I am a sucker for a woman excelling in a man’s profession, especially in the past (it’s easier to swallow those “first woman whatever” a hundred years or three ago than this millennia), and in theory, Lucinda “Lucy” Peterson fits the bill. She’s twenty seven years old, single, and runs her family’s apothecary in early Victorian London.

Perfect, right? In theory, yes; the execution, however, didn’t entirely work for me. The world Ms Everett has her characters navigate is a mixture of historical facts and flights of fancy that didn’t entirely work for me. Coating dire circumstances with fluff tends to yank me out of the story; while I appreciate the value of humor to help alleviate existential dread, I prefer sarcasm to whimsy.

Beware: very explicit misogyny; abortion; parents death as backstory; infant death; alcoholism; explicit sex; some kink; off page rape; allusions to xenophobia; racism.

In 1843, it would not be unheard of for a father to leave his daughter a business, but perhaps not as common when there is also a son; however, after her parents died during a deadly outbreak of cholera, Mr Peterson’s will makes Lucinda, the second eldest child, the exclusive proprietor of Peterson’s Apothecary, essentially making her brother and sister her dependents.

In the nine years since, the siblings have settled into an informal division of responsibilities that keeps the business afloat, more or less. When not serving the public at the Apothecary during business hours, each sibling explores their own interests: Lucy develops formulas for new and more effective treatments and drugs for common ailments; Juliet is a de facto general medic who visits patients at home to diagnose and treat them; and David keeps the books and looks for investment opportunities to supplement their income.

And then disaster strikes, in the form of Duncan Ryder, the son of a rival apothecary, who seduces Lucy and makes off with her just-perfected formula for throat lozenges, just as she was at the point of seeking a patent. This is bad enough, but then she realizes that another of her formulas is missing, which she was also hoping to patent exclusively, thus ensuring some much needed stable income for the business.

As this is the outside of enough, Lucy heads for Tierney & Co., bookkeepers, in search of help to right this wrong.

Why a bookkeeping firm? Glad you asked.

This is the first book of the Damsels of Discovery series, which is linked to the previously published Secret Scientists of London trilogy by setting and a few secondary characters. While I haven’t read those books, the pertinent bits are helpfully explained by the characters in this book.

A wealthy widowed viscountess happens to be interested in science; since no public scientific society in Great Britain will accept women as members, she opens her own. Publicly, the Athena Retreat is a women’s salon; in reality, it’s a building in the gardens of Lady Violet’s London townhouse, housing a number of laboratories and workrooms for scientifically inclined women to advance their studies, conduct experiments, present their discoveries to each other, and so forth.

In the course of the first book of that first trilogy, members of Athena’s Retreat become familiar with Tierney & Co., ostensibly a bookkeeping firm; in actuality, a clandestine agency in service of the Crown, but which occasionally does some balancing of the scales for regular people as a public service.

Back to The Love Remedy.

It turns out that David Peterson is a disaster at keeping the books, and that, after a “very small explosion” at Athena’s Retreat a few weeks earlier, Lucy had brought all of her research papers to the Apothecary’s office and, essentially, just dumped them on top of the preexisting mess. How then, can she be sure that the croup salve formula is actually missing and not just buried amongst all the other papers tossed on the floor and piled on every other flat surface in the tiny room?

As Thorne and his young daughter conveniently need to move out of their current rooms, he agrees to do some actual bookkeeping for the Petersons in exchange of having use of the rooms on the third floor of the Peterson’s Apothecary building, which are, also conveniently, vacant; and he will investigate Duncan Ryder and his father while looking for the missing formula amongst the sea of papers in the office. Whether or not the croup salve formula has just been misplaced, it’s fairly clear that the lozenges formula was stolen by the scoundrel, and that is a wong that most definitely needs righting.

So far, this is the kind of premise I would love; the actual novel as written, however, didn’t totally work for me.

For one thing, the humor in the book doesn’t sit well; a number of scenes sprinkled in the book, clearly intented as comic relief, not only landed flat, but diminshed the rest of the book for me.

In one fairly ridiculous scene, as Lucy assures Thorne that only her, her brother, and the nefarious Duncan Ryder had access to the office and the mountains of papers therein, no less than six other characters barge in on different errands. After each interruption, Lucy earnestly swears that truly, no one but Duncan Ryder would have stolen her formula, because no one but trusted people enter the room–constantly, whether she’s there or not.

Shortly after that scene, in the same chapter, Lucy and Thorne discuss Katie Quinlavin, the very young “shopgirl”, and this pretty distressing bit of actual history comes up: children as young as seven were sent to work, full time, with their wages paid to their parents (think scullery maids or hall boys in posh houses, rent boys and girl prostitutes elsewhere).

“We must be quick about it or that chicken will find its way into the Quinlavins’ stew pot.” “Are they a particularly hungry family?” Thorne asked distractedly, shifting through piles. “They are a spectacularly hungry family, and Katie is the main source of food for them all.” Thorned looked up at that. “I’ve seen the books. She’s not paid enough to support a family.” Lucy sighed. “She wouldn’t be paid at all if her father had anything to do with it. Her mam fell sick after her fifth child–an ailment of the blood that leaves her spent. Her father, Joe, sent us Katie in exchange for the medicine they need.”

He’d been in London long enough not to look shocked that a family would pay their bills with a child’s labor. In most parts of London, children were sent to work as soon as they could follow directions, and many a girl was sold into circumstances much meaner than cleaning up after an apothecary. (Chapter 5)

Several serious issues crop up; for one, Lucy’s younger sister Juliet and her friend Mrs Sweet have set up a women’s clinic in the East End, providing what care they can, mostly to street prostitutes–including inducing abortions and handing out pregnancy preventatives. Beyond the moral disapproval of society and the condemnation of the Church (as decent women should not associate with fallen ones, who should, presumably, be left to die on the streets), this is dangerous work: there’s a political movement, that decries sex work–or indeed, any work women may perform beyond keeping house and bearing their husbands more children.

These men harass women involved in any business enterprise, having picketed Petersen’s Apothecary once already, as well accosting the patients at the women’s clinic, and Juliet herself; it’s clear that this harassment can quite easily devolve into outright violence at any moment, and indeed, it’s suspected the same group were behind the aforementioned fire at Athena’s Retreat.

Other complications include Sadie, Thorne’s daughter, who is the biracial illegitimate daughter of a demimondaine; something the respectable daughters of merchants and lower gentry with whom she associates at school are not allowed to let her forget.

Then there’s David, who never cared for science, and whose sense of inadequacy–lest we forget: their father passed him up in favor of Lucy, after all–and lack of purpose lead him into one financial disaster after another.

And of course, there’s the usual problem of men entitled, when not outright abusive, behavior towards women in the normal course of things: after a customer starts making a scene, making suggestive remarks to Lucy, and she defuses the situation by redirecting his attention through flattery, Thorne makes a slightly disparaging remark to Juliet about how her sister “knows how to please her male customers”.

“What is she supposed to do? What are any of us supposed to do when men become forward and belligerent? Toss them out of the shop? Then we earn reputations as shrews so men who come in are poorly disposed towards us, if they come in at all. … Whether we have earned it or not, women apothecaries are not considered gentlewomen who need protection from boisterous men. We are classed together with shopkeepers and barmaids.” (Chapter 7)

In general, the book works best when it allows the characters to be earnest, such as when Thorne grapples with the difficulties of raising a child girl as a single father.

“Do you think she means it?” Sadie asked. Once again, Thorne walked the precipice of parenthood, the dilemma of blanket reassurances versus the business of disentangling the worries and fears that lived in Sadie’s head. Why would Sadie doubt the genuineness of Lucy’s offer? What did he not see or understand? … Thorne found the experience of strategizing where a knife might strike a fatal blow in a fight analogous to figuring out which questions with his daughter might lead to information, and which led to tears.” (Chapter 11)

Lucy is about to collapse beneath the weight of responsibilities in her life; she feels guilty that her father’s will left David adrift. She feels guilty that by “letting herself be seduced” by a sleaze, she lost the means to secure her siblings’ financial future, endangering Juliet’s work at the women’s clinic; she worries about all the bills they can’t pay, the food and oil and coal that’s running out, and above all, she worries that perhaps there’s something wrong with her, because she feels “carnal desires” that respectable women don’t–witness her attraction to Thorne, a man she barely knows.

Therefore, it’s surely best for everyone that Lucy remain single and childless, avoiding men in any capacity but customers, as much as possible

Meanwhile, Thorne, a disowned younger son of a wealthy Baron, and once known as “the Gentleman Fighter”, used to be a hard-drinking partying man until Sadie’s mother died, at which time he stopped drinking; for the past several years, he has devoted his life to raising his daughter and to “atone for years of dissipated behavior”. As much as he is attracted to Lucy, he fears that giving in to sexual attraction would be a gateway to his other vices, and that he must therefore resist, for Sadie’s sake if nothing else.

The conflict between Lucy and Thorne is mostly internal, as their mutual attraction clashes with their life experiences, resulting in repeated misunderstandings, right up to the last chapter.

There is an important conversation between them about sex education, condoms, and the use of tonics to “bring forth the menses” (essentially a contraceptive, the same as “the morning after” pill), all of which are pertinent to their circumstances; Lucy is adamant that women should have choices for their own lives, while Thorne struggles to reconcile this fact with the knowledge that perhaps, had his mistress had access to such a tonic, Sadie wouldn’t exist.

In truth, there a number of important matters raised in the novel; issues that mattered in the 1800s as much as they matter today, from poverty to family ties, to bodily autonomy to demagoguery. The author’s framing, using a fictitious women’s society and so on, may make them easier to discuss and digest for some readers, but for me it had the effect of making the historic facts seem as false as the whimsical premise, showing the author’s hand too much.

I appreciated the inclusion of a trans masculine character, as well as an openly aknowledged bisexual character; the setting–characters on the fringes of society–allows me to just suspend disbelief enough about the acceptance the other characters show them, even with the whole “moral panic” brigade in the form of the infamous “Guardians of Domesticity.”

However, the bits of inappropriate humor, including the final scene, undermine a lot of the work I think the author wants to do with the story as a whole.

Finally, while I appreciated very much the use of dominance games in the sex scenes, as a means for Thorne to help Lucy concentrate on herself and let go, for a few precious moments, of all her worries and responsibilities, I confess I wasn’t altogether sold on the feelings between them.

The Love Remedy gets 7.75 out of 10

Every time I picked up "The Love Remedy", I was whisked back in time to the Victorian Era, and did not want to put this book down.

Firstly, I love this cover!

This is the first book in Elizabeth Everett's new series "The Damsels of Discovery", and I can't wait to read more! Her writing is vivid and visceral, her world-building and storytelling are spectacular, and each and every element throughout this book, from the plot, to the characters, to the setting, etc. jumps right off of the page.

(Possible Spoilers!)
This book truly has so much in it: romance, mystery, characters fighting for what is right, and extremely timely themes. Lucy and Thorne challenge one another, help one another to heal, and their slow-burn romance is engaging and poignant.

If you enjoy Historical Fiction and / or Historical Romance, I highly recommend this book! I look forward to reading what Ms. Everett writes next!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of this novel, and to Berkley Publishing Group for having me on the Blog Blitz for the book! All opinion expressed in this review are my own.

The Love Remedy is the first in a new series by Elizabeth Everett and it blew me away how the author was able to write a historical romance and a story that is so relevant to today’s woman. Lucy Peterson is an apothecary and barely holding her business together.

Her formula for croup has been stolen so she hires investigator Jonathan Thorne to help her get it back. These two clash from the get-go and see things so differently that it is sweeter that the end up together. This story is the sexiest one that I’ve read by this author and I couldn’t be happier. The attraction that Lucy and Jonathan felt for one another is palpable and it was well played out behind closed doors. Jonathan had strict rules for himself and to see him loosen them with Lucy was telling, since he was slowly breaking one his firm rules. Lucy is living in a time where it isn’t the norm for a woman to be a business owner and that she also treats ‘fallen women’ with their contraception and gynecological needs. Between the men’s activist protesting against her shop, and her siblings pursuing their own dreams, Lucy is finding it hard to be all and do all for those living in the East end of London.

The author has created a well-balanced romance that have both main characters showing their weaknesses and flaws, and develop slowly over the course of the story. Jonathan and his young daughter have an interesting relationship where she has more insight to what his father needed than he did. Sadie brought some whimsy as well as thoughtfulness when she shows up. What really stands out for me is how women’s reproductive rights was and is such a hot topic then as it is now. Jonathan and Lucy may not have seen things the same way at all but I think he can see her point of view and how a woman needs all the help she can get.

Elizabeth Everett writes strong, smart women characters and I love how they make choices in their life to make a living and be true to their self. To find love in the mix is icing on the cake. The Love Remedy is a hit for the Damsels of Discovery series and I look forward to more. Loved the story!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of "The Love Remedy" by Elizabeth Everett in exchange for an honest review.

A female apothecary living in Victorian London, Lucy Peterson is struggling. She sums it up pretty well herself with this speech, "I work eighteen hours in the day, my brother has disappeared on me, and my sister is working herself sick. The Guardians* have been protesting outside my shop and scaring patrons, and I've no money to hire an apprentice because my spurious lover stole my formula." Further added to her woes, she has a super-annoying hypochondriac customer who takes up WAY too much of the word count until the end when he suddenly becomes useful. (Lucy might not consider Gentry a major issue in her life, but there's a good chance readers will.)

*The Guardians are a militant group protesting the fact that Lucy and her sister Juliet concern themselves with the issues of women's health, specifically birth control and abortion. This being the Victorian era, even discussing birth control is verboten, so the Peterson sisters are operating outside social norms.

After said formula was stolen by her spurious lover (the son of a rival apothecary) and then a SECOND formula also disappears, Lucy engages help from a Pinkerton-esque agency to investigate and get the formulas back. When she doesn't get the answer she wants, Lucy immediately tries to break into her former lover's shop, only to get stuck in the window. She's rescued by Jonathan Thorne, an investigator who followed her there specifically because he was sure she was about to do something stupid.

Jonathan and his daughter move into a flat above the apothecary shop and he begins investigating the second missing formula. Things progress as you might expect: they all bond emotionally, Jonathan investigates and discovers both the answer to the disappeared formula and the aforementioned disappeared brother. Things generally turn out for the good.

The Love Remedy is an interesting blend of historical romance, political commentary, and a brush of faith/inspirational content mixed in. Both the story and the author's note afterward make it clear that the discussion of women's health issues are important, both then and now, and the author is using her story as a vehicle to encourage discussion.

Another interesting aspect: although it's not a super spicy book, the heroine briefly explores bondage and blindfolding during an amorous scene In most circumstances, this is a dominance thing, (which if that's your thing, cool) but in this context, it's an attempt by Jonathan to help Lucy stay focused in the moment. It was an interesting way to exploring the emotional aspects of kink, rather than just the naughty bits.

That said, the story is not perfect. It can be a messy at times, and if you are a stickler for historical accuracy, you won't find it here. It's more like the author liked the idea of the Victorian era, but found many of the details inconvenient for telling the sort of story she wanted to tell. The characterization is inconsistent too; at times, Lucy seems much too naive for someone shouldering so much responsibility in her particular context. Jonathan's personality makes more sense, but his backstory is SO full of unlikely details. The answer as to where the second formula went seems hard to believe as well.

All in all, the social aspects of the story are the most compelling, especially in how they explore the way that low-income women are affected by their access to health care and their ability to manage procreation. Setting all this in the Victorian era further demonstrates how much work remains to be done, as it's clear that in some ways, not much has changed in over a century.

Recommended for readers who don't mind a political conversation, and folks who want a mildly spicy book with a dash of faith.

A cozy, modern twist on a Victorian era romance with a bit of mystery, some science, and plenty of defied expectations.

This book will appeal to readers who enjoy historical romance but wish it included a more modern representation of present day values. A lot of the conflict that comes up directly parallels current day debates, particularly around women’s bodily autonomy and reproductive rights. Lucy and her sister are both working to claim their place in previously male dominated professions. There’s a small amount of queer representation included in side characters presented in a normal and accepted way.

Based off the summary, I expected the mystery to be a lot more prominent than it was. It’s probably an 80/20 split of Romance/Mystery. You gets bits and pieces here and there but it’s primarily focused on the relationship between Thorne and Lucy. Its more cozy romance than detective. There is a lot of info dumping. Backstories for characters are told in large chunks of text, all at once. This is particularly heavy at the beginning as this series seems to have spun off from a previous one but does still occur occasionally throughout the series.

In general this book was a really interesting mix of feminism, science, and faith. There’s a strong Christian element that I was not expecting. It’s so present throughout the book that I’d borderline consider it Christian fiction if it weren’t for the explicit sex scenes and pro-choice plot. It’s not really preachy, mostly just quoting of bible verses and their applications on the topic of being a good person. I do think this will narrow the book’s appeal down to a very niche audience. It’s going to be a little too progressive for a lot of Christian readers, and a little too religious for some of the people looking for those progressive ideals.

I’d recommend it for readers looking for a Victorian era, grumpy/sunshine, single parent romance with a modern twist. The side characters are charming (Sadie in particular is a delightful little weirdo), the mystery is compelling (if light), and there’s something fun about watching two people who have sworn off love find themselves right in the middle of it.

Elizabeth Everett has regaled her readers with a new series. It is the Damsels of Distress, and the first book is The Love Remedy. In this historical romance we have another STEM heroine, much like the heroines in Everett's The Secret Scientists of London series. This book is the first in a new spinoff series where women are not fitting into the molds of society of their time. Instead, their love of science, technology, engineering and mathematics is their focus in love, with romance entering into the picture.

Lucy is an apothecary. What is more is that her father left her the business, instead of one or both of her siblings, and that would include her brother David. David was certain the business would pass onto him, but even so, he and their younger sister Juliet all work together in one fashion or another. In this story, Lucy is beside herself when her lover Duncan wanted much more than she was ever prepared to give. In fact, keeping her family's apothecary running might just come to an end when Lucy discovers that Duncan has stolen a critical formula from her. Lucy hires Jonathan Thorne to retrieve the formula. Although acting in the capacity of private investigator, he comes into the family's business as their new bookkeeper.

Both Lucy and Thorne present as strong and independent people. Lucy, fighting in a field usually left for me. With regard to Thorne, he had a young daughter out of wedlock and chose to have her as a huge part of his life, paying close attention to her care and education. Of course, society simply did not bode well for those born 'on the other side of the cloth'. For Thorne, his daughter Sadie is everything to him and it was refreshing to read a historical romance where this was the case.

Lucy and Thorne are perfect for one another. Besides the fact that they are both as smart as a whip, they are impossibly drawn to one another, with the sexual tension between them nearly jumping off of the pages. I definitely look forward to continuing with the second book in this series.

Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

The Love Remedy, by Elizabeth Everett (March 19, 2024) Many thanks to @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for the gifted digital and audiobook copies - here is my honest review!

Lucy Peterson has a knack for developing formulas for her family’s apothecary. When her formula for a salve to treat croup goes missing, she is confident that it is another sabotage from a competing apothecary and hires a private detective from Tierney & Co, Jonathan Thorne, to help. Thorne has helped everyone from governments to wronged spouses with his signature grumpy demeanor. But something about Lucy’s strength, independence, and modern sensibilities disarms Thorne and his young daughter. As Thorne investigates, his desire to help Lucy save her business grows, as does his attraction to Lucy, but he has secrets of his own. Can Thorne overcome his past to help Lucy protect her future?

I’m generally not one for historical romances, but this one had some excellent elements that made it enjoyable. First, Lucy isn’t a damsel in distress or a delicate flower. She is intelligent, strong, and passionate. Likewise, gruff Thorne has a soft side. The world of medicine during this period was fascinating. I liked how the issues they deal with in the book are also a social commentary about today’s society - from women-owned businesses to access to reproductive care; Everett deftly uses the past to make a statement about the present. I liked the personal growth of both Lucy and Thorne when it comes to family. Lucy navigates loss and relationships with her grown, not-always-wise-decision-making siblings. Thorne is raising a daughter alone and letting go of the past with his family. This is the first book in a series, and I’ll absolutely try the next one.

This was an enjoyable read. I liked the plot, historical setting, STEM heroine representation and the romance. It moved a little slow for me at times but overall was a fun story! Thanks Berkley and Netgalley for my copy.

Lucy Peterson’s recipe for throat lozenges has been stolen and now her salve for croup has gone missing as well. She thinks she knows the culprit and wants it back as her family desperately needs the money that would come from the patent and sales of the remedies, so Lucy goes to Tierney & Co. for help.

Jonathan Thorne is an agent for Tierney & Co solving tricky problems like Lucy’s, but he’s not happy about his assignment to help her because Lucy is beautiful, and Thorne doesn’t need the temptation. After several years of debauchery that led to tragedy and left him a single father, Thorne tries to keep on the straight and narrow.

I really felt for Lucy, working so hard, as the neighborhood apothecary, she was basically the doctor for all that ailed the people around her. She was talented and smart in her field, working out the throat lozenge and croup recipe, so I was outraged by the theft! I wanted Thorne to get to the bottom of it and restore the recipes back to Lucy! I feel like the matter wasn’t fully resolved and didn’t fully address the culprit’s hand in things.

I felt like there were a lot of threads in this story including women’s rights over their body, and I do appreciate that, but it felt like a lot of things going on. I feel like the pacing suffered by shoving in several issues.

The romance between Thorne and Lucy was a slow burn and I enjoyed their chemistry. Nice and unexpectedly spicy! I did get a little exasperated over the miscommunication in the end. It felt like it dragged out a bit, but I knew everything would turn out by the end.

The Love Remedy is a spinoff of Everette’s previous series, The Secret Scientists of London, a series I enjoyed as well. Athena’s Retreat, The Guardians of Domesticity and a few previous characters show up again. I look forward to the next installment, which features Sam Fenley and Lady Phoebe, a sort of villain in the previous series. I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy courtesy of Berkley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A spicy slow burn that is so.so.good.

A historical romance about an apothecariast who is determined to be taken seriously despite someone trying to sabatoge her shop.

When Lucy seeks the assistance from Johnathan Thorne her world will turn upside down.

A rich, captivating story of strength, desire, women's rights, and the chance to make a difference.

This is the first book in a series involving strong-willed, pioneering women of earlier times in London. The story not only highlights the challenges for women in the advancement of medicine, but adds romance and humor in the mix. I found myself laughing out loud and getting questioning looks from people around me. I found Lucy wholly endearing, caring and entertaining. A great beginning to the series!

After her foppish ex-beau makes a fortune patenting and selling her throat lozenges and then her newly-created formula for croup salve also goes missing, apothecary Lucinda Peterson hires a private investigator to track it down. Agent Jonathan Thorne, however, is not what she expected.

First of all, why does he have to be all big and manly? Secondly, why must he scowl like that? Thirdly, she was not expecting him to be a doting single father. And fourthly, how does he seem to understand exactly what she needs?

It’s a forced proximity, workplace romance with a STEMinist heroine (🙌🏻) and The Gentleman Fighter hero. It takes on societal rules and expectations and makes the characters reevaluate their own self-imposed restrictions. AND it takes a stand on reproductive rights.

My favorite character in the story is Thorne’s daughter Sadie. She’s inquisitive, entertaining, and insightful.

I appreciated how Thorne helps Lucy get out of her head during the love scenes.

And I enjoyed the tie-ins to Everett’s The Secret Scientists of London series.

I did struggle to stay engaged in the story, however, and found myself getting very frustrated with Lucinda’s siblings. That being said, though, the things that did not work as well for me may work for you. I have several friends who absolutely adored this book.

I received an advance copy of the book from Berkley and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

Historical romance readers are sure to swoon over the latest scintillating novel by Elizabeth Everett – The Love Remedy.

Being a female apothecary in Victorian England is tough and nobody knows this better than Lucinda Peterson. Her intelligence, ingenuity and meticulous attention to detail has certainly garnered attention – of the wrong kind! A rival apothecary is determined to do whatever it takes to sabotage her business and when the formula to treat croup goes missing, Lucinda knows who is behind the latest misadventure. Angry, outraged and desperate to save her business, Lucinda has only one other option – a private detective who is the perfect man for the job: Jonathan Thorpe.

In his line of work, the single father detective is used to accepting commissions from a wide variety of clients. However, nobody has intrigued him quite like Lucinda Peterson. Spirited, resourceful and resilient, Lucinda is like no other woman he has ever met before and she quickly gets under his skin and charges through the iron-clad defenses which he had built around his heart. But with this case taking a decidedly dangerous turn, will their burgeoning flirtation end up being a casualty of this investigation? Or will Jonathan and Lucinda find a way to build a future together?

Elizabeth Everett’s The Love Remedy is a spellbinding Victorian romance full of sizzle, sparkle and sensuality that aims for the heart and does not miss. A beguiling historical tale with a deliciously brooding hero, a terrific heroine and suspense, tension, pathos and passion aplenty, Elizabeth Everett’s The Love Remedy is a must-read for romantics everywhere.

The Love Remedy is the first book in a new historical romance series focused on women in STEM. Lucy Peterson is an apothecary whose formula for treating croup has been stolen. A former suitor - who is also a rival apothecary - previously stole her formula for throat lozenges and is now taking credit for her work so she's certain he's the one responsible for this new theft. When she hires private investigator Jonathan Thorne to recover her stolen croup formula, they both get more than they bargained for.

This was well-written and the premise sounded interesting but it took a while for me to really get into it. The author did a good job incorporating important subjects such as women in medicine and women's healthcare into the story and I appreciated Lucy’s dedication to her field even though it went against everything society deemed “proper” for a woman.

While I liked Lucy and Thorne as characters, I wasn’t really feeling the chemistry between them so I didn't care much for the romance. I preferred the mystery part of the story but was a little disappointed with how everything played out.
There were some good side characters but Thorne's daughter Sadie definitely stole the show.

I'm curious to see what the next book in the Damsels of Discovery series will bring!

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book! It took a lot for me to stay connected to this book, its characters and the story line. I even considered it a “DNF” but I also didn’t want to give up on it! In the end, I am glad I finished it.

The romance is a slow burn as well as the story plot. I really kept reading to figure out what happened to Lucy’s stolen formula. The romance was okay. The answer for the stolen formula seemed to be up and down. It was sort of dry and then all of a sudden it was figured out and just like, oh okay. All is forgiven. The ending was cute and I am happy they ended up together, but it all seemed thrown together.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

What a delightful story! It's one part mystery, one part romance, and one part bodily autonomy wrapped up in a glorious historical background.

I enjoyed reading about Lucy and Thorne as they come to realize the feelings they have about society and the feelings they have for each other do not need to be based in a particular set of rules. They are able to live and love how they want and reject the notion that society forces them to be inferior for reasons beyond their control.

The story was fun, but I do wish the mystery part of the book had a more satisfying resolution than what it did. The scenes between Lucy and Thorne were funny and tender. And I thought the prose was incredibly well written.

An excellent book with a lot of great characters.

Thank you @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.

I love that Everett writes about women scientists in historical romance. In The Love Remedy, an overworked apothecary, Lucy, believes a traitorous ex has stolen her formulas for lozenges and croup. She hires Jonathan Thorne to help her solve the mystery. I really liked the grumpy Thorn and his daughter who move into apartments above the apothecary. Lucy gives so much of herself to her business and her family. It was nice to see someone there to support her. I liked Lucy’s frank conversations about sex and contraceptives. It’s frustrating that women are struggling with the same issues now as we were then. This is the first in a new series and I can’t wait to see what’s next!

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley and the Berkley Besties program, all opinions are my own.

This was a super fun Victorian historical romance following a female apothecary and the private investigator she hires to recover something she's lost. Lucy Peterson is a rare female apothecary, who runs the family business with her brother and sister. She made the mistake of sharing her formula for a revolutionary new medicine with a fellow apothecary whom she fancied, and his shop is now thriving while Peterson's is barely scraping by. Lucy is certain this dastardly fellow has stolen another formula that can save her business, but she doesn't have proof. Enter Jonathan Thorne. Thorne is a agent for a firm that takes on cases for wronged women, and he has been hired under the guise of keeping Lucy's books. While he sorts her papers and gets her finances in order, Thorne is also gathering information from the locals in the hopes he might find who took the missing formula.

This tackled alot of subjects: women in medicine and STEM, women's healthcare, religion, sex education, class, race, and so much more. In a time where propriety reined supreme, Lucy is left to inherit the family business, when women did not work and train as apothecaries and in medicine. Lucy wants to run the shop while her sister who is also an apothecary wants to treat patients, their brother wants nothing to do with either. This leaves Lucy feeling isolated, frustrated, and abandoned. I was frustrated with Lucy because she never communicates that to her siblings, she has a hard time communicating in general. She has lots of big feelings, but has a hard time asking for help and expressing her wants and needs. That paired with the betrayal of her former beau and her failing business she is a bit overwhelmed. She is actually pretty realistic. Thorne is a man of few words, but he has lots of rules that he lives by, I liked that Lucy challenged him on his standards and rules and made him take off his rose tinted glasses. He is a single dad so he is trying his best to be a good father and role model for his delightful daughter, but in turn he is missing out on

Overall this was a fun, slow burn romance. I really enjoyed the characters as they navigated society and each other. Lucy and Thorne's attraction does eventually lead to some spicy scenes. I thought they were pretty tame compared to other spicy romances I've read, however it does fit the time period and writing style of the book.

When Lucy discovers her popular lozenge formula has been stolen by a rival apothecary she turns to private investigator Jonathan Thorne to take back what is hers. Rough and broken from his boxing days, Thorne is now a reformed single father doing what he can to help the right people. When he agrees to help Lucy Thorne’s his eyes are opened to a new reality. He is introduced to intelligent, scientific and fiercesome women who don’t apologize for not complying to societal standards. But will his aristocratic past prevent a true relationship with Lucy?

This book has so many layers and does not shun from controversial issues, primarily a woman’s right to choose but also females in the sciences both of which still is a poignant issues today. The strong message of feminism has always made me love Elizabeth Everett and this new series has not changed that in the slightest!

I am not normally a historical romance reader, but I enjoyed this one. Maybe it was the mashup of romance, mystery and STEM that kept me intrigued. Lucinda is a strong woman that I could relate to. And who doesn’t love a single father, especially when his name is Thorne? A Victorian story taking place at an apothecary set the mood for me.

I’ll admit that it took me a little while to warm up to the main characters, but I did and found I was rooting for their HEA and to solve the problem of who stole the formula.

Since I don’t usually read this genre, I found the spice in the prim and proper era challenged my brain and made the scenes a little more exciting. I also found this to be true for the feminist aspect of it. My brain engages a little more when it thinks there are conflicting themes.

I might just have to look up more by this author.