"Charmy, sexy, wonderful"

This is my first book by Zoe Archer--won't be the last. Zowie! What a wonderfully original tale. Ian Blackpool and Sophie Andrews are heart-steallers. Their romance sizzles, but it's not just the hot love story, its the depth of these wonderful characters that held me mesmerized.

Sophie is one of those dreadful bluestocking in the Regency period, when women were little more than servants or bobbles on a man's arm. However, Sophie would have none of it. Her mother wants Sophie married, but she has little interest in men that won't appreaciate her mind as well as her body, and they want little to do with a woman who loves stalking the wild fungi!

In pursuit of a new fungus, Sophie stumbles upon Ian Blackpool. Our lad has a lot on his mind, but Mr. Tall and Sexy has a yearning to discover if there is really a thing called love, and Sophie seems just what he needs for his "experiment". From a meddling mother to a beloved uncle, Archer conjures well-drawn characters to thrill and delight.

The novel -- to quote the late Robert Palmer - is simply irresistible.

Reviewed by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Posted February 21, 2007

Summary

It is the most beautiful fungus botanist Sophie Andrews has ever seen. And the man who comes with it is a pretty fine specimen, too. Sophie knows the bottle of love potion the roguish peddler tries to push on her is a hoax, but she has no time to argue.

Ian Blackpool refuses to let the stubborn beauty who stumbled into his path track down the notorious Dark Dan McGannon alone. It is his duty to help. Surely it has nothing to do with the thrill he feels at her touch. After all, love is merely a specific chemical combination. But when Ian took Sophie in his arms, science went out the window...