Author: Barbara

Avid reader/reviewer of historical romance and historical mysteries.

The Cheer In Charming An Earl (Audiobook) by Emma Locke

On By BarbaraIn Audiobook, Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)1 Comment

The Cheer in Charming an Earl (The Naughty Girls, #3.5)The Cheer in Charming an Earl by Emma Locke

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Naughty Girls #3.5

The narrator, Marian Hussey, has a lively, compelling interpretation of the voices of the characters and you can hear the wit and liveliness in her voice as the banter takes place. She definitely made a less than stellar story worth listening to.

I did enjoy the story, but if you are looking for historical accuracy to the time period, you will be grossly disappointed. You just have to suspend your beliefs to make the story work for you. The heroine is the daughter and sister of the village blacksmith and yet she’s going to end up with an Earl. I’m sorry, but to me, that just isn’t believable. Had she been the impoverished daughter of some local gentry or something I MIGHT be able to buy it – but the blacksmith’s sister and the Earl just doesn’t do it for me. They also do not adhere to the correct forms of address in this book. So, while I liked the story, it was not believable for the time period – 1814.

I did like Elinor Conley who has the far-fetched dream of becoming a lady. She is so totally naive that it is unbelievable. As she looks out the window of their small home, she sees a flaxen-haired gentleman getting his horse shod at her brother’s smithy. He’s quite an eye full and she just has to find out more about him. As she reads about him in the gossip columns, she devises a plan to meet him – and when she does, he’ll fall instantly in love with her and they’ll marry.

Grantham Wendell, Earl of Chilford, doesn’t deal well with Christmas. He lost his much-loved younger sister at Christmas time five years ago. Now, he’s all alone in the world – no family at all – not even distant cousins. So, to fill the hours and try to forget each Christmas, he has what is basically a month-long orgy at his home in Yorkshire. He fills it with debauched, rakish male friends and light-skirts. However, he’s becoming tired of the whole thing. So, when an ancient, rickety coach plows into his kitchen, ruining the hearth, he is surprised to find that there was a lone woman in the coach. She is injured and the servants have placed her in the servant’s quarters in order to protect her from the debauchery going on in the house. Again, suspend your beliefs. Why would they think she was anything but a servant? She was I a cheap threadbare gown – definitely NOT the gown of a lady, but she was dismayed when she thought they had mistaken her for a servant.

The dialogue was witty and the characters were lively and interesting, but the plot just left a lot to be desired. The ‘love at first sight’ just fell flat for me – I didn’t feel the passion. Then, it just ended too abruptly.

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

The Governess Who Captured His Heart by Sophie Barnes

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820)3 Comments

The Governess Who Captured His Heart (The Honorable Scoundrels, #1)The Governess Who Captured His Heart by Sophie Barnes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Honorable Scoundrels #1
Publication Date: 11/7/17

I had the great honor of being a beta reader for this series and I thought it just couldn’t get much better! However, Sophie Barnes has proven me wrong. The finished version of this novella is a sweet, delightfully delicious story of a love that grows over the course of a week of travel in a carriage. Those close quarters certainly give our H/h a chance to get to know each other and to fall in love – even though the heroine is convinced that it is a relationship that can never be.

The series features three impoverished, gently-born sisters who live in a London townhouse. The older sister, Josephine is twenty-six, Louise (our heroine in this novella) is twenty-four, and Eve, the youngest is twenty. Their great-grandfather was an earl, but their grandfather was a younger son who went into law. He was very successful and provided a good foundation for his family. His son, however, just didn’t have the talent for it and when his wife passed away, he took to drink and lost case after case. He finally had to quit practicing and continually sold off properties until all that was left upon his death was the small townhouse that wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods. The two older sisters are determined to give the younger one a season in order to see her well settled. Josephine has found work in London and is doing her best to keep them afloat, but they are barely scraping by. In order to help, Louise finds a position as a governess, but it is far from London.

Louise’s new employer offers her the opportunity to travel to their estate with the employer’s uncle since it will be a much more comfortable mode of travel than the mail-coach would be. Just imagine the surprise of both the uncle and Louise when each finds the other to be totally different than they expected. Louise expected a portly, elderly gentleman and Alistair Langley expected a plump, middle-aged spinster. That is definitely NOT what they got.

Once you meet them, you can’t help but like both Alistair and Louise. They are both good, caring people. I hope you’ll read and love this book and this series as much as I have.

Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/flippinpages…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlippinPagesRev

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”