Escaping From Houdini (Stalking Jack the Ripper, #3)

by Kerri Maniscalco

[Joni Reads]

As whole- I love this series. I love the setting, the characters, the rich descriptions of the time period. In that instance this book is a solid 5 stars. So why 4 stars?

Well, I feel like the actual storyline of this book just didn't do it for me. I felt myself rushing through to finish it instead of enjoying the journey. I didn't connect with the characters as much this time. There is a slight love triangle aspect and if you have read any of my other reviews then you probably can figure out that my least favorite trope is love triangles. I mean, let's face it- I'm at 32 year old woman. Love triangles are a little too angsty for me.

So while I loved the author's descriptiveness- I literally had to remind myself that she didn't live in the 1800s and wasn't writing based on first hand experience. That's how amazing her setting was.

My issue was with the part of the storyline that focused on the romance. And I understand that every book in the series can't be Audrey Rose and Thomas in love and struggling to do things that are appropriate for their time era so she needed something new to keep the romance intrguing. But at the end of the day I didn't care about the love triangle because we all know Audrey Rose and Thomas is the end game. So reading about her being interested in anyone else really felt like a waste of time.

The entire Moonlight Carnival storyline felt very reminiscent of Caraval which I loved. Down to the little details about tarot and cartomancy- it almost made the book feel like a mashup of the two series.

I still cannot wait to read the last book in this series and I will read anything else this author comes out with for sure.

Keep in mind- this is my personal opinion. I completely understand why the storyline is the way that it is- I just didn't like it.