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A Rare Find by Joanna Lowell
This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at _@thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next good freelance job.
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Joanna Lowell has thoroughly won me over with her fun, warmhearted historicals; A Rare Find continues her adventuresome, spirited tradition, sending her two protagonists through a long journey to find a missing artifact – and perhaps true love, even though they can’t stand one another — at least at first.
Elfreda “Elf” Marsden is an archeologist with an influential father who chooses to mainly ignore her but uses her archeological breakthroughs to advance his reputation. Her dream of unearthing new facts about the Northmen who once roamed Derbyshire seems to be coming true. She plans to prove that the Great Heathen Army camped on her family’s tumbled down estate, and is thrilled to finally discover an amulet that ought to date back to that time period right there in her ancestral mud. Finally, she’ll be able to lead her own dig and prove that her notions about ancient civilizations aren’t foolish and form an identity of her own apart from her dad. She’ll be a Fellow of the Albion Society just like him.
And then her childhood enemy Georgie tries to drown her in the bog she’d been digging about in.
Georgina “Georgie” Redmayne wasn’t actually trying to drown Elf – they thought she was another friend of hers, and merely hoped to dunk Elf under water. But this misunderstanding is cardinal of the rivalry the two of them have had since childhood, when they were neighbors. Georgie had since moved away, but they’ve left London to escape a monumental scandal involving a broken engagement, a reticule crash and a duel. If only the ton knew that they also performed as a man onstage in various theatrical roles to boot. They are bored stiff by country living and would do anything to hie away somewhere lively and modern.
When Georgie dunks Elf, Elfreda loses her grip on the amulet and it tumbles into the bog. Now she needs further evidence of her theory. She realizes that finding a clutch of Viking gold might be her key to proving herself. She offers Georgie a deal: help her search up some gold and she’ll give them the funds they need to get out of Derbyshire. But nothing is as simple as they think it will be, and lust, esteem and attraction soon intervene. Can Georgie settle down? Does Elf want more than to finally make it in the archeology world?
What a delightful romp. This is a little lighter in spirit than A Shore Thing ( A | BN | K | AB ), but carries a sense of effervescent humor to it that’s shared throughout all of Lowell’s work. I loved the slow burn build for the romance between these two, and I loved the peek into Regency-era archeological and theatrical mores.
Georgie is so roguish and zesty: teasing, sensual, but also filled with purpose and self-confidence. They have lived a life far outside of the strictures of the world they and Elf grew up in, but their home is with the serious, determined Elfreda all the same.
Elf has been so wrapped up in her work that she’s barely gotten to live a life for herself. Georgie lifts that lid for her, introduces her to pleasure, shows her the unconditional love others have for her, and makes her reach beyond trying to please her father and living to gain his approval. It’s a coming of age tale for Elf, and one that sees her form a world beyond anything she imagined. Through Elf, the world of archeology in the Regency era is explored, something I greatly enjoyed as I had no prior knowledge as to how that research was conducted back in the day.
The romance is so utterly breathtaking – classic enemies to lovers tropage, but also the deep affinity and support these two find in one another over time is simply delightful. It’s filled with passion and spice, and the sexual combustibility between them is undeniable. When they finally actually kiss — and do more than kiss — I was genuinely moved. They grow together in such a completely wonderful, special way.
All of the supporting characters are great, even Elf’s sometimes nightmarish father. Her sister is a delight, and so are the great garden of friends the two of them share. Even the Marsden family estate – with its collapsing ceilings and its moldering character – adds a fresh spirit to the book.
Joanna Lowell’s novels are like little summer vacations for me, so I’m proud to state I was transported away by this one. A Rare Find gets the highest marks for its solid history, beautiful romance, fun plot and great peek into the professional worlds of its characters. As the summer comes to a conclusion, it’s a great novel to kiss those hazy, lazy days goodbye.
NOTE: in a period-appropriate fashion, Georgie goes by they/them pronouns in close company but she/her pronouns in public; I’ve used they/them pronouns in this review to describe them because, as Lowell observed, they would use them were they living in the modern world, and it’s clearly the character’s preferred pronouns. As underlined by the author note, the book includes misgendering and misogyny from other characters.
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