I have to say I enjoyed this latest Jodi Taylor more than most (but not all) of the others I've read and bear in mind I've not ventured into the Time Police series yet.

Not because it is funnier - it's as much of a giggle-fest as the others; not because the storyline is better - because all Taylor's stories are clever and well-plotted; and not because the characters are better - I love Max and Markham (and even Leon at times) just as much as Smallhope and Pennyroyal.

The sole reason is that there's only sloppy stuff right at the end. I'm afraid, despite it being part of the plot, I get very bored with the sex scenes in the St Mary's books - purely personal taste.

Anyway, in this novel we get an in depth introduction to our two eponymous heroes who, apparently, pop up in various previous books. Both the characters are funny and intelligent and their exploits are excellent. I do love a bit of comedy revenge. It takes us through their initial meeting to their collaboration and beyond.

It's very amusing and has a good, varied plot line that I really looked forward to reading - in fact I rationed myself because I was enjoying it so much. This is the first Taylor I've read rather than listened to but as Zara Ramm is the narrator for the audiobook I'd listen to that too.

This is an excellent addition to the St Mary's/Time Police stable and I'd highly recommend it.

Thankyou very much to Netgalley and Headline for the advance review copy.
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I liked this book but it wasn't what I expected. I found it to be simultaneously too similar and too dissimilar to the author's previous works. Too similar in that the main characters felt very like Max and Leon. A beautiful fiery redhead who defends those she loves and a quiet, capable man with a mysterious past. On a couple of occasions Amelia even mentioned what Max would have said if she were there. Too dissimilar in that it was less of a light read than your typical St Mary's book. Violence happens in those books but it is generally a little vague as opposed to the more detailed descriptions in this book. It doesn't happen every time but enough to make it not feel like a light read. There was also more explicit language than usual. I found that without the buffer of any real trips to the past (my usual highlight of a St Mary's book) this was quite a bleak read at times. Especially the ending for the main baddie. There was the humour you would expect from a Jodi Taylor book but it wasn't enough to outweigh the other events.

Characters are divided into the usual clear cut goodies and baddies but they don't feel properly fleshed out. Not even Pennyroyal who is one of the title characters. Maybe there is another book in the works from his point of view but I never felt we got to know him beyond discovering the fridging trope of his motivation. We do learn about Smallhope but other than being informed about the years passing I didn't notice any character development over the circa 16+ years she was away with Pennyroyal.

To get the most out of this book it would be best to be up to date with the St Mary's and Time Police books. It references events from both those series that will make more sense to you if you have read the other books first and will avoid spoilers. I'm not quite sure why the references were included though as we didn't really get to see events from the point of view of Smallhope and Pennyroyal it's mostly just a recounting or a brief mention of events. Maybe it was intended to show how the different timelines fit together but it felt like a wasted opportunity.

If you love the author's writing style full of characters that are witty, sarcastic and sometimes a little odd then this book could definitely be for you. The plot is encumbered a little by all the references to events in other books but still flies along pretty fast.

A book I liked but left me disappointed because I wanted to love it.

I'm already a great fan of Jodi Taylor's Chronicles of St Mary's and The Time Police series, and her other spin offs. So I was delighted to get the chance to read about the origins of Smallhope and Pennyroyal, characters who crop up in other novels from time to time. I thoroughly enjoyed their story which is written in true Jodi Taylor fashion. Recommended as an excellent place to start if you're new to her books or as an add on to extend your knowledge and enjoyment if you're already a fan.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Fast paced, action packed with a marvellous time travelling duo!

I have only ever read the first book in the Chronicles of St. Mary's series and really enjoyed it. I had no idea this was going to be about two characters that make an appearance in that series( i didnt read the description). Boy, did they leave an impression on me.

I really think this could be read as a stand-alone. There are snippets that mention St Mary's and that things are written elsewhere, but I don't feel like I'd missed out on anything or needed more information to carry on reading.

Pennyroyal seems to be Mr Mystery. Everything about him seems to be kept back. I do hope that there will be a book more about him and his past.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the digital copy.

I'd never heard of the author or her series that this book relates to, but that didn't diminish it for me. The time-travel and fight scenes were the ones that mainly related to the other series, and they were the least interesting to me. I absolutely loved the start and the end, it was so funny and fast-paced. I wish the whole thing had been in that vein, but it was still a great read. I'll be looking out for the author's other books as I love how she writes.

I’m a huge fan of Jodi Taylor and the St Mary's series, so when i saw this new novel on NetGalley, I had to request it.
I wasn’t disappointed, It was a quick read for me as i couldn't wait to get to the end. It also works so well as a standalone novel. I'll be pre-ordering my own copy

I requested this book not realising that it was the back story of characters from other book series by this author of which I have not read.

I feel this book is perhaps better suited to people who have read the book series that these characters otherwise feature in as although there is some fabulous humour and I do like the characters, I have struggled to find a connection to them and their story.
I really like Smallhope's feisty persona matched with Pennyroyals calm demeanor and recommend this book for those who have read Jodi Taylor's other books.

For now I am marking this as a DNF at 30%, however, I am interested in reading the other works by this author which feature Smallhope and Pennyroyal and hope to maybe come back to this book in the future.


Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy of this book via Netgalley

As Jodi Taylor is possibly my favourite author (feel guilty even saying that - as how many books are there in the world?!) it will come as no surprise that I enjoyed her newest book!

Smallhope and Pennyroyal have been popping up in her other novels for a while now and they are a deeply intriguing pair. I definitely wanted to get under the skin of Pennyroyal and see what makes him tick! When do they come from? What’s their backstory, etc, etc…

However, I feel this book was a bit of a letdown.
I’m so sorry to say that but Smallhope’s back story which is what we mainly get isn’t very different or interesting. For an extraordinary character she has a very unexceptional adolescence. And Pennyroyal? He’s a brilliant character who leaps off the page in the other books and he just isn’t served here. No idea why he’s the way he is. Just a few hints. And references to things that have been mentioned in other books, I can’t fully remember.

That was the problem with the book overall. Every time something exciting happened Smallhope says, ‘well this has been written before’ and well yes it may have been but I haven’t read it for a few years and I can’t remember! There’s no way of finding out, no key or website so you have to remember. And that is frustrating. It also drastically affects the momentum of the story, how engaging it is and how enthralling the characters are. It adds up to a whole load of nothing really.

The main villain of the piece seems to have no motivation and the conflict rather forced. Why is Caroline like she is, why does she hate Millie, why does George do nothing?

So much is told in summary, we aren’t in the action, we don’t see it and the most exciting parts of their lives seem to have been the bits with the lot from St Mary’s and TTP, couldn’t they have had a few of their own exciting adventures to prepare them for the experience with the other characters?

Overall it suffers from the success of the other books. Taylor doesn’t need to tell us these things again so doesn’t but it makes it seem as though her world isn’t big enough to hold three concurrent narratives and work. These characters deserved their own story and not a cobbled together one and that is what is disappointing.

Am I going to read the next one? Of course! Will I still be reading everything Ms Taylor writes, you bet but I won’t be buying a copy of this one to add to my physical bookshelf as I have with all the others.

Thank you to Netgalley, Jodie Taylor and the publisher for a free ebook copy of The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal.

I absolutely love the St Mary's Series and I have read (or to be honest listened to Zara Ramm's brilliant audio) every one. Although I do enjoy the short stories, I don't usually rush to read them as much as the novels but not so "The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal". As soon as I saw this was an ARC, I really wanted to read it (and I will be buying the audiobook too as soon as it is released).

Smallhope and Pennyroyal are the sort of masterful "minor" characters (don't tell Pennyroyal I said that) that Jodie Taylor absolutely excels in including in her work. They sort of creep up on you and are suddenly an integral part of the story one expects to meet (and feels let down if they don't appear). The backstory of this superb pairing is something that has been shrouded in the mysteries of time. Until now...

Put your feet up, gentle reader, brew yourself a proper cup of tea, and settle in because this one will blow your socks off!

I read this book without realising that it is the origin story of two characters that feature in several other books by the same author. With that in mind, I'd highly recommend reading Jodi Taylor's St Mary's and Time Police series before reading this one. It works as a standalone story, but several events that seem highly interesting are skipped over (presumably because they are dealt with in detail in the other books).

We follow Lady Amelia Smallhope from the moment she meets Pennyroyal, from their early partnership to establishing themselves as bounty hunters. All while hopping back and forth through time.

This silly caper of a book was so much fun to read. Narrated with the irreverance of the My Lady Jane series, it is filled with impossible events, sleek comebacks and loveable villaneous characters. I'm not off to read the other books in which Smallhope and Pennyroyal make an appearance!

A recommended read for fans of Jodi Taylor's other books, My Lady Jane, and morally grey protagonists.

Thank you to Netgalley and Headline for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal is the origin story of two recurring Jodi Taylor characters from the St. Mary's and Time Police books. I've always been intrigued by these characters so the idea of finally discovering a bit more of their history was too good to resist. The story is in parts thrilling, funny, frightening, and heartbreaking. Although it does fill in some knowledge gaps, there are also an awful lot of teasers and unresolved issues that hopefully will be answered in any future Smallhope and Pennyroyal novels. I'd certainly be up for another outing with the dynamic duo. The intro does drag a little bit but the pacing does pick up, ans once it does, it's an absolute rollercoaster. This is another winner from Jodi.

A real return to form for Jodi Taylor! I've read all of the Time Police and St Marys novels, and was frankly finding them to become a bit convoluted after so many books. This was a refreshing change, but also one that fit in well with the rest of the series. It would also work well as a stand alone, or an introduction to this time-travelling world.

Amelia Smallhope is a 17 year old member of the British aristocracy, living in the manor house with a village of adoring workers on the surrounding land - probably the only part of the novel I didn't enjoy, it seemed very outdated for something nominally set in the present. Her and her brother plan to run the estate but when her brother marries, everything falls apart. What follows is a delicious villain who is desperate to get rid of Amelia, but she has other plans. She meets the mysterious Pennyroyal the night she has planned to steal back her mother's diamonds, but he gets there first! What follows is a great tale of how they partner up and eventually triumph, becoming the famous duo of bounty hunters seen in the St Marys books. Very enjoyable.

I received a copy of the book for a free and unbiased opinion.
Pennyroyal and Smallhope are two of my favourite characters from the St Mary’s Chronicles ( series review here) and now we find how they met, how they became so rich and what is going on between them. Lady Amelia’s Smallhope is the main narrator, and we follow her journey from a rich, titled family to future bounty hunter and the story is unexpectedly heartbreaking.
Set in the same world as the Time Police and St Mary Chronicles where time travel is possible and story flits from one time period to another, Smallhope and Pennyroyal meet in the unspecified present and the future. But you really don’t have to have read any of the other books to figure out what is going on, in fact it is a great standalone book and a less daunting introduction to this madcap world.
The story is fast-paced with plenty of humour, madcap action, restrained romance and of course time-travel.
I finished the book in one sitting and I hope that there will be sequel to The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal

I understand this started off as a short story that took on a life of its own and what a life!

If you have read The Chronicles of St. Mary's and/or The Time Police this novel will bring plenty of Aha moments. I think it helps to know the background of some of the incidents mentioned as they are not expanded on here due, as Smallhope writes, to the fact they have been recorded elsewhere.

For the most part this is written in the first person. Lady Amelia writes, briefly, of her life growing up at Starlings. Then she meets PennyRoyal. I will not say how or why, read the book!

It is about family and what constitutes such. Not all family is biological. The feelings of betrayal and the joy of a life well lead.

There is humour and sadness and humour in the sadness.

Well worth a read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Jodi Taylor’s The Ballad of Smallhope and PennyRoyal is the story of two characters from her excellent Chronicles of St Mary’s series. It is excellent. Taylor captures the voice of Lady Amelia Smallhope beautifully. Her father was an Earl and he brought Amelia up to ride, shoot, drink and curse. Unfortunately, her brother George will be the next Earl, not Amelia – and he doesn’t do any of those things at all well. However, he knows his duty and so he gets married to Caroline Dyer and produces a son.

If I may make the understatement of the millennium, Amelia and Caroline don’t get on, in the same way that a lighted match and a barrel of gunpowder don’t enjoy each other’s company. The novel is about how Amelia seeks revenge upon Caroline – not in a hot-blooded, unthinking, emotional way that may end in tears for both parties, but in a cold, calculated, planned way. There is no doubt: Caroline is evil and deserves all that Amelia wishes upon her.

We see Lady Amelia and Pennyroyal (we never learn his first name) meet; we see them forming a partnership; and we see their loyalty to each other. Max, Evans and a few other St Mary’s staff appear but on a highly peripheral basis – they are really very minor characters in Smallhope and Pennyroyal’s story.

There is a lot of emotion: when you entrust your business partner with your life, it’s understandable that you might get peeved if they abandon you at the hour of greatest need – and that’s what we saw happen when Max worked for Insight. And let’s mention emotion again: this book takes us on some highly emotional ups and downs. Yes, I shed a tear at times – and I’m a 65-year old bloke, so I am not easily moved to tears. And yes, of course, this is a Jodi Taylor book: I almost wet myself laughing. Sometimes it was the dialogue; sometimes it was the plot; but, quite often , it was the peacocks.

If you know and enjoy Jodi Taylor’s St Mary’s Chronicles, it’s a no-brainer: I guarantee you will enjoy this book just as much. Just get it, for God’s sake!

#TheBalladofSmallhopeandPennyroyal #NetGalley

***advance review copy received from NetGalley in return for an honest review***
A fantastic outing, as I have come to expect from Jodi Taylor. This is a slight departure from the main St Mary’s books and indeed even the spin off Time Police books, but it’s a welcome look into how Smallhope & Pennyroyal came to be.
The narrative whirls its way through the plot as you’d expect, and for fans of the main series there are welcome glimpses and indeed backstory fill-ins on some familiar plot lines.
Taylor has done it again - expanding the St Mary’s universe with an original story that still somehow fits right in and also leads the door wide open for at least one follow up book, and I seriously hope we get it.
I also detect shades of her non-St Mary’s endeavour, Frogmorton Farm, which I for one welcome as that small series is a favourite of mine as well.
A sure fire hit for those already enmeshed in the St Mary’s universe and, I think, a possible jumping off point for those who have yet to dip their toes in.

I’m such a big fan of Jodi Taylor and her Time Police series. When a friend advised she saw this new novel on NetGalley, I was super excited and had to request it. I wasn’t disappointed.

Smallhope & Pennyroyal make sporadic appearances in some of Taylor’s other books. Always intriguing but not around long enough to learn too much about them, they are the enigmatic Scarlet Pimpernels of the Time Police world. Until now. The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal covers their back story & it’s everything that Time Police fans would expect. Let’s start from the top.

The prose was engaging as ever, putting you through all sorts of emotions. It went from funny to exciting in the blink of an eye. The speech was always spot on too - I never felt that a character said something that was jarring.

In terms of setting, this was again great - almost a halfway house world between the really futuristic Time Police & the modern world. However, it’s the characterisation where this book really shone. I particularly loved Smallhope who was so well-rounded. She showed so many emotions and all rang true. She is the sort of lady a lot of us real women wish we were inside.

As with the rest of Jodi Taylor’s books, I really enjoyed this one. Thank you to the author, publishers & NetGalley for access to this arc in return for an honest (if slightly gushing!) review 🤣

Smallhope and Pennyroyal, the mysterious time travelling bounty hunters of the St Mary's and Time Police series, are back with an origin story. I loved learning about how the pair met and came to be partners in crime, and also seeing a lot of the infamous escapades of past adventures from their perspective. The storyline is fast paced and unrelenting, making this an easy and enjoyable read that grabs the reader from the start, enticing them with stalking peacocks and complicated families, and not letting go.

If there's one thing that Jodi Taylor excels in, it's making loveable and villainous characters and this story is no different. Amelia and Pennyroyal are a great dynamic pair, similar in many ways in their loneliness when first they meet, yet coming to mutually respect each other and grow together. They're a bit morally grey, taking no prisoners, but they're good at their core. Pennyroyal remains as enigmatic as ever though. The same cannot be said for the villain of the story, who I eagerly waited in anticipation for their downfall. And when it came, it did not disappoint.

I wouldn't really recommend reading this if you're unfamiliar with the St Mary's and Time Police series as this is filled with spoilers for those stories. However, if you're wanting to jump in feet first and aren't bothered about the previous books, this might be a good introduction to these characters.

I always know I'm in good hands with Jodi Taylor, who never lets me down in providing a rollicking good time.

I was sent a copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.....for a full review please see my Amazon and Goodreads accounts

'The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal' is a spin-off novel from Taylor's hugely successful 'Chronicles of St Mary's' and 'Time Police' series. The title characters are time-travelling bounty hunters, who appear in some of the later books in both series. Whilst I've read some of the 'Chronicles', I haven't read any of the novels featuring these two. So I came to the book with an understanding of the concepts featured and a knowledge of some of the characters mentioned incidentally, but no preconceptions about the protagonists.

The narrator for almost all of the novel is Amelia Smallhope, a modern aristocrat who is cheated out of her family home and expected future by her cold-hearted sister in law. Amelia is a likeable character, very similar to Taylor's heroine Max from the Chronicles. After losing virtually everything, Smallhope encounters Pennyroyal, who claims to be a butler but also seems to be a very effective criminal. Who also happens to have access to a time machine of the sort Taylors' readers will be very familiar. The two team up and become successful bounty hunters, sorting out criminals who try to use time travel to mess with history - but both are distracted by personal revenge missions against those who have wronged them.

Taylor's style is the same as in her other books, and why change a winning formula. It's easy to read, entertaining and fun. She also sticks with her overall mix of madcap humour, action and occasional tearjerking pathos. It doesn't feature historic characters in the same way as the Chronicles, focussing more on travel around the 'present' and near future. The first part of the book works well and I didn't feel I needed to have read all of Taylors' others - although I would recommend having read at least some of the 'Chronicles' to get familiar with the way time travel works in these books. The second part, where the timeline starts to overlap with that featured in some of Taylor's other books, works less well. In order to avoid retelling stories that featured elsewhere, the action becomes sketchy and second hand, with important events skipped over and not enough direct involvement of the reader. I don't know if this effect would be greater or lesser if the reader has read all of the books featuring the same events. But regardless, a really good book needs to be able to stand on its merits.

I also felt there were a few plot holes and unanswered questions - perhaps a sequel is planned, or maybe it's covered in other books in the series. But again, it doesn't help this book in particular feel satisfying. By the end the reader has a good knowledge of Smallhope, but still knows very little about Pennyroyal, which is annoying when it is clear his story must be very interesting. I wouldn't necessarily describe it as a ballad of them both - it's a ballad of Smallhope, which necessarily includes a bit of Pennyroyal given his central role in her life.

Overall, it's a fun read but probably best enjoyed after reading the 'Chronicles' and 'Time Police' series first, and with an acceptance upfront that its quality is as an addition to a wider canon rather than as a standalone novel.