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 Marquess Next Door by Virginia Heath #BlogTour

The Marquess Next Door

The Marquess UK cover

The Marquess Next Door

A dashing new neighbour…
Temptation on her doorstep!
To avoid an unwanted suitor at a ball, Hope Brookes asks another gentleman to rescue her. He obliges – with a surprisingly passionate kiss! Revealed as her sinfully handsome new neighbour, Lucius, Marquess of Thundersley, they forge a friendship over their balconies. It’s refreshing that Lucius is more interested in her writer dreams than her looks, so why can’t she stop thinking about that kiss?

Purchase Link

The Marquess Author
Author Bio

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. Despite that, it still takes her forever to fall asleep.

Social Media Links:
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Giveaway

  Win 2 x e-copies of The Marquess Next Door (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 passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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Tracy’s Review

The Marquess Next Door: A sexy, funny Regency romanceThe Marquess Next Door: A sexy, funny Regency romance by Virginia Heath

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Talk of the Beau Monde, #2

Release Date: June 29, 2021

Hope Brookes and Lucius “Luke” Duff, the newly minted Marquess of Thundersley meet quite by chance in the gardens while attending her sister’s engagement ball. Hope asked Luke’s help in discouraging a persistent suitor and he complies by kissing her. Outraged Hope pushes him into the pond and storms off.

Later they meet again when Luke moves into the house next door and it turns out their balconies connect. Hope is an aspiring author and is currently working on a gothic novel, she and Luke strike up a friendship and he soon becomes her biggest fan. He begs Hope to trust him with her novel, trust is not easy for Hope as men have never treated her as an intelligent woman, mostly because she is gorgeous and has a body that makes men stupid, that is until Luke. She is still scared to trust him but relents when trusts her with his darkest secret.

Luke’s mother was the marquess’ second wife and went a bit mad after Luke’s birth, the marquess subjected her to many “treatments” before giving up and banishing her and Luke to an estate in Cornwall. In time his mother gets better and she and Luke enjoy a quiet life. Luke never expected to inherit and didn’t get along with his brother. When their father died, his brother had Luke’s mother committed and ban Luke from visiting her – it was years before he was able to have her released and the damage was done, but with good care and Luke’s devotion to her, she once again seemed to recover, and when Luke unexpectedly inherits, encourages him to go to London. What he finds is his brother’s widow who is bent on marrying him and a mountain of responsibilities he was never trained to deal with. He is trying to do his best and is feeling like a fish out of water until he meets Hope. His friendship with her quickly progresses into more and soon he can’t imagine a life without her in it.

Things are going well and he brings his mother to London, worried that she will have a setback, but is happy that she thrives. Everything seems to be going perfectly and HEA seems to be within reach when it all comes crashing down and hearts are broken.

This was a great read; I am going to go as far as to say that it is my new favorite book from this author. I loved it, it is well-written, nicely paced, and just about perfect. Luke and Hope are wonderful characters who are both likable and relatable, their chemistry was spot on and you can’t help but root for them! This book has it all secrets, witty dialogue, warm to steamyish love scenes, excellent secondary characters, misunderstandings that are quickly resolved, and HEA that is bound to leave you with a smile on your face! This is the second book in the series, but it can easily be read as a standalone title. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would happily recommend this 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.*