Our Regency romance tale follows two young women, the elder being Kynthea Petrelli. She’s a vicar’s daughter, an impoverished relation who is lucky to have a situation in life. Her cousin Zoe, aged just sixteen, needs a chaperone for her debutante Season. THE LOVE POTION looks at the difference in their positions and aspirations.

Zoe is impetuous and has decided that she must aim to marry a Duke with a fine stable of racehorses. One such bachelor, the Duke of Harle, is considerably older than her, but she won’t be deterred. After all, she has a solid dowry, including two mares. Why wouldn’t he consider marrying her? Erasmus, known as Ras, is well used to misses setting caps at him, like any eligible duke, and makes sure to ask for one dance only with each girl when he attends parties. Zoe is a child, as far as he’s concerned.

Zoe insists on going to an apothecary shop and buying a love potion.  This first book in a series called My Lady’s Potions is intended to be fun and frothy. Many people actually believed love potions and the like were effective. Zoe asks Kynthea to splash some potion onto Ras, correctly thinking that it would look bad if she threw water around herself. Poor Kynthea is not in a position to refuse.

Ras has a good friend, Lord Nathaniel, who isn’t well off anymore and secretly composes a gossip column for income. Anything mentioned by ‘Pickleherring’ may turn into a scandal. People love to talk.

With all the details we gain, it’s notable that nobody gives consideration to chaperoning Kynthea. She’s not a widow nor in her sixties, and several times she is in extremely compromising circumstances. There’s a price to be paid, of course. I love the talk of horses, and if Zoe weren’t so young, she’d have made a good marriage, given the importance of the stable. Marrying at sixteen wasn’t unheard of, but we can’t admire the prospect. 

Katherine Lyons provides interesting characters, lively settings and some notable names in THE LOVE POTION. The second in the series will be called The Truth Serum. I’m sure some fun and games will ensue.