Happy Friday! I’m excited to share with you today a new historical romance from Elizabeth Everett, the latest instalment in her Secret Scientists of London Series. I’m very grateful to Berkley Romance for sending me a copy for review – and it has definitely made me want to catch up on the previous two books in the series!

In 1844, Margaret Gault is a female engineer looking to establish her own firm in London. Having previously lived in Paris, she has returned to England following the loss of her father-in-law – her husband having died years before – who allowed her to develop her passion for designing bridges, and finding solutions to problems that many of her time believed women should not be allowed to consider.

Her first point of refuge in London? Athena’s Retreat, a secret club for female scientists, where she can have the support of others, and most of all, her best friend Lady Violet Greycliff, a chemist.

George Willis, Earl of Grantham, is fighting for the Reform Bill and trying to find his purpose in life when, having wandered into Athena’s Retreat with his close friend – the husband of Lady Violet – Margaret Gault walks back into his life. Margaret and George have history: twenty-four years before, they met as children, both of them the poor relation, and George immediately fell for her.

What follows is a fight for Margaret to secure a legitimate engineering commission of a tunnel under the Thames – but all is not what it seems. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but Everett offers a perfect balance between romance and action that keeps you on the edge of your seat whilst reading. I fell in love with Margaret and George, and also the premise of the book series.

It is fascinating how Everett manages to weave so many things together in the story’s plotline: not only the struggles of female experts in various scientific fields to succeed, but also the newspaper industry, access to contraception during the Victorian period and the real events in the history of Victorian science.

I really enjoyed the crossing over of characters in different fields because it offered a glimpse into various aspects of Victorian professional society, and it’s always fascinating to read a novel that is a gateway into learning more about something that I haven’t much read about or researched before.

I would definitely recommend this book: fast-paced, romantic and deeply soaked in history, it is a great read for these long winter nights we’re having at the moment!

A woman scientist, one of our own, is poised to create history. Standing in her way is tantamount to blocking us all.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for including me on the blog book tour and gifting me a copy of the book.