Friday, May 6, 2022

Book Review and Giveaway - The Viscount's Lady Novelist by Alissa Baxter


My Review

The Viscount's Lady Novelist is a Regency era historical novel.  It features Harriet Linfield, who plans to have a life as a writer and set her estate up as an orphanage for children in need. These plans are thwarted when she is courted by Oliver, Viscount Wentford, who wants to marry her and mine coal on the estate. Sparks fly despite this, and despite the differences in Harriet's creative temperament and Oliver as a man of science. Will a romance work between them?

I wanted to read this novel because it is the second in the Linfield Ladies Series. I absolutely loved the first book in the series, The Earl's Lady Geologist. This novel is similar in tone and structure, and it was a fun continuation of the series.

My favorite thing about this novel (and the series in general) is the strength and intelligence of the protagonist. She wants far more out of life than a woman in the Regency period expects.  I also enjoyed the interplay between Harriet and Oliver, who connect but also who are very different people.

The Viscount's Lady Novelist started a bit slowly for me but quickly picked up speed, and I enjoyed the read.  I recommend this novel for fans of historical fiction, historical romance, and anyone who enjoys a Regency setting.

Book Synopsis

Harriet Linfield is a lady novelist who has been disillusioned by love. She sets out to write more realistic tales about the emotion when she returns home to Linfield Court for the summer. Vowing to avoid any romantic entanglements along the way, she focuses instead on her writing and her plan to turn the estate she inherited from her uncle into a refuge for orphans.

Oliver, Viscount Wentford, is determined to restore his family fortunes. But his plans for the estate he inherited are in direct opposition to the wishes of Harriet, his new neighbour. Upon meeting her, Oliver is amused when, in response to his provocative comments, she informs him that she intends to make him the villain of her next book. But his amusement swiftly turns to dismay when circumstances align to show him in that exact light.

When an enemy comes back into Harriet’s life, she sees that love isn’t as clear-cut as the romantic tales she pens. But will the viscount manage to discard his villainous mantle to become Harriet’s real-life hero?

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Author Bio

Alissa Baxter was born in a small town in South Africa and grew up with her nose in a book on a poultry and cattle farm. At the age of eleven, she discovered her mother’s collection of Georgette Heyer novels. The first Heyer novel she ever read was Sylvester and she was hooked on Georgette Heyer after that. She read and reread her novels, and fell totally in love with the Regency period and Heyer’s grey-eyed heroes!

After university, where she majored in Political Science and French, she began writing her first Regency novel, before moving to England, which gave her further inspiration for her historical romances.

Alissa has lived in Durban and Cape Town but she eventually settled in Johannesburg where she lives with her husband and two sons. Alissa is the author of two chick-lit novels, Send and Receive and The Blog Affair, which have been re-released as The Truth About Series: The Truth about Clicking Send and Receive and The Truth About Cats and Bees.

Alissa’s Linfield Ladies Series features women in trend-setting roles in the Regency period who fall in love with men who embrace their trailblazing ways… at least eventually. The Viscount’s Lady Novelist is the second book in this series, following on from The Earl’s Lady Geologist.

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Giveaway

Enter to win a $30 Amazon Gift Card! The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on May 18th. You must be 18 or older to enter.  

The Viscount's Lady Novelist