In the first book in the Arcane Society series, Gabriel Jones and his cousin Caleb discover a hidden laboratory and the tomb of their ancestor, powerful alchemist Sylvester Jones. After an artifact was stolen, Gabriel and the society decided to have all of their antiques cataloged, so Gabriel hired and quickly fell for photographer Venetia Milton.
In Victorian England, proper society snubbed women with careers, but Venetia passed herself off as a respectable widow with a sob story, and she caught the interest of society. Everything was working out great for her until her dead fake husband returned months later.
Gabriel was charming and sarcastic, but he feared he might be more beast than man due to his unusual abilities. He’s also very secretive, which annoyed me, but I understood why he kept so many secrets.
I really liked Venetia at first. She was smart and in control of her life, but then she backed down and let Gabriel take the lead far too often.
The side characters were great, especially Caleb. I would love to see more of Venetia’s friend, Harrow, in future books.
Though I enjoyed the plot and the characters, the book was a little slow and wordy at times. There was too much detail about some things, not enough detail about other things, so I found it hard to visual some of the scenes. There was also a lot of information about photography and how it worked, most of which I didn’t understand.
The story is well-written. I noticed a few typos but nothing to take me from the story.
3 Stars

Disclaimer – I bought this book for my own enjoyment. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape, or form for this honest review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason unless at my discretion.
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Gabe is my favourite JAK hero, which is saying something. I love his mix of humour and darkness, his instinct to protect and his desire to hide. Venetia is also a fascinating character, determined to make her own way in the world while protecting her siblings. They're both characters who live outside societies norms and the way they interact with each other is delightful. The secondary characters are enjoyable as well.

As the introduction to ARCANE, it ties in their love story into the larger world of people with strong psychic abilities. The entire series is worth checking out. ( )

A good start to this series. I read this a couple years back and enjoyed it. I enjoyed it even more listening to it this time around. ( )

An Arcane Society novel. I liked it but am not as fond of the historical novels in this series as I am the modern ones. They always seem more light and fluffy. The motivations of the characters are fairly flimsy but it all hangs together. We don't spend much time at all in the characters heads learning what they are feeling so we don't invest as much in them as in some other authors.

As is normal for this series, an amusing story without being laugh out loud. Comfortable and easy to spend a couple of hours with. As nice addition to the series. ( )

The first Arcane Society story takes place late in Queen Victoria's reign. Venetia Milton is trying to support her family - spinster aunt, younger sister, and younger brother - by working as a society photographer. She gets a plum assignment - paid in advance - to take pictures of objects owned by the Arcane Society. She meets Gabriel Jones at that remote location and decides to seduce him since she's certain she'll never marry, is attracted to him, and figures she'll never see him again when her job is finished.

When thieves threaten the house, Gabriel sends her away. Some days later she reads a small article in the paper indicating that Gabriel is dead and the house has burnt to the ground. She and her family are just about to transfer their business to London and Venetia needs a new name. She chooses Mrs. Jones since she figures he's gone for good. Imagine her surprise, and Gabriel's, when he shows up to protect her from those who wanted something from among the artifacts.

This was a fun romance. I really liked the relationship between Venetia and Gabriel and liked Venetia's relationship with her family. The story had a lot of action and excitement as a terrible villain has some creepy plans for Venetia. ( )