Title: A Lady’s Formula for Love (The Secret Scientists of London #1)
Author: Elizabeth Everett
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Publisher: Berkley
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: February 9, 2021
Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
What is a Victorian lady’s formula for love? Mix one brilliant noblewoman and her enigmatic protection officer. Add in a measure of danger and attraction. Heat over the warmth of humor and friendship, and the result is more than simple chemistry—it’s elemental.
Lady Violet Hughes is keeping secrets. First, she founded a clandestine sanctuary for England’s most brilliant female scientists. Second, she is using her genius on a confidential mission for the Crown. But the biggest secret of all? Her feelings for protection officer Arthur Kneland.
Solitary and reserved, Arthur learned the hard way to put duty first. But the more time he spends in the company of Violet and the eccentric club members, the more his best intentions go up in flames. Literally.
When a shadowy threat infiltrates Violet’s laboratories, endangering her life and her work, scientist and bodyguard will find all their theories put to the test—and learn that the most important discoveries are those of the heart.
Review:
Lady Violet Hughes is a young widow who used her status to form a society for female scientists. It’s a secret society because the rest of the population wouldn’t approve of women being scientists. Violet is able to use her secret talents on a mission for the Queen. However, things start going wrong at the society. Fires are started, things blow up, and someone is trying to steal her work. Her stepson hires counter-assassin Arthur Kneland to protect Violet from these attacks. Arthur has his own secret history that has affected the way he looks at his job and his life. He wants to get through this last job of protecting Violet and then he can retire to the country. Neither of them were expecting to fall for each other, which throws off their plans for the future.
In this story, Violet organizes a secret society of female scientists. It’s difficult to imagine a world where women have to hide their intelligence. There were some female scientists during the Victorian era, but they weren’t common.
This book explored gender conformities and relationships. Since the women wanted to practice science, they had to do it in secret. They had strained relationships with the men in their lives because of their desire to do more in life. One woman was oppressed and abused by her father. Violet felt like she couldn’t be the true person she was when she was married to her much older husband. Luckily, they did have some men, like Arthur and Violet’s stepson, who encouraged the women to pursue their dreams.
A Lady’s Formula for Love is a great Victorian romance.
Thank you Berkley for providing a copy of this book.
What to read next:
A Perfect Equation by Elizabeth Everett
Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore
Other books in the series:
- The Perfect Equation
Have you read A Lady’s Formula for Love? What did you think of it?
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