Monday, October 28, 2019

Book Review: This Earl of Mine by Kate Bateman

This Earl of Mine by Kate Bateman



Publisher & Release: St. Martin’s Press, October 29, 2019

Time and setting:  Regency period, London

Genre: Historical Romance

Length: 331 Pages

Heat Level: 1 Flame

Rating:  5 Gold Crowns

Book Description: 

Introducing the Bow Street Bachelors—men who work undercover for London’s first official police force—and the women they serve to protect. . .and wed?
WILL A FALSE MARRIAGE 


Shipping heiress Georgiana Caversteed is done with men who covet her purse more than her person. Even worse than the ton’s lecherous fortune hunters, however, is the cruel cousin determined to force Georgie into marriage. If only she could find a way to be . . . widowed? Georgie hatches a madcap scheme to wed a condemned criminal before he’s set to be executed. All she has to do is find an eligible bachelor in prison to marry her, and she’ll be free. What could possibly go wrong?
LEAD TO TRUE AND LASTING LOVE?
Benedict William Henry Wylde, scapegrace second son of the late Earl of Morcott and well-known rake, is in Newgate prison undercover, working for Bow Street. Georgie doesn’t realize who he is when she marries him—and she most certainly never expects to bump into her very-much-alive, and very handsome, husband of convenience at a society gathering weeks later. Soon Wylde finds himself courting his own wife, hoping to win her heart since he already has her hand. But how can this seductive rogue convince brazen, beautiful Georgie that he wants to be together…until actual death do they part?

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Vikki’s Musings

Thanks goes to the publisher, via Net-Galley, for the opportunity to read and review This Earl of Mine by Kate Bateman prior to publication. A Regency historical romance and the first book in the Bow Street Bachelors series. My opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way.

This is the first novel I have read by Ms. Bateman, and I thoroughly enjoy it. The writing is emotionally-charged and the dialogue is realistic for the Regency period. Ms. Bateman gives just enough detailed description of the setting and attire to add an authentic look at this glittering Regency era, a favorite of mine.

Georgianna Caversteed is not your typical Regency heroine. She is feisty, determined and driven. She doesn’t let anything stand in her way. Yet, she’s utterly feminine. I quickly became enmeshed in her character. 

When she boldly goes to Newgate, to wed a convicted criminal due for execution, she doesn’t stumble when the convicted man has expired. She changes direction and weds the cellmate, a man who is also bound for the gallows. I admired her tenacity and grit to thwart her obnoxious cousin.

Imagine her surprise when she finds him at a London ball and learns he’s the son of an earl! The banter between the two is titillating, and their attraction is immediate and visceral. What scandal will this misadventure cause and how will she go forward? She expected to be a widow, not a wife.

Benedict Wilde is a delicious rogue of a hero. As a second son of an impoverished late earl, he has to make his own way and help his elder brother rebuild the family fortune. He does this by using the skills he learned from his time as a rifleman in the military and now works for Bow Street. 

I loved his energetic character, his zest of life, and his determination to help his brother. He falls hard for Georgie. He aches to pursue her and turn their marriage of convenience into a real union. But how can he do that since he can never support her? Afterall, she’s an heiress and now owns her late father’s shipping enterprise, running it without assistance. I could feel his emotional turmoil as he battles what he believes he should do opposed to what his heart desires.

The chemistry between Georgie and Benedict is combustible and startlingly apparent with each encounter. The sensual tension blazes between them and culminates in vivid sensuality. I loved them as individual characters and as lovers as well. I truly wanted them to find their happy ending against the odds determined to keep them apart.

If you enjoy Regency romance with compelling characters and an intriguing plot, you will love This Earl of Mine as much as I did. I look forward to reading the next book in this exciting new series. Happy reading! 


Author Bio:


Kate Bateman, (also writing as K. C. Bateman), is the #1 bestselling author of Regency, Victorian, and Renaissance historical romance. Her Renaissance romp, The Devil To Pay, is a Romance Writer’s of America 2019 RITA® Finalist and her Regency-set A Counterfeit Heart (Secrtes & Spies series) won the 2018 Book Buyer’s Best contest for Best Historical Romance.
Kate wrote her first historical romance in response to a $1 bet with her husband who rashly claimed she’d ‘never finish the thing.’ She gleefully proved him wrong. Her books feature her favorite intelligent heroines, (badasses in bodices!) wickedly inappropriate banter, and heroes you want to both strangle and kiss. 

When not traveling to exotic locations ‘for research’, Kate leads a not-so-secret double life as a fine art appraiser and on-screen antiques expert for several TV shows in the UK, each of which has up to 2.5 million viewers. Before writing romance, Kate was director and valuer at her own UK Auction House, Batemans in Stamford, Lincolnshire. She currently splits her time between Illinois and her native England and writes despite three inexhaustible children and that husband . . .who still owes her that dollar.

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