The traditional Regency Romance genre is turned upside down in this Victorian version set in the near future.
Making their debuts this season will be Helena Marcus who awaits the proposal of August Callaghan childhood friend grown to be much more and the Princess Victoria who has traveled incognito to Toronto, Canada where the season will reach its pinnacle. Having no intended in sight, the Princess has inserted her chip into the computer to receive a list of names of genetic matches. All of her DNA details will have been analyzed and matched against the DNA of the eligible males in her kingdom. Maybe one hundred names come back. The name she chooses to chat with is Henry Callaghan. Her identity is disguised and she is merely known to him as Lizzie. The chatting is successful and the relationship seems to be progressing.
The sun never sets on this British Empire ruled by Victoria I. Going against tradition, this queen has decreed that it will be her daughter the Princess Victoria who will inherit her throne rather than the eldest son. In this Victorian society, the high and mighty still make their social debuts and are presented to the Queen and her Prince Consort at a grand ball. Now, at the ball, Princess Victoria, being introduced as Cousin Lizzie to one and all is fast making friends with Helena Marcus. Helena's beau, August, joins their group.
Tensions are mounting as August wants to propose to Helena but is stopped by piratical machines that have involved him and his family business in dire intrigue. Helena awaits the proposal in good faith. The relationship between Lizzie and Henry is growing. But who is Henry Callaghan?
Life altering decisions, huge risks, and several deceptions swirl around the young ladies as they attend the parties, the teas, the boating excursions hoping to secure the love of their intended. Life has a way of surprising these ladies just as it contrives to bring them their heart's desires.
327 pages 978-1101994979 Ages 14 and up
Keywords: Alternative History. LGBT
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
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Speculative fiction from the acclaimed bestselling author of Exit, Pursued by a Bear and Star Wars: Ahsoka.
Victoria-Margaret is the crown princess of the empire, a direct descendent of Victoria I, the queen who changed the course of history. The imperial tradition of genetically arranged matchmaking will soon guide Margaret into a politically advantageous marriage. But before she does her duty, she'll have one summer of freedom and privacy in a far corner of empire. Posing as a commoner in Toronto, she meets Helena Marcus, daughter of one of the empire's greatest placement geneticists, and August Callaghan, the heir to a powerful shipping firm currently besieged by American pirates. In a summer of high-society debutante balls, politically charged tea parties, and romantic country dances, Margaret, Helena, and August discover they share an extraordinary bond and maybe a one-in-a-million chance to have what they want and to change the world in the process.
Set in a near-future world where the British Empire was preserved not by the cost of blood and theft but by the effort of repatriation and promises kept, That Inevitable Victorian Thing is a surprising, romantic, and thought-provoking story of love, duty, and the small moments that can change people and the world.
