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Verdict: A gleefully angry Victorian revenge comedy in which a rich 73-year-old widow and a penniless 69-year-old spinster team up to ruin a Terrible Nephew and fall in love along the way — hilarious and cathartic for most readers, but the romance is slight and some found the chemistry missing.
Best for: Readers who want older heroines, feminist rage played for laughs, and a short historical romp.
Heat level: 3/5 (romance.io: open door, 40 ratings)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.8/5 — a 3.96 Goodreads average across 2,174 ratings and 3.99 on StoryGraph from 1,018 reviews)
Tropes: Both 60+, historical, revenge plot, class difference, rich widow, widow and spinster, dual POV, novella.
Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure is Courtney Milan’s 2019 historical sapphic romance novella, part of her Worth Saga. In 1867 England, Bertrice Martin — a widow of seventy-three who refuses to give a damn about anything — is visited by Violetta Beauchamps, sixty-nine, whose rooming house is home to Bertrice’s Terrible Nephew. Violetta wants him gone.
It holds a 3.96 average across 2,174 Goodreads ratings, with 70% of them four or five stars, 3.99 on StoryGraph from 1,018 reviews, and 4.3 stars across 666 Amazon ratings.
What Is Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure About?
Bertrice has kept her youthful-ish appearance with daily doses of spite, regular baths in man-tears and refusing to care about her nephew. Violetta, proper and correct, has managed a rooming house for decades — and loses her job, and the pension she was promised, just before she can claim it, thanks in part to the nephew who has lived there without paying rent.
Bertrice is not about to start giving damns, not even for someone as intriguing as Violetta. Instead she hatches a plan: make her nephew sorry, make Violetta smile, and have the finest adventure of all time. If she makes Terrible Men angry and wins the hand of a lovely lady along the way, so much the better.
What Makes This Mature Romance Work
- Properly old heroines: One author-reviewer praised heroines with bad knees and papery skin who are still desirable and desiring.
- Catharsis: Readers call it the angriest romance they have read — a funny, well-harnessed howl at patriarchy.
- Humour: 74% of StoryGraph readers tag it funny, with goats, geese, fire and cheese toast along the way.
- Characters: 90% of StoryGraph readers found them loveable; readers love Bertrice’s ferocity and Violetta’s snark.
- Real history: Beneath the comedy, it shows how few resources older women had.
Book Synopsis
Mrs. Bertrice Martin — a widow, some seventy-three years young — has kept her youthful-ish appearance with the most powerful of home remedies: daily doses of spite, regular baths in man-tears, and refusing to give so much as a single damn about her Terrible Nephew.
Then proper, correct Miss Violetta Beauchamps, a sprightly young thing of sixty-nine, crashes into her life. The Terrible Nephew is living in her rooming house, and Violetta wants him gone. Bertrice hatches a plan — to make her nephew sorry, to make Violetta smile, and to have the finest adventure of all time.
My Review
Milan says up front that this villain is not subtle: the Terrible Nephew is terrible, and terrible things happen to him. That honesty sets the tone for a revenge fantasy that is frothy and furious at once. Both women have been ground down by the men who controlled their lives, and watching them scheme, bicker and bond is a pleasure. Told in dual POV, it gives room to Violetta — never considered pretty, and long overlooked — as well as to Bertrice.
The romance is the weak link for some. One 3-star reader said the passion between Bertrice and Violetta amounted to a few paragraphs, and warned not to buy it for the romance. Two 2-star reviewers felt no chemistry at all, with one finding the heroines sounded more like a modern American novelist than Victorian Englishwomen and the other calling the revenge plot ridiculous. Others found the dialogue a little on the nose.
My honest note: Read it for the joy of two old women burning down the patriarchy. If you need a slow, sensual love story, this is not it.
| Element | In Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Bertrice Martin (73, wealthy widow) & Violetta Beauchamps (69, former rooming-house manager) |
| Core tropes | Both 60+, revenge plot, class difference |
| Setting | England, 1867 |
| Heat level | 3/5 on romance.io — open door |
| POV | Dual, third person |
| Series | Worth Saga novella — reads as a standalone |
| Content notes | Misogyny, mentions of past rape and sexual assault, grief, fire, panic attack |
How Spicy Is Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure?
Romance.io rates it 3 of 5, “open door,” from 40 ratings. One reviewer was glad it did not lean tame because the heroines are older; another wished for more passion.
Content notes submitted on StoryGraph include misogyny and sexism, fire, grief, and mentions of past rape and sexual assault. One reader also flags a panic attack.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you want two heroines in their late sixties and seventies, historical settings and a revenge comedy with teeth. It is on our mature lesbian romance and women over 40 lists.
You may want to skip it if: you want a romance-first story, or historically precise voices.
In short: A short, satisfying romp of queer, elderly feminine rage.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
On Goodreads the split is 31% five stars, 39% four, 22% three, 4% two and 1% one. On StoryGraph, 74% tag it funny and 67% lighthearted, 82% said the character development was strong, and 53% call it fast. We could not find an audiobook on Libro.fm.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The righteous anger first. Second, the humour. Third, heroines who are properly old. Fourth, Bertrice and Violetta themselves.
What readers argue about and complain about: A thin romance, above everything. Second, missing chemistry. Third, a silly plot. Fourth, modern-sounding voices.
The comparison worth making first: For a contemporary romance between women of the same age with more focus on the love story, try Forever in Flowers. For another short read with heroines over sixty, see In the Twilight Hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old are the heroines in Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure?
Bertrice Martin is 73 and Violetta Beauchamps is 69. The book description gives both ages.
Is Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure a full-length novel?
No. It is a novella of about 156 pages, part of Courtney Milan’s Worth Saga, and it reads on its own.
How spicy is Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure?
Moderate. Romance.io rates it 3 of 5, “open door,” from 40 ratings. Some readers wanted more romance and heat than the revenge plot leaves room for.
Is Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure on Kindle Unlimited?
Not at the time of writing — the Kindle edition was listed for purchase at $2.99. We could not find an audiobook on Libro.fm.
Is Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure a romance or a comedy?
Both. It is a revenge comedy in which the romance sneaks up on the heroines, and several readers felt the revenge plot overshadows the love story.
If You Loved Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure, Read These Next
Try Forever in Flowers for two women around seventy, In the Twilight Hours for a 65-year-old and a 70-year-old at a campground, or Golden Years and Silver Linings for a fifty-year second chance. For more, browse our mature lesbian romance list or the full Book Reviews archive.
The Bottom Line
Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure sets out to give two older women a gleeful revenge and a late-life love, and most readers find it hilarious, cathartic and warm. What holds it back is a romance that plays second fiddle to the revenge. For a short, joyful read, it is worth it. Check Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure ranks as a very good historical novella — brilliant on voice and fury, thinner as a romance.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 3.8/5
- ✓ 3.96 average across 2,174 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ 70% of Goodreads ratings are four or five stars
- ✓ 3.99 on StoryGraph from 1,018 reviews
- ✓ 4.3 stars across 666 Amazon ratings
Romance ★★★☆☆ 3.2/5
- ✓ Sneaks up on them
- ✓ Tender moments
- ✓ A few paragraphs of passion for one
- ✓ No chemistry for some
Characters ★★★★☆ 4.2/5
- ✓ 90% found them loveable
- ✓ Bertrice’s ferocity
- ✓ Violetta’s snark
- ✓ Properly old heroines
Writing ★★★★☆ 3.7/5
- ✓ Very funny
- ✓ Memorable lines
- ✓ On-the-nose dialogue
- ✓ Modern voice for one
Emotional Impact ★★★★☆ 3.8/5
- ✓ Cathartic
- ✓ Hopeful
- ✓ Real history of older women
- ✓ Frothy rather than deep
Heat Level ★★★☆☆ 3/5
- ✓ Romance.io 3/5, open door
- ✓ 40 heat ratings
- ✓ Not tame, per one reader
- ✓ Too little passion for another
Ending ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Villain gets his due
- ✓ Happy for the heroines
- ✓ Satisfying
- ✓ Plot silly for some
Re-read Value ★★★★☆ 3.6/5
- ✓ Short at 156 pages
- ✓ Quotable
- ✓ Not on Kindle Unlimited
- ✓ No Libro.fm audiobook
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