Underground Airlines takes place in an America in which slavery has continued in four states until the present day. Victor, a black Federal Marshal, is on the trail of a runaway slave known as Jackdaw. But something seems off about this case, threatening to upend Victor's relationship with his work and his past.

Winters's previous series was The Last Policeman, in which a police officer carries on trying to solve crimes even though a meteor is going to collide with the earth destroying life as we know it within a year. So, it's no surprise that he's a master of the alternate universe thriller, easily dropping in details about this America's history and pop culture from the moment they diverge until the present, drawing the reader into the universe without ever disrupting the pace.

An edge of your seat thriller and a masterful exercise in world-bulding.

Overall: A

The Christmas Wager is the first in the Happy Christmas series.

Felicity is claimed from the foundling hospital at the age of sixteen by an uncle who has just recently discovered her existence. Her best friend, who has visions from the spirits, tells her about a future involving a duke and a ruby ring. A visitation from the spirit of her mother once she has moved into her uncle's home leads her next door to Mr. Redstone, an American with an improper reputation who is very much not a duke.

I had problems enjoying this book. First of all, much like the Duke of Andelot, this book is not as different as it thinks it is. There's a forward that explains that unlike many romances in which the hero and heroine meet on the first page, in this one we're going to watch Felicity grow up first, much like Pip in Great Expectations. While it's true that we do not meet the hero until chapter three, that's only twenty-nine pages in. In Great Expectations, we meet Pip as a child, and Felicity is already sixteen when we meet her (although we do get a crash course in her childhood escapades). In the right setting, I'd have thought nothing of the romance already starting at that age. I'd probably have thought nothing of this if it weren't for the forward, but having read the forward I was expecting something more on the order of Jane Eyre. I also never thought there was a serious threat of Felicity winding up with the Duke of Ainsley rather than Redstone, considering that we get Redstone's narrative perspective and don't even really see Ainsley until very late in the book. It's very much a traditional romance, not that that's a problem, except that the forward set me up to expect something else.

Setting aside the areas in which I was expecting the book to be something other than what it was, there were a couple of things that bothered me in their own right. First of all, Redstone kisses Felicity for the first time right after she has directly told him not to. It's one thing not to ask and find out if you're told to stop and quite another thing to go ahead after having been told no. Secondly- and this is something that has happened in more than one Marvelle book- there's a certain frequent equation of sexual satisfaction and fertility. Lots of talk of kissing somebody until they wind up pregnant (which, ok, done right kissing may very well lead to activities that cause pregnancy but whether or not they actually do result in pregnancy has nothing to do with how enjoyable they are) and discussion of filling up nurseries in the middle of seductive moments. I'll admit this is a matter of personal taste, but I find the thought of filling up nurseries to be something that would really kill the mood, and on the other hand I also imagine there are women who suffer from infertility who would be made uncomfortable by the thought that great sex life=tons of babies.

On the other hand: the dialogue is entertaining as always. That's mostly what I read Marvelle's work for. And there are several entertaining side characters whom I imagine will be getting their own books. I haven't decided yet whether or not I will be reading them, but given the size of my pet peeves against pregnancy being brought up in sexy talk and somebody I'm supposed to be rooting for doing anything physical to the other after being explicitly told "no," the fact that I'm even considering it says something.

Overall: C

A Gentleman's Position is the third in the Society of Gentlemen series.

Throughout the previous books in this series we've come to know Lord Richard Vale, the second son of a Marquis, one of the older and wiser heads in the Society of Gentlemen and endlessly dedicated to doing the right thing, and David Cyprian, the best valet in London and the fixer whenever something needs to be done quietly. Lord Richard is firmly against relationships that come with an imbalance of power, which is why he can't bring himself to admit his attraction to his valet, and it's not Cyprian's place to make advances on his master. When they can no longer keep their feelings for each other a secret, they are forced to negotiate what they can be to each other, given their respective positions in the world. In the midst of it all, an old enemy comes back whom only Cyprian can disarm for good.

I didn't love this book quite as much as A Seditious Affair, but that would be a tall order. There was a period between the revelation of their mutual attraction and the beginning of the external crisis where the pacing felt a bit off to me and Lord Richard and Cyprian seemed to be having the same argument over and over. Once things got back underway, it was a wonderful exploration of privilege, perspective, and devotion. I'm sorry to see this series come to an end.

Overall: A-