No Proper Lady

By Isabel Cooper

•Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

•Library Journal Best Book of the Year

•RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence and Finalist for Best Book of the Year

When a half-naked woman suddenly appears on his country estate, Simon Grenville doesn't have time to be shocked. Demonic beasts are hot on his heels until the beautiful stranger unsheathes several knives strapped to her skin-tight trousers and kills them. As he stares at her fierce, heart-stopping face, Simon knows he's in a hell of a lot of trouble…

Joan is from a time where demons run rampant and humanity is fighting for its existence. To prevent this terrible future, she is sent back to Victorian England to kill the magician responsible for unleashing the dark forces. But Joan is a soldier more used to sparring than dancing. To get close to her target, she'll need Simon to teach her how to fit into polite society. Joan doesn't mind practicing proper flirtation on Simon, but she can't allow herself to be distracted by his gentle hands or devilish smile—the very future depends on it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: Sep 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781402259531

Isabel Cooper

Isabel Cooper lives in Boston with two thriving houseplants. During the day, she maintains her guise as a mild-mannered project manager working in legal publishing. None of the houses she's lived in has been haunted, although one of her former roommates might have dated a zombie. For more visit isabelcooper.wordpress.com.

Reviews for No Proper Lady

[samm4-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There is something about this book that really caught my attention. The cover is dreadful - the cursive font and the lady taking her dress off give the impression that it is going to be some sort of Harlequin bodice ripper, but it isn't. A girl from the future travels back in time 200 years to the late 1800s to stop a man who will later destroy the world if he isn't stopped. There is magic and some hot and heavy sex, but no simpering and nothing to support the impression given by the aforementioned cover. Gets my award for worst, most misleading cover of the year.

[yonitdm · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I tried to get into this book, but reading about a wizard's "magic staff" over an over wasn't doing it for me.

[tanaise-968201 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

not enough terminator!

[one_curvy_blogger · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

No Proper Lady is the hands down, weirdest historical romance I have read. If you take all perceived notions of historical romance and mix in a weird helping of Victorian occult, tentacle-wielding rulers of the universe, a manuscript that houses the mysteries of the “Dark Ones” bent on destroying life as we know it, and an unusual but kickass heroine whom literally wears weapons as body parts… well, I think you get the idea. No Proper Lady is not your average Victorian era smut. I can’t believe how entertained I was by it all – it is not a novel I could take very seriously, but I enjoyed it regardless of the few plot and character driven problems the novel revealed.Joan was a phenomenal heroine, probably my favorite of every historical romance I’ve ever read. She’s a soldier with a take-no-shit attitude that is pretty impressive considering what she had to give up to travel back in time on a mission to save the her people – and more importantly, the world. I enjoyed that Joan is the obviously dominant personality in the relationship forming with Simon. I also liked how much Ellie (Simon’s broken sister recovering from Alex’s demonic attack) grew into a more confident young woman as she and Joan grew closer. Women were considered equals in Joan’s time and she doesn’t hesitate to point out the obvious flaws in how much society values a “genteel” and air-headed woman. I had moments I wanted to break out in applause, but I refrained myself.While Simon and Joan were very sexually compatible (they practically burn up the sheets!), I found Simon to agree with society’s views on women too much for my liking. For one, he is quick to become suspicious of Joan for agreeing with his pretty dangerous plan to try to reform his ex-bestie while also saving the world from said man at the same time. He becomes irrationally jealous when she is given the task to get close to Alex in search for his Manuscript of Doom (not the real name – as we weren’t actually given the name of the book… might have helped in the search,, don’t you think??) when her idea was much easier and FAR LESS DANGEROUS FOR HER IN THE FIRST PLACE. He acts as an idiot for a good while, but he does eventually learn the error of his ways… after Joan has to knock him on the head with them, of course. *rolls eyes*While Simon’s character flaws did annoy me to some extent, they weren’t nearly so distracting as the obvious plot holes in Cooper’s world building. Don’t get me wrong, she comes up with a crazy entertaining plot, but I was left with a few questions yet answered. How did Simon and Alex truly discover magic was real? Can all humans practice or are people born with supernatural ability? The author isn’t clear on much of anything and I became frustrated with all the mysterious, evasive answers that left a lot desired. I am a curious reader and need to know everything I possibly can about the world the characters live in, but by the time I finished I I barely had any answers to my initial questions.At the end of the day, I did enjoy reading this book. This was a new-to-me author and I will probably find myself reading the second book soon enough. I am keeping my fingers crossed that book two has more in-depth world building and less evasive answers. I recommend No Proper Lady to fantasy fans and those who enjoy a unique Victorian-era historical romance.

[samo4_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There is something about this book that really caught my attention. The cover is dreadful - the cursive font and the lady taking her dress off give the impression that it is going to be some sort of Harlequin bodice ripper, but it isn't. A girl from the future travels back in time 200 years to the late 1800s to stop a man who will later destroy the world if he isn't stopped. There is magic and some hot and heavy sex, but no simpering and nothing to support the impression given by the aforementioned cover. Gets my award for worst, most misleading cover of the year.

[lquilter_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fluffy, sort of like one of the alternate Buffy's (the vampire-world Buffy from Cordelia's wish, or maybe the far-future slayer from the first comic book) was sent back to Victorian England to be a slayer, and got a HEA romance without much angst.

[mlorio_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Once you accept it is a mash up and not a true Regency Romance, it is a very good story. Can't wait for next title by author.