The Dare and the Doctor

There's a lot to say about friends who go on to become lovers. Isn't that what a lot of people claim they want? But there's also something to the fact that sometimes its nice to have mystery about the person you're falling in love with and I think that was kind of what was missing for these two at times.

Their correspondence starts out professional, but as the year progresses their letters contain just as much personal updates as they do professional updates. Little polite conversational questions become larger conversational questions that lead to an intimacy. Especially if you don't think you'll ever meet the person on the other end of the letter.

When they finally meet...when they finally acknowledge their feelings...I honestly wonder show more if circumstances hadn't pushed the issue if they would have danced around the topic for years yet. Margaret is no polished lady - she's awkward, more at home in her greenhouse then a ball room, happiest when she can coo over her beloved roses. She's no startling beauty either - too tall for fashion with a striking face and form, but lack of ability to showcase it properly. She's at her best when discussing her new hybridization of roses.

I enjoyed the strong bond between the two. They obviously were well matched as friends; drawing strength from the other's belief in their abilities, being a source of peacefulness when everyone around them seemed to be anything but.

Their romance though...the two were both a bit too skittish. A bit too unbelieving that the other person they admired, admired them back so fervently. No matter what anyone said. In Margaret's case I think she was too green and unused to the attention. Rhys...I don't know, maybe he thought she was too high for him to aspire towards?

As for the historical nature...I've always enjoyed Noble's romances because they are refreshing and light with interesting heroines. This book however felt less "time period" than usual and I can't tell if its because I was so busy wanting to smack sense into Rhys or Margaret, so I took better note of the fact it felt "modern" or what. It felt a bit like AUSTENLAND - the players were saying the right things, going about the right sort of jobs, but only in a shallow sense. Its hard to define.

In all its a good diverting read. While its not the best I've read of Noble's (REVEALED remains that tops for me), it should please any romance reader. show less

Fauna and fervour! Love amongst floral favourites!

Margaret Babcock is a joyously unassuming and unusual young woman. A horticulturist whose fingers are constantly itching to turn the soil and make the food that will enhance and sustain her grand experiment--to produce a rose that will survive the English climate and bloom more than once. She is continuing the work begun by her beloved mother. Margaret shares her work and insights with her particular friend Dr. Rhys Gray.
Neither seems to think it unusual that they exchange letters weekly and sometimes three times within that space.
Rhys is overjoyed that Margaret will be coming to London for a meeting with the society, but he'd forgotten the family problems that he is being counted on to show more solve.
Those problems squarely interrupt Rhys' plans for his and Margaret's amusement but family has a way of knocking one off a set course. Rhys and Margaret find themselves in difficult situations. With their unspoken attraction for each other, and a possible fiancé in the background Rhys finds himself in more than one unlooked for and decidedly challenging position.
This is one of those romance novels that shines light into awkward and endearing quarters! Intelligently written, witty and immensely enjoyable!

A NetGalley & Pocket Books ARC show less

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Margaret Babcock, a keen gardener, has been corresponding with Dr Rhys Gray, who is both a doctor and an academic, pursuing research in his laboratory in Greenwich. Rhys arranges for Margaret to come to London to show the Horticultural Society a hybridized rose she has created. Once there Margaret, who is becoming aware of how much she values Rhys' "friendship", learns that his mother wants him to marry Sylvia Morton, the daughter of a neighbour, in order to heal over a dispute. Many years ago Lord Gray (entirely in the wrong in any case) fought a duel with Sylvia's father, Thomas, and dishonourably fired early, wounding Thomas in the back of the leg. Lord Gray and his show more eldest son, who tried to cover for him, have been living in exile abroad ever since and Lady Gray hopes a reconciliation between the families forged by the marriage will bring her husband home.

While there were various little niggles I felt on the strict historical accuracy front (including the correspondence at the beginning, exactly what the status of the Gray family was - can you really come back from firing early in a duel? would the second son of a Lord really work as a doctor?), setting those aside, I enjoyed this story very much. The trip to the Greenwich laboratory was particularly well done. I struggled a bit to come to terms with Sylvia's character, but then that cleverly turned out to be good writing. I could have done with a bit less about the adorable baby and perhaps not quite so much of an emphasis on duelling, but I liked the characters of both Rhys and Margaret and thoroughly believed in their happily ever after. show less

Margaret Babcock is tall and a botanist, fairly reserved except for a few friends. On of these is Dr. Rhys Gray with whom Margaret maintains a correspondence. He arranges for her to come to London to display her prize roses to the Horticultural Society and to see the sights. They are very good friends with the potential for more, but Rhys is supposed to marry the daughter of a neighbor, Sylvia, due to some odd circumstances involving his father and brother.
I generally enjoy friends to lovers romance, but here I felt that the story never got much beyond the friends aspect. Margaret and Rhys are appealing people with their disdain for society and their interests in botany and medicine. But I had a problem with Rhys attitude toward Sylvia. show more I get that he's conscientious and concerned for his family, but he seemed pretty weak in the way he ignored the problem rather than deal with it long ago. And it seemed to me that he would have continued this except Margaret finally pushes the issue which was a disappointment. He traded being pushed around by his mother to Sylvia and then finally Margaret which made it hard to admire him.
The other problem with this book in my opinion is that it wasn't so much a Regency as maybe an American historical from the early 1900's in the way the characters acted and how it was set. If I had been more engaged in the romance I probably wouldn't care so much about this, but I kept getting pulled back out of the story because of things like a young Regency miss who is corresponding with a single man (shouldn't happen no matter how academic the correspondence). This was an okay book, but definitely not one of Ms. Noble's best. show less

This is the third book in Kate Noble’s Winner Takes All series and the one I enjoyed the most. That's because of the hero as much as the heroine.

I liked the fact that our heroine had a unique talent as a botanist, but I loved the relationship between her and our hero that starts off as a friendship forged through the correspondence about both their passions, botany. It eventually turns into romance, but I loved the journey they took toward each other.

This story is all character driven, fast paced and vastly entertaining and I highly recommend it!

Melanie for b2b

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher

Same problem as with the 2 first books of the series. Otherwise I loved this. Actually this might of been my favorite of the three as I quite liked Margaret. Then again I did like the other heroines too. But also the male lead in this is pretty perfect.