A Little Light Mischief by Cat SebastianMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Alice was disowned by her family for something that wasn't her fault but her new situation has her with idle hands for the first time in her life and eyes that can't help but follow the maid.
Molly was used to doing whatever it took to survive, thievery and cheating, but she finally has a stable working situation and is determined to not lose it. The new companion in the house, however, has her wanting to live life in a different reckless way.
Alice was overwhelmed by this sudden sense of common feeling with a woman whose life had been so different from her own, but who had wound up in roughly the same place.
A Little Light Mischief, is a novella in the Turner series, but as a newcomer, I didn't have any problem starting here. There were some names and relationships that had me feeling a little lost in the beginning but the author keeps the focus on Molly and Alice and their character and relationship development.
As a novella, around a 100pgs, there usually isn't much time to get the characters where they need to be but Sebastian creates a believable (and easy to relish in) arc of Molly giving validation to Alice's feelings and anger of being wronged, sharing in them from her own life experiences, and providing a way for Alice to get some vindication, even with danger to herself.
But now Molly knew she might actually like Miss Stapleton, and she rather wished she didn’t.
Molly and Alice were strong characters but, probably due to the page count restrictions, secondary characters fell a bit short, like the woman employing Molly and taken in Alice as her companion; readers of the series might have more character information and foundation here. I would have also liked to have more with Molly and her daughter, their relationship and the way Sebastian brought Alice into their fold (Alice writes stories that Molly's daughter ends up liking) was sweet but I still felt I was missing more emotional support to Molly's character and the story.
Suddenly she was very aware of the fact that if she moved her own hand a bit to the side, her own little finger would touch Molly’s.
Even with Molly as the maid in the household Alice currently lived in, I didn't feel a problem with any power imbalances between the two. Alice's situation was just as precarious as Molly's, Alice was disowned by her family, was lucky to have someone take her in as a companion, and didn't have enough money to survive on her own. Their class stations are obvious but the way Sebastian wrote the characters, emotions, and actions, I didn't feel anyone was taking advantage of the other. What I felt was two people from different walks of life, having a fabric of shared experiences, attracted to each other, and coming together.
A Little Light Mischief had some longing looks, sweetness, frustration, thievery, steam, empowerment, and love. Readers of the Turner series will not want to miss this one and newcomers will certainly enjoy Molly and Alice taking what's theirs.
Today would be the first time she had taken for herself.
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