A Lady's Formula for Love

The Secret Scientists of London, Book 1

By: Elizabeth Everett

Narrated by: Elizabeth Jasicki

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

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 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.

©2021 Elizabeth Everett (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

An Apple Must Listen Audiobook for February!

"Fizzy, engrossing romance...a whole-hearted celebration of women who choose to live gleefully outside the bounds of patriarchy's limitations." (Entertainment Weekly)

"A witty, dazzling debut with a science-minded heroine and her broody bodyguard. Fiercely feminist and intensely romantic, A Lady’s Formula for Love is a fresh take on historical romance that's guaranteed to delight readers." (Joanna Shupe, author of The Devil of Downtown)

“A brilliant scientist and her brooding bodyguard discover that love can find you when you least expect it. A Lady’s Formula for Love is full of wit, charm, and intrigue. You don’t want to miss this exciting debut from Elizabeth Everett.” (Harper St. George, author of The Heiress Gets a Duke)

Romance, mystery, and brilliant women

I am prefacing this by saying that I do not give five star ratings often or lightly. A good book earns four stars with me, so to earn five certainly makes this a cut above.

This book is a delightful regency with a dash of mystery, twist of action, and a whole lot of inspiring (and endearingly eccentric) women of science. The writing is incredibly self-aware, and the characters dynamic. Violet is an engaging heroine, and Everett balances her empathy with her drive and Violet's development is tangible and real. Her character's lessons resonated with me, and I actively cheered for her through the story. I even fell in love with many side characters, and would love to read more about them in Athena's Retreat and beyond.

(Also, Elizabeth Jasicki is a fabulous narrator and you can't go wrong listening to other stories she has read)

Entertaining, but wanted more

This was funny and entertaining, a cute story with a host of female scientist characters who work in a collaborative setting. I wished that the action-packed plot did something deeper, offered less cliched characters or relied on description more than reporting characters’ feelings and traits.

Loved it!

This book had a bit of everything I enjoy: humor, romance and an interesting plot. The icing on the cake is that this story involved a more mature couple. So many romances involve teenagers and young adults in their 20's. Violet is 30 and Arthur is 40 so each has an interesting back story. They have an immediate attraction but it's the deep connection that develops that makes the story so great. Their humor made me smile the whole time. They aren't kids so they know what they have together but, of course, need to overcome societal prejudices. It was a wonderful story.

Enough with the whining!

On the plus side, the plot was clever and the characters were likable. The story was generally well written and the dialogue witty. I did not guess the guilty party until it was revealed.
I had a difficult time fighting through the author’s constant bemoaning of the status of women in the early 1800s. True, men had most of the rights, but they also had most of the responsibilities. Life in those days was difficult for both sexes, so let the past stay behind us and give me an entertaining mystery to enjoy.

A fun romp.

Lady Violet Hughes’ passion is science, but it’s not easy for a woman to be a scientist in the 19th century, where women had few rights. Thus, Athena’s Retreat is formed. On the outside a mostly social club with a little bit of natural science discussion, but secretly the club is refuge to the seriously brilliant women who want to research and study the various fields of science.

Violet needs protection after being enlisted by the Crown to work on an antidote to a deadly poison being used in violence by dangerous rebels. Enter bodyguard Arthur Kneland, a sexy Scotsman. A man determined to be professional in view of the danger. However, the irresistible pull of attraction makes it impossible for Violet and Arthur to keep at arm’s length! These two can barely keep their hands off each other! More than just physical attraction, they connected and saw each other on an emotional level like no one else. Despite the differences in station, “the heart wants what the heart wants”! This is a romance, so we know they must figure out a way to bridge the gap, right?! I was on pins and needles trying to figure it out with them.

Violet was a sweet spunky character, so intelligent and big hearted, yet with the insecurities that plaque women from time to time. I just adored her! Arthur was the perfect fit, protective, but so onboard with Violet expressing her ideas and phenomenal brains!

A Lady’s Formula for Love was a delightful romp with quirky characters, laugh-out-loud moments, and a steamy romance.

Not for me

I try not to purchase books with no reviews but it sounded like a cute cozy. The reviews up now do not mention the part I found objectionable.

After getting maybe half through, I had to stop. Call me a prude, but I do not listen to explicit sex scenes. I think there should have been a warning of this in the description. It was definitely not the sort of book I wanted to listen to.

Strangely unabsorbing

I loved the concept of this book, but I found the plot thin and the characters thinner. The romance relied on TELLING the reader that there was overwhelming attraction between the leads and that they were wonderful and fascinating.

The most interesting part of the book was the scientists’ club itself, and I would have much preferred a humorous adventure about the lady scientists rather than a lukewarm romance.

Good story but slow

Starts out good but there is nothing going on for most of the middle and then at the end it’s very interesting. Narrator is top notch!

Truly exceptional!

I took a chance on this because it looked interesting and the premise was intriguing. When I got it, it was so new that there were no reviews yet. I am so glad I did! Great story, fabulous narrator, and the touches of humor were perfect! Highly recommended!

Intelligence and Humor

I loved this book. I love the characters, the romance, the mystery, and every time I laughed out loud. The narrator was creative and gave life to each individual in the story. There was sexual chemistry along with actual chemistry, and it made me just plain happy. This will be a book I revisit from time to time.

Not a Good Buy

Reading about this book, it sounded ideal; a good and interesting storyline with the promise of more to come in the series.
But after reading half of it, I knew that I would never buy any more if there was a series. The story was improbable as were most of the characters. I battled through it until about half way when suddenly every other chapter was nothing but very explicit sex scenes. I really think there should have been a warning of this in the description. It was definitely not the sort of book I wanted to read.

As sickly sweet as a packet of custard creams

I gave up after 2 chapters. This is silly romance crap masquerading as an interesting plot about female scientists.