The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest by Virginia Heath – Blog Tour

February 22nd 2022 by Harlequin Historical

The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest

The earl she loved to hate…until she stayed in his mansion!

Sophie Gilbert has thwarted the standoffish new earl’s plans to sell his country estate and the quaint village which forms part of it. But when disaster strikes and he offers her refuge, she must reconsider everything about this vexing, determined man. After the heartbreak in her past, it’s a revelation to feel her pulse racing and her body yearning for his touch…

Purchase Link – https://books2read.com/veryvillage1   

When Virginia Heath was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated, sometimes taking weeks to get to the happy ending. Then one day, she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Twenty-two books and two Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominations later, and it still takes her forever to fall asleep.

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Giveaway to Win 2 x e-copies of The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest (Open INT)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for the despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Barbara’s Review:

This was a delightfully entertaining, witty, romantic, heartwarming book and I loved every word of it. I loved these two flawed people who had endured so many hurts and now lived within an insular shell where nobody could reach them. If nobody could get past the shell, then nobody could hurt them. Neither Rafe nor Sophie could get past those past hurts and we almost missed out on our lovely HEA. Rafe’s walls were easier to break than Sophie’s because Rafe had a weakness – his brother Archie. If you won Archie over, then Rafe was soon to follow.

Rafe Peele definitely didn’t want to become an earl and surely never expected it. He had no idea whatsoever that he had a cousin who was an earl – now that cousin is dead and Rafe is left with all of those responsibilities. Rafe is a war hero – a loving brother – and all he wants is to buy some land in the middle of nowhere and raise horses. When he inherits the title, money, and estate that goes with it, he has no intention of keeping the unentailed estate and starts making arrangements to sell it to the highest bidder. Except, he visits the estate at Whittleston-On-The-Water only to be inundated by villagers who fight him at every turn – and they are led by one witch named Sophie Gilbert. She was like a General in battle and bested him at every turn.

I love that Rafe always refers to Sophie as a witch – and always refers to the village as ‘whinging Whittleston on the blasted Water’. I loved Rafe as soon as I discovered Archie, his brother. Rafe was so very loving and protective of him that I just knew immediately that he would be a wonderful husband and father.

Sophie has lived in the village for the last ten years – since she was disowned and thrown into the street by her cruel father. She lives with her aging aunt whose health is precarious. Sophie will do anything to protect her aunt – and the villagers who have all taken her in and loved her for all ten of those years. So, when it appears the upstart new earl is planning to sell their homes out from under them, she vows to do whatever it takes to protect them.

It was a delight to see Sophie and Rafe find their HEA. The only reason I didn’t give this book 5-stars is that it didn’t have an epilogue. To me, this story cried out for an epilogue and I just didn’t feel as if the story was finished without one. However, I still loved the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Rake Gets Ravished by Sophie Jordan

The Rake Gets Ravished (The Duke Hunt, #2)The Rake Gets Ravished by Sophie Jordan

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Duke Hunt, #2

Release Date: February 22, 2022

When her twin brother Bede recklessly gambles away their family farm, Mercy Kittinger travels to London and infiltrates the gaming hell, The Rogue’s Den with no real plan in mind other than to retrieve the voucher her brother gave Silas Masters, the hell’s owner. Once inside, Mercy unintentionally draws Silas’ attention and is stunned by her immediate attraction to him. But she has a job to do and drooling over Silas won’t save her family. She searches the club and finds Silas’ private rooms, finding the voucher. But as she is leaving, Silas enters, and rather than run, Mercy pretends that she was there to seduce him, an offer he turns down. Instead of being relieved, she is a bit miffed and starts to leave, but makes it clear that Silas is making a mistake.

When Silas finds Mercy in his rooms, his first instinct is to send her away, but her saucy nature intrigues him. Silas is a self-made man and a bit of a loner and if truth be told, he is a little bored, so he calls her bluff and invites Mercy to stay. And they share an incredible night of passion, but when he wakes, she is gone and he discovers the truth, she is a thief!

He tracks her down and is surprised to realize he doesn’t want to let her go, so he demands to stay at the farm until he knows that their night together didn’t produce any consequences. And they form a friendship, but beneath it all simmers the attraction they experienced in London. Despite their friendship and the respect he has come to have for her, Silas believes that marriage is not for him and Mercy is not willing to be a kept woman, so they are at a stalemate, but when it comes time for Silas to return to London, will he be able to walk away, and will she let him?

This was a great installment to the series and, I loved Silas and Mercy, they had such great chemistry and it was clear from the start, that they belonged together. The book has witty banter, steamyish love scenes, great secondary characters, elopements, shocking surprises, a loser brother who get his due, and finally a HEA. Silas is not a rake – far from it and I do wish Silas’ backstory had gotten a bit more page time, I also wish that he put up more of a fight in the end, but really those things are minor and I loved this story! The book is part of “The Duke Hunt” series but is it very loosely connected and this book can easily be read as a standalone title.

*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.*