Cassandra Linfield is a lady fossil collector who declares she will never marry as no man will ever take her studies seriously. When circumstances force her to travel to Town for the Season, Cassy infiltrates the hallowed portals of the Geological Society from which she has been banned. She is horrified when she comes face to face with her nemesis, the infuriating Earl of Rothbury.
Lord Rothbury is a gentleman-geologist with a turbulent romantic past. After a youthful disappointment he vows never to fall in love again, and makes the decision, instead, to seek out a convenient wife when he returns to England from his geological travels abroad.
Brought together by their close family ties, Cassy and Rothbury collaborate on a geological paper and discover a powerful attraction. Marriage, however, is the one subject they cannot agree upon. But when Cassy’s life is threatened, the two realise that love matters more than their objections.
CW: miscarriages, death in child birth
The MC, Cassy, is a friend and fellow fossil hunter with Mary Anning. Having been raised by a husband and wife geology team, but now orphaned, Cassy is chafing to come into her majority and establish herself as bluestocking spinster when her cousin by marriage shows up in Lyme to summon her to London for the Season.
Cassy is to inherit a fair sum, but is fairly independent minded. She also describes herself (as do others) as less pretty than charismatic. I appreciate when characters aren’t wish fulfillment, so this was very appealing for me.
Lord Rothbury is also passionate about geology but also dedicated to his duties, as he inherited fairly young. He is neither alpha or beta. My impression of the character was that he was mild mannered, handsome, and not without a sense of humor even if sometimes he seemed serious.
Its less enemies to lovers, because after an initial bristly meet, they develop a friendship. This lands it more safely in the friends to lovers category, although I think their attraction is expressed fairly early on so there is little suspense.
Lord Rothbury, after a failed engagement as a younger man, is once again considering marriage and his mother thinks dear Cassy may be the perfect answer. But Cassy has some deep trauma that has her mind set on spinsterhood.
Much of the book deals with Cassy working through that trauma, although this is not portrayed that much on page so it avoids being heavy. There is a little conflict with a villainous character, but that is really secondary to Cassy’s journey to understand that love and marriage involves not inconsiderable risk.
Without spoiling the plot too much, I will say that a lot of pages are devoted to her grief and trauma in watching her mother go through many miscarriages and then ultimately dying in child birth. I have added it as a content warning because so much time is spent with Cassy ruminating on this issue that it really is the main conflict and therefore could be problematic for some readers.
The pacing generally is akin to a traditional and the secondary characters bring a lot of life to the page. Cassy’s extended family is very supportive, even of her academic endeavors, and so it helps give her some space to work through her issues.
Its less of glittering Season book and more of a parlor conversation/provincial rambling scenes, although there are some cameos of different Regency characters and hot spots that will delight Regency Readers. It is generally well researched and the language is tight in terms of being consistent with the era.
Kisses only, with a brief kissing scene, so my only caution to the kisses only crowd are a few assaults (which are not graphic) and some of the more difficult subject matter. In other words, its not a light book although I wouldn’t exactly describe it as high angst.
If you are looking for a well researched traditional leaning kisses only, this might be a great one to check out. Although its my first Alissa Baxter, I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
4.25 out of 6
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Miscarriages, death in child birth...more serious than graphic | |
| Intimacy | |
| A few kisses | |
| Violence | |
| Assault, shooting | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Kisses only but with some non graphic violence and adult subject matter. | |
*A review copy was provided by the author. No other compensation was provided.
Thanks very much for this lovely review!