In the Eyes of the Earl by Kristin Vayden

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Cambridge Brotherhood, #3

Release Date: July 11, 2023

Collin Morgan, the Earl of Penderdale, needs answers, someone has been committing crimes in his name, which has caused him to be suspended from his work in the War office. This is unacceptable and he is determined to find the criminal who is ruining his life! His search leads him to an old friend at Cambridge and the man’s annoying, bluestocking daughter, Elizabeth. It is clear that Elizabeth doesn’t think too highly of Collin, but when he learns her secret, he uses the knowledge to gain her help in his investigation, and he is unsurprised that they make a good team. But when a decision he makes places her in danger, there is nothing he won’t do to keep her safe.

Elizabeth Essex has lived most of her life at Cambridge, she is educated in a way that most women could never dream of, and she is brilliant in her own right. She believes it is unfair that women cannot attend classes at the college and seeks to right that wrong by secretly teaching women. When Elizabeth collides with Collin while he is in pursuit of someone, she learns why he is at Cambridge and they call a truce. Working together, they will figure out who is impersonating him and reclaim his good name and just maybe fall in love along the way.

This was another intriguing installment of the Cambridge Brotherhood that has a very slow-burning, no-heat romance featuring an enemies-to-lovers trope. The book has a decent mystery and is filled with witty banter, an intelligent heroine, a charming hero, tea smuggling, secrets, leads that like to push each other’s buttons, bees, great secondary characters, and a HEA complete with an epilogue. I do wish there had been some steam in this story, not that the book suffered from the lack, but I still think it would have enhanced the book. This is the third book in the series and while it can be read as a standalone title, I would recommend reading the series in order.

*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.*