USA Today bestselling author Vivienne Lorret continues her charming new trilogy with a bluestocking whose search for information on the mating habits of scoundrels has her stumbling upon the missing heir to an earldom... in the London underworld.
MY KIND OF EARL by VIVIENNE LORRET
Series: The Mating Habits of Scoundrels #2
Publication date: September 29, 2020
Published by: Avon Romance
Genre: historical romance
SYNOPSIS
Jane Pickerington never intended to start a brawl in a brothel. She only wanted to research her book. Yet when her simple study of scoundrels goes awry, she finds herself coming to the rescue of a dark, enigmatic stranger… who turns out to be far more than an average rake out for a night of pleasure. He’s positively wild!
Only the most feral and cunning could have survived foundling homes and work houses. Orphaned as an infant, Raven never had another name. At least… not until he meets her. Now he’s face-to-face with the one person who recognizes the strange birthmark on his arm and can reinstate him to his blue-blooded birthright.
All at once, Raven’s life takes a turn. His knowledge of dark alleys and gaming hells never prepared him for gilded ballrooms. So Jane becomes his tutor. Yet, the more lessons in decorum she offers, the more this untamed scoundrel wants to teach her all the ways to be wicked.
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“a sexy page-turner... you can’t help but root for these two stubborn, persistent characters to fall for each other... the novel draws you in and leaves a satisfied smile on your face.” -Entertainment Weekly for How to Forget a Duke
"Asher and Winn are endearingly complex characters with wit and chemistry to spare. Romance readers will be delighted." -Publishers Weekly
“This is the author you’ve been waiting for!” -New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author VIVIENNE LORRET transforms copious amounts of tea into words. She is an Avon author of series including the Wallflower Weddings, the Rakes of Fallow Hal, the Season’s Original, the Misadventures in Matchmaking, and the MATING HABITS OF SCOUNDRELS.
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My Kind of Earl by Vivienne LorretMy rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
In this second offering in the Mating Habits of Scoundrels series, we are given the story of studious Jane Pickerington and the darkly mysterious "Raven." While this author seems to be a little hit or miss for me so far, after being introduced to this delightful group of friends in Lord Holt Takes a Bride, there was no question that I just had to see these strong women find their HEAs. Jane's story was especially appealing to me because "bluestocking" heroines happen to be my greatest historical romance weakness. There's just something about a woman being cherished for her intelligence and wit during an era where it was seen as a defect that gets me every time. For a woman to be seen as an equal by her spouse rather than walking currency or solely a sexual object is something really valuable.
We met Raven in The Rogue to Ruin, and he immediately piqued my curiosity. He's an orphan with no knowledge of where he came from who has made his home among the criminals of the Dials. While he does make an honest living as a factotum at Sterling’s gaming hell, that doesn't mean that he always plays by the rules on the right side of the law. He follows his own set of societal standards. He isn't impressed by the circumstance of birth, wealth, or the entitled snobs who turn their nose up at him. His pride is easily bruised, so he likes to distance himself from those who would look down on what he's worked hard to achieve. He's become something of an enigma among his small group of friends-never letting anyone into his private thoughts or sanctuary. All of that's about to change when he meets a bookish noblewoman in the least likely of places.
Jane is an entertaining mix of naive and intellectual. She's brave to the point of foolhardy at times, but you can't help but admire her unbending loyalty to her friends. She has utter confidence in herself when she sneaks into a brothel to research her book on the mating habits of scoundrels. Rather than reaching for her smelling salts at the shocking scenes she witnesses there, she watches with a clinical, scientific eye and her notepad out. She has an analytical, scientific mind that won't let a topic go until she finds an answer. This is a case of opposites attract between these two characters. While she is like an open book (pun intended) he's reclusive in nature and her sunny personality has to pull him out of his shell. But like any opposites couple, they balanced each other's strengths wonderfully.
Raven had a burning need to knowwhat that felt like.To be surrounded by family.To have traditions to look forward to,year after year.
What these two had in common was being an outsider, despite their polar differences in social status. Raven straddles both worlds but doesn't fit in either. Born into the nobility, he was stolen from his birthright and dropped at an orphanage to fend for himself. Now that his true history has been discovered, the Ton looks at him as a social climbing interloper. Jane is unaccepted for daring to reject what a proper lady should be. All she wants to do is learn about everything and everything, create inventions and be independent.
To the ton, she was merely a culminationof oddities and idiosyncrasies.To Raven, she was still all those things.But she was more, too.She was a woman, someone desirabledespite her peculiarities.Perhaps even because of them.
The story was a pretty simple one. There was a bit of a mystery involved, but overall the plot was pretty straightforward. Quirky heroine teaches uncultured hero to enter society and reclaim his family. Clandestine meetings occur, hearts get tangled, and they must get approval to be together. There was a conflict that I saw coming early on and I wasn't a huge fan of how it played out. Jane kept some vital information from which he interpreted as a malicious secret. His reaction and retreat afterwards was very frustrating and in my opinion pretty cowardly. He left Jane to pick up the pieces and solve everything for him while he hid from his problems. I became frustrated with his inability to listen to her side of the story or fight for the things that meant so much for him. So I did lose some respect for him after that point. If Jane had held him more accountable more instead of accepting everything as her due I don't think it would have been as much of an issue for me personally.
I also wished we could have explored Raven's sexual exploitation as a young fifteen year old boy by Mrs. Devons and her friends with more sensitivity. Although Jane is horrified at his story, he brushes being sold off to her friends as if it was nothing. Saying he chose to stay and endure it. He even smirked and winked when saying that once he lost his childish features, they lost interest in him. The women groomed him to believe that he wanted it and chose to be there as they abused their power over him. I think this issue was handled indelicately. Victims should never believe their abusers' lies, so his character was done a disservice by not addressing things fully and allowing him to process it when Jane found issue with it.
While this wasn't one of my big hits from Lorret, I enjoyed the dynamic these two had together. There was plenty of humor and heart infused in the story to keep you quickly turning the pages. Even if you haven't read the first book, you can jump into the series from here with no issues. The next installment will be Ellie's story, and it's titled, The Wrong Marquess. However, I have my eye on Prudence's book! The friend who fell for a charming rake and was exiled to the country when it resulted in a shocking scandal. Her letters have given hints along the way as to what occurred, but even her friends aren't given the full scope of the events that unfolded. It's been delightfully teased since the very start, so my anticipation is growing by the minute. If you haven't tried this series yet, jump aboard now and meet these oddball group of friends who celebrate each other's differences rather than try to conform.
And she, who had begun her research in part to find evidence of love,had somehow stumbled upon it without having taken a single note.
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