Brimming with intrigue, Outrageously Yours, the second book in Her Majesty’s Secret Servants series by Allison Chase, is the most fascinating Victorian Historical I’ve come across in ages.

Ivy Sutherland will do anything to retrieve a rare stone for her friend, the new Queen of England, even shear her locks and behave manly in order to infiltrate Cambridge University’s scientific department as young Ned Ivers.

The Mad Marquess of Harrow is on the precipice of perhaps the greatest scientific discovery known to man, and his fellow Galileo Club members know it; they’re just not sure what the discovery is. And the Mad Marquess isn’t about to trust just anyone. He needs someone with passion, excitement . . . exhilaration. Someone with “the knowledge, ingenuity, and courage necessary to become his laboratory assistant.” And first year student Ned Ivers is just the man. Or is he?

Of course, her bout of clumsiness could be blamed directly on him, and on the heat of an almost kiss that had left her senses reeling, her lips tingling. Though she replayed the incident over and over in her mind, she could not quite fathom what had brought Lord Harrow leaning so close that their lips had all but touched.

Did he trust her so little with his precious equipment? She didn’t believe that was the case, for then why would he have her here at all? And unsettling thought sent her fingertips to her chin. Perhaps he had noticed the lack of coal dust? His suggestion yesterday that she should shave rather than attempt to grow whiskers had been all the encouragement she needed to discontinue smearing the grimy powder across her face. A mistake?

But no, if Lord Harrow suspected the truth of her gender, he would toss her out on her coattails, not kiss her.

Such a silly notion; of course he had not meant to kiss her. He thought of her as a university student named Ned, and not as a young woman who . . .

Who could not stop wishing he had kissed her, whose lips burned with unquenchable curiosity at what his mouth would have felt like, tasted like. . . .

“Have you encountered a problem?”

Her strength of character is evident from the first when she takes up a challenge without a second thought, proving her loyalty to those she cares for. Our first glimpse of Harrow is of his mad obsession with his science experiment and thoughts of friends and family are furthest from his mind. Ivy’s close familial ties versus Harrow’s loneliness sets the stage for a romance that is just as electrifying as the flashes of lights often seen from Harrow’s laboratory.

I love a good mystery, and Outrageously Yours has exactly that and more. A simple theft of a precious stone from the Queen of England by one of her ladies-in-waiting, quickly becomes murder and mayhem. Although the reader knows who stole the stone, Chase keeps the reader guessing at who the real villain is and what the motives might be.

With more book learning than Harrow knows what to do with and Ivy’s curious ingenuity, Chase proves that these polar, although not complete opposites do attract, creating an electricity that flows into the reader’s heart.

If you are looking for something unique and extraordinary, complete with romance and mystery, I highly recommend this book.

Reviewed by: Christina