A Curious Beginning ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

Cover Wars

Hardcover
The image looks like back flash but is supposed to be 
"a foggy mysterious atmosphere"

Paperback & Kindle Titan

Paperback & Kindle Berkley

I like the hardcover pic.

G👀dreads

London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as with fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron who has ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Romance

The How/Why: Author pick. Killers of a Certain Age (review here) and Kills Well with Others (review here) were two of my five star favs last year. This one being Historical Fiction captured my attention.  

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

🎉 Overall Enjoyment? 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

🎣 Did it grab and keep my attention? 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣

🗣️Would I recommend it to anyone? Yes ➕

 🕮 Would I want a sequel?  Maybe 🤷 This is actually Book 1 of 10 *TEN*! I don't like to get sucked into a super series but I will most likely queue up Book 2 sometime in the near-ish future.  


📚 Would I want to read more books by this author? Yes ➕ (see above in the How/Why)

💣💥 📢 Content Warnings? Google says Vi0lɇncɇ and MŪrdɇr, but not graphic

🌶 Spice? No

🌪 Plot Twist? YES ☇☈

👟 Pace? Good

💻 Tidbits ~ I'm loving the two main characters. Veronica is smart, independent, super sassy, and quick witted. Stoker, is gruff and cranky, strong but gentle. They are the perfect quirky combo, as unexpected friends 'til the end. 

Without reiterating the About, there is a mŪrdɇr but the focus is more on their adventure and their unlikely bond. 

Veronica is a lepidopterist. Such a long and fancy word for butterfly collector. Interrupting myself for a minute to say the narration by Angèle Masters was amAZing. [insert high pitched voice] "A LEp-ID-oP-tER-isT? Why didn't you say so?"!!!!!
Stoker is a taxidermist with a secret and mysterious past.

Arriving home from her aunt's funeral, she interrupts a burglary, which was really a kidnaƤƤinᵷ attempt. Saved by a Baron who she ends up trusting because he holds the key to the mystery of who her mother was. He insist she go with him so off they go. Baron M von S passes her off to Stoker to watch over her for a minute because Stoker owes the Barron a huge favor. The Baron says "I'll be baaaaaack" (channeling my best Arnold impersonation).  But the Grim Reaper has other plans for the Baron with a little help from a villain, which turns Stoker into Veronica's warrior guardian much to her chagrin. She's fiercely independent and still in denial that the attempted kidnaƤƤinᵷ wasn't just a burglary gone interrupted and unrelated to the Baron's dɇɐth. But her gut tells her to go with him, so they flee. 

That begins their adventure, starting with hiding within a traveling circus. Sorted friends from Stoker's past. 

This is such an adorable story going along on their adventure finding the key that reveals information about Veronica's bio parents that could change the world. NO SPOILERS! 

Great Quote: You cannot discount a theory just because it does not suit your prejudices. That's bad science. ~Stoker

The fantastic narration of the audiobook really brought every character in the story to life in a way that I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much if I was reading instead of listening. 

🎧 Narrator: Angèle Masters 👍

🎧10.51 hours 🕮 356 pages

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