Thank you to @BerkleyRomance for the free #gifted copy of this book!

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Lady Sparks A Flame
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Elizabeth Everett
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬:The Damsels of Discovery, Book 2
𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬: 384

𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬:
Lady Phoebe- She was sent to America after an unfortunate bomb explosion which caused the death of an innocent man. She came home after the death of her father to sort things out for her mother and younger sister. Phoebe is strong, smart and independent. She came from an abusive household growing up which caused her to turn to self harm as a way of dealing with the abuse.

Samuel- Self-made wealthy businessman. He comes from such a loving family. He is clumsy, cheerful and always looks for the positive. He purchases Lady Phoebe’s family home and helps them to catalog their belongings to put up for auction since her father left them with nothing.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬:
Historical Romance
Age Gap
Women in STEM
Opposites Attract
Found Family
Forced Proximity
Slow Burn

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝:
• There was such great character growth in this book!
• I love Phoebe’s sarcasm - she is a true villain and I adore that about her!
• Sam is just perfect even with his quirks
• The chemistry between them was off the chart! Loved the banter!
• The friendships - willingness to forgive Phoebe for what happened before
• This cover is absolutely stunning!

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: I absolutely loved this book! I had previously read A Lady’s Formula For Love from The Secret Scientists of London series so I was familiar with several of the side characters. I will be going back and reading ALL of Elizabeth’s books. I love her writing style and felt like I was in the story with these people. I felt such sorrow for this family and all what they had to endure at the hand of such a terrible man. I look forward to reading more of these fantastic historical women in STEM!!!

𝐂𝐖: Read author’s notes before starting this book. Non-suicidal self harm, domestic abuse (past)

3.5 stars

The Lady Sparks a Flame is the second book in the Damsels of Discovery series by Elizabeth Everett and if you haven't picked up book one yet, don't worry, I think you can read this one without missing anything. That said, we are back with some characters from Everett's Secret Scientists of London series so if you've read that one, you'll recognize some of the people. If not, that's ok too because you'll get up to speed pretty quickly.

In this book, our fmc is Lady Phoebe Hunt. She is back from her exile in America due to the death of her father and his debts. Her goal is to try to settle his estate with as little damage to her sister and mother's reputations as possible and then return to America where she is someone completely different. There's nothing really keeping her in England anyway and if she stays, she will only create more problems for her family. What she didn't expect was that Sam Fenley, the man who is supposed to be courting her sister, would be the one thing that would make her want to stay.

Sam is ambitious. He has had to earn everything he has, rising from shop boy to wealthy investor and when he sees an opportunity to not only purchase the estate but also potentially align himself with the aristocracy via marriage, he decides to spend time with the Hunt family. He knows he's supposed to be courting Phoebe's sister but even though she has a sharp tongue, he can't seem to help but be drawn to Phoebe, no matter what is in her past.

With Phoebe back in England, there is a lot of history to get through as the Hunt women figure out what to do about the estate but I thought Sam was a great way to allow them all to acknowledge the past and realize they can let it go. It was important to understand Phoebe's feelings toward her father and what truly drove her to do what she did. Sam's personality was the perfect balance to Phoebe's which allowed her to let herself release some of the tension she has held for so long.

I have to say, I loved how these two came together. I find that Everett always does a solid job of not only writing the romance and spice but she doesn't skip out on building out the core story. I've truly enjoyed all of the books surrounding the scientist ladies and if you haven't had a chance to pick these books up, you really should. It's one of my favorite historical romance series out there.

3.5 stars - I was really unsure about this book at first, but ended up being delighted by it. I was a little (a lot) confused initially because practically all of the characters were first introduced in a completely different series and I genuinely felt like I was missing so much backstory. I thought that this was meant to be an interconnected standalone and if that's my mistake I'll own it, but if it's not this was tough to understand without reading the entirety of a different series (The Secret Scientist of London).

All that said, I absolutely adored Sam. He was so wonderful, kind, and sweet - and I loved every time he was on the page. It was harder to connect with Phoebe - I saw and respected her strength and tenacity of surviving something truly terrible but watching her lash out at so many people when they didn't deserve it was tough. The relationship Sam and Phoebe build together is really tender and the last like 40% of the book was just a lot of fun.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for the eARC through NetGalley - all thoughts and opinions are my own!

This was a witch and fun read but I felt it lacked depth in plot and character. Definitely a great option to read between heavier books!

I absolutely love it when a villainess gets a redemption story and Elizabeth Everett’s The Lady Sparks a Flame is one of those real gems that does it, and does it well!

Lady Phoebe Hunt was one of the original ladies from Athena house that we meet in Everett first series, The Secret Scientists of London. She was good friends and one of the founding members of the secret society of lady scientists, that is until she uses her skills to create a bomb that ends up killing an innocent man, and she finds herself banished to the Americas. While in America, she manages to reinvent herself and finds that she wants more freedom than what to the peerage will ever allow back in England.

All is well until she needs to return to London to help her now widowed mother and sister settle their estate up upon the sudden death of their father, thus opening back up the black box of brutal memories from her youth.

Family friend and self-made man, Sam Finley sees the selling off of Hunt family s family assets as the perfect solution for his next business moves. He can purchase the house to set up his next Emporium and perhaps gain himself a title by marrying the younger Hunt sister. Too bad the villainess with a broken heart is too irresistible, and he spends all his time focussed on lady Phoebe.

I absolutely adored getting Phoebe’s backstory and seeing her grow and develop while purging her history with the help of Sam. She needed unconditional love and support to move forward and he gave it to her in spades. What an absolutely lovable, clumsy, sweetheart!

Elizabeth Everett has such a way of making these characters come to life. Her aristocratic characters have grit and grime that makes them so real.

This was an excellent story and showcases a lot of parallels with today’s society and our continuous fight for female autonomy and equity.

It took me a little while to get into this one, as the beginning felt quite slow. I’m not sure if it was due to the frequent references to the past and characters I wasn’t familiar with.

While there are plenty of fun and spicy scenes between the hero and heroine that help build the romance, I personally never felt fully invested in their story.

I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the author’s previous books.

**Thank you to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy. All opinions are my own**

This just wasn't my cup of tea. I knew it was open door before beginning, but that's not the issue I had with the content. There was way too much dialogue surrounding sex when it didn't help the plot at all. It felt like it was just thrown in. A historical romance can be well done with modern feminist themes and healthy views of sex, but this book didn't offer any of that in a smooth of creative way. It felt like everything was thrown together to try to force modern themes into this historical romance. I've read other historical romances where the characters are sex positive and have a modern outlook but its all portrayed through rich language and play on words in a clever and informative way. I think the plot and characters could have been lovable, but it was hard to get through to it/them.

Thank you to PRHAudio for the ALC and Berkley for the free book.

I started off really enjoying this, I especially love an emo and avoidant depressive FMC who gets her HEA. And they do have chemistry and connection. But the banter gets lost when there are long and slow scenes with her family for example and the ins and outs of their conversations. Constant rumination on the situation, before and after something major happens. Just wasn't my fav execution and I was reluctant to keep reading.

I very much enjoy Elizabeth Everett’s characters so I was excited to read this newest and it did not disappoint! And she managed to redeem a previous villain. I loved the black cat/golden retriever energy between Phoebe and Sam. I truly felt for Phoebe and what she had endured growing up. Their relationship was a slow burn and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately I didn’t love the grand gesture moment at the end, something about it didn’t feel as romantic as it could’ve but I’m still happy with their HEA and look forward to more from this series. And I hope we see Phoebe and Sam again.

A very emotional book, with a female protagonist who’s angry at the world, at life, because of a painful past. But she’s so lucky as to meet the perfect man for her, an open, sunny and caring younger man who has a supportive family and a very different background. I really loved all the characters and I was happy to see the characters of the previous books return and make me laugh and sometimes even move me to tears. I also loved the perfect depiction of the very Gothic and gloomy atmosphere of Phoebe’s family manor. Five stars are not enough!

I have a lot of thoughts about this book. I've seen a bunch of rave reviews, and this just didn't hit the way I expected.

Before I get into my review, I want to talk about "cozy" books. I'm not talking about books that don't deal with serious issues; I'm talking about book people call "no plot, just vibes," books with very low stakes. These cross genres; there are cozy mysteries, cozy science fiction books, cozy fantasies. I would argue that this book is a cozy historical romance, despite the fact that it has plenty of darker themes (the FMC's past, in particular, is quite dark: she has engaged in self-harm, was physically and emotionally abused by her father, and she was the villain of a previous book in Everett's backlist). Why would I argue this? First, there's really no overarching plot; there are plenty of things that happen, but there's no beginning-middle-conflict-end. Second, there are no real stakes; either Sam and Phoebe will get together or they won't, but it doesn't feel like there's anything serious keeping them apart or pushing them together. Third and final, kind of a combo of the first two, there's no suspense: I wasn't afraid that something would happen or wouldn't happen on the way to Sam and Phoebe's HEA.

Why do I say this? I find that for me, personally, cozy books are difficult for me to connect with, especially when they have no plot. I love characters, but I need them to be doing something together that has stakes for them. They don't have to be high stakes, but they have to be important to the characters. I'm not even an angsty romance lover - fun, frothy romances can still have fun plots with stakes. I know that cozy books are ridiculously popular right now, so this book may be perfect for you! But for me, it just wasn't very interesting, meaning that I kept wandering away to do other things before remember I should get back to this one. Also, because I wasn't as invested in the plot, I kept noticing things that I didn't love about the book that I might have glossed over. I'm going to mention them below, but some are spoilers so you may want to skip!

I enjoyed:

*The discussion of Phoebe's past and how it affected her choices in the past;
*Both Phoebe's and Sam's family dynamics, and how they were contrasted.

I disliked:

*Phoebe's "redemption." Spoilers for A Lady's Formula for Love and this book: In this book, Phoebe is remorseful and apologizes for using her science to create a weapon that ultimately killed a man. She also apologizes for mistakenly shooting her friend's husband (oops). HOWEVER, in my opinion, her true crime in the first book was betraying her sisterhood of women scientists by targeting their retreat on several occasions, bringing the attention of antagonistic forces upon her "retreat." She never acknowledges or apologizes for this. (Maybe the author forgot what Phoebe actually did? I guess it was written five years ago at this point...)
*Sam's grand gesture. I've complained before about books where the MMC makes a big decision on behalf of the FMC. Sure, she may end up absolutely loving it, but as a reader, I am not interested in having a man surprise his female love interest with a life-changing choice. I'm talking about buying a house for her (not one that she has visited, mind you, just one that he knows she'll love). I'm talking about selling your business (and means of support) so that you can spend more time with your wife. I'm talking about choosing the city where you're going to live without telling her about it. These are not "grand gestures" to me, they are just more instances of men making all of the important decisions in a woman's life.
*This one has to do with BJs: I am DONE with BJs as "empowering" for women. She might be on her knees, but he's the one submitting! She's got all the power! Ugh, spare me.

I am giving this book 4 stars, rounded up from 3.5, because it's not like the writing was bad. I just happen to dislike cozy romances. YMMV - this book seems to get a lot of love, so please don't let me stop you from reading it!

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

Lady Phoebe Hunt has just spent the last few years in America after setting off an explosion that killed someone; as the daughter of a marquess, she wasn't charged, but the death has been sitting with her. Now that she's back and prickly as ever, she's forced to spend time with Sam Fenley, brother of her former best friend Letty from Athena's Retreat (a haven for women scientists). Sam is courting Phoebex's sweet younger sister, even if it's quickly clear to Sam, the sister, and eventually Phoebe that Sam has eyes only for the cold and brilliant Phoebe.

This is marketed as the 2nd book in a series, but is really the 5th, as it's deeply connected to Everett's first series The Secret Scientists of London (more so even than her previous book.) In order to really understand Phoebe and her friends, the series should be read in order.

The Lady Sparks a Flame starts out slowly, with the plot building as Phoebe and Sam get to know one another. There's a lot of inner turmoil for Phoebe, whose father was abusive and who still carries the emotional burden even after his death. She doesn't allow this to be an excuse for what she did, but it does drive her character development. There is some great payoff with steamier scenes.

I ended up listening to the audiobook from the library, and I really enjoyed that format. It helped me move past the slower sections of the book, though I did wonder a few times how I was only at x% throughout...

There are a lot of conversations about non-suicidal self-harm throughout the book, so readers take care. While I think Everett has treated the subject seriously, and there are content warnings at the beginning of the book, it's can be an uncomfortable issue for many.

I LOVED this!! My favorite part of this entire book was Sam. He was perfect! His entire personality and his relationship with Phoebe was so fun to read about. I will say some parts were a little slow for me, but it was still very enjoyable!

4.5 Stars
Lady Pheobe Hunt was shipped off to America to pay for her crimes and has spent the last few years there. Now she’s back in England to help her mother and sister get situated after the death of her father. What a horrible man!

Sam Fenley, an enterprising and now wealthy businessman, wants to buy their London Estate and agrees to help them catalog their country house and get it and the contents ready for auction as well. He thinks he might offer for the younger sister, she’s beautiful and titled and it would be a step into the aristocracy that Sam has been looking for. However, Lady Phoebe is the one that captures his attention with her icy demeanor, sharp wit and air of sadness that hangs about her like a cloak.

There’s a lot of bad memories and ghosts for the poor Hunt women! Sam was the breath of fresh air needed as they sorted things out! I absolutely loved him! He was kind, confident, and determined but didn’t take himself too seriously.

Lady Phoebe Hunt was introduced in the previous series, and she certainly was a villainess, but of course, there was far more to her story.

The Lady Sparks a Flame was lovely! The writing was gorgeous and clever with splashes of humor that balanced out some of the more serious parts. The romance was delicious and spicy with the perfect foundation and buildup! I think fans of Tessa Dare or Lisa Kleypas would definitely enjoy this story! Characters from the past series figure in and appear here, but I feel you could read the story as a standalone.

In a nutshell: Black cat girlfriend meets golden retriever boyfriend.

This book started rather slowly, but it eventually picked up once the romance kicked into gear in the latter half. I will say I did not feel as strongly about the intrigue aspect of this book as I did with its predecessor. However, I did enjoy peeling back the layers of Phoebe and seeing her find happiness with someone who loved her wholly for who she is.

Another highlight, aside from Phoebe's relationship with Sam, is Phoebe's relationship with her sister Karolina. Both are vastly different people. But they are both highly intelligent and insightful in their ways, and it was great to see them come to understand each other.

I don't even know what to say. This book is so great, just wonderful. Elizabeth is bold and brash and beautiful in her words, her prose, and her message. 

I absolutely adored Phoebe and felt her pain and her loneliness and her anger at the world and herself. Sam was absolutely adorable in his clumsiness and his honesty. He was also ridiculously brave, unabashedly loving Phoebe from the beginning IMO. He just didn't realize it. He refused to give in to the attacks Phoebe lobbed at him or give up on her. He saw through her anger and her sharp bladed tongue and even sharper wit as she constantly waged war with those around her.

At first I was a little hesitant because I thought this was going to be a love triangle, but I should have had faith in Elizabeth (sorry babes!), knowing that she would quickly squash that and make it very clear that Sam knew who he really wanted (Phoebe). And maybe to finally not trip over air but that's another battle to be waged, dear Sam.

The book was dark at times especially when Phoebe, her mother, and her sister visit their ancestral home. But Elizabeth provides great moments of levity to counterbalance all the darkness and trauma that permeates this home; trauma that predates Phoebe and her family, going back generations, centuries even. Elizabeth provides humor, clever banter, rays of joy to pull us gently from the moments of sadness and regret. As I read, I was often consumed by these darker parts, that weighed on Phoebe and Sam, BUT as I read them, I was also able to process it with Sam and slowly heal with Phoebe.

I highly recommend A Lady Sparks a Flame. This might be Elizabeth's best book to date and that is saying a lot considering her other books are outstanding. I don't even know that I have enough words to convince you to try this one. But if you have ever been mad at the yourself for acting out in a way that harmed you and you cannot forgive yourself OR angry at the world and lashed out brashly with regret because of the consequences of your actions OR if you've just been mad at the world for being THE WORLD, this book is for you. May it spark hope, love, and faith in humanity, but also faith and forgiveness in yourself. 

Thank you Elizabeth Everett and Berkley for the Advanced Review Copy.

An incendiary, mesmerizing romance about a woman who’s built a fortress around her heart and the determinedly pugnacious man who wants to tear it down.

He’s a ten, but…
He calls you a villainess of majestic proportions…
He’s afraid of ghosts…
He doesn’t understand what’s so great about pictures of fruit…

She’s a ten but….
She wants to overthrow the patriarchy…
She has a penchant for blowing things up…
She calls you a blockhead…

The Lady Sparks a Flame delves into the complex personality of a woman the world perceives as callous and brittle - a woman who has forged her own way her entire life in a bid to escape the haunting demons of her childhood. Those demons have made Phoebe strong and formidable. They have given her an incisive wit she wields like a weapon.Her constant teasing of Sam is her way of keeping him at a distance, and watching him slowly convince her to let down her defenses was one of the most tender, empathic love stories I’ve ever read.

Read this book if you love tender cinnamon roll heroes who are fierce in their loving and don’t shy away from jagged edges or scorn that masks vulnerability. Read this book if you love heroines who learn to love their scars- to truly see them as badges of courage and the things that have made them invincible and inviolable in the face of cruelty and violence. Read this book if you want to laugh and have your heart torn out.

Favorite quotes:
She needed to feel something other than the guilt and grief her mother’s gesture laid upon her. Phoebe’s fingers tightened around the ivory carving in her hand, breathing with relief at the pain where its sharp edges cut into her skin.

It was this notion of surrender that sent a wave of fear through her, frost smothering the fire of desire. Phoebe pulled Sam’s hands away from her face, ready to hurt him, ready to rend herself as well when he let out a gasp. His palm was streaked with her blood.

If the squinty-eyed, prodigiously endowed little gremlins cavorting on the rood screens below could see him, they would piss themselves with laughter as he tried to reach his arm up and over the angry woman who writhed next to him.

That sigh undid something tight within him. He knew this woman now. Knew she would never flat-out say she needed help. That she was overwhelmed and tired and so sad. Phoebe Hunt would have to be safe to use those words. Sam Fenley wanted to give her safety.

Phoebe’s anger had resulted in the creation of a chemical bomb. A bomb was exactly what Sam wanted to level at the world when he heard Phoebe’s story. Phoebe wasn’t a villainess. She was an avenger whose anger had been misdirected because the man who hurt her was beyond her reach. He drew closer but Phoebe held up a hand, palm facing him, to stop him.

All she’d wanted was to live loud enough that no one could erase her.

“Hmmph.” Phoebe made a sound of disagreement, but said nothing more. She would put up a fight; Sam knew it in his bones, but it would be a good fight. A fair fight. A fight worth getting hurt in when all was said and done. Phoebe had lived up until now equating love with pain. Sam was going to help her unlearn that equation.

Phoebe had seen to the heart of him, seen the man behind the jokes and smiles. Every time she’d examined him, she’d come away with indisputable findings; he did deflect with humor, he did need to step back and appreciate his successes. She couldn’t have come up with these theories if she didn’t care for him, worry about him . . . love him. And Sam loved Phoebe in return. Loved her in a way that had permeated his bones. This was a love he’d never wanted to find. He’d been permanently altered; loving this woman ran through his veins, his fingers, his mouth, his words, and his dreams from now until the day he died.

Their love would be huge and unwieldy and require he strip himself as bare as she had when she admitted to her scars. Sam wanted that love more than anything.

Love is an invisible current like electricity. It has the power to pull the world out from beneath your feet, to light you up, or to propel you forward into the unknown. Their love gave off a spark, and a spark is all it takes to set the world on fire.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the free book. These opinions are my own.

This is the second book of the Damsels of Discover series. But I found it called back even more to Elizabeth Everett's previous series, the Secret Scientists of London. Indeed, I strongly recommend reading A Lady's Formula for Love before reading this. I had already read and loved all of those, so I was even more excited to learn about the many crossovers in characters.

I really like a complicated FMC, and wow, did Phoebe deliver. She has been living in exile in the US, but she returns to England to help her mom and sister settle her father's affairs. She is perceived as quite the villainess, and I enjoyed learning her backstory so much.

We knew just a bit of Samuel previously, and he brings a mix of golden retriever energy with incredible business acumen. I loved how nuanced and dynamic both characters were.

The plot was a bit quieter than I expected, as much took place in a remote (and haunted?) manor in the country. But that just left more space for character development and romance. I especially appreciated how beautifully consent was handled in this book.

But most of all, I loved the description of science:
"she understood why women scientists threatened men. Why the world was ambivalent toward scientists in general. Science proved men and women were made of the same stuff. That the same life force flowed through colonizers and the people they oppressed... Science is a truth hard to swallow."

I will continue reading every historical romance Elizabeth Everett writes. Her books are so relevant right now with their strong women fighting the patriarchy.

CW: self harm

4.25 stars

Oh my goodness, what a great read! It's been a minute since I've read a book by Elizabeth Everett, and I'd almost forgotten how immersive, fun, and clever her writing is. The Lady Sparks a Flame is the second book in her Damsels of Discovery series and is set in Victorian England. While you wouldn't think of that time period as especially great for anyone who wasn't an aristocratic white man, Elizabeth demonstrates how many stringent societal rules are in flux by having a fallen aristocrat fall for a wealthy merchant... to the surprise of them both. The story is full of action, adventure, and some very good spice - definitely worth a read!

I LOVE a villain redemption story, and it's so interesting to see how this can be done with a female FMC. Phoebe has been through so much pain and trauma, but all she really wants is to find her place in the world. She's smart, driven, and sensitive, but it makes a lot of sense why she has little trust for most men. I truly believe that sweet golden retriever Sam is uniquely suited to finally make her feel worthy of love. I am OBSESSED with Sam. He's very much aware of his humble origins, which he often uses to his advantage, and while he initially courts Phoebe's sister as a way to gain social status, it's pretty clear from early on that he's met his match in Phoebe. I love that he's one of the few people to make her laugh and smile, an how obviously besotted he is with her.

I'll end this by saying how bummed I am that Elizabeth is not going to be able to continue this series as it stands. Modern historical romance is so freaking GOOD and NEEDED right now. This isn't your grandmother's historical romance - give it a shot!

A lady with a past.
A man with ambition.
A romance to celebrate.

This series is one NOT to be missed so mark your TBR. You’ll rage, like its heroine, against the patriarchy. Phoebe’s character is complicated, yet she yearns for love and respect. Together with Sam, they put their trust in one another for a slow-burn historical love story.

Sam is a delightful cinnamon role with his clumsiness. He’s sexy, ridiculous at times, forgiving and kind. Just get to the epilogue, and you’ll simply fall even more in love with him.

Thanks for the free book Berkley Romance.