Queen B’s Decree: I had a lot of fun with Marian and Rob in The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes. If you recall from the first book, Rob is blackmailing Marian as a way to avoid taking his rightful place as the Duke’s heir. Being the Duke’s heir doesn’t really vibe with his Robin Hood/criminal mentality but why not profit off of this secret? But he discovers Marian is not some wilting violet, she’s ready and able to take him down.
The banter between the two was fantastic. It was witty and fun, yet always felt light-hearted and never cruel. There was definitely a play on the grumpy/sunshine trope, yet our grump is Marian. Rob is just this happy-go-lucky, rob the rich, give to the poor thief, but you just can’t ever get mad at him. He falls hard for Marian (because she’s amazing!) and slowly but surely, Marian becomes a bit less prickly and falls for him too.
The facet of The Perfect Crimes that I loved best? How their intimacy occurs. It challenged typical M-F pairings (especially from that period in history) and focuses on consent. It was honestly beautiful to see how loving and caring Rob was of Marian, and vice versa.
I did wish that we got a little bit more of an epilogue, as I still have some questions about how everything got wrapped up. Otherwise, The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes was a wonderful read that hit all the boxes for me.
Book: The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian
Series: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb #2
Genre: Historical
Hotness: medium salsa
Plot Devices/Tropes: grumpy/sunshine