An Earl to Remember by Stacy Reid

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Unforgettable Love, #2

Release Date: August 22, 2023

Things have not been easy for the Heyford girls since the death of their father, but Georgianna Heyford is determined to keep the sisters together in the family home and she has a plan. She loves to cook and has been hired to cater a party for the Earl of Stannis, the payment for the job will shore up the family’s finances for the next year, but more importantly, she hopes the partygoers will love her food and hire her for future events. The job is going well and she is excited, but all that changes when a chance encounter with the earl ends with Georgianna being fired and sent away without being paid. Humiliated and angry Georgianna returns home, but fate seems to be playing with her when days later the earl is found washed up on the beach of her village. She goes to her cousin’s office, where he was taken, and learns that he has no memory of who he is, she is going to tell them who he is when he burst out that he knows her – intimately. Horrified and furious, Georgianna claims that he is her husband. Her cousin is sure that his memory will eventually return and demands that she take him with her. She resists at first, but then a new plan forms. She is going to make the earl work off his debt to her. What could possibly go wrong?

Daniel Rutherford, the Earl of Stannis, can’t believe that he has married Georgianna, but he also knows she is the other thing familiar to him. He knows something this wrong, but with no options, he goes along with Georgianna’s story. Soon he finds himself falling into his new life, and falling for his new “wife”. But when his memory returns, he is furious and burning for vengeance. He plans to make Georgianna pay for her deception, but you know what they say about the best-laid plans…

This was a well-written, fun Victorian twist on the movie “Overboard”. I love that movie and thoroughly enjoyed Stacy Reid’s retelling. The book is filled with lies, secrets, an arrogant hero who gets taken down a few pegs, an enterprising heroine, laugh-out-loud moments, steamy love scenes, great secondary characters, cameos from previous protagonists, a bit of heartache, and finally a HEA complete with an epilogue. I feel like for the most part, the author stayed true to the original plot, however, I would have been happier if Georgianna had been a widow because Daniel’s actions after recalling his memories left me feeling like he hadn’t really changed from the man he was at the beginning of the book. This is the second book in the series, but it could easily be read as a standalone title. Overall, this was a fun retelling with its own twist and hints to the next story, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to my fellow HR readers.

*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.*