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HaBO: Hero is an Aspiring Botanist

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This HaBO is from Anna, who lost this romance in the Great Book Purge:

I’m hoping that someone can help me find this book that I purged from my shelves and instantly regretted. I think it’s a Zebra or Signet book or something of that ilk, but I haven’t been able to find it online. It’s at least 5-10 years old, maybe/probably much older? I’m pretty sure it’s not R-rated.

What I remember of this Regency era novel is that the hero of the book isn’t thought of very highly by his aristocratic family, I think because he’s trying to make something of his life by being a botanist, but it’s not going very well. The hero and heroine try to solve some kind of mystery, or deal with her family or something like that? He’s generally bummed that his experiment isn’t working out and maybe his family is right, but what I remember most is that at the end of the book the hero and heroine are making out in his green house and when he looks from her to the plants he gets really excited that he finally sees shoots growing, so he’s now a winner both in love and science. Please tell me that this rings a bell with someone?

(And incidentally, I’m looking forward to any other books people come up with that might be this one, because botany heroes might a fun reading binge to go on.)

“A winner both in love and science.” My heart grew three sizes today.

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  1. Omphale says:

    I have no doubt that there’s another story, but that totally describes the end of The Affair by Amanda Quick. (Hero is a chemist, they are making out in his lab, but he’s testing out new fertilizers.)

    Honestly, it’s one of my favorite classic Quick novels. He’s so cranky!

  2. Katie Lynn says:

    Recommendation that popped into my head: The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan. The heroine is actually the brains behind the operation, and the hero has been publishing them under his name (as she cannot do it herself).

  3. Mem says:

    I second the suggestion for The Affair!

  4. Hope says:

    My brain went straight to Amanda Quick, also — this is so trademark Quick/JAK.

  5. Since we’re all thinking about JAK… This is not the book you’re looking for, but the hero of Wildest Hearts is a botanist for passion/hobby and a businessman for necessity.

    And I agree with the others, that scene is from The Affair.

  6. Malle says:

    Like No Other Lover by Julie Ann Long has hero who is explorer/botanist (something nature). All of her books are great and in this one, he has assumptions about the heroine because she hurt him in the past. I loved these characters.

  7. Ellie says:

    In Julia Quinn’s “To Sir Phillip, With Love,” Sir Phillip is a botanist.

  8. cleo says:

    I immediately thought of JAK – I love Wildest Hearts and I’m not sure if I’ve read The Affair.

    Re botanist heroes – The Quiet Gentleman by Heidi Cullinan is a Victoian set mm historical romance between an amateur botonist and a prostitute (they meet when they’re both hiding in a room at some event – one to avoid a former client and the other to rescue a neglected orchid). It’s good but very intense and angsty – there’s addiction, recovery from rape and abuse and a child in danger. I thought the recovery from abuse was very well done.

  9. kkw says:

    I also thought Amanda Quick.

    I read a couple Susanne Lord books recently that I think had botanist explorer heroes. And I dimly recall one where the heroine talks about marrying a guy for his greenhouses, but I suspect that’s the Quinn one mentioned above.

  10. Pam Shropshire says:

    Yes to Affair! My favorite Amanda Quick. Baxter is such an awesome geeky, beta hero.

  11. HeatherMac says:

    I was thinking that The Naked Gentleman by Sally Mackenzie had a horticulturist hero (those books were so fun), but also I remember that there was an Amanda Quick Arcane society book (quickly searches amazon) The Perfect Poison, where there was a plant psychic, too. Now I feel like I need to re-read! Good luck!

  12. Megan says:

    Like No Other Lover?

  13. chacha1 says:

    The Lady’s Companion by Carla Kelly features a botanist hero but he is not an aristocrat. Her book Beau Crusoe features a castaway Naval officer who became a scientist (mostly for something to do on his desert island) and a young lady who is a botanical painter. Those are the ones that came to mind for me.

  14. Olivia says:

    Okay, I thought of one but can’t remember which one it is, maybe one of the ones already mentioned (but don’t really think so). The hero is an explorer, maybe botanist also, or maybe the heroine is in this one. But it’s one of those family/friends series books. The family is “weird” by Regency standards. I feel like the hero had brought back a snake for the twin younger brothers (who are always up to hi-jinks), and it frequently escapes the cage. I know I have this book and it’s what I thought of when I read the HaBO. I thought maybe is was the Julie Anne Long book, but not sure? (This might drive me crazy).

    …maybe the heroine was the governess, or at least wasn’t freaked out by the snake?

  15. This isn’t the book but a recommendation of an historical romance featuring a botanist. Anna Campbell’s The Seduction of Lord Stone from her Dashing Widows series is wonderful.

  16. Jeanne says:

    It’s definitely not the wanted book, but Christine Merrill’s Dangerous Lord, Innocent Governess (Book 2 from Belston & Friends) has a Botanist Hero. And at the very end he and the Heroine make out in his hothouse.

  17. Jennifer in GA says:

    It’s definitely not “To Sir Phillip, With Love” by Julia Quinn, but that is my favorite Bridgerton novel!

  18. Moriah says:

    @Olivia I think the book you are talking about might be An Unexpected Pleasure by Candace Camp.

  19. ClaireC says:

    Not the book in question, but I second the recommendation for The Seduction of Lord Stone by Anna Campbell – and the rest of the series, actually!

    Also not the HaBO book, but both the hero and heroine of I Thee Wed by Celest Bradley are scientists, though I think only the hero deals in botany, and perhaps only indirectly.

  20. Gloriamarie says:

    One I thought of along this line is Hidden Heart by Laura Kinsale When her eccentric naturalist father dies on the upper reaches of the Amazon, young Lady Tess Collier sets out to follow his last wishes: return to England and marry well. But Tess, who had accompanied her father on his expeditions since childhood, is as unconventional as she is beautiful.

  21. smhill says:

    It’s not the book you read, but The Countess Conspiracy is great, and extra-great if you like botanists.

  22. Ashley-Anne says:

    Not the book you’re talking about, but a good book with a botanist: Begins Krahn’s Book of True Desires. Woooooooo good and fun and romantic. A great Indiana Jones vibe

  23. Ashley-Anne says:

    Not the book you’re talking about, but a good book with a botanist: Bettina Krahn’s Book of True Desires. Soooooooo good and fun and romantic. A great Indiana Jones vibe

  24. Anna P-J says:

    Oh my gosh, you guys are amazing! It’s totally Amanda Quick’s The Affair. Thank you!!! What’s really funny is that JAK is one of my favorite authors (clearly….), it just didn’t even cross my mind that it was one of hers. I can’t wait to read the other recommendations, and I totally second that Krahn’s Book of True Desires is awesome. I’m so happy to come home from work to find this problem solved.

  25. Ash says:

    Rec for botanist MC: The Countess Takes a Lover by Bonnie Dee…Older woman + younger botanist – super-sexy and emotionally charged

  26. Olivia says:

    @Moriah, thanks! I thought it might be one of hers, but the descriptions didn’t look quite right in my catalog, but so glad I wasn’t imagining things!

    And can I just say, I love that Betina Krahn came up. I haven’t read her in a while but I loved her when I first started reading romance but it seemed like she went under the radar. Might be time for a revisit.

  27. Chelsea says:

    This HABO has been answered, but here is a free eBook on Amazon with a botanist hero: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01BFV7TAQ?psc=1

  28. Christine says:

    Thank you all for the botanist hero suggestions! I am a botanist and so that is basically everything I want in a romance!

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