“Miss Harriet Peabody dreams of the day she can open up a shop selling refashioned gowns to independent working women like herself. Unfortunately, when an errand for her millinery shop job goes sadly awry due to a difficult customer, she finds herself out of an income.
Mr. Oliver Addleshaw is on the verge of his biggest business deal yet when he learns his potential partner prefers to deal with men who are settled down and wed. When Oliver witnesses his ex not-quite-fiance cause the hapless Harriet to lose her job, he tries to make it up to her by enlisting her help in making a good impression on his business partner.
Harriet quickly finds her love of fashion can't make her fashionable. She'll never truly fit into Oliver's world, but just as she's ready to call off the fake relationship, fancy dinners, and elegant balls, a threat from her past forces both Oliver and Harriet to discover that love can come in the most surprising packages.”
Series: Book #1 in the “A Class of Their Own” series. Review of Book #2 Here! and Book #3 Here!
Spiritual Content- Prayers; Talks about God; 'H's are capital when referring to God; After meeting a reverend when she was sixteen, God became a daily part of Harriet’s life; Harriet has prayed for the last six birthdays for God to “send her something wonderful” (one time it was unexpected money for rent, another was stable employment) and prays this birthday for “something of His choosing, something she would find wonderful”; Harriet feels like God had forgotten her and her birthday request after the day doesn’t go as planned; At one point, Harriet feels as if God is punishing her for a lie, but later realizes He is not; Harriet’s aunt waves off her comments about “[her] God”; A reverend tells Oliver that he should live his life in a “manner that makes you happy, or more importantly, a manner in which you believe will please God.”; Oliver thinks that he has never “embraced God fully”, but notices Harriet’s faith; *Spoiler* At the end, he goes to a church, has a conversation with the reverend, prays for forgiveness, and feels peace *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going, & ministers; A few mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A couple mentions of a missionary; A mention of a church choir;
*Note: The phrase “Good Heavens” is said twenty times; A man says he finds the idea of Oliver entertaining a reverend in his home “rather disturbing, but…to each his own”; A mention of a dog being under someone’s spell.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘shut up’, a ‘stupid’, and three forms of ‘idiot’; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Being abducted, Being attacked, Being held at gun-point, Pain, Injuries, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); A fire & smoke (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Harriet is uncomfortable with lying to others about her (fake) relationship with Oliver (but Oliver disagree with it being a lie as he is hiring her to act); Harriet has a sip of wine at a dinner and wishes she didn’t because of the taste (barely-above-not-detailed); Oliver and his friend have drinks at a men’s club, but it’s not specifically said if it is alcohol or not; A woman hits a dog with a hatbox (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a stolen baby, a dead infant, & grief; Mentions of deaths & a man leaving his children to their godparent after his and his wife’s deaths; Mentions of men being trapped in a mine & injuries; Mentions of pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of thieves, stealing, stolen items (and a cat that was stolen), ransoms, con-artists, scams, arrests, & jails; Mentions of threats & blackmail; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deceit; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of alcohol & drinking; Mentions of cigars & smoking; Mentions of the possibility of a big dog eating small dogs or cats (a concern, but does not happen); Mentions of hatred; A few mentions of a riot; A few mentions of gambling & gamblers; A few mentions of the possibility of a pet dog dying; A few mentions of a dog being shot (but being okay); A couple mentions of an almost drowning; A couple mentions of fires; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of a squish substance in the street;
*Note: Harriet’s aunt dislike of having to raise her turned into hatred (Harriet recalls being slapped by her aunt & also her aunt somehow making someone unconscious and telling her not to look); Harriet’s aunt wants her to join the “family business” and become a con-artist with her; A man makes prejudice comments towards a working group; Negative comments about children (Oliver’s friend Everett is responsible for three children after the death of their father and calls them “brats” often because of their misbehaving (and later says he was plagued with the children); A man comments that another man should have been happy to not have to deal with his children); A few mentions of a mother dying in childbirth; A mention of a woman wishing another woman was unable to conceive another child.
Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch, four hand kisses, an almost kiss (barely-above-not-detailed), and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Staring at lips (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Touches, Embracing, Dancing, Hand holding, Tingles/Shivers, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing & Staring (including Oliver noticing Harriet’s figure, up to semi-detailed); Harriet also has weak knees around Oliver; *Spoilers* Harriet’s aunt tells her that she is illegitimate and that her mother was more than one man’s mistress (*Major Spoilers* This is completely untrue) *End of Spoilers*; A man plans to have Lucetta (Harriet’s friend and roommate) as his mistress and tells Oliver not to tell his wife because while he doesn’t think she would care about him being with a “few light-skirts”, her father is a pious man and would lecture him about it; That same man comments about going to a brothel because of the “new girls” there (he invites Oliver and then calls him “prudish” when Oliver says that brothels don’t interest him); A young lady knocks Oliver to the floor and tries to kiss him; A mother said she would consider marrying a certain man if she was younger and not married; Mentions of mistresses (including the prior comments and Harriet being concerned that others will think she’s Oliver’s mistress); Mentions of a brothel & former women of ill-repute; Mentions of chaperones & reputations; Mentions of a young lady looking at Oliver as if “he were a tasty treat” & knocking him to the floor to kiss him; Mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of couples sharing beds when married (comments about waking up next to someone and staying warm at night); Love, attraction, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Harriet wears a dress that shows off her bosom (due to squeezing her waist in it and it attracts some men at a ball, which Oliver notices and wishes to cover her “charms” with his handkerchief or coat, barely-above-not-detailed); Harriet notes her slender figure which was “brought on by a distinct lack of food on a regular basis”; Harriet tells her employer that she’s not comfortable delivering anything of a “shady nature” (which makes the woman laugh and say it’s not); Lucetta asks what Harriet will be doing to earn money from Oliver and she responds “not what you’re obviously thinking”; A woman is seen out of the house in just her unmentionables (said that she is “nearly naked” and having a lot of skin exposed); Mentions of unmentionables.
-Harriet Peabody, age 22
-Oliver Addleshaw, age 31
P.O.V. switches between them (Epilogue in Reverend Gilmore’s POV)
Set in 1882
346 pages
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2025 reread:
After a trying day, I decided I wanted to reread a book that would make me laugh and give some joy—which is exactly what this delightful book did! I couldn’t remember much of what happened, so it was almost like reading it for the first time!
I do remember laughing so hard when I first read this book ten years ago, but it made me laugh again and again during this rereading! Harriet and Oliver’s banter and wit, but also with Harriet’s friend group with Millie and Lucetta. Reading it on Kindle this time, I easily highlighted over a hundred parts with all of those scenes and comments—which I will definitely be tabbing my physical copy as well. I’m looking forward to continuing with a reread of the rest of this trilogy soon!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
