The Rose and the Earl by Jillian Eaton

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Ravishing Rosewoods, #3

Release Date: December 8, 2022

After years of waiting, Lady Annabel Rosewood is finally getting the season she so desperately wanted, but sadly, her dreams of finding Prince Charming and living happily ever after are fading with each new suitor. After yet another night of pretending to be having the time of her life, she has had enough and claims to have a headache and leaves the ball early, believing that nothing magical will ever happen for her as it did for her happily married sisters. But a case of mistaken identity leads to her boldly claiming a kiss, her life will never be the same and it certainly won’t be boring!

Ezra Washington, Earl of Whitmore and heir to the Marquess of Richborough, is a rogue, a rake, and just shy of being a full-blown scoundrel, but he likes his life – or at least he did. He will admit to himself that he is bored, which is probably why he agreed to a juvenile prank that involved pretending to be a highwayman. But the plan backfires in spectacular fashion when they hold up the wrong carriage and the stunningly beautiful woman inside demands a kiss. Never one to disappoint a lady, Ezra complies but is shaken to his core by the kiss. They part ways but he can’t stop thinking about her. So when it seems like fate is smiling at him and they meet again, he knows that he can’t let her slip away again. Too bad for him that Annabel has a different ending in mind for them.

This was a well-written, delightful read with wonderful characters and a surprisingly fleshed-out plot for a novella. The book has witty banter, great secondary characters, steamyish love scenes, a bit of heartache, and finally a HEA complete with an epilogue. I would agree with another reviewer that the “prologue” was strange and definitely not something that happened before the story begins, as you would expect from a prologue – it wasn’t bad, but it did seem out of sync. Overall, this was a great, easy read and I would be happy to recommend it. It is part of a series but can be read as a standalone title with no problem.

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