Oh, and I loved the scene at the end with Max waiting to see his baby. Reminiscent of that scene in Gone With The Wind when Rhett is waiting to go in to see Bonnie.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. All opinions are my own

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be prepared for a wild ride in London and the UK in 1830. Abigail (Abby) Hale lives and works with her father in London at the Aldersgate School of Medicine. Abby aspires to be a surgeon, which is pretty much unheard of for females during this era. The school needs corpses for anatomy and dissection purposes. On her own, and without her father’s knowledge, Abby decides to help her father out, and sends a request to a company for a body. Resurrectionists (body snatchers) from the London Supply Company come into her office one night and drop a bagged body at her feet. Trouble and danger begins, for not only did they take all the money in her bag, but later that night they also came back to steal the body. Abby begins her journey in finding the stolen money and a personal treasure of hers, taking her to areas unknown. She is captured and held by the London Supply Company and has to stay in the same room with the other main character in this novel, Max. Max is not as he initially appears, and is actually trying to find his missing sister, Madeline. He took up working for these scoundrels to find clues as to her whereabouts. There are murders, missing bodies, stabbings, and all kinds of action throughout this novel. You visit warehouses, docks, seedy taverns, prostitution houses, and private homes. Not only did I learn a lot about life in these times, but I was caught up in the suspense and couldn’t wait to see how this would be resolved.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever read a book that makes you feel like you were holding your breath, waiting to see what happens next? Well, this book was like that for me. A MATTER OF GRAVE CONCERN is a suspense filled mystery with murder and romance thrown in! It takes place in 1830's London, and is interesting, shocking, funny and scary.

Abby is the daughter of a surgeon at Aldersgate School of Medicine. They need bodies for dissection, for the college to survive. Max has joined the London Supply Company (the resurrectionists), to try to figure out what happened to his sister, since that was the last place she was seen. They meet when Abby tries to purchase a corpse from the grave robbers. Sparks fly as this pair works to solve the mystery of Madeline's disappearance.

I loved the plot twists that are woven throughout this story. Who is Max? Will they find out what happened to Madeline? Will they find their happily ever after? This is a well developed story with strong characters that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. You won't want to miss reading this exciting novel. I received an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Sharilyn Dickerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first historical romantic suspense book I have ever read. It has never been a genre that I thought I would read. However, the fact that this book was written by Brenda Novak and I love her Whiskey Creek series I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did!

As I mentioned I've never read any historical romance books so the first part of the book I did struggle a bit with. The characters are in London so I had to adjust to some of the vocabulary. However, after I picked up on all that the story sucked me in and I couldn't put the book down!

Abby is the daughter of a surgeon at a medical school and even though women are expected to marry, have children and stay home she aspires to be a surgeon like her father. The school is struggling to teach with the lack of cadaver for students to practice on so Abby decides to purchase one from a group of resurrectionists (body snatchers). When things go wrong she finds herself held captive by the group. Are they all bad? What secrets are they hiding? Will she ever escape alive?

This book has made me look at historical romances in a different way and I won't set them aside so easily from now on!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this story. This isn't your typical historical romance. The mystery involved was done to perfection. I was intrigued right from the first. The best part of the overall book was that integration of historical facts into a nail-biting suspenseful mystery. The characters were complete and drew you in to either love them or hate them, there really was no in between for them. The hero is a total and complete hero on the inside and out. The lengths that he's willing to go are inspiring.

The relationship between Abby and her father really pulled at me. Every girl wants to make her father proud of her and wants to be important to her father and to see the lengths to which Abby had to go to get his attention, yet still didn't fully get his attention just broke my heart.
I had every faith that we would get a good ending but I was definitely on the edge of my seat and holding my breath waiting for it to happen.

I truly loved these characters and would very much enjoy visiting them again.

[Amanda Meggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Brenda Novak book and I see from the author info that she has written 50 which is certainly impressive. Resurrection Men are an interesting topic and that is why I ordered the book, Abby our protagonist starts off well, a strong female character who wants to be a surgeon. She falls in with the resurrection men very rapidly and without much reason, she flings herself into a physical relationship with Max way too early IMO and the plot seems to be a little loose and unlikely. Would so many people work together in a dangerous job if the didn't trust each other? I think maybe if it was one person they didn't trust but they seemed to all distrust each other.

Max is supposed to be a really kind and caring guy yet he takes an innocent respectable woman and "ruins" her with little compunction. He's not my kind of hero...

Some of the book was good, I would have liked more historical info and a more gripping story, it should have been scary.

[Sandy Bartles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Matter of Grave Concern by Brenda Novak begins in 1830's London.

This is a love story, actually a Cinderella level romance. However it may difficult for the reader to see that because the heroine is a young "Dr Brennan" (think "Bones") and the "prince" is a grave robber. After watching real life for all these years, I was having difficulty imagining a good ending for this story. There are many twist and turns, much sorrow, much excitement.....I laughed and cried as I watched the characters and plot develop.
I can see this tale, with the drama and complicated plots ( yes, plots), being a blockbuster movie, or at least a fantastic "chick flick" depending on how it is approached.
I will not share more of the book, but I will advise anyone who wants to escape the modern world for a day or two..read it !
I got involved and could not put it down.
How does it end ? Read and see.

[Cath Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brenda Novak has another Historical Romantic jewel here. The characters are realistic, the setting colorful, and the plot gripping.

Abigail (the heroine) lives a sheltered life, but doesn't realize it until she feels she has no choice but to go after the men who wronged her. Having grown up with an anatomist as a father, she wants to become a surgeon like him. But the school her father teaches at will not allow a woman to enroll. She does more for the college than she is credited for, procuring corpses for the students to dissect.

The wilful Abigail is understandable; I can see myself making her decisions given her background. Add the romance with the mysterious Max Wilder, and A MATTER OF GRAVE CONCERN is a winner!