{"id":23473,"date":"2024-03-25T16:47:24","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T20:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=23473"},"modified":"2025-10-01T19:03:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T23:03:36","slug":"lady-ambitions-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23473","title":{"rendered":"Lady Ambition’s Dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lady Ambition’s Dilemma<\/em><\/a> (2024) Jane Steen<\/a> (Lady Helena Investigates)<\/p>\n

\"Lady<\/a>Set in England in 1883.<\/p>\n

Lady Helena is approaching the end of her mourning period, following the death of her husband in 1881. Although she still misses Justin, she is ready to return to the world–and her growing feelings for Armand Fortier also need to be considered.<\/p>\n

But those thoughts are put to the wayside when one of her older sisters demands Helena’s assistance in helping her son out.<\/p>\n

I was not prone to losing my temper with my sisters, but I could feel myself beginning to simmer with irritation. \u201cYou\u2019re asking for my help, so I\u2019m making it easier for you by admitting I know something of such matters instead of acting like a hypocrite. Justin told me that such men exist and that they often marry anyway. Although,\u201d a new thought struck me, \u201cit would be rather unfair to your putative American heiress, wouldn\u2019t it? Is that your dilemma?\u201d <\/p>\n

My words appeared to strike Blanche dumb for the space of twenty seconds, but then she recovered. \u201cDederick\u2019s not such men.\u201d She looked quite distraught, and I began to feel sorry for her again. \u201cHe has sworn to me it was with just the one boy\u2014at school\u2014that matters went beyond mere affection.\u201d She choked again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was cautious reading this, unsure the subject of homosexuality would be addressed. Also, Dederick is an obnoxious git to Helena at the start of the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you\u2019ve had affairs with women?\u201d This was something I wasn\u2019t sure Blanche knew. <\/p>\n

The arrogance and derision were back on Dederick\u2019s face. \u201cI\u2019m perfectly capable of performing the act with them, since that\u2019s obviously what\u2019s on your mind. Can\u2019t I have some brandy now?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While Helena tries to help her nephew, other issues arise, including the death of Armand Fortier’s father, and Armand’s bringing is cousin and the boy raised as their son to England, and a visit from the brother of Helena’s first love. All of which means we get to spend more time with some of the secondary characters, including Helena’s nephew Thomas (who is nearly the same age as Helena) and who for the first time in the series is honest about his frustrations with his body.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t helped to have Jonathan here, reminding us all he can fight and ride and stride around in that ridiculous uniform while I play children\u2019s games. I\u2019m angry\u2014not at him, but at this.\u201d He put his good hand under the elbow of his withered arm, lifting it into view. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis doesn\u2019t make you less of a man.\u201d I caught his twisted right hand in mine, caressing it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I like Thomas very much, and I think he’d be a good vicar, I also want him to find happiness. I believe we’ll find more about what happens to him in future books.<\/p>\n

Oh! And there was reference to the strange weather due to events across the world.<\/p>\n

She waved a hand at the vase. \u201cI\u2019m trying to recreate the unearthly twilights we\u2019ve been having\u2014to build a sort of record in ceramics.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…<\/p>\n

Another thing I should mention about 1883 was a shock that was literally felt around the world. From May to October of that year, the Indonesian island of Krakatoa underwent huge paroxysms of volcanic activity, peaking on 27 August with an explosion so massive it was heard nearly two thousand miles away,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I enjoy this series, and the only bad thing is it takes a couple years for her to write these books.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Aspidistra Press<\/p>\n

Cover design by Rachel Lawston and Alexandra Allden<\/p>\n

Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lady Ambition’s Dilemma (2024) Jane Steen (Lady Helena Investigates) Set in England in 1883. Lady Helena is approaching the end of her mourning period, following the death of her husband in 1881. Although she still misses Justin, she is ready to return to the world–and her growing feelings for Armand Fortier also need to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,30,190,292,204,33,8,608,26],"tags":[530,597,628,750,557],"class_list":["post-23473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-british","category-cozy","category-ebook","category-good","category-historical","category-mystery","category-neurodiversity","category-romance","tag-disability","tag-dyslexia","tag-jane-steen","tag-scott-de-quincy-mysteries","tag-victorian"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-66B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24207,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24207","url_meta":{"origin":23473,"position":0},"title":"Lady Ambition’s Dilemma, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"January 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Lady Ambition's Dilemma, Audiobook (2022) Jane Steen and Elizabeth Klett narrator (Scott-De Quincy Mysteries #3) Set in Sussex in 1883 \u201cIn any case, we\u2019re not discussing me. Are you trying to tell me Dederick . . .\u201d I searched for the right words, \u201cprefers the company of other men?\u201d \u201cA\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24156,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24156","url_meta":{"origin":23473,"position":1},"title":"Lady Helena Investigates, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"January 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Lady Helena Investigates, Audiobook (2018) Jane Steen and Elizabeth Klett narrator (Scott-De Quincy Mysteries #1) Set in Sussex in 1881 \"I can\u2019t have you back, so I\u2019m forced to move forward with my life. I let Daniel\u2019s death reduce me to some kind of paralysis, but you rescued me from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lady Helena Investigates","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Lady-Helena-Investigates.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19880,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19880","url_meta":{"origin":23473,"position":2},"title":"Lady Odelia’s Secret","author":"Michelle","date":"March 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Lady Odelia's Secret (2022) Jane Steen (Lady Helena Investigates) Set in England in 1882. I read the first book, Lady Helena Investigates, soon after it came out, and was disgruntled when there wasn't a sequel. Until a couple weeks ago I stumbled across the second book in the series. HUZZAH!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lady Odelias Secret","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Lady-Odelias-Secret.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23155,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23155","url_meta":{"origin":23473,"position":3},"title":"Lady Helena Investigates","author":"Michelle","date":"February 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Lady Helena Investigates (2018) Jane Steen (Scott-De Quincy Mysteries) Set in England in 1881 It\u2019s too early to make big decisions about your life. You must give yourself time to grieve, Baby. That\u2019s why deepest mourning should be carried out with the mirrors covered, you know. 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Except that her husband's doctor doesn't think the drowning was an accident, but a murder. Helena's is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Lady-Helena-Investigates.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23473\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}