Long story short, I liked this one much better than "The Third Circle." I am still not thrilled about the lack of a true ending with these books though. The way that Amanda Quick/Jayne Anne Krentz, etc. wrote these, is that you have to read contemporary and regency books in order to follow this series. I tried to read one of the contemporary novels before, and I was not a fan. So I just tend to stick to the Amanda Quick titles.

This book follows Lucinda Bromley and Caleb Jones. Readers should be familiar with Caleb by this point since he has appeared in the previous Arcane Society books written by Amanda Quick. I have to say that I liked his character in those books, gruff, and didn't seem to be about any nonsense that I could see.

Lucinda is still weathering the gossip that says that she poisoned her father and fiancee. Lucinda is a member of the Arcane Society and has the psychical power to know what poisons if any were used on a living being. She is also gifted with plants. So I guess you can think of her like Poison Ivy.

Caleb was discussing setting up a psychical investigation agency after the events in "The Third Circle" and appears to have done so now. He is called upon to work for Lucinda when she realizes that a recent poisoning by a high member of Society is linked to one of her rare plants.

The mystery aspect of the book really didn't appeal to me. If you have read these books you already for the most part know who the bad guys are, and Ms. Quick always includes chapters/sections that show you who the bad guys are, so you as a reader are waiting for the hero/heroine to catch up and catch the bad guys. I read these for the romance aspect of it. I think that Ms. Quick did a better job of setting up the romance between Lucinda and Caleb. It was a definite slow burn and I loved it. Probably because Lucinda is a woman of independent means, she really didn't need Caleb for anything. And I liked that she didn't let him keep her from investigating and still doing what she did. I hate it in romance books when the hero tells the heroine to stay out of trouble and then she is kidnapped and he has to save the day. I loved the fact that Lucinda saves herself in the book over and over again.

There is a secondary romance included in this book, but I don't think that Ms. Quick did a great job of setting it up. I wish she had and excerpted the sections dealing with the villains.

We also get some glimpses of former characters. I really hate though that we only get the men interacting with the main characters in this book for the most part.

The ending though we do get our Happily Ever After (HEA) just sets up another cliffhanger/chase that I am not sure I am going to keep reading. I do know from a friend that there should only be two more books for me to complete the Arcane Society Historical books so I may get back to them eventually.

I love a scientist hero or heroine in my Romance. Curiousity is a huge turn on. 

 

These heroes and heroines want to know how the world works. They study the flora.

 

Enjoy these Romance Novels featuring Bontanists. My lists are never in any particular order. Too much work... lol 

 

1. Power of Learning by Viola Grace 

 

Yavil suffers from an intellectual infection. Her mind absorbs every detail of everything she sees, and she can force understanding on her students when she goes into lecture mode. Her brainstorms have gotten the attention of the Alliance, and after she speaks with one of their representatives from Citadel Morganti, she is on her way to working as an educator to the best and brightest of talents.

Hosh is a first aid instructor assigned to Citadel Morganti, and when he listens to Yavil’s lecture on the local flora and clotting properties of minerals on Tebr, he is filled with complete understanding of the topic. This is a new experience for him, so he signs up for the entire series of lectures, and by the time they are complete, he knows more than just how to grow plants in a vacuum, he knows that Yavil is the group educator that the Sector Guard has been looking for.

 

2. To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn 

 

Miss Eloise Bridgerton at eight and twenty - she wasn't looking for someone perfect - just perfect for her! She didn't think herself beautiful, attractive but she was a Bridgerton after all, but most people liked her because she was nice. She was a wonderful correspondent and spent hours writing letters, birthday greetings, get well notes, etc. On the occasion of hearing of her cousins death she sent along a condolence letter to the bereaved husband, Sir Phillip Crane who in response to that note not only replied with a thank you but sent her a pressed flower in remembrance, and, so began a year long `secret' pen pal correspondence.

Sir Phillip, was a quiet man, a botanist - who while not happy - seemed to find some comfort in his work in his greenhouse. He had two children that he needed to find a mother for and knowing that Eloise Bridgerton was a spinster and more than likely homely and unassuming he would send a note along inquiring that they meet to see if they might not `suit'. However, he was in no way prepared to find a beautiful young woman, unescorted, in the early morning standing on his doorstep - a woman with cool gray eyes he could have drowned in! As Eloise charged through the next couple of days, she found that Sir Phillip wasn't exactly perfect - he needed a lot of work - but there was something about him that she would find was perfect for her!

 

3. Blame It on Chocolate by Jennifer Greene 

 

Lucy Fitzhenry didn't just wake up one morning and decide to do something stupid…

But when an experimental strain of chocolate that she'd developed needed testing, someone had to do it. Who knew that overindulging in her creation would turn an introverted plant lover into a wild nymphomaniac? Or that a celebration with Nick, her boss, would lead to a shocking kiss…and a whole lot more.

She blamed it on the chocolate. Her new discovery was supposed to have made her career. Not turn her practical, logical, normal life upside down and get her pregnant with her boss's baby! Though she and Nick butted heads at work, if their one night together was any indication, they were a great match in bed. With a little luck (and chocolate!) maybe they could turn their one-night stand into the chance of a lifetime.

 

4. Rivers of Gold by Tracie Peterson 

 

Miranda Colton, presumed dead, finds herself under the care of a native Alaskan and a studious botanist from England, Teddy Davenport. Miranda only longs to find her friends and and continue north. She fears that her chances are diminishing with each passing day. Teddy is deeply committed to his research of the unique landscape of the rugged Alaskan frontier. But despite his intentions, Miranda's presence awakens a deep tenderness in his character. As a friendship with Teddy blossoms, Miranda struggles inwardly with her earlier dreams. Then the menacing force from the past threatens to destroy everything she holds dear....

 

5. Love in a Bottle by Zoe Archer 

 

It was the most beautiful fungus botanist Sophie Andrews had ever seen. And the man who came with it was a pretty fine specimen, too: tall, handsome and flashing a grin that promised wickedness. Sophie knew the bottle of love potion the roguish peddler tried to push on her was a hoax, but she had no time to argue. One of England’s most vicious criminals had kidnapped her favorite uncle, and something had to be done. 

 

Ian Blackpool refused to let the stubborn beauty who’d stumbled into his path track down the notorious Dark Dan McGannon alone. It was his duty to help. Surely it had nothing to do with the thrill he felt at her touch. After all, love was merely a specific chemical combination. But when Ian took Sophie in his arms, science went out the window. It was time to abandon bottled love and take a chance on something new—trusting his heart.

 

6. Bear Claw Bodyguard by Jessica Andersen 

 

Hot on the trail of a ruthless underground drug ring, homicide detective Jack Williams won't let anything interfere with his hunt. Not the dead-end leads, not the danger. And especially not being pulled off his case to protect Dr. Tori Bay. He can handle guarding a beautiful scientist who plays by her own rules. But keeping her out of his arms is a challenge he hadn't expected. Still, her survival depends on Jack's instincts and he isn't about to jeopardize her safety to indulge an overwhelming attraction. Jack has faced his share of challenges and usually came out on top. This time, though, as a showdown with the enemy quickly approaches, it'll take all his professional skills to ignore some very personal impulses.…

 

7. The Life of the World to Come by Kage Baker 

 

From idea to flesh to myth, this is the story of Alec Checkerfield: Seventh Earl of Finsbury, pirate, renegade, hero, anomaly, Mendoza's once and future love.

 

Mendoza is a Preserver, which means that she's sent back from the twenty-fourth century by Dr. Zeus, Incorporated - the Company - to recover things from the past which would otherwise be lost. She's a botanist, a good one. She's an immortal, indestructible cyborg. And she's a woman in love.

 

In sixteenth century England, Mendoza fell for a native, a renegade, a tall, dark, not handsome man who radiated determination and sexuality. He died a martyr's death, burned at the stake. In nineteenth century America, Mendoza fell for an eerily identical native, a renegade, a tall, dark, not handsome man who radiated determination and sexuality. When he died, she killed six men to avenge him.

 

The Company didn't like that - bad for business. But she's immortal and indestructible, so they couldn't hurt her. Instead, they dumped her in the Back Way Back. 

 

Meanwhile, back in the future, three eccentric geniuses sit in a parlor at Oxford University and play at being the new Inklings, the heirs of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Working for Dr. Zeus, they create heroic stories and give them flesh, myths in blood and DNA to protect the future from the World to Come, the fearsome Silence that will fall on the world in 2355. They create a hero, a tall, dark, not handsome man who radiates determination and sexuality.

 

"Now," stranded 150,000 years in the past, there are no natives for Mendoza to fall in love with. She tends a garden of maize, and she pines for the man she lost, twice. For Three. Thousand. Years.

 

Then, one day, out of the sky and out of the future comes a renegade, a timefaring pirate, a tall, dark, not handsome man who radiates determination and sexuality. This is the beginning of the end.

 

8. The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick 

 

If Lucinda Bromley doesn’t discover who stole her fern, she could end up being charged with murder. Lucinda frequently used her unusual psychic gift to discern death by poisoning to help the London police, but when a nobleman is poisoned by a compound containing elements of a rare fern, one that can only be found in her conservatory, Lucinda knows she better act quickly. To help her find the real murderer, she hires Caleb Jones, a “psychical investigator.” Believing there is a connection between Lucinda’s fern thief and a deadly dangerous secret society, Caleb agrees to take the case, but he never expected to become so distracted by his new partner in detection or to find himself flummoxed on so many fronts.

 

9. To Tempt A Rake by Cara Elliott

 

ate Woodbridge has spent most of her life sailing to exotic ports around the globe, acquiring an expertise in botany, along with a few less ladylike skills. So when a deathbed promise to her parents brings her to London to seek reconciliation with her grandfather, the imperious Duke of Cluyne, she feels like a fish out of water. Her outspoken views and fiery temper tend to set off sparks in Society-especially with the rakish Conte of Como.

A devil-may-care rogue, Marco finds the alluring and mysterious Kate a tempting target for his flirtations. But when murder strikes at the duke's country house party he begins to suspect that she's hiding a dark secret. He has his own clandestine reasons for offering to help her prove her innocence . . . And so begins a journey of dangerous deception that leads from England to the glittering ballrooms of Vienna, where Marco and Kate must duel with a deadly villain . . . and their own explosive attraction.

 

10. A Howl for a Highlander  by Terry Spear 

 

Duncan MacNeill is hell-bent on catching the thief who's stolen the clan's fortune and run off to Grand Cayman Island. Duncan has rarely left his homeland and he couldn't care less about an island paradise. He never expected to find a beautiful distraction who will show him just how appealing paradise can be...

Lone wolf and botanist Shelley Campbell headed to the island to study the old growth forests. She didn't count on meeting a handsome Highlander who can't keep his paws off her.

 

Got any more? Gimme!

 

To vote for the best of the best, go to my Goodreads list: Green: Botanists in Romance Novels

When I first started giving audiobooks a try on my commute to work, I checked out the audio version of this book on CD and quite enjoyed it.  It's been a few years, so when I saw it on the library shelf I impulsively grabbed it to see how well I liked the story after reading it.

 

It was good, but it definitely benefitted from the stop/start nature of listening to it on audio, as well as my weakness at audio comprehension.  Actually reading the book, the instant attraction between Lucinda and Caleb felt ludicrous (they were kissing passionately minutes into their first meeting?!?).

 

Additionally, I found myself grumping about holes in the story, where the characters all seemed to have information they shouldn't have had, until I remembered this is book 6 in a series.  It works as a stand-alone, but there are small references throughout to facts that were (I think) collected in previous books.

 

Not a bad read, but I understand now why I never really sought out more of Amanda Quick's writing - it falls into that gap between "could have done without reading that" and "I MUST read more of this!".  

 

 

Lucinda Bromley has a rare talent, she can detect almost any kind of poison. Her reputation is soiled by the fact that her finance died from what appeared to be poisoning. However her skills are used by the police. In the latest case she discovers that the poisoning subject was poisoned by a recently stolen fern from her collection. She hires Caleb Jones, part of a psychical investigation agency, to investigate for her. He can see patterns and sense when things ar going well in an investigation. He also fears that he's going mad, as has happened to his ancestors. They're attracted but can their fears keep them apart.I enjoyed the read, the two of them were interesting characters and enjoyable. There were moments when things didn't quite work but most of the story kept me well engaged.

Lucinda´s got a talent to see poison and it´s workings, she loves her work with botanics but after her fiancee dies in a mystery with poison and her father takes his own life, her reputation is blown to bits. When she detects her own plant as a part of a murder, she contacts J&J for help to clear her from suspicion and Caleb comes to her aid. Romance, historical, mystery and the suspense within the Arcane Society. Love this series, =)