Publication Date: 21st Jan 2025
Genre: Historical Romance (Regency Romance)
3.7 Stars
One Liner: Mindless fun!
~1818
Lydia Hope-Wallace is a shy heiress who spent her life cocooned by her brothers. Her disastrous Seasons make it easy for her to become a wallflower and pen seditious pamphlets anonymously. This led to her correspondence with the Earl of Strathrannoch, a man with the same political ideas as her.
After three years of correspondence, the earl admits to financial troubles. Lydia goes to Scotland to offer help and support – a marriage of convenience (with herself) so that he can revive his beloved castle. However, a rude shock greets Lydia in Scotland. Arthur, the Earl of Strathrannoch, has no idea who she is. Turns out, it was his brother using his name. Moreover, the same brother has stolen an important item from the earl.
Together, they try to find where the missing man is. If only the attraction between them wasn’t so strong. ;)
The story comes in the third-person POV of Lydia and Arthur.
My Thoughts:
Firstly, this is a silly kind of read with some OTT elements. Don’t take anything seriously. Just enjoy the silliness, and you’ll have more fun that way.
Initially, I wasn’t sure if I’d like it much. But it was an easy read so I kept swiping the pages. After the initial 20% or so, I realized the book would be fluffy with a touch of absurdity. It was funny in its own way and made me happy. I can’t complain much if I’m enjoying it, right?
The plot has many elements but they are all surface-level stuff most of the time. This is a romance before anything else. The characters are attracted to each other pretty much from the start. It’s spicy too. There’s a Verity-inspired scene as well (IYKYK).
Each chapter starts with a short excerpt from a letter/ journal written by one of the characters. Some of these were so much fun, especially the ones by the side characters.
Apart from a pet dog (Bacon), this book happens to have some zebras and a degu (a rodent apparently) as well. We don’t meet the degu personally, though I wish we did. She has a name too!
There’s some drama in the climax and towards the end, which is expected. It does get sorted after a couple of scenes. It would have been nice to read a proper conversation between two certain characters which was only mentioned afterward. I feel it would have made a difference.
Anyway, the epilogue is well done. I won’t reveal spoilers but the presentation was interesting. I like it!
To summarize, Earl Crush is entertaining as long as you don’t think too much about the contents. The writing style is easy and light, so you can finish the book in a couple of sittings.
I think this will be a standalone series since the blurb for the next book is out on GR (it’ll be a Sapphic romance!) and some eligible bachelors are waiting for their turn.
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin, for eARC.
#NetGalley #EarlCrush
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