The Baron and the Enchantress by Paullett Golden

Title: The Baron and the Enchantress

Author: Paullett Golden

Series: Enchantresses #3

Got a bit long, otherwise a beautiful story

My thanks to Paullett Golden, who asked me to read a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This was typical Golden (Is it too early to start saying “classic” Golden?)—a well-told, heartfelt story with endearing characters, deep themes, historical detail, bittersweet irony, and humor.

The only real issue, in my eyes, was the length. I don’t mind a long book, but the narrative has to work that much harder to hold a reader’s attention. It has to be tense, exciting, riveting. Baron held my attention for the most part, but there were a few times when I felt my eyes glaze over and I had to step away to shake off the lull so I wouldn’t fall asleep. Why did my attention stray? I suspect instances of excessive or redundant introspection, when characters thought or worried about the same things over and over and over again. It could also have been the odd passage of dull dialogue.

But don’t let that put you off, because it’s really a minor thing. Golden put in the work here; it’s clear she worked hard to show these characters every respect in telling their story. She played the long game and kept a steady, realistic pace while layering in themes about identity, self-worth, family, purpose, duty, hope, fear—and more—without smothering us with them. “Family is about love, not lineage.”

Walter and Lilith weren’t the most compelling leads. They weren’t bad characters or even badly written; they just had rather unremarkable personalities that made it too easy for more charismatic characters—namely Sebastian, Annick, and even Jasper the puppy—to steal scenes. Walter and Lilith were certainly likable and sympathetic and had their quirks; I cared about them, but neither was particularly spunky or vivacious. They were not one of those couples who exchanged witty repartee. Neither really had tempers, and both had heaps of patience. Lilith was willful and obstinate, and at times she was mildly rude, but she never made a scene. Walter’s temper flared with a split second of jealousy toward the end, but it was almost out of character.

Case in point, my favorite moment in the entire book was when Sebastian, soaked from head to toe from frolicking in the ocean, trotted past Walter and Lilith and said with a wink and a grin, “Imagine Liz’s surprise when I wake her.” That got a big belly laugh from me. I chuckle now just thinking about it.

To expound upon the hero and heroine—Walter was just a sweetie from start to finish. His whole thing was decency; the perfect gentleman. He was kind and considerate, but most endearing to me was his romantic daydreaming, and the way he fell in love with Lilith at first sight and did not give up on her. Also, most of the humor came from him.

Lilith wasn’t my favorite heroine ever, but she had her merits. I was impressed when she admitted to herself that she had been unfair in disliking Walter without knowing him and apologized to him for her prejudice. I also liked that Lilith wanted more than anything to simply help the less fortunate. But I also think she protested a marriage to Walter beyond the point of reason. When she rejected his proposal, I was so exasperated and disappointed in her. (And, not gonna lie, I was ready for the book to be done by that point, which only intensified those sentiments.) She was motivated by selfish fear, and I get that—god knows I’ve contended with it—but it just took her character too long to buck up and get over it. She was supposed to be stronger and more selfless and resilient than that. I half expected her to become a lady so she would have more power for her philanthropic ventures—which she eventually did; I was just surprised she allowed herself to be stymied by self-pity and fear for so long.

I did appreciate the irony that she expected the aristocracy to ostracize her and her village to embrace her—and yet it was her neighbors, the people she knew, who turned their backs on her. It was kind of a missed opportunity not to make that more of an epiphany for her and let it motivate her conviction. She just kinda realized it one day, like, “Huh. Go figure.” (*throws hands up in exasperation*)

Her and Walter’s reconciliation seemed to happen awful fast and easy, but by that point it needed to be. If it had been drawn out because Lilith had misrepresented her situation to him, I would have lost patience and said to hell with it. But that didn’t happen, thankfully. It got sorted out immediately and they lived HEA.

Two inconsequential nitpicks and a fun fact:

The names Lilith and Lizbeth are too similar; there were honestly times when they were in the same scene that I had to consciously stop and focus to orient myself as to which of them was doing what.

Also regarding names, every time Walter’s full name was uttered—Walter Hobbs—all I could think of was the movie Elf, because that’s the father’s name. You know, James Caan’s character. Yes, I’m serious. It wasn’t a problem, just kind of an inside joke for myself. I’ve watched that movie so many times…

Lastly, the math doesn’t add up. It was specifically stated several times that Lilith’s age was thirty-three, but according to the document Sebastian showed her at the end, her birthday was Sept 3rd and she was born in 1760. The novel’s time frame was 1791 to 1792. So not only should she have turned thirty-four halfway through, but according to her birth year she should have actually been two years younger than that.

Edit: Golden kindly clarified this point for me. “The document that Seb shows her is not her birth certificate. It’s her baptismal record from when they were baptized together. Her birthday is May 1758. She would have been two when they baptized her, and he would have been almost one (Nov 1759 is his bday). The painting in the gallery was of their baptism. Lilith was seated at her dad’s feet wearing a christening gown, and Seb in his mother’s arms, also wearing a christening gown.”

And here I thought I was being so smart. My bad.

*checks notes* Oh, and did Cuthbert decide not to live with Seb and Liz? He was present in the long journey back to Devon with Hazel and Walter, but I don’t recall any mention of his final decision. Maybe it was in the epilogue and I missed it. I don’t want to think he decided against it, so I’m going to let myself assume he moved in with them and played with his grandchildren every day.

Now, I want to indulge in a small rant that has nothing to do with the quality of the book. If I was arguing with a potential husband about whether or not I wanted to marry him, and he mentioned the marriage contract had already been drawn up before he’d even proposed, I’d have seen red and said no just to spite him. To be fair, Walter meant well; he was trying to make the point that he would follow through on his promises, that Lilith wouldn’t have nothing if she married him. And I’m sure it wasn’t that unusual or irrational for him to have prepared the contract ahead of time, considering the time period and how determined he was to marry her. But it still strikes my modern sensibilities as disgustingly arrogant and even misogynistic. It implies that I should be obligated to commit my life to him simply because he’d done the paperwork already. And I’d have told him what he could do with that paperwork. End rant.

So in conclusion, Golden’s editor should have taken a red pen to some of that redundant internal monologue, but that’s not at all a dealbreaker. The writing was so smooth and thoughtful that some readers may not even notice. I wanted to smack sense into Lilith a time or two, but I don’t hold it against her too much. She was presented with a rather impossible situation, and it was only as the obstacles were overcome one by one, removing her reasons say no, that I got frustrated with her obstinacy. Overall, this is a wonderful book, and I’m super excited for the next one. The excerpt was intriguing and I’ve been super curious about what will happen to Mary since book 2.

Have I piqued your curiosity? You can read excerpts here and here. There is also a cast list and a family tree if you need help remembering who’s who.

Also, be sure to enter for a chance to win a signed copy!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paullett Golden is a Houston, Texas native who now divides her time between Northumberland, England and her hometown. She has been a university professor for over 20 years. When an oncologist told her she had three months to live, she decided it was time to fulfill her dream of being a novelist. After defying the odds, she now focuses her attention on her writing. Her debut novel has hit the Amazon bestseller list multiple times and has won a Reader Views Literary Award. She loves historical fiction of all kinds as a way to transport us to a different time and place. All research comes from authentic resources of the time and from scholarly and peer-reviewed articles from researchers specializing in the time. Though she may take liberties with the fictional aspects, she does aim for the fiction to reflect the mores, culture, laws, and environment of the time. When not writing, she can be found in her butterfly garden or on a race track.