An Earl to Remember by Stacy Reid

On By TracyIn Movie / Story Retelling, Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

An Earl to Remember (Unforgettable Love #2)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.*

While You Were Spying by Shana Galen

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Part of a Series, Re-Release / Updated Edition, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

While You Were Spying (Regency Spies, #0.5)

Barbara’s rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Series: Regency Spies
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 358

Can two individuals who have been deeply hurt by love find the strength to remove their walls and allow love to happen again? You bet they can when Shana Galen is in the writer’s chair. This book is one of Galen’s earlier releases, but it has been dressed up with an enticing new cover. It has a lovely romance along with smuggling, traitors, spies, murder, and, did I say lovely romance?

Ethan Caxton, the Marquess of Winterbourne, will never fall in love with any woman. He tried that once, and she ripped his heart out and stomped on it. He’ll never give another woman a chance to do that to him again because he’d never survive it. He’ll just spend his time working for the Foreign Office and ferreting out traitors and French spies. French spies are what brought him to Hampshire, and he is determined to catch both the smugglers and their leader. That leader just has to be a man of power and influence, most likely an aristocrat. Ethan has been watching the Skerrit farm for days because he’s sure the arms are being stored there – somewhere, somehow. So, he’s beside himself when he catches a young woman trying to rescue an abused horse from Skerrit. He has to get her out of there, but she won’t budge without the horse. Grrrrr.

Miss Francesca Dashing had been betrothed once and that was quite enough for her thank you very much. She’d just continue to live with her parents in the country and save all the sick and injured animals she could find. Her father always acquiesces and lets her add one more animal to their collection at home. At least he did until she brought home a horse she’d just rescued. That, it seemed, was a step too far. But, what was she to do? If that pesky Marquess had just gone on about his business and left her alone, she would have managed just fine. Wasn’t humiliating her in London enough for him?

Ethan has gone on about his business of catching smugglers – and trying to forget that fetching Miss who only wanted to save a horse. But when he learns Francesca has been viciously attacked – not long after a vicious murder occurred – he’s convinced both crimes are related to the smugglers. Ethan will just have to find a way to protect Francesca and guard against any damage to his heart.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope you will as well. There is a nasty villain, an entertaining valet, an irate father, a mother who espouses all things Italian, and two deeply wounded people who put on a good front for the rest of the world to see. It was lovely to watch as each of them assaulted the walls built by the other. Will they succeed in tearing down the walls? You’ll just need to read the book to see.

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