Allegra

by Anna Lisle

1822: Byron's young illegitimate daughter dies in an Italian convent, sent away from the mother who adored her. 1838: young Alice Clarke, unhappily married to a brutal man, is pursued on London's streets by a mysterious Greek man and a cloaked woman. Alice is in love with a man she can never a sea captain sailing the perilous route to India around Africa. When her lover vanishes on a voyage, Alice's pursuers draw her into an increasingly tense game of cat and mouse running between the early Victorian squalor of London's Rookeries and the splendour of its Mayfair squares. A murder in Regent's Park only reinforces the message that Alice is involved in a very dangerous game, but how is she linked to a notorious group of English poets living in Italy sixteen years earlier?

216 pages, Paperback

First published December 17, 2013

Reviews

[Patty Mccormick]

The setting is 19th century London. Who is Allegra/Alice? Who were her parents? Alice grew up in the convent and was “saved” when typhus broke out there; by a woman she calls Aunt. What secrets are lurking in Auntie’s and her nephew, Martin’s past? Allegra gives us a look at the oppression of women and their lack of rights. This is a love story with a happy ending.

Hmm. My thoughts on this one? This was just okay for me. I love the setting and the time period. It reminded me of Dickens’ England. I thought that there was too many things going on in this one though and that many issues were not explored in-depth. My favorite part of the book was the Rookery and the theatre. I thought that this was the most exciting part. I could have read a whole book about just that. It sounded exciting and forbidden and dangerous. This is another book that is for a mature audience. It contains wife abuse and homosexuality. I give this one a 3 out of 5 stars.

[Mirella]

A wonderfully complex plot and an intriguing heroine make this a great book. With its fast pace and intriguing storyline, I read the novel in one sitting - it was that good! Alice/Allegra is trapped in an abusive marriage and is being followed by a Greek man and a woman in a dark cloak. Her love blooms when she meets a kind sea captain, but during one of his voyages, he mysteriously disappears. I love the two villains of this book – her cruel abusive husband who harbors dark secrets of his own and the woman who is his manipulative aunt. This story had so much to laud about! Lots of plot twists, mystery, dark secrets, intrigue, and a heroine you cannot help but love and cheer for. Highly recommended and one of my favorite books for 2014.

[Loretta Giacoletto]

An unhappy childhood followed by an abusive marriage leads to a forbidden romance, all of which are set in the early Victorian Era so rich in details I felt a part of it and didn’t want to leave. The powerful opening was mesmerizing and each subsequent chapter pulled me further into the story. After reading the last page I still wanted more, even though the author did an excellent job of wrapping up all the loose ends. Her writing is superb; the tale well-paced and flawless; the historical aspects intriguing; the heroine clever and independent. What more can I say except, "Allegra is an excellent read."

[Patty McKenna Van Hulle]

I absolutely love romance reads & a DIE HARD fan of regency romance, so I grabbed this ARC. As my romance peeps know I will try any genre at least once, but I do have 1 FATAL FLAWED & that is 1st person writing. When I crack open a new book COSMO, I like to follow in the background, be a true voyeur & maybe be a fly on the wall of sizzling ladies teas & I am not able to SUBMERGE myself reading "Is" & "MEs." One author said that her characters speak to her in their own voices & she writes them that way, so I have too much respect for authors to score their reads if it's my FLAW!

NetGalley ARC given for my honest review.