Vastly Different Lives Should Never Meet, But They Do - Editorial Review for "Falling Up"

Book Blurb:

A colossal inheritance affords Lord Henri-Antoine every indulgence. His is a life of aristocratic opulence and privilege. A world away, on the mean streets of 1780s London, Miss Lisa Crisp relies on charity to keep her from the poorhouse. Such vastly different lives mean Lisa and Henri-Antoine should never meet. Yet they do. And in a most startling way. One Henri-Antoine would prefer to forget. Yet he cannot forget Lisa. When they find themselves attending the same wedding on his brother's magnificent country estate, the couple wonder at fate, and their profound feelings for one another. Surely the bond between orphan and aristocrat cannot defy societal convention! Will love be their ruin, or can fairy tales come true?

A YA retelling of Satyr’s Son: A Georgian Historical Romance, available as Book 5 in the Roxton Family Saga.

Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/kmHgBKL

Author Bio:

LUCINDA BRANT is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of award-winning Georgian historical romances and mysteries. She writes about families, creating worlds that are full of history, heart, and Happily Ever Afters.

Lucinda has university degrees in history, politics, law, and a post graduate degree in education. Now a full-time writer, she has had many careers: university administrator; selling merch at rock concerts; mentor to first year medical students; and history and geography teacher at an exclusive boarding school for young ladies.

Lucinda lives in a villa full of books by the beach, with her scientist hubby, and an Italian Greyhound princess called Mabelle. She has been researching and reading about the 18th Century for over forty years, and still finds the Georgian era just as fascinating now as then.

A proud member of Novelists Inc. (NINC); The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi); the Audio Publishers Association (APA), and the Beau Monde—Regency Fiction Writers (RFW).

Lucinda's many awards include:

10k Random House/Woman’s Day Romantic Fiction Prize

15 x IndieBRAG Medallion

10 x Readers' Favorite medalist

3x finalist for the RONE award. Awarded the RONE Historical Novel of the Year

Chatelaine Romantic Fiction First in Category Award winner

2 x finalist for the Romance Writers of Australia Romantic Book of the Year (RBY) award

"Quizzing glass and quill, into my sedan chair and away! The 1700s rock!"

Editorial Review:

Title: Falling UP

Author: Lucinda Brant

Rating: 4.0 Stars

“Falling UP” by Lucinda Brant is a sweeping historical romance that has got more going on than typical romance stories. It’s a story that mixes a fairytale kind of feeling with some real, gritty details about life and class. The atmosphere is very period, you really feel like you’re in another time, but the characters feel surprisingly modern in their heads. It’s a study of how people act in public versus who they are in private.

The story follows Lisa, a practical and observant young woman who works in a shop. Her life gets turned around when a mysterious and very handsome aristocrat, Henri-Antoine, comes into her world. What you would expect quickly takes a new twist when Lisa gets tangled up in a risky situation involving a stolen auction catalog that could have serious, even deadly, consequences. At the same time, Henri-Antoine is struggling with his own private battles, including a medical condition that he has to keep hidden from society. The book is about these two people from completely different worlds navigating danger, vulnerability, and the chance of finding something real with each other.

The first bit introduces a character named Becky, who’s a seamstress. She’s talking to Lisa about seeing a handsome man.

“Outside she was met in the small service area below street level by one Becky Bannister, seamstress and haberdasher’s assistant. … ‘You’ll think me feverish, but ’e’s bewitchin’ ’andsome.’ … ‘I just wanted to take ’is face between me ’ands and kiss it all over!’”

This passage does a lot. Becky’s way of talking, with dropped letters and all that excitement, immediately paints a picture of her world. It’s working-class London, full of gossip and life. The style here is all about voice. You get a real sense of who Becky is from just a few lines. It also shows lisa’s character by contrast—she’s more calm and collected, the sensible one listening to all this.

Then there’s a moment where Lisa finds the important catalog. The writing gets tighter here, more focused on her thoughts.

“It was large and heavy, and the frontispiece told her almost everything she needed to know. … she saw inscribed in the same elegant fist the initials H-A… What immediately crossed Lisa’s mind… was twofold: That this H-A needed the catalog… and its theft would be considered grand larceny, and a guilty verdict meant a sentence of death by hanging.”

This part shows how the author can take a simple object and make it super important. The style shifts to match Lisa’s mind, which is quick and practical. She sees the initials and in seconds she’s thinking about the danger. It’s a great way to build suspense. A normal thing suddenly has huge stakes. The grammar is straightforward, no fluff, which makes the danger feel more real.

“He must not panic. He must keep his wits about him. He must find a safe place… The muscles contracted, forcing the elbow to bend and his arm to adhere to his side … His hand twisted at the wrist… Someone blocked his path. No. Not someone. A female. Or was it an angel? … Henri-Antoine followed and promptly collapsed at her feet.”

This is where the writing really shows its skill. The sentences start smooth, like his aristocratic life. Then they get short and choppy, mirroring his panic and his body losing control. The repetition of “He must” shows him trying to hold on. The structure of the prose actually makes you feel his unraveling. It’s visceral. And the “angel” part adds that fairytale touch without being too sweet, because it’s grounded in this scary medical moment.

The grammar and structure in “Falling UP” by Lucinda Brant are strong but not showy. The author uses style to serve the characters and the mood. When it’s gossipy, the language is loose and fun. When it’s dangerous, it’s sharp and direct. When it’s vulnerable, the sentences almost fall apart to match the feeling. The book’s strength is this balance. It feels like a romantic story but it doesn’t ignore the hard parts of life, like class differences and personal suffering. The characters feel deep because you see their social posture and their private fears. It’s a satisfying read because the romance feels earned, built on seeing each other’s real selves, not just on handsome faces and stolen glances.

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