The River Knows Book

Set in London towards the end of the Victorian era, when enlightened women refused to wear injurious corsets and 14 pounds of petticoats. But she and Emma were both staunch advocates of the rational dress movement, which held that ladies should wear no more than seven pounds of underwear. As for corsets, the movement had wisely declared them to be injurious to women's health." (So I figure we need a new movement ' underwire bras hurt!).
This is a historical romance, narrated beautifully by Katherine Kellgren, and written by Amanda Quick, aka Jayne Anne Krentz (JAK), and Jayne Castle. A prolific author. This is a stand-alone novel, not part of the Arcane Series, and not paranormal. I often prefer Quick-JAK's stand-alone novels, even though some of her series pieces are quite good. A small fraction of JAK's books make it to my 5-star shelf, but most are 3 or 4 star stories. That's fine. I can always count on her for a snarky, sneaky, mildly steamy good time.

(But I do wish JAK would surprise me sometime. This plot? I pretty much guessed everything, right down to the Milton.)

Some heartwarming scenes with Louisa's dear friend Emma and with Anthony's delightful family. One reviewer said: "There were a few laugh-out-loud moments (I've never laughed so hard during a love scene)." Well, I didn't laugh out loud, but I did smile. Some amusing scenes.

The heroine killed an English lord in self-defense a year before the book began and is living under an assumed name, disguised as a drab, and working as an undercover reporter. I like that kind of set-up -- a fairly common trope in QUICK-JAK's worlds.

Contents include 3 sex scenes (one is a fade-to-black scene). Minimal cursing or profanity, but there is some. No pejorative terms for female anatomy. Some violence, including bloody murder.