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Knockout? More like a decent left jab.

In the author¡¯s end notes, she says Hell¡¯s Belles has a historical basis. Well, yes and no. An organized criminal gang of women apparently did exist: an organized group of female society vigilantes fighting injustice, not so much. I¡¯ve not been able to buy in to the premise of this series, and I continue to struggle with the idea that a group of high-profile women, including two duchesses and an earl¡¯s sister, could possibly go about covert activities undetected.

Apart from a basic premise that seems geared more toward comic books, I had other issues:

Repetitious thoughts. Yes, Imogen was different. Unconventional. Too Much. Thomas was a lowly Detective Inspector from the East End whose father was a street sweeper. He was beneath her. He could not provide the life she was used to. Yeah, yeah, got it the first two dozen times.

Repetitious words and phrases: oracle, chaos, mayhem, ¡°make a meal of it,¡± ¡°you¡¯re gone on her,¡± to name a few.

Hyperbole. Imogen was glorious, magnificent, the sun. Thomas was helpless in the face of all that brilliance, he growled, he roared. Hyperbole is something Sarah MacLean does well in small doses, but it does lose impact with repetition (see above). I wish MacLean would realize she writes quiet better than she writes loud.

Thomas jerked Imogen¡¯s emotions around one too many times for my taste. The poor girl needed a neck brace. (view spoiler)[The first few times he pushed her away because she deserved better but the last rejection was the old ¡°I must save you from me¡± move that always makes me want to punch the wall with my kindle. (hide spoiler)]

Modern slang and phrases, modern sensibilities, modern priorities.

Here¡¯s something new in MacLean World: the oddness of introducing a new character¡ªor even a passerby on the street¡ªby skin color. Thomas takes Imogen to his mother¡¯s home and Imogen notices ¡°a white woman¡± walking into the room. Just¡­odd.

The big action sequence at the end was lacking in believable details. (view spoiler)[Nobody got a splinter when the carriage exploded? The police inside and around the house didn¡¯t hear the explosion and come running? Who arrested the police? Because I sure as heck didn¡¯t believe the newspaper threw them in a paddy wagon and took them to Newgate. (hide spoiler)]
The things I enjoyed:

I really liked the characters of Imogen and Thomas, and their back stories felt authentic in shaping them into the people they are. Imogen seeking her father¡¯s attention by becoming interested in science was touching. Thomas¡¯s childhood theft of ladies underclothes was humorous. I liked Imogen¡¯s unconventionality and Thomas¡¯s protective streak.

The quiet little moments, the words, the glances, the observations, between Thomas and Imogen that established their feelings much better than the overblown hyperbole. And there were enough of these moments to raise my enjoyment to three stars.

Also, the cover is badass. That¡¯s exactly how Imogen should be pictured.