To Marry an Earl Author: Karen Thornell
Genres: Historical Romance
Format: Audio, eBook, Print
Pages: 218
Date: September 1, 2021
Publisher: Covenant
Katherine Cartwright knows through bitter experience that true love is fiction and trust should not be bestowed easily. Now, after two unsuccessful London Seasons, her atrocious father has decided to marry her off to the highest bidder to pay for his gambling debts, ridding himself of the daughter he never wanted. A profitable deal is struck, and Kate is packed off to the home of her betrothed, an earl she has never met. Or so she believes.
When James Fenwick, the new Earl of Bowcott, learns that the girl he’s loved since childhood is being sold off like chattel, he’s determined to step in and save her. He makes an offer her father cannot refuse and insists on a proper engagement. But when Kate meets James again, her old friend cannot bring himself to admit it is him whom she is to marry. Soon, an intricate charade and a past that cannot be escaped jeopardize James’s chance at rekindling their friendship, to say nothing of winning Kate’s heart. Can love truly conquer all, or was this a match doomed from the start?
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This is a new to me author so I looked forward to adding a new go-to if I enjoyed the book. I loved the set up that James steps in to save Katherine from a horrible marriage but in so doing, sets up some difficulties. James is a good guy but he could use some communication lessons. Poor Katherine is neglected/abused and it really is a miracle that she ends up as good of a person as she is.
There is some intrigue involved but I didn’t think it was hard to figure out who the bad guy was. I think the romance dragged a little in the middle while the two of them were spinning their wheels instead of moving forward through good communication.
Overall it was an enjoyable read. Not too much angst. It was sweet, clean reading.
Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: yes
*I received a complimentary ARC through NetGalley and voluntarily chose to review it.