u/Fresh_Cranberry_105

Hi everyone!
Please help me find this book, I'm going crazy and can't seem to find the exactly what I'm searching for.

I haven't actually ready it but I believe that I read another one from the series. What I remember:
- This is a standalone in the interconnected series about group of former thieves and scoundrels
- The FMC is the part of the group but they are all changed and grown up
- I vividly remember that in the book blurb it stated that "FMC has long abandoned her pickpocketing life but sometimes she likes to test her abilities and she pickpockets the wrong man on the street"
- I feel like this book was the 3d in the series but I could be wrong

I thought it was {Surrender to the Devil by Lorraine Heath} but I'm reading it now and it's not the same.

If my description rings any bells, please let me know! I'm loosing my mind over it

Hi everyone!

I’ve been on a bit of an HR binge these past few months, and one thing that keeps throwing me off is how differently authors portray the Regency/Victorian era.

In some books, young unmarried women can sneak out, ditch chaperones, go on adventures, even live double lives, as long as they’re discreet. For example, in {Ten Things I Hate About the Duke by Loretta Chase}, the FMC slips away and even cross-dresses pretty easily. In {Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean} and {The Bachelor Bargain by Maddison Michaels}, the heroines are basically leading full-on secret lives.

But then in other books, it’s the complete opposite: constant chaperones, watchful servants, strict social rules, and the sense that any misstep will immediately become gossip and ruin you.

So now I’m curious, what’s actually closer to reality? Was it really possible for women (especially unmarried ones) to sneak around like that, or is that mostly a romance trope? Or is the truth somewhere in the middle?

TW: Also, I'm interested in how easily it was to be "ruined" by men during that time. I'm talking about con or non-con relationship, direct assault/rape. As I understand, "sneaking to the gardens during balls" was quite popular activity. But again, was it or is it fiction of HR? Was coercion and assault more common among nobility than we know? But how strict was this in real life?

I know HR takes liberties, but I’d love to understand the real historical context a bit better. Would really appreciate any insights!