Oh, honey, let’s talk about “A Proud Woman.” A Tabitha & Wolf Mystery, huh? Well, if this cover is anything to go by, the real mystery is why they picked it! Look at this—there’s a silhouette of a woman so proud she won’t even show her face. Darling, did no one tell you that in a book cover, a little personality goes a long way?
And Big Ben in the background? What are we, tourists? We get it, it’s in London. Bravo. Now, can we please focus on something that’s not the clock?
Now, the title, “A Proud Woman.” Pride is all well and good, but what are you so proud of? Wearing a dress that looks like it’s from a Victorian catalog? Move over, Downton Abbey, we’ve got a new fashion icon. And Sarah F. Noel, my dear, couldn’t you at least pick a font that doesn’t look like it’s straight out of a romance novel from the 1980s?
The color scheme, let’s not forget that. Lavender and pastel? I’ve seen more vibrant colors in a hospital ward. If you’re trying to lure me into a historical mystery, maybe don’t make it look like it’s naptime.
Tabitha, Lady Chesterton, the Countess of Pembroke, is newly widowed at only 22 years of age. With no son to inherit the title, it falls to a dashing, distant cousin of her husband’s, Jeremy Chesterton, known as Wolf. It quickly becomes apparent that Wolf had consorted with some of London’s most dangerous citizens before inheriting the title.