The Elusive Earl by Maddison Michaels
Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Saints and Scoundrels, #2

Release Date: August 27, 2018

Brianna “Bree” Penderley doesn’t have to go looking for trouble, it will find her, and when it does, Daniel Wolcott, the Earl of Thornton is usually the man to rescue her.

Brianna’s current predicament will take Daniel to Italy, she has somehow managed to betroth herself to two men at the same time. His superior in the War Office is Brianna’s uncle and he has tasked Daniel with untangling the mess Brianna has found herself in. Daniel is not happy, especially when her uncle jokes that he should marry her! Bree is a hoyden and drives him insane. Daniel is her complete opposite, he is controlled, proper and responsible. Bree is lovely, but he cannot imagine being with such a woman. When he marries, his wife will be calm, sweet and proper. His parents had a terrible marriage and it ended badly, Daniel never wants to have that kind of emotion, which is exactly why Bree is the wrong woman for him.

He arrives in Italy and finds Bree climbing out of a window to escape her suitors, he says he will take her home and they will leave for England in the morning. Bree does not agree with that plan, she is not ready to go, she is having her mother’s journal’s translated and won’t leave until she is ready! But on the way back to her home, they are accosted by the Garendetta and they want the journals. Daniel saves them and demands that Bree tell him the significance of the journals, she grudgingly tells him the journals belonged to her mother and may hold the secret to the location of the lost treasure of King Aleric. Bree and Daniel learn her cousin Travis has been kidnapped and they must travel to Cosenza to save him. Cosenza is where Bree’s departed mother is from, her parents were murdered when she was just a toddler, she was saved from the same fate and delivered to her uncle’s family. She really has no knowledge of her mother and is a little apprehensive about going to her mother’s homeland. But to save Travis, she will do anything, even pretend to be married to His Lordyness. Let the adventure begin!

They set out and find themselves in one bad situation after another. Bree learns some shocking information about her parents and finds herself forced to make her pretend marriage to Daniel real. But that is just the beginning of the shocks and surprises they have in store! There will be long lost relatives, near death experiences, kisses, treasure, more kisses and heartache before these two can even think about a HEA.

Maddison Michaels is an author who has an amazing writing style. One minute she has you laughing and the next you are cringing, all without interrupting the flow of the story. She draws you into the book and holds you in thrall until the very last page. I enjoyed the story, it was fast paced and exciting, but really light on the romance, there were a couple of heated kisses and a lot of bickering, I really wanted to smack Daniel more than once. But when they finally stop being stupid with one another, the ending is lovely and the epilogue was wonderful. This is the second book in the series, but it can definitely be read as a standalone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*