She doesn’t just grow flowers, though – she is seeking to propagate a new variety of hardy China rose using a plant much beloved by her late mother, and she is passionate about her endeavours. Margaret is a dedicated and talented horticulturalist, spending most of her time in the greenhouse on her father’s estate, where she cultivates and studies a variety of plants and flowers, adhering to scientific methods of study, experimentation and recording. Recognising in each other people of similar interests and turn of mind – as Rhys puts it, they “like to know things” – when Rhys’ visit is over, he and Margaret begin a correspondence in which they discuss their various academic interests and scientific pursuits. As told in The Lie and the Lady, Leticia married Turner instead, but the Turners and the Babcocks remain on good terms, and Leticia has become one of Margaret’s few friends. Margaret’s father, Sir Barty, is the local squire, a well-liked, congenial man who, at one time, had hoped to marry Leticia, Countess Churzy.

It’s not absolutely necessary to have read the other two books in the series ( The Game and the Governess and The Lie and the Lady) in order to appreciate this one, although it might help to have at least a rough idea of the storylines of each of them in order to be able to place the recurring characters.ĭoctor Rhys Gray and Miss Margaret Babcock met briefly around a year earlier when Rhys visited his friend John Turner at his Lincolnshire home. The Dare and the Doctor is a gently moving, character-driven friends-to-lovers story about two people who are perfect for each other falling in love while coping with personal and family difficulties.

This third book in Kate Noble’s Winner Takes All series is another beautifully written romance featuring likeable central characters, a very well-drawn secondary cast and dilemmas that feel realistic while also being problematic enough to provide the necessary degree of conflict.

Let it be me kate noble