A Love by Design
BY Elizabeth Everett
Rating: 4.75/5 Genre: Historical Romance Steam: Explicit Publisher: Berkley Romance Pub Date: 17 January, 2023 Thank you so much Berkley Romance and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC. All opinions are my own. Available: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop
A Love by Design Synopsis:
Widowed and determined, Margaret Gault has returned to Athena’s Retreat and the welcoming arms of her fellow secret scientists with an ambitious plan in mind: to establish England’s first woman-owned engineering firm. But from the moment she sets foot in London her plans are threatened by greedy investors and—at literally every turn—the irritatingly attractive Earl Grantham, a man she can never forgive.
George Willis, the Earl Grantham, is thrilled that the woman he has loved since childhood has returned to London. Not as thrilling, however, is her decision to undertake an engineering commission from his political archnemesis. When Margaret’s future and Grantham’s parliamentary reforms come into conflict, Grantham must use every ounce of charm he possesses—along with his stunning good looks and flawless physique, of course—to win Margaret over to his cause.
Facing obstacles seemingly too large to dismantle, will Grantham and Margaret remain forever disconnected or can they find a way to bridge their differences, rekindle the passion of their youth, and construct a love built to last?
A Love by Design Review:
Oh how I loved this book. I’ll be honest with you, I have read the first two in the series (A Lady’s Formula for Love and The Perfect Equation) and enjoyed both of them but there’s something in the softness and tenderness of this book that just builds it up so well. This one is much more reliant on the character development than the first two. George and Margaret were childhood friends that bloomed into more, but decisions broke them apart. Now Margaret is back from Paris and they’re trying to be civil around their mutual friend (Violet) which is going so well.
Here’s a run down of why this book needs to be on your radar:
- George has immense gold retriever energy
- SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE WITH ALL THE PINING
- Margaret is a Professional TM and nothing stands in her way -George and Margaret’s backstories are just *chef’s kiss* combo of “aw” and tragic
- Spoiler-ish one at bottom of review****
- George is too pure for everyone and does not want the Earl title
- Margaret wants to prove herself as a woman engineer
- POLITICAL PLOTS! ie awful men don’t want women outside the house, women want to do things and are smart…
- Emotions.
Prepare to swoon and aw and everything else Ok, I think that about covers everything amazing about this book. I loved every minute reading it and it was truly a highlight of the year. I’m conflicted if I like this one or the second one more, but they’re so vastly different that it’s hard to compare them, which is an amazing feat by an author. To have three books that are so vastly different?!? Like incomparable different, in my opinion.
Long Story Short
Do I recommend this book? YES! If you like smart women, men who are trying to do the right thing, conflicting feelings on multiple levels, political intrigue, second chance romances, and a beautiful array of secondary characters, I highly highly HIGHLY recommend picking this book up!
If You Like This One…
I highly recommend Elizabeth Everett’s two previous novels A Lady’s Formula For Love and A Perfect Equation both are highly under appreciated historical romances! Otherwise I would check out Evie Dunmore’s series (League of Extraordinary Women) as they’re similar in vein: Bringing Down the Duke (1), A Rogue of One’s Own (2), Portrait of a Scotsman (3).
SPOILER POTENTIAL: Virgin Hero and Widowed Heroine, it was perhaps one of the sweetest little love scenes I’ve ever read. It was so freaking tender and soft.
