The Baron and the Enchantress (Enchantresses #3)

Country midwife Lilith Chambers is struggling to handle some life-changing revelations. She’s half-sister to a duke who thought she’d died as a child because their father sent her to an orphanage. Now as an adult, two very different men are pursuing her. Reverend Harold Sands is a man Lilith has known for years. He hears her confessions and knows all of her secrets. Baron Walter Collingwood, her brother's cousin-in-law, is a new acquaintance. Will a relationship with either man make Lilith feel safe enough to be herself regardless of society’s harsh judgment? She works hard to find the answer to that question in this thoughtful love story about attraction between two very different people. Lilith was raised as an orphan in the country while Walter was raised as a privileged aristocratic heir. She is employed. He is indecisive. They are both good-hearted. 

“The Baron and the Enchantress” is a contemplative tale. It's thoughtfulness about issues of social class, birthrights, gender disparities, and city versus country concerns add provocative emotional layers. It also affects the pacing of the story; most of the excitement related to Lilith’s sudden reversal of fortune happens prior to Lilith and Walter’s romance. It is mostly aftermath and consequences, which although realistic, could become tedious. Reading the previous two entries in the Enchantresses series feels essential to generating full investment into Lilith’s circumstances. Strong, complex characterizations, nuanced family dynamics, insightful social commentary, and a vibrant sense of time and place both geographically and emotionally make this a poignant read. 

Cardyn Brooks