Deliciously light and tasty as Bella's pastry.
A welcome and informative holiday read. Lots of facts about Queen Victoria and her family, especially her holidays spent on the French Riviera..
After an idyllic start to life, Bella is reduced to becoming a maid to support her family, she takes an opportunity to train as a cook for the Queen and finds her true vocation until she is blackmailed by an unscrupulous man. She has great success in creating dishes which are well described and enjoys life with the Queen's household on the Riviera until a murder is committed. Bella's innocence has to be proved and she solves the crime.

I love to read this authors historical fiction books and this was wonderful!, loved it from the first page . Highly recommend

This was a delightful story with a realistic historical background. Well described and likable character and plenty of variety to keep the story interesting and absorbing.

Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen is another well told story.

The author has proved to be a very successful storyteller.

This is highly entertaining and absorbing tale of a young genteel girl who due to her father's fondness to alcohol has been forced into service. By the stroke of luck and some bold chance taking she becomes cook for the Queen and finds her passion for cooking.
As part of her entourage she travels to France and there gets involved into lies, treachery, murder and deceit. and she has only her skills and her wit to fall back on.

Some parts of the book are not so credible however they do not take anything away from the story, which is steady paced and well constructed. Greatest part of the book happens in the kitchen and has a lot of information about cooking and meals which I found interesting.

Characters are well developed and have depth. It is easy to conjure protagonists in your head and see them vividly. Dialogue is engaging and intelligent.

This has been a pleasure to read and I highly recommend it.

Isabella Waverly is out for a rare day off from her life as a servant to a mean mistress, and happens upon a woman who has been hit and mortally wounded by a bus. As she comforts the dying woman she thrusts a letter into Bella’s hand. It’s an offer of employment in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace, and everything the budding young chef desperately wants, to escape her current situation. Bella takes a chance and follows her employer to the French Riviera, Nice, which is above the Bay of Angels.

This is a delightful story, with notes of upstairs-downstairs, Downtown Abbey, and Victoria, all rolled into one. There are villains, family quandaries, amorous friends, and "misunderstandings".

The detailed descriptions of the food and various delicacies cooked by the kitchens for the Queen are so fun to read.
The author has obviously done a very thorough job of researching the food that was actually served to Queen Victoria and the time she spent at the Hotel Regina Excelsior in Nice.

The depictions of the characters are very sympathetic, and you find yourself rooting for Bella and for her friends as well. A quick and enjoyable read.
My one quibble is that I thought the title of the book was a bit weak and could have been better. They don't really talk about the bay in the book, and it's just not clear why the title was chosen.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. My opinions are 100% independent and my own.

#AboveTheBayOfAngels #NetGalley

"...I knew nothing about him other than that he was a talented chef and his kiss had been incredible." Above the Bay is a delightful read - you root for Bella/Helen all the way. Part love story, coming of age, mystery and a nice view into 1896 London and Nice. Look forward to reading more of Ms. Bowen's catalog.

P.S. Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

A delightful and interesting story, even exciting in parts, of how a well-educated teenager becomes destitute and must go into service as a house maid in order to support her younger sister. Being intelligent and hard working over time she rises to become a cook to which she discovers an aptitude. She makes the best of the opportunities that come her way and by chance obtains employment in the kitchens of the court of Queen Victoria of which she makes a success and is selected to follow the retinue of the Queen for a sojourn to the French Riviera. The Court intrigues that occur gives rise to the trials and tribulations that she must overcome, providing choices for her future that makes a fascinating story.

Above the Bay of Angels is the first novel I have read by Rhys Bowen, and I found it a pleasure to read. It features Isabella Waverly who, by a series of incidents, takes another woman’s identity, gets her job as under-cook at Buckingham Palace and gets to be on the queen’s cooking team travelling to Nice. When a member of the party dies of poisoning, Bella is suspected of the crime.

To recover from a nasty cold after her stay at The Isle of Wight Her Majesty goes to Nice. As the pastry chef is indisposed, Bella gets to go as the only female on staff.
While in Nice there is an attempt on Her Majesty’s life which goes wrong. Instead a member of the queen’s entourage is graced by the bullet. Later he dies of poisoning. While Bella is harboring the secret of her real identity, she tries to aid the police to make them too busy with the poison investigation to focus on her.

I loved the parts of the book with descriptions of life in Buckingham Palace, which gave me a vibe of the TV-series Victoria. I loved the descriptions of the splendid interiors of the Palace. The descriptions of the grand entryways and hallways with marble, paintings and cases resemble footage I have seen of how it looks.

Coming from aristocracy falling on hard times, Bella has worked as assistant cook in a nouveau-riche household where she has discovered her talent for cooking.
I found Bella to be a nice girl, but she has some personality traits and an attitude which brings her into trouble in this story. Instead of telling the truth and take her chances, she decides to steal another person’s identity, lie and cheat her way into the position at Buckingham Palace. But I’m pleased to see her conscience is bothering her, which shows she has a good heart and it’s in her character to do the right thing. I very much appreciate the crafting of what I found to be a multi-layered and realistic character.

While the queen was trying to remain anonymous, she would travel with the Highland Pipers who attracted masses of attention in France with their kilts and their sturdiness, which I found thoroughly amusing.

I enjoyed the easy flow of the writing with all the vivid descriptions of royal life from the downstairs perspective. I appreciate the research conducted to present a work like this.
The ending felt somewhat predictable and rushed, as the clues were leading in a certain direction throughout the plot. While the story was entertaining, I would have appreciated a few surprises and twists along the way. It was a very quick and easy read. As a lover of English historical fiction, I found the setting of the plot right up my alley.

Above The Bay of Angels is recommended for fans of Rhys Bowen and readers of historical fiction.
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this eARC, which gave me the opportunity to share my honest review. All opinions are completely my own.

Bella, from a good family which has fallen on bad times, is sent into service. She finds her vocation working as a cook in Queen Victoria’s kitchens - unfortunately under an assumed identity.

I enjoyed the story of a young woman making her way in a man’s world, and the food focus was fascinating - so much research has gone into it - I want to try chard pie! Unusually for me, I really enjoyed the romantic angle and would have liked to have seen that build more.

Sadly, I never fully ‘believed’ in the story - maybe it was trying to be too many things? On several occasions I felt I was suspending disbelief, which threw me off a little. And the ease with which Bella settled into her role, and indeed a new country, didn’t quite click for me.

However, it has left me wanting to know more about Queen Victoria’s later life and household - and wanting to visit Nice.

A quick and nice read set in the late Victorian period. The story follows Bella, a maid who took a chance at a new life as a cook in Queen Victoria's household.

I have enjoyed Bowen's Molly Murphy series, and there are some similarities between the Bella and Molly, Here, the mystery doesn't appear until later into the book, but the romance begins building before that. I also love reading about domestic service in the time period, as well as Queen Victoria.

Overall an enjoyable novel! Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction.

3.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for this copy, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

An easy read involving murder and some romance. This is a quick easy read. I was expecting more depth to the story.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

London - 1896

Bella's father is a congenial man and worked for years at the Savoy until he took a liking to drink. This well paying job enabled Bella and her sister, Louisa, to have a good education. Eventually though, her father’s drinking led to him losing his job, leaving him an embittered man. So, at age 15, Bella is forced to take a job as a servant in a large house. While her employers have some wealth, they are crude and ostentatious. As Bella has always loved food, she enjoys helping the cook and serving as assistant cook.

When an opportunity opens up for her to grab a better job, she takes it. She is now a cook in the kitchens of Queen Victoria’s, Buckingham Palace and goes by the name of Helen Barton.

As she strives hard to learn everything she can including reading and studying cookbooks, she soon excels at her craft. So when Queen Victoria decides to spend the winter in the south of France, Helen becomes part of the kitchen crew that will accompany the Queen.

In France, Helen is fascinated with different French foods and their preparation. Some of her dishes catch the Queen’s eye and she is the only one to prepare them for the woman. However, life is not without intrigue and a thirst for power that Helen fights to stay away from but with great difficulty.

This book was written for me! So many wonderful things here. I am a huge foodie, and love to cook. I lived in France for many years and am familiar with French foods and the preparation thereof. The gorgeous vistas of southern France are beautifully described here which took me back to this exquisite area. Rhys Bowen has long been a favorite of mine and I have read nearly all of her books. I loved this book from the first page to the last. What a treat! Don’t miss it!!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

An enchanting story running parallel with factual historical events in the French Rivieria during the period when Queen Victoria was on her holiday there. I enjoyed discovering some facts about Queen Victoria from this.
An easy pleasant read comprising of romance, blackmail and murder mystery. An opportunity of improving one's status from a house servant to a cook at the Royal palace is presented to Bella Waverly in a most becoming and fortunate way.Such a chance needed immediate attention, therefore requiring Bella to resume the identity of Helen Barton (who had been killed in a freak accident).
Will Bella be caught with her false identity? Does it improve her life?

Another riveting read from one of my favourite authors.



Set in Victorian England in the Palace itself and then moving on to Nice this relates the story of Isabella a girl of good family, thrust by an uncaring father into service - a drudgery of the worst kind and one she is definitely not suited for. Isabella is adaptable, quick thinking and it is this that lands her the job at the palace as an undercook. It is also the reason why she can get blackmailed, having taken on the name of someone else.

The story interspersed with tales of the Royal Family - gossip and innuendo aside the doings of Victoria and her son Prince Albert were numerous and how she kept her hand on the tiller till the end is amazing.

The best part of the book for me however was the food. Victoria had an enormous appetite for good food and so did the royal party who travelled with her and the descriptions of the food is mouth watering.

The side story of Isabella alias Helen and her romances are also piquant and add a touch of interest to a historical fiction tale.

If you read me, you know I love Rhys Bowen and her mystery series, especially the Royal Spyness books. Every now and then Ms. Bowen writes a stand along historical fiction novel and Above the Bay of Angels was one. This was a compelling story, following the journey of a young woman who is cook to the Royal Family during Queen Victoria’s time. It was just the book for me to read when I came home from work tired and cranky and just wanted to escape into another time and place. Ms. Bowen never seems to run out of wonderful ideas for novels and her writing is always even-paced and well-edited. The description paints it like a Sherlock Holmes but it didn’t feel that way to me. I found it an interesting glimpse into life in the 1800’s of someone who was “in service”, even if she faked her way into the job!

Thank you for my ARC through Net Galley!

*3-3.5 stars. A charming, cozy mystery set in Victorian England. Isabella Waverly was raised and educated in an aristocratic family until hard times for the family require her to take work as a servant for members of the nouveau riche. There she discovers a talent for cooking. One day a tragic accident presents her with the opportunity to assume another's identity and interview for the position of under-cook in service to Queen Victoria. Carpe diem!

Her delicious scones bring her to the attention of the Queen herself, in whose presence she also meets the lecherous Prince of Wales. When the court travels to the south of France for the Queen's health, Bella is fortunate to be included. At least she thinks so until she is implicated in a poisoning!

The scenarios that support this plot are rather preposterous but I enjoyed the settings and the characters. Isabella is an attractive, intelligent young lady, determined to find her own way in the world. Her upper crust manners are noticed by the royals and she often finds herself included where most servants would not be. She'll need her wits and friends in high places to work her way out of the impossible positions she soon finds herself in.

I received an arc of this mystery from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinions. Many thanks for the opportunity.

I still have to find a Rhys Bowen's story I didn't like.
This one was entertaining and engrossing with a well researched historical background and a cast of interesting characters.
Ms Bowen is a talented storyteller and the story flow.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I throughly enjoyed this book! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. I am a huge fan of the Molly Murphy series that the author writes so I was looking forward to this stand alone. Love this period of time and anything to do with the Royals in general. Although there were a few things I felt were a bit far fetched in the story I absolutely loved it and it was a pleasure to read!

Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen

A lovely historical mystery Isabella Waverley started life into an upper class well educated family that fell on hard times and when both parents died & Isabella was responsible for her younger sister forcing her to go into service . She discovers she has a talent for cooking. As a twist of fate she takes on Helen Bartons identity when she in killed on the way to the palace for a new job as an under chef an then Isabella’s life alters again . It follows her journey and all the trials along they way working in a royal house hold.

Beautifully written very enjoyable.

3 stars, maybe 3 and a quarter. Fairly easy to get through. I'm not into cooking and there's a big emphasis on food and cooking and what the queen was eating day to day which I could have done without. Also, I enjoyed the actual ending but I wasn't expecting the last quarter of the book to turn into a murder mystery that the protagonist basically solves singlehandedly. It didn't really fit with the style of the book in my opinion.