#a lawyer a spy a bow street runner a bastard

[mermaidsirennikita]

First of all, love your recs and all your hot takes.

I have a recommendation request that I'm vaguely ashamed of because I greatly dislike cops in the real world for obvious and good reasons but I also watched Practical Magic at just the right age that the "how many times have you read my letter?" scene was very formative for me. The whole I-want-you-but-its-wrong thing just works for me. Same thing in Cable Girls with the detective and Angeles. Like he just wants to be a good moral man but he also wants her so so bad lol 

Do you have any recs that match that vibe? (Cops absolutely not required, just the vibe of its morally wrong and also may lose my job wrong but why does it feel so right)

Hi! So, I totally get it—and I don't read books with modern cops for the reasons you mention. But I do read historical romances with old school detectives sometimes, and I do have some books that I think would appeal :).

Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel by Lorraine Heath. James Swindler is an expert detective, and he's disturbed by his interest in a woman he Knows is up to something (specifically, she wants to kill the man responsible for her sister's death). This has one of the most INSANE twists I've ever read.

The Widow's Kiss by Jane Feather. The heroine has been widowed four times, and is suspected of killing her most recent husband. This is set in Henry VIII's reign, and the hero is sent in to investigate her. It has EXACTLY the vibe you're talking about.

If you're down for m/m romance, KJ Charles's Will Darling trilogy may work, specifically the first book (and then you read for the rest). Will isn't gonna lose his job, exactly, because of Kim. But he is at risk of running afoul with the lawmen who are trying to work with him because of Kim. Who's quite slippery indeed.

Any Duke in a Storm by Amalie Howard. This one gender flips it a bit, wherein the heroine is a spy working for the crown, and the hero is a suspected criminal she probably needs to bring in. But he tempts her.............. severely.

The Untamed Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley. This is a novella, but it's about the detective bastard Mackenzie brother investigating a murder, which he suspects was committed by his... sister-in-law's sister? (Not his sister, to be clear.) The issue being that they're falling for each other...

Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas may give these vibes. The hero is the head of the Bow Street Runners (early cops tbh) and the heroine is his housekeeper, who's actually undercover and wants to seek revenge against him. Obviously, their entire relationship jeopardizes his job, and she also feels compromised (in her mission) by her growing, forbidden feelings for him.

The Rogue of Fifth Avenue by Joanna Shupe. Not a detective! But the hero is a lawyer and the fixer for the heroine's rich father, which means she's VERY forbidden and it VERY MUCH threatens his job.

[unfortunate-arrow]

Hello, Bridgerton question: What is your point of view on Benedict and Sophie, individually and as a couple? And what is your opinion on erasing Sophie? You can ignore if you want to (and I don't mind long answer)

Sophie has a very understated personality that’s easy to ignore because she’s not a loud or brash personality. She’s not the type to get into a big loud argument with people. She holds steady to her principles and rarely lets herself compromise them. In comparison to the other Bridgerton heroines, she can seem a bit boring because most of them are the type to be brash and do things unexpected of them. However, the other heroines have more freedom to do that. I like Sophie. She’s in fascinating circumstances, as she has basically no social class. There’s something that makes her an outsider in them. She’s too educated for the servant and working class. She’s a bastard, which immediately puts her at odds with the ton. She holds strong in all of them. So, sure maybe Sophie doesn’t stand out as the most outspoken or interesting heroine, but she’s got her charm and this is something that’s extremely subjective.

Benedict has definitely benefited from having a bit more space to be fleshed out in the show. There’s a depth to Benedict that’s really unexplored. There’s his issues with being regulated to Anthony’s shadow his whole life and everything with his art. He’s not nearly as bad as people make him out sometimes. A lot of his actions are understandable (which doesn’t make them right!) when some context of the regency times are added.

I enjoy Benedict and Sophie as a couple. Unlike a lot of other couples, they don’t have a lot of bickering or arguments, which is nice. The whole bickering things is also enjoyable, but sometimes it’s nice when the hero and heroine really do like each other. They’re also unique among the Bridgerton couples in that they’re the ones who really obliterate the idea of marriage being a business. They‘re the first to truly marry for love and not because they were caught in a compromising situation. I also just enjoy the romances where the aristocrat’s bastard falls for someone in the ton.

I do not want them to erase or change Sophie. First of all, I think it would alienate some of the book readers and the book couldn’t be advertised. Secondly, changing Sophie doesn’t really work for the story. Like the whole man thing, (ignoring sexuality issues) a bastard son would have opportunities that a bastard daughter never would. The series I’m reading now, Sons of Sin by Anna Campbell, feature three heroes who are bastards. Two are legitimate bastards meaning they’ve been recognized as their mothers’ husbands’ sons and then they’ve got titles. The other one has his parents’ marriage invalidated and is labeled a bastard. He still manages to amass a large fortunate through business. There’s just not the same dynamics at play and it doesn’t work for the plot. Also, erasing Sophie robs you of a vastly different point of view. She’s a working woman (even if not part of the working class) and she’s a servant. It just doesn’t make sense to erase her.