Tag: laura wood

Book Reviews

Book Review: A Season for Scandal by Laura Wood

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. I am bringing you a review of one of the books that I read in January: A Season for Scandal by Laura Wood.

An all-female detective agency righting wrongs at the end of the nineteenth century; infiltrating a scandalous upper class world straight out of Bridgerton and using their wit and bravery to unmask a villain.

When Marigold Bloom finds her family business in trouble a chance encounter with the devastatingly handsome and extremely bad-tempered Oliver Lockhart leads her to the Aviary – a secret agency of women who specialise in blackmailing troublesome men. Soon, Mari is the agency’s newest recruit, sent to investigate the mysterious return of Oliver’s long lost sister. Forced to masquerade as a newly engaged couple, it is up to Mari and Oliver to determine if there is an imposter in their midst. But what happens when the line between truth and fiction starts to blur? And what do you do when a pretend romance starts to feel all too real?

My Review:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

My first, and only so far, five star read of 2026. This book is the second in the Agency for Scandal series by Laura Wood, each book in the series follows a separate character within the world – all female characters that somehow interconnect with each other and with the agency. This second book follows Marigold, she and her family live in and own a florist shop. She very quickly becomes involved with the agency who help her sort her own personal matters before recruiting her to their cause, you follow her as she embarks on this journey and the struggles she faces. Alongside this you revisit a character that you meet in the first in the series, Agency for Scandal, Oliver Lockhart and their paths become intertwined. I loved seeing a different side to Oliver’s character in this second book, you only have a fleeting image of him from Agency of Scandal but even then I knew I would love his book and getting to flesh out his character.
I enjoyed seeing Marigold’s strength of character and her eternal optimism, definitely a grumpy x sunshine partnership. At the beginning you see a cluster of bad things befall Marigold and the rest of the novel is spent rebuilding her in layers and I think this was done expertly by Laura Wood. It might be a book over 500 pages but I raced through it in what felt like moments.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Monthly Wrap Ups

January Wrap Up!

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. It is February and that means it is time to discuss what I read in January. I had my Phd Viva exam in the middle of January (which I passed!), so I was worried that I wouldn’t get much reading done this month but I was happily surprised that I had a good month of reading, sprinkled with some disappointing reads too.

From my TBR:

  • Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber – I am currently reading this, I am only a few chapters in so far but I am curious to see where the story will go next.
  • Restore Me by Taherah Mafi – I have not yet read this, but I still have a week until the end of January as I am writing this so I should have plenty of time to get this one read also.
  • A Disaster in Three Acts by Kelsey Rodkey – technically, I did read this. Unfortunately it was a DNF for me quite quickly as the main character was too unlikeable for me to become invested in the story.
  • A Matter of Murder by Tirzah Price – I did read this, it was my first full read of January and I very much enjoyed the conclusion to the Lizzie and Darcy duology.
  • A Season for Scandal by Laura Wood – I loved this book, it is my first and so far only five star read of this year and I am excited to continue with the rest of this series.
  • Bloodlines by Richelle Mead – I did read this, it was a nice, quick reread for me.
  • Book of Night by Holly Black – Again, technically, I did read this. This was another DNF for me, it was taking too long to get into the story and I was losing any enthusiasm for it.
  • The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts by Robert Thorogood – One of my most anticipated reads of the year, it did not disappoint, it was a strong read for me this month.
  • The Mythmakers by Tamzin Merchant – I read this.

Outside of my TBR I also read: In the Market for Murder and Death Around the Bend, books 2 and 3 in the Lady Hardcastle Mystery series by T E Kinsey. This means I managed to read 9 or hopefully if I can read Restore me in time, 10 books this month.

What books have you read in January? Which ones did you enjoy?

Monthly TBRs

January TBR!

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a wonderful day today. Can you believe it is already time to be sharing my TBR for January 2026?! This year, in my reading journal, I have a 100 book challenge so I tried to fill it with books I am really excited to read and I will be trying to choose from that sheet when I am building my monthly TBR’s.

What I will be reading in January:

Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber

A Season of Scandal by Laura Wood

Book of Night by Holly Black

A Disaster in Three Acts by Kelsey Rodkey

Restore Me by Taherah Mafi

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

A Matter of Murder by Tirzah Price

The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts by Robert Thorogood

What’s on your January TBR? What are you excited about reading?

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Agency for Scandal by Laura Wood

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. Today I am bringing you my review for the first book in Laura Wood’s series, The Agency for Scandal.

An all-female detective agency righting wrongs at the
end of the nineteenth century; infiltrating a scandalous upper class
world straight out of Bridgerton and using their wit and bravery
to unmask a villain.

Eighteen-year-old Isobel Stanhope is keeping a lot of secrets.
There’s the fact that she’s head over heels in
love with a Duke who doesn’t know she exists; there’s
the fact that her family is penniless but nobody in society
knows about it; and then there’s her job at the Aviary, an investigative
agency run by women that specializes in digging up scandal
on powerful men.

When Izzy finds herself
pulled into a case that involves gaslighting, blackmail, and
missing jewels, as well as the Duke who holds
her heart, can she and her friends untangle the web of secrets
and lies to uncover the truth and protect the innocent?
And when the stakes are so high, what happens when the crush
she’s been hiding begins to turn into so much more?

‘Incredibly charming’ Sophie Irwin, author of A Lady’s
Guide to Fortune Hunting

  • Bridgerton meets Charlie’s Angels – the most
    romantic, exciting, empowering YA of the year.
  • A smart, charming, brilliantly plotted and swooningly romantic
    story about a collective of bold women changing their world.

My Review:

First, I have to say that what I liked most about this book was its characters. A headstrong, fiercely independent female lead and a gentleman who is actually a bit of a rogue male lead. That is my kind of team. It gave great banter and chance for tension built in different encounters, I don’t want to say too much and spoilt it but there’s the only one bed trope in this and that gets so many of us every time. The plot was also interesting and full of high stakes. I loved that throughout the novel I was not sure who I could trust at any given time, it made the solving of the mystery more interesting. It looks like a long book but it flew by while reading it, so fast paced and full of adventure.

Monthly Wrap Ups

November Wrap Up!

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a lovely day. It is the end of the month and that means it is time to discuss the books that I did and did not read in November.

What books did you read this month? Did you enjoy them?

From my November TBR:

  • Immortality by Dana Schwartz – I did not get around to reading it this month
  • Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead – I decided, after putting two on my November TBR, not to do any rereads this month so I did not read this one
  • The Guest List by Lucy Foley – I did read this book. I have been putting it off for a long time but I have finally read it and I thought it was good, not amazing but good enough.
  • The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrews – I did read this.
  • Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco – this was the second book that I put on my November TBR as a reread, so I did not read this.
  • Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies – I did read this.
  • Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft – I did not read this
  • To Steal From Thieves by M K Lobb – I did not read this.
  • A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna – I did read this.
  • Agency of Scandal by Laura Wood – I did read this.
  • Fate of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell – I did read this.
  • Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas – I am writing this a little early, I have a week left of November and in that time I plan on finishing Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn.

Outside of my TBR I also read The Ripper of Whitechapel by Yvette Fielding and A Quiet Life in the Country by TE Kinsey.

That means in November, I read a total of 8 books so far this month, but I might be able to add three more to this if I manage to read the three Sarah J Maas books.

Monthly TBRs

November TBR!

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. It is November and now that I am free from my PhD work (at least until January), I have a lot more time to read and that makes me very excited – so many options!

What are you all planning on reading this month?

Fate of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell

Agency of Scandal by Laura Wood

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

To Steal From Thieves by M K Lobb

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Immortality by Dana Schwarz

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

Monthly Wrap Ups

February Wrap Up!

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Happy Tuesday bookish people! It is already the end of February so of course it is time to do this month’s wrap up.

I had a much better reading month than in January, I have been finding that I am enjoying it more. Whether that is because of the books I have been reading or just because February was a relaxed month (in comparison to January that is).

So, onto the wrap up!

Sense and Second Degree Murder by Tirzah Price – I did not read this one – it is one of those books where I really want to read it too much that I am scared to read it

Murder at the house on the hill by Victoria Walters – I did not read this book

Winterhouse by Ben Guterson – I did not read this

The Accidental Medium by Tracy Whitwell – I did read this well, currently I am reading this but it will be finished by the end of the month

Everyone in my family has killed someone by Benjamin Stevenson – I did not read this

Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson – I did read this and spoiler alert, LOVED it.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – I did not read this

Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens – I did read this

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black – I did not read this

Book Lovers by Emily Henry – I did not read this

The Agency of Scandal by Laura Wood – I did not read this

Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict – I did not read this

The very secret society of irregular witches – I did read this (my favourite book this month)

Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey – I did not read this

So, from my TBR I read 4 books and I also read A Study In Charlotte by Brittany Cavalaro which means I read five books this month!

What did you all read in February, did you enjoy them?