One Good Earl Deserves a Lover (The Rules of Scoundrels, #2) in Fans of Eloisa James & Julia Quinn

Dec 02, 2013 Kym rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, 4-star, romance, audio, series, reviewed-at-audible, erotic-romance, in-my-library, late-georgian

Setting: London, England March, 1831
Genre: Romance

It is 2 weeks until Lady Philippe Marbury’s wedding to Lord Castleton. Her mother is overjoyed that Pippa has caught herself an Earl, though everyone else is convinced he will bore her senseless within weeks of the wedding. He has a reputation for being a little... slow. Even she knows that her betrothed isn’t likely to challenge her. So why did she accept his proposal? Well, he asked. And in two seasons, he was the only man to court her, in spit Setting: London, England March, 1831
Genre: Romance

It is 2 weeks until Lady Philippe Marbury’s wedding to Lord Castleton. Her mother is overjoyed that Pippa has caught herself an Earl, though everyone else is convinced he will bore her senseless within weeks of the wedding. He has a reputation for being a little... slow. Even she knows that her betrothed isn’t likely to challenge her. So why did she accept his proposal? Well, he asked. And in two seasons, he was the only man to court her, in spite of her reputation for being exceedingly odd. And they both like dogs, and he has promised to let her manage his estates. Plus, marriage to Lord Castleton is the type that is expected of a girl of her class.
But in just two weeks she will go into the marriage knowing absolutely nothing, so being a cuscientifically minded young woman, she determines to do some research. For this she will need an assistant, and from everything she has heard, Cross, one of the partners in The Fallen Angel, London’s most notorious gaming hell is perfect for the position. He, however, wants nothing to do with Lady Philippa.
Jasper Allsey (not sure on that spelling because I “read” the audio) was the second son of Earl Harlow. He led the perfect life of the second son - gambling, drinking, and womanizing - until his older brother died in a coach accident. In a coach that Jasper should have been in instead, because he was the one that was supposed to have escorted their sister to an engagement. Spurred by his parents’ condemnation and his own guilt, he disappeared into London’s underbelly to become Cross.
Now he is faced with this girl telling him that she requires “ruination”, and part of him wants to oblige her. In spite of her oddness, her intellectualization of the subject, he is attracted to her. He keeps telling her to go away and she keeps coming back with her questions.
I found this book a little uncomfortable. Oh, I knew it would lead to a happily-ever-after — de rigueur for a romance novel. But some of the situations actually caused me stress. The sense of immediacy, the stress that the characters weren’t coming to self-awareness in time. She was so resistant to accepting that she could not control all emotion, and he was so rigid in his self-imposed limitations. But the discomfort, the stress, are coincidental to Ms MacLean’s excellent writing.
The premise of the book is interesting. I can’t think of any other book I’ve read based on a similar idea. The plot is well-thought-out, with enough action to move the story along but not so much that it gets muddied - which could have been an issue with a busy casino setting. The two main characters are fully dimensional, each with a full complement of emotions (despite Pippa trying to suppress hers) and straightforward backstories. The secondary characters are less well developed, though there are hints to Chase and Temple’s personalities.
The audio production of this book is quite good. The cast of characters is not exactly huge, but nor is it inconsequential. Rosalyn Landor does a good job of differentiating genders, ages, and classes With the use of accents, tone, and rate of speech. It is always pleasant to listen to a Rosalyn Landor performance. ...more

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