The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick

Lucinda Bromley is the daughter of a prominent Botanist and his wife, both now deceased. But her reputation has suffered because her father was claimed to have poisoned his partner, then taken his own life, and Lucinda was seen exiting the botanical gardens where she had gone with her fianceé holding together her torn bodice, while her finaceé exited later, his trousers torn. Shortly thereafter, he was also poisoned, and the blame this time fell on her, even if the crime could never be proven.

Given that her name is mud in polite society, Lucinda continues to consult on cases for the police. She has the psychical power to determine if poison is present, and what sort of poison it is. She's especially good with botanical-based poisons due to her upbringing and interests.

But when Inspector Spellar asks her to determine what killed a Lord, she finds that she is very familliar with the poison used. Part of it came from a plant stolen from her own conservatory, a unique species of fern discovered by her and her father on a trip to South America. She can't confess her part of the discovery to the inspector, so she hires Caleb Jones, who runs a psychical detective agency, to find the person who stole her fern.

Caleb is at first irritated at how secure in herself Lucinda is, but he soon realizes what a great asset she can be to him in finding someone else he is looking for- an insane killer who nearly took out Caleb's brother, a man with the power to kill with his mind, flooding the brain of his victim with pure fear.

Lucinda, for her own part, senses the power of Caleb's psychical powers, and something else that makes her prescribe him a tisane of hers to relax and cleanse him. She eventually finds out that Caleb fears going insane like his grandfather did, but she can find the cause of the insanity and root out the problem using the strength of her gifts. She also finds herself falling in love with him, and when they make a breakthrough in their cases, they find themselves coming together in a physical way.

But Lucinda is a social pariah because of what happened with her father and her fianceé. But when her cousin comes to stay with her, looking for a husband, will Lucinda and Caleb be able to keep her safe from those who want to kill and dispose of the two lovers? And will the two ever be able to find a happy ending with all the death and hatred surrounding them?

This latest in Amanda Quick's "Arcane Society" novels brings together Caleb Jones, a cold and calculating man who deals better in probabilities and logic, and Lucinda, a woman who resonates strongly with plants, herbs and poisons. Caleb is cold and commanding, Lucinda is strong-willed and so used to going it alone that she doesn't really care what society says about herself- she only worries when her reputation might impact others, like her cousin.

It's hard to see how two such self-willed people could come together, but Caleb quickly recognizes her strength of mind and grows to admire and appreciate it. Soon, he realizes that this may be what he's wanted all along and not really known it. But the possibility of his eventual madness holds him back, until he finally confesses all to Lucinda- and then her powers quickly figure out the insidioua problem, and deals with it permanently.

These two characters start off strong and never lose their strength, only growing to realize that their strengths compliment each other, enabling each to be stronger and give them someone to lean on occasionally. As always with Amanda Quick, the love scenes are delicious and well-written, with a wealth of sensual details that make them extremely hot.

I highly recommend not only this book, but the entire Arcane Society series, as they are very good examples of Paranormal romance set in an unusual time- not the modern day, but the Regency to Victorian period. The juxtaposition of psychic powers and historical romance is wonderful to read and a change from modern-day paranormal romance, retaining all the charge and adding a historical spice.