The Love Remedy, by Elizabeth Everett

When a Victorian apothecary hires a stoic private investigator to protect her business, they learn there’s only one way to treat true love—with a happily ever after.

When Lucinda Peterson’s recently perfected formula for a salve to treat croup goes missing, she’s certain it’s only the latest in a line of misfortunes at the hands of a rival apothecary. Outraged and fearing financial ruin, Lucy turns to private investigator Jonathan Thorne for help. She just didn’t expect her champion to be so . . . grumpy?

A single father and an agent at Tierney & Co., Thorne accepts missions for a wide variety of employers—from the British government to wronged wives. None have intrigued him so much as the spirited Miss Peterson. As the two work side by side to unmask her scientific saboteur, Lucy slips ever so sweetly under Thorne’s battered armor, tempting him to abandon old promises.

With no shortage of suspects—from a hostile political group to an erstwhile suitor—Thorne’s investigation becomes a threat to all that Lucy holds dear. As the truth unravels around them the cure to their problems is they must face the future together.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

A well-written, well researched historical romance

I loved The Love Remedy! This historical romance is well written, well researched, and deals sensitively with issues of women’s health and women’s rights that are as relevant today as they were in the 19th century. The main characters and their emotional journeys are both believable and relatable, and Ms. Everett has done an excellent job in making them sympathetic to modern readers while still maintaining historical sensibilities.

The plot avoids many of the familiar tropes of historical romances set in the 19th century. To begin with, both main characters are working-class, in their lifestyle if not (in Thorne’s case) by birth. There are no balls, house parties, or soirees; no fake engagement or forced marriage; no huge misunderstanding that could easily be solved with a simple, adult conversation. There is, however, a problem that Lucy needs to have solved if she is to keep her family from sinking into poverty, and Thorne is the inquiry agent she hires to solve it. Lucy and Thorne feel like real people, dealing with real, everyday struggles, loving their families, working out their different views of the world, and doing their best to survive. Their romance isn’t the stuff of high drama, but it’s highly satisfying nonetheless.

And it is set in a London that is diverse and alive, with characters of various ethnicities, races, classes, and gender identities… again, well-researched and written believably. If your mental picture of 19th-century England is based on older traditional historical romances (particularly when it comes to racial diversity), this novel’s milieu may come as a surprise to you—but trust me, it’s more accurate.

Speaking of diversity, I particularly appreciated Ms. Everett’s nuanced and sympathetic approach to her characters’ faith in God. This isn’t a Christian romance in the subgenre sense of the term; it’s not primarily intended for a Christian audience, and it doesn’t preach or hold up Christianity as the best or only true way to think, believe, and live. Instead, The Love Remedy accurately reflects the fact that people believe in God in a variety of ways and to varying degrees, from not at all to deeply. Some people are sustained by their faith; some find it constraining. Although 19th-century London was far more diverse culturally and spiritually than many historical romances portray it, at the time and place when The Love Remedy occurs, the majority of religious believers in London were probably following some form of Christianity. Ms. Everett’s characters are a completely believable mix in this regard; they hold differing interpretations of Christianity, and their participation in it ranges from disinterested to devout. Thorne, a recovering alcoholic, is also a practicing Methodist; he finds Methodism’s strict rules helpful in staying sober. Lucy is not a regular church-goer, but she does believe in God and strives to see the good in everyone, and this belief is reflected in her life and her business practices.

A final note: Ms. Everett explores several women’s issues in the course of the book, from the right to study and practice science and medicine, to contraception, abortion, and the right to control one’s own body. Lucy’s views on “restoring menses” and the question of when human life begins may trouble those in the pro-life/anti-abortion camp as much as they resonate with those in the pro-choice camp. Her beliefs in these matters are, however, historically accurate.

I enjoyed The Love Remedy so much that I immediately bought the first book in her earlier, related trilogy, The Secret Scientists of London. Some of the characters from that series appear in The Love Remedy, and I can’t wait to read A Lady’s Formula for Love. I’m also looking forward to the next book in the Damsels of Discovery series.

Challenges: COYER Unwind (2024), Chapter 2; NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2024

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• COYER Unwind (2024) – Chapter 2
• NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2024

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