Series summary
Supervillains, steampunk, and social justice rebels collide in an epic adventure about an unlikely pair of thieves who join forces to battle mobs, evil scientists, and a fascist regime for the control of a powerful aether invention. The outcome of their revolutionary mission will determine the fate of Victorian England—and beyond.
Meanwhile, this dynamic duo of the London underworld struggles to keep their fake marriage strictly professional at a time when they’re focused on achieving wide-scale social reform. But even their combined power of brains and brawn may not be enough to shield them from the siren’s call of love.
Heather Massey’s fantastical steampunk romance quartet mixes Birds of Prey girl gang energy with the political panache of V for Vendetta. It’s seasoned with high-octane action, fashion glow-ups, underworld intrigue, and infernal devices.
Inspired by lady supervillains, social justice movements, and the magic of science, A Villainous Affair will delight fans who love the worldbuilding prowess of Meljean Brook, the Victorian underworld characters of Sarah MacLean, and the resistance romances of Alyssa Cole.
This fantastical adventure is a four-volume, multi-faceted story with many themes to explore. Take a look (and don’t worry—no spoilers here):
A Villainous Affair is part of a larger trend of socially minded genre fiction. It entertains while engaging with current social issues. One of the main themes is resistance because disadvantaged characters in an oppressive, terrible world face off against political tyrants amid overwhelming systemic obstacles.
The story takes place in a diverse Victorian London and features characters of various races, genders, disabilities, body types, and sexual orientations. There’s also gender-inclusive language, body positivity, and some religious diversity. AVA’s queernormative world includes trans and non-binary characters as well as a queer m/f main couple.
A Villainous Affair interrogates whiteness, white privilege, white supremacy, white feminism, colonialism, and imperialism. It does so primarily through the gaze of the main white protagonists, along with a few POV scenes from characters of color.
This saga will appeal to heroine-centric readers. This story not only explores women's anger but validates it.
A Villainous Affair subverts female villain tropes (e.g., that they're sexually voracious) while also interrogating an aspect of villainy that is often merely subtext in stories featuring cis white female villains.
This story also explores society's framing of marginalized groups as evil/criminal/worthless. In real life as well as fiction, marginalized genders are frequently vilified for a variety of unjustified reasons. One goal of A Villainous Affair is to subvert the term “villain” in the context of marginalized folks. Thus, the story's central question asks: is Ruby really a villain, or has society framed her as one because she has ambition, agency, and advocates for social justice?
Many romance readers have a complicated relationship with romance heroines. They sometimes reject and even hate heroines they perceive to be feminist/unsympathetic/unlikeable/assertive/competent. Heroines with agency have also been labeled as evil. Given that dynamic, this author figured she'd cut to the chase and make Ruby Darling a villain from the outset. Ruby doesn’t care what people call her so long as she can put wide-scale social reforms into action—because she knows that compassion for others is anything but evil.
The following quote echoes the above observation [TW for ableist language]:
"It's time to stop worrying about what the Republicans will say. It's true that we embrace a far-left agenda, they're going to say we're a bunch of crazy socialists. If we embrace a conservative agenda, you know what they're going to do? They're going to say we're a bunch of crazy socialists. Let's stand up for the right policy, go up there and defend it."
–Pete Buttigieg during the July 2019 Democratic Party Presidential Debate.
A Villainous Affair explores gendered differences regarding the use of power (e.g., the tendency of many allocishet white men to hoard power and oppress others for financial gain vs. the tendency of marginalized genders to share power and opportunities). It’s also about leveraging one’s privilege to center those who have been oppressed and empower them.
A Villainous Affair confronts inconvenient truths, such as how Britain was built on slavery, the evils of colonization, and how the amassing of obscene amounts of wealth depends on the exploitation/enslavement of marginalized people.
The story also subverts the idea that white women are pure/innocent/decent and that women of color are motivated by malice or should be feared. For example, the true hero in A Villainous Affair is Eleanor Marson, a butch lesbian Black woman who heads a civilian anti-crime organization called the League of Vigilance. Her strong moral compass and sense of justice contrast sharply with Ruby's wanton law-breaking and the-end-justifies-the means mentality. At the same time, this story takes a nuanced approach to its heroes and villains—they are neither all bad nor all good.
Here’s another important detail about this series: A Villainous Affair features a social justice revolution that's decidedly poke-the-hornet's-nest in nature rather than soothing. How so? Well for starters, though the main characters are white, they're also members of a diverse community and subculture. In this story, characters of all types seek to dismantle the monarchy, racist institutions, and other oppressive systems that exist in the real (our) world. Also, the Chosen One trope is heavily subverted and prompts us to question who in society gets that kind of privilege.
Additionally, A Villainous Affair encourages readers to reflect on social problems such as poverty, exploitative labor practices, and lack of access to quality healthcare—problems that can't be waved away with magic or fantastical inventions, even in a story with fantastical technology.
Scenes of violence are purposeful in that they relate to and illustrate specific societal problems such as sexual assault against women and hate crimes—as opposed to the characters battling a vague, abstract evil.
Also, the oppressive systems the protagonists fight against aren't nameless or amorphous; rather, they are identifiable systems personified by specific characters, some of whom are based on historical figures. Even the fictional characters original to the story embody societal ills.
Though the members of Ruby Darling’s revolution enjoy a tight-knit bond, most of them come from disadvantaged backgrounds. They've faced trauma, tragedy, and loss. Few of them are conventionally attractive or wear expensive clothes. Some of them are disabled. Their body types vary widely. They exchange witty banter, but most of their conversations are about societal problems. They don't spout what one would consider a catchy catchphrase. So, these probably aren't the sparkly revolutionaries you're looking for.
The social justice revolution in A Villainous Affair involves more than flashy battles, lofty speeches, and storming the castle. The story references everyday activism such as protests, recruiting new members, building alliances, and distributing informative pamphlets about the need for social reform.
The story also references real historical social movements and activists. The characters must work to build their revolution and just like in real life, their jobs aren't glamorous. A Villainous Affair has its share of pomp and circumstance (and glamour!), but the story also highlights the mundane work that fuels social justice movements.
Now for a few final thoughts about this series.
A Villainous Affair isn't a big, splashy, corporate-funded franchise and therefore I have no merchandise to sell you. But it doesn't matter because wearing a T-shirt or putting up a poster isn't activism, right?
All I have to give you are my words. I hope the story inspires you to help disrupt the status quo—which literally kills marginalized people every day—and do whatever you can to help improve society for the better.
It's not a spoiler to say that at the end of A Villainous Affair, no one gets any trophies, cookies, or cash rewards. Instead, we get a glimpse of the challenges the characters face and the obstacles they have yet to overcome. Let's just say that their social reform work is cut out for them.
As is ours, so I’m ending this primer with a call to action: perform an act of kindness for one of your fellow humans today, doing whatever is within your means. Thank you!