Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

To Love a Baron (Courting the Unconventional Book 3) by Laura Beers is a sweet, slightly unconventional romance set against the backdrop of Georgian aristocracy. Dominic Stevens has returned from war, for king and country, wounded and a little lost in his own mind. Rewarded by the crown for his bravery, he has been given honors, land, and a baronetcy. Now, Baron Warwicke, Dominic seeks to come to terms with why he is fêted as a hero and yet so many of his fellow soldiers were left to die on European fields. “Why did I survive?” he continually asks. Remembering little of his recovery in hospital, he is horrified to learn from his solicitor that he is now apparently married to his former battlefield nurse. Who is Dorothea, his wife, and why can he not remember her or their marriage? Whatever his memory tells him, he knows one thing for sure: he owes this woman, at the very least, some protection and an independent future that is not weighed down by marriage to a man who does not remember her and will never be the same happy man who left England to fight for his country.

To Love a Baron is a wonderfully plotted Regency romance that ticks all the boxes of a quality story and so much more. I have long been a fan of this period of history, and the often-farcical and hypocritical behavior of the aristocracy of the time, but author Laura Beers takes it to a whole new level in this tale. Her plotting and the wide variety of underlying story arcs are meticulously and seamlessly presented, allowing the story to unfold naturally. It is this story's complexity that lifts the narrative above the normal romance and into something more akin to a mystery than a mere love story. The two lead characters in Dominic and Dorothea are both open characters that all readers will find some sympathy and understanding with. I particularly appreciated Dorothea’s willingness to stand up for herself and express her feelings with power and conviction, something uncommon for women of the period. At times, Dominic’s unwillingness to just let go and allow nature to take its course was frustrating, and it is always a great sign when readers become so invested in an author’s characters that they begin talking to them while reading. This is something I found myself doing regularly with this book. This novel is just one in a series of stories involving the same or similar characters, and this is exciting for the future. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and highly recommend it.