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Those Scandalous Stricklands #2
How Not to Marry an Earl
The plainest Strickland sister
In the earl’s arms!
Part of Those Scandalous Stricklands. To escape marriage to the newly inherited Earl of Comstock, bookish Charity must find her family’s missing diamonds. She meets her match in an intellectual stranger auditing the estate…not knowing he is Lord Comstock himself! With him, Charity feels different—even desirable ! But will seizing one night of passion bind her to the very man she’s determined to avoid?
In the earl’s arms!
Part of Those Scandalous Stricklands. To escape marriage to the newly inherited Earl of Comstock, bookish Charity must find her family’s missing diamonds. She meets her match in an intellectual stranger auditing the estate…not knowing he is Lord Comstock himself! With him, Charity feels different—even desirable ! But will seizing one night of passion bind her to the very man she’s determined to avoid?
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 19, 2018
20 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Christine Merrill
242 books215 followersChristine Merrill has wanted to be an author for as long as she can remember. But one thing stood in her way: touch typing.
Six weeks spent on an IBM Selectric in her Sophomore year of high school proved that she would never be able to produce one readable page of manuscript, much less several hundred.
Twenty years passed, and she found ways to pass the time: marrying her high school sweetheart; having two sons; and taking an assortment of jobs in professional theater costume shops, including a miserable year and a half spent styling wigs for a certain hamburger-selling clown (who shall remain nameless, since I don't want to incur the wrath of a major American corporation) and a couple of weeks working on a TV movie with one of the sexiest men alive (whose name I'm happy to drop: Mark Harmon!).
During that time, someone invented word processing, and a reliable spell checker.
Christine returned to her childhood dream, only to discover that there was more to the whole writing thing than accurate typing. The next years were spent learning to tell stories that people might want to read, and trying to find someone who wanted to buy them. Her chance came when she won the RWA's Golden Heart Competition for unpublished manuscripts. The winning story, soon to be known as THE INCONVENIENT DUCHESS, was bought by the contest judges, the delightful editors at Mills & Boon, in Richmond, Surrey.
Christine is now busy writing her fifth book, and is more than slightly jealous that her manuscripts get to visit England, while she stays home in Wisconsin
Six weeks spent on an IBM Selectric in her Sophomore year of high school proved that she would never be able to produce one readable page of manuscript, much less several hundred.
Twenty years passed, and she found ways to pass the time: marrying her high school sweetheart; having two sons; and taking an assortment of jobs in professional theater costume shops, including a miserable year and a half spent styling wigs for a certain hamburger-selling clown (who shall remain nameless, since I don't want to incur the wrath of a major American corporation) and a couple of weeks working on a TV movie with one of the sexiest men alive (whose name I'm happy to drop: Mark Harmon!).
During that time, someone invented word processing, and a reliable spell checker.
Christine returned to her childhood dream, only to discover that there was more to the whole writing thing than accurate typing. The next years were spent learning to tell stories that people might want to read, and trying to find someone who wanted to buy them. Her chance came when she won the RWA's Golden Heart Competition for unpublished manuscripts. The winning story, soon to be known as THE INCONVENIENT DUCHESS, was bought by the contest judges, the delightful editors at Mills & Boon, in Richmond, Surrey.
Christine is now busy writing her fifth book, and is more than slightly jealous that her manuscripts get to visit England, while she stays home in Wisconsin
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 29, 2021
A decent historical romance with a search for lost jewels thrown in for an more intruging plot. Not a very uniqe or very memorable story but was fun enough to spend some time with.
July 30, 2023
Dit vond ik het leukste verhaal van deze serie . Eindelijk een keer een verhaal over een intelligente boekenwurm en een even intelligente man die samen op zoek gaan naar de verdwenen familie juwelen . En dan is er ook nog dat eigenwijze hondje !
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December 1, 2018Miniseries: Those Scandalous Stricklands
September 3, 2019
Miles Strickland is a rough, practical, down-on-his-luck American, who has just inherited the title of Earl of Comstock. Miles, who had no idea that he was distantly related to English nobility, is in turns surprised, curious and disappointed about his ascension to the peerage. After realizing that his inherited estate is deeply in debt, Miles wants nothing to do with it or his new title. He resolves to visit the estate, nick some silverware, and use it to take the first ship back to America in order to uphold his duty to his brother's widow. That is until he runs into Charity Strickland, rooting through the chimney of the dilapidated Dower House. Charity, who is frank, pragmatic, and "too intelligent" for a female, is his distant and slightly outspoken cousin. Having grown up under the thumb of her autocratic grandfather, Charity wants nothing more to do with men--especially the new Earl of Comstock. Instead, she decides to find the missing Comstock diamonds, and get the hell out of town before the new Earl's arrival. Against his better judgement, Miles is intrigued, and allows Charity to believe he is an auditor who has come to inventory the estate. The two match wits and eventually team up to hunt for the missing diamonds, only to realize that the growing attraction between them may derail their original plans.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Maybe I've been reading a little too much fluff lately, because I was absolutely floored by how well crafted and realistic this novel is. If you're like me, the idea of the hero and heroine "matching wits" conjures images of traded insults leading to passionate kisses. However, How Not to Marry An Earl follows the true meaning of "matching wits"--Charity Strickland, who is used to being the smartest person in the room, tests her intelligence against Miles in chess, in billiards, in hiding her activities at the Dower House, and in solving an ancient Chinese puzzle box. The fact that Miles outmatches her in almost all of these activities sparks her interest and eventual love.
One of the best points about this book is the lack of melodrama. Are you sick of hotheaded heroines who throw a temper tantrum and run away from home only be kidnapped by a villain? Are you sick of dark, forbidding villains that seem to hate the main hero for practically no reason at all? How about jealous ex-lovers who poison the budding relationship between the hero and heroine? If these usual plot tropes make you roll your eyes and internally gag, this is the book for you! It's a simple story with a small, well-made cast, wrapped in mystery and romance. Even the expected Misunderstanding about Miles' true identity is cleared up with (in my opinion) only a minimal amount of melodrama.
My one complaint with the novel is the rather lukewarm feelings on the hero's side. Put simply, Merrill failed to convince me that Miles truly loves Charity. Does he want her? Yes. Does he think she would be useful in bringing the estate out of debt? Yes. Does he admire her intelligence and desire for independence? Yes. But does her love her? I'm not so sure. Most of the sections told from Miles point of view center on his inner arguments about returning home and his growing sexual attraction to Charity. I would have appreciated a few scenes with Miles imagining what life with Charity would be like and how he might improve Comstock Manor and its lands to build himself a home there.
Still, regardless of my doubts about Miles' love, I enjoyed How Not to Marry an Earl thoroughly, and will be picking up another Merrill book next.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Maybe I've been reading a little too much fluff lately, because I was absolutely floored by how well crafted and realistic this novel is. If you're like me, the idea of the hero and heroine "matching wits" conjures images of traded insults leading to passionate kisses. However, How Not to Marry An Earl follows the true meaning of "matching wits"--Charity Strickland, who is used to being the smartest person in the room, tests her intelligence against Miles in chess, in billiards, in hiding her activities at the Dower House, and in solving an ancient Chinese puzzle box. The fact that Miles outmatches her in almost all of these activities sparks her interest and eventual love.
One of the best points about this book is the lack of melodrama. Are you sick of hotheaded heroines who throw a temper tantrum and run away from home only be kidnapped by a villain? Are you sick of dark, forbidding villains that seem to hate the main hero for practically no reason at all? How about jealous ex-lovers who poison the budding relationship between the hero and heroine? If these usual plot tropes make you roll your eyes and internally gag, this is the book for you! It's a simple story with a small, well-made cast, wrapped in mystery and romance. Even the expected Misunderstanding about Miles' true identity is cleared up with (in my opinion) only a minimal amount of melodrama.
My one complaint with the novel is the rather lukewarm feelings on the hero's side. Put simply, Merrill failed to convince me that Miles truly loves Charity. Does he want her? Yes. Does he think she would be useful in bringing the estate out of debt? Yes. Does he admire her intelligence and desire for independence? Yes. But does her love her? I'm not so sure. Most of the sections told from Miles point of view center on his inner arguments about returning home and his growing sexual attraction to Charity. I would have appreciated a few scenes with Miles imagining what life with Charity would be like and how he might improve Comstock Manor and its lands to build himself a home there.
Still, regardless of my doubts about Miles' love, I enjoyed How Not to Marry an Earl thoroughly, and will be picking up another Merrill book next.
December 24, 2018
While this is the second book in Those Scandalous Stricklands series, the first part of the story begins in "Regency Christmas Wishes: An Anthology" published in November 2017. The stories are about three sisters. Faith (Regency Christmas Wishes: An Anthology), Hope (A Kiss Away from Scandal) and Charity's story is in this current book, How Not to Marry an Earl.
Charity is extremely gifted with intelligence and questions all things she does not understand or agree with since a child. This is something that ladies of the period are not supposed to do. That, along with her plain facial features, have formed her personality to be guarded by strangers, especially men. She is more comfortable by herself in the library, than in just about any other setting.
She is extended family of the Earl of Comstock and since the death of her uncle (the previous Earl) is waiting for the new Earl to arrive from America. The family has secrets and she is anxiously trying to solve the most important of them before his appearance on the estate.
The new Earl of Comstock (Miles Strickland) does not want anything to do with the title after he finds out it is basically a title with a lot of debt, which he already has plenty of. When he arrives, there is mistaken identity, and then the story flows from that point.
This was a fun romance story. I like historical romances with a strong, intelligent female that stands up for herself and others around her. I also like them comical. Christine Merrill bring all that and more to her latest book.
It was a pleasure to read and I look forward to future books by this author.
Charity is extremely gifted with intelligence and questions all things she does not understand or agree with since a child. This is something that ladies of the period are not supposed to do. That, along with her plain facial features, have formed her personality to be guarded by strangers, especially men. She is more comfortable by herself in the library, than in just about any other setting.
She is extended family of the Earl of Comstock and since the death of her uncle (the previous Earl) is waiting for the new Earl to arrive from America. The family has secrets and she is anxiously trying to solve the most important of them before his appearance on the estate.
The new Earl of Comstock (Miles Strickland) does not want anything to do with the title after he finds out it is basically a title with a lot of debt, which he already has plenty of. When he arrives, there is mistaken identity, and then the story flows from that point.
This was a fun romance story. I like historical romances with a strong, intelligent female that stands up for herself and others around her. I also like them comical. Christine Merrill bring all that and more to her latest book.
It was a pleasure to read and I look forward to future books by this author.
March 18, 2019
Christine Merrill is one of my favorite Regency period authors. She chooses non-traditional themes and also adds some sexual play into the mix.
In this story, she has a titled gentleman who is only titled by birthright. He's been raised in America and has to travel back to England to claim his inheritance, including the woman who is living on the estate. But she doesn't know who he is when he arrives, and he's fooled her into thinking he's an auditor of the estate.
The fun part of this story is that the mansion is expansive and has lots of hidden spaces, hidden rooms, hidden treasures.
I would have given this 5 stars except that I found the beginning couple chapters a little slow to get started. But after the introduction to the main characters, the story pulled me right in.
In this story, she has a titled gentleman who is only titled by birthright. He's been raised in America and has to travel back to England to claim his inheritance, including the woman who is living on the estate. But she doesn't know who he is when he arrives, and he's fooled her into thinking he's an auditor of the estate.
The fun part of this story is that the mansion is expansive and has lots of hidden spaces, hidden rooms, hidden treasures.
I would have given this 5 stars except that I found the beginning couple chapters a little slow to get started. But after the introduction to the main characters, the story pulled me right in.
December 24, 2018
I loved this story about a sister who feels she isn't pretty. Christine brings to life Charity the one Strickland sister who loves books. Miles who is the earl doesn't let on who he is. I loved how Christine brought those 2 together. Right at the beginning of the story she draws these two together looking for the missing diamonds. Its neat how she weaves the story by making this problem as the center of the story. But its the mystery that makes the story more interesting. The character of these 2 people draw each other for they are similar but unique. I loved this story and look forward to the next one. For this family is fun and unique.
March 7, 2020
I really enjoyed this! I loved both main characters, who were interesting and unique and not one-dimensional. I loved that Charity was frank about her appearance - insecure about it, but not embarrassed by it. Only one complaint, keeping this from being a favorite: Still, everything else about this book was right up my alley, so I still liked it.
November 28, 2018
Slow paced and boring except for the final 1/4 of the book. Not typical of Christine Merrill's usual good stories.
June 10, 2019
Pleasant but unremarkable.
August 4, 2020
Più emozionante del libro precedente sulle sorelle Stricklands
December 3, 2022
I enjoyed this one for it's humour. I love a good over-protective staff and poor suffering hero trope. There is also the he had plans until she came along and then she finds out about his original plans trope.
The heroine is intelligent, and the hero loves it. This trope gets a bit iffy but generally works as it should as they work together to solve a mystery while barely trusting each other. This is definitely one of my favourite tropes.
There are also some fabulously over-protective staff which I love to see. They really add to the humor of the situation. They help to really bring out the climax of the story and make it memorable as everything comes together.
The heroine is intelligent, and the hero loves it. This trope gets a bit iffy but generally works as it should as they work together to solve a mystery while barely trusting each other. This is definitely one of my favourite tropes.
There are also some fabulously over-protective staff which I love to see. They really add to the humor of the situation. They help to really bring out the climax of the story and make it memorable as everything comes together.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews