A Little Light Mischief
by Cat Sebastian

My Rating:

A seductive thief

Lady’s maid Molly Wilkins is done with thieving—and cheating and stabbing and all the rest of it. She’s determined to keep her hands to herself, so she really shouldn’t be tempted to seduce her employer’s prim and proper companion, Alice. But how can she resist when Alice can’t seem to keep her eyes off Molly?

Finds her own heart

For the first time in her life, Alice Stapleton has absolutely nothing to do. The only thing that seems to occupy her thoughts is a lady’s maid with a sharp tongue and a beautiful mouth. Her determination to know Molly’s secrets has her behaving in ways she never imagined as she begins to fall for the impertinent woman.

Has been stolen

When an unwelcome specter from Alice’s past shows up unexpectedly at a house party, Molly volunteers to help the only way she knows how: with a little bit of mischief.

Book Depository

Look, when it comes to historical romance, I don’t really care what the story is actually about if there are two women in love on the cover. When it comes to historical romance, especially set in the Regency era, there seems to be a lot more m/m romance out there than f/f romance, and I love me some ladies loving ladies.

A Little Light Mischief is a novella which takes place in Cat Sebastian’s Turner series, but I don’t think you need to read any other books in the series to enjoy this one – this novella was my first foray into Sebastian’s work, and I’d definitely be interested in reading more of the books in this series. It’s just a shame that this is the only f/f story!

Alice Stapleton is the daughter of a clergyman who loves alcohol more than he ever loved any of his children. Alice has been disowned by her family, with even her sister sending her letters back unopened, and has been lucky enough to find a home with a society woman who understands that Alice’s circumstances are not her fault at all.

It’s here that Alice meets Molly Wilkins, a former thief who has found employment as a lady’s maid, and when the source of Alice’s misery reappears, Molly agrees to help Alice exact her revenge while the two women grow closer to each other.

This novella is incredibly sweet, without being saccharine, and very low risk which is what I want out of historical romance. I don’t need the same stakes in a historical romance that I expect from an epic fantasy, and having the chance to read about queer characters getting a happy ending, especially in a historical setting, always gives me the warm fuzzies.

It was also nice to see a queer romance taking place between a woman who only likes other women and a woman who likes both men and women – I hesitate to use labels like gay, lesbian and bisexual simply because the characters don’t talk about themselves that way – because, sadly, bisexuality is still so often erased both in fiction and in real life. That Molly is allowed to be a woman who enjoys and has enjoyed pleasure with men and women both, and that Alice doesn’t think there’s anything unusual about this, is so satisfying to see on the page.

Speaking of Molly, I adore her. I’d love Sebastian to write a collection of short stories all about Molly’s adventures, because I would read the hell out of that.

If you want a short, sweet f/f historical romance with a guaranteed HEA, look no further than this one!