In the lion's den

This second book in the Victorian-era House of Falconer saga, following Master of His Fate (2018), sees James Lionel Falconer, of humble origin, swiftly working his way up the ladder at Henry Malvern's shipping company. Young Falconer makes himself increasingly indispensable as the company experiences difficulties and the aging Malvern steps back from the helm. Malvern's daughter, Alexis, showcased as having quite the head for business and who seemed poised to head the company in the previous novel, is now portrayed as rusticating in the country. She is sunk in depression, mourning a lost love, and, as friends point out, she has "let herself go." It would be rhetorical to ask if she can rally, lose weight, and come out the other side of a makeover to resume her acquaintance with the handsome Falconer. The historical framework is decidedly shaky, but In the Lion's Den ticks all the boxes fans expect from Bradford's romantic sagas. Bradford's books continue to be prolific bestsellers; libraries will need to have her latest on hand to meet fan demand.

Bestseller Bradford adds a leisurely paced installment to her House of Falconer series (after Master of His Fate), set in Victorian England. The story tracks aspiring merchant James Falconer's rising career at the shipping and real estate firm Malvern Market, run by Henry Malvern. While Henry's middle-aged daughter, Alexis, the company's expected successor, grieves for her dead fiancé, Henry promotes the ambitious James, 21, to second-in-command. After a family member embezzles from the firm, James proposes building a gallery of shops as a way to recoup those losses, but arson strikes the half-built gallery. (Though, curiously, no suspects are suggested, leaving readers to anticipate a reveal in a future series installment.) Bradford does offer a secret from James's past love life, staging a seductive tryst between James and the lovely Irina, a dress designer, while a highly charged love affair between James and Alexis moves the plot. Bradford evokes the Victorian setting with aplomb, but a ham-handed intervention by Alexis's late fiancé's adult daughter, who professes to have looked up to her while telling her to "get back looks," muddles the author's apparent appeal to current values with its adherence to Victorian convention. Series fans will enjoy following along as the plot deepens. (May.)

The second in Bradford's House of Falconer series about a retail dynasty. By 1889, James Falconer, soon to turn 21, has made himself indispensable to commerce impresario Henry Malvern while dreaming of founding his own retail empire. As in the first installment, Master of His Fate (2018), James' extended family is still warm and supportive. The decor of every dwelling, be it ever so bourgeois, is still lavishly detailed. And James is still exhibiting his preference for older women. His lover Mrs. Ward, age 31, left London for health reasons, but now there is Irina, age 22, fetching great-granddaughter of a Russian ambassador. One senses immediately, despite their speedy progress from attraction to a perfunctory "insert sex scene here," that Irina is just a place holder--until James and Alexis, Henry's daughter, between whom an attraction has been brewing since Master, can resolve their differences. Which seem to have mostly to do with competition for her father's good graces. To Alexis' extreme resentment, James has effectively usurped her status as Malvern's chief deputy since Alexis has chosen to remain, grieving, in the Kentish cottage her late fiance, Sebastian Trevalian, built for her before his untimely demise. While avoiding her own family, Alexis is still involved with Sebastian's clan, which inhabits the large Trevalian country estate nearby--and she's hurt when the Trevalians avert a potential scandal, involving an unwed mother, without her help. Too often, such misunderstandings take the place of actual conflict. The mystery of who hired thugs to attack James and a friend, left dangling in Vol. I, is also too abruptly solved here. As the undisputed heiress, however capriciously she treats her father, to the company James can only claim sweat equity in, Alexis is clearly a more suitable match for the budding tycoon. So of course they will end up together--it's just a matter of how much window dressing gets in the way. Despite a few mild threats, nothing to suggest any actual lions in this den. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.