Name: Talk Sweetly to Me
ISBN: 9781937248222

Courtney Milan

Nobody knows who Miss Rose Sweetly is, and she prefers it that way. She’s a shy, mathematically-minded shopkeeper’s daughter who dreams of the stars. Women like her only ever come to attention through scandal. She’ll take obscurity, thank you very much. All of England knows who Stephen Shaughnessy is. He’s an infamous advice columnist and a known rake. When he moves into the house next door to Rose, she discovers that he’s also wickedly funny, devilishly flirtatious, and heart-stoppingly handsome. But when he takes an interest in her mathematical work, she realizes that Mr. Shaughnessy isn’t just a scandal waiting to happen. He’s waiting to happen to her…and if she’s not careful, she’ll give in to certain ruination. Talk Sweetly to Me is the final novella in The Brothers Sinister series. The other books in the series are: ½. The Governess Affair (prequel novella) 1. The Duchess War 1½. A Kiss for Midwinter (a companion novella to The Duchess War) 2. The Heiress Effect 3. The Countess Conspiracy 4. The Suffragette Scandal 4½. Talk Sweetly to Me

Talk Sweetly to Me

Nobody knows who Miss Rose Sweetly is, and she prefers it that way. She's a shy, mathematically-minded shopkeeper's daughter who dreams of the stars. Women like her only ever come to attention through scandal. She'll take obscurity, thank you very much.All of England knows who Stephen Shaughnessy is. He's an infamous advice columnist and a known rake. When he moves into the house next door to Rose, she discovers that he's also wickedly funny, devilishly flirtatious, and heart-stoppingly handsome. But when he takes an interest in her mathematical work, she realizes that Mr. Shaughnessy isn't just a scandal waiting to happen. He's waiting to happen to her...and if she's not careful, she'll give in to certain ruination.

Becky A

** spoiler alert **
           I think this was my fave of the novellas in this series (though it's hard to make up my mind because I loved them all). Stephen was a delight, but the one thing that really makes the entire Brothers Sinister series for me is how unusual the heroines are - and Rose, as a black woman who was also a mathematical genius with a deep love of astronomy, certainly fits that bill. Which is what makes this novella really stand out. 

Rose knows she's unusual, and always has the feeling that it's vaguely embarrassing. She's under pressure not just to behave herself but to be a positive representative of her entire race, which means she really can't afford scandal - so even though she's aware that there are people out there who'll accept her quirks (like being a genius) she really can't imagine anyone actually loving her *for* them.

The story doesn't center around racism, though it's certainly an aspect and the scene where Stephen realizes that it is something Race always has to deal with - which means he will, too - is well done. He's a delight of a character, too (okay, also I just enjoyed all of his terrible math puns).

Basically, I wish this had been a full length novel because I enjoyed it so much, but I'm still thrilled with it as a novella, too.