Binding the Baron by Charlie Lane

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Alchemy of Desire, #1

Release Date: December 19, 2025

In an alternate late-Georgian era England, where transcendent powers are weld by the titled men of the ton and the men of the gentry practice alchemy, something strange happened when Lady Diana Chester’s grandfather passed away and his powers transferred to Diana instead of her cousin Apollo, the new Marquess of Fordham. She is shocked by the discovery and keeps it secret and tries to find a way to transfer the power to Apollo, whom she is supposed to marry. She goes to great lengths to end the betrothal, including purchasing a love potion, which part of is accidently ingested by alchemist, Temple Grant – a favorite of the king. She is able to salvage most of the potion and has Apollo take it and obsess over his mistress. But that doesn’t negate the effect the potion had on Temple, who was immediately smitten and asked her to marry him, and she can’t deny she is attracted to him too, but she has no time for a tryst and slips away, sure the potion will wear off with no long-lasting effects. The next day she is confronted by Apollo who has learned the truth and tries to kill her to gain the power, forcing her to run for her life. She isn’t sure what to do and makes her way back to the potion shop, where she finds safe-haven and an unexpected protector in the form of Temple Grant.

Temple Grant performed a service for England and King William rewarded him with the title of Baron Knightly and the position of Royal Alchemist. But the honor didn’t make his life better as the king assumed it would, in fact it made things worse – he and his family were ostracized by his fellow alchemists and shunned and belittled by the ton – leaving him adrift between two worlds. Add to that the king wants him to marry into the ton and has tasked him with an impossible mission. When he meets Diana and accidentally ingests a drop of her love potion, he believes she would make the perfect wife for him – too bad she doesn’t agree, telling him the potion is responsible for his proposal. But even after the potion should have worn off – he still wants her. She finally agrees when he offers her something she needs, protection from her cousin. It is the perfect solution, she gets protection and he gets the bride the king has ordered him to take – falling in love was never part of the bargain – until it was…

I really enjoyed this fun and quirky story; it is well written and nicely paced with wonderful characters. I loved Diana and Temple, they had an incredible connection, and their banter was highly entertaining. The story is filled with amazing characters, laugh-out-loud moments, a completely redeemable villain, steamyish love scenes, magic, found family, some nail-biting moments and finally a lovely ending with the promise of HEA. I will admit that I didn’t really understand the magic system, and even now, I still don’t understand, and the story did drag a bit – but the story was fun, nonetheless. This is the first book in a new series, and I am happy to recommend this title for anyone who enjoys historical romantasy!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *