One Good Earl Deserves a Lover

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover (2013) Sarah MacLean

Set in London in 1831.

Jasper Arlesey, the second son of Earl Harlow, was a notorious rake and libertine, but the death of his older brother sent him on a downward spiral, until only Chase and the Fallen Angel could save him.

Jasper spun to face his father, Earl Harlow, tall and strong and unbending even now. Even in this moment. Even as his legacy crumbled around him, and he faced his life’s disappointment.

Now heir.

Jasper fought for breath, then for words.

His father found them first.

“It should have been you.”

Lady Philippa Marbury knows she is odd. But she will do her duty to her family and marry the Earl of Castleton, even if she knows she is smarter than him–that the match is a terrible one.

“Marriage is not by any to be enterprised, nor taken in hand unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly.”

He blinked.

“That is from the ceremony,” she explained.

It was, without a doubt, the only time someone had quoted the Book of Common Prayer in his office.

Possibly, in the entire building.

Ever.

There is so much that I utterly adore about this book.

First, Pippa is a scientist.

“It is amazing what power men have and how poorly they use it. Don’t you think?”

“And if you had the same powers?”

“I don’t.”

“But if you did?”

And because he seemed genuinely intrigued, she said, “I would have gone to university. I would join the Royal Horticultural Society. Or maybe the Royal Astronomical Society— then I would know the difference between Polaris and Vega.”

But what I love is that Castleton, who is derided by everyone as an idiot, might not be smart, but he is truly a kind and nice person. Which makes Pippa jilting him all the harder to take, because he does not deserve to be treated shabbily.

You’re brilliant and have a passion for animals and strange flowers, and you were always more interested in the crops that rotated on my estate than in the trappings of my town house. I’d never met a woman like you. But, even as I knew you were smarter than I, even as I knew that you knew that you were smarter than I . . . you never showed it. You’ve never given me any reason to believe you thought me simple. You always went out of your way to remind me of the things we had in common.

That passage almost makes me cry.

And even the “bad guy” in this story isn’t truly bad. He wants what is best for his daughter, and will do what he can, in the only way he knows how, to achieve that.

I also appreciate that although Cross has several confrontations with his sister (who does have every right to be angry with him) there problems are greater than could have been resolved in this story. So it ends with the hope that they’ll eventually mend their relationship, but without the false belief that their past can be quickly and easily patched up.

This is a really lovely story, and one that doesn’t need the previous story for enjoyment.

Publisher: Avon
Rating: 8.5/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• No Good Duke Goes Unpunished » »
• « « A Rogue by Any Other Name