Review: The Baron And The Lady Chemist by Alissa Baxter (2023)

I’m a big fan of the author, and I like that she gives her heroines unusual interests for a Regency lady, but it does tend to throw the plot onto a predictable path. Still a good read, but I’d have liked to be surprised now and then.

Here’s the premise: Dorothea (or Thea) Grantham is fascinated by chemistry, and has learnt to apply its principles to adding unusual colours to silk. Her shawls and scarves are therefore highly unusual, and much admired, but ladies aren’t supposed to get involved in serious science projects, so when it comes time to make her debut in society, she’d better keep quiet about her activities. She’s permitted to attend lectures – quite trendy for ladies as well as gentlemen – but not to show any deeper knowledge of chemistry.

Nevertheless, her work attracts attention. The items are so unusual they’re thought to be made of (illegal) imported silk, instead of good old British silk. Lord Castleroy is attracted to Thea, but he’s also deeply suspicious of her silk items, and so are a number of other people, both friendly and otherwise. So Thea’s season of frivolous society events is interlaced with more serious scientific pursuits, and a constant battle to keep her methods of colouring silk a secret.

As Lord Castleroy begins a determined courtship, Thea has another problem to contend with. Her mother died in a accident in an open carriage, which Thea witnessed, and ever since she’s been unable to ride in an open carriage. Lord Castleroy steps forward as a true hero at this point, slowly and patiently helping Thea overcome her fears so that she can at least enjoy gentle drives with admirers (mainly him, it has to be said). I particularly liked that he took his party by boat on the river rather than subject Thea to a longer drive than she was used to. How can she resist him?

But resist him she does, of course, because there wouldn’t be much of a story otherwise, and frankly, it’s such a major decision for a Regency lady that it’s a wonder so many of them rushed into matrimony they way they did (and still do, in most novels). Thea hesitates, and although she comes to realise that she loves him, an unfortunate curricle accident means that when he finally proposes, she’s too upset to answer him.

And then silliness rises up to swamp the plot, and although the hero manages to rescue the heroine from her predicament, he has a most uncharacteristic outbreak of huffiness, just to throw a last-minute spanner in the works before the now inevitable happy ending.

I’ve mentioned that I found the book a touch predictable, which doesn’t make it any less readable. The writing quality is stellar, as always, and if I’d have preferred a little less detail about chemistry and the silk industry, that’s just me. I know a lot of readers love these authentic details. A nice read, although the lack of surprises and the final silliness keep it to four stars.