Edward Hunter, confirmed bachelor, comes home from an assignment with the Crown to find his brother killed, and his father dead from grief. He is now the Earl of Weston, a position he never wanted. While searching for leads to his brother’s murder, he finds himself forced to attend ton entertainments he normally would have avoided.Hattie Longbottom is an aging, sheltered spinster who spent her … spent her bloom caring for her invalid parent. With the death of her mother, she is forced to leave her home. Because she refuses to separate from her beloved parrot, Archie, her only option is to travel to Eynsham and live with her brother and his family. The journey to his estate wakes Hattie up to the harsh realities of life outside of her little village.
In less than a day, and with the help of her vociferous bird, an unfortunate series of mishaps threatens to ruin Hattie. Can a reluctant earl revenge his brother’s murder and save a spinster in the process?
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Edward Hunter, confirmed bachelor, comes home from an assignment with the Crown to find his brother killed, and his father dead from grief. He is now the Earl of Weston. While searching for leads to his brother’s murder, he finds himself forced to attend ton entertainments he normally would have avoided. Hattie Longbottom is an aging, sheltered spinster who has spent the last ten years caring for her invalid parent. With the death of her mother, she is forced to leave her home. Because she refuses to separate from her beloved parrot, Archie, her only option is to travel to Eynsham and live with her brother Robert and his family. The journey to his estate wakes Hattie up to the harsh realities of life outside of her little village & she has a day that only gets worse until she is faced with a future she certainly didn’t envisage.
Oh Archie stole this delightful short story with his antics & language. Edward is honourable but his heavy drinking has its consequences. Hattie changes from strait laced spinster to strong, loving woman overnight which I found too quick but it was a novella so there wasn’t the time for her character to gradually change. Another easy reading story that fits well into the series
3.5 Stars rounded up to 4
This new-to-me author has included my two favorite elements in a book – mystery and romance. Well, actually, it was a little short on the romance side but was probably typical for marriages of that period. I believe that the book tried to cover too many elements for a novella and I didn’t really feel complete with either of the elements – especially the romance though. There was potential – and they were getting there – but I don’t think a great romance was there yet. The characters had great potential, but they didn’t feel fully developed – although the hero and heroine were fairly well developed. Some of the story also felt a bit contrived – yes, I know it is a story and they are all contrived.
There are some light moments in the story with an incorrigible parrot. He’s absolutely priceless – and the real hero of the story.
Edward Hunter, Earl of Weston, had returned to England from a mission for the crown to find his brother, Robert, dead. Then, a short time later his father died and Edward unexpectedly assumed the title he didn’t want. After some questioning and investigating, Edward came to believe that his brother was murdered rather than dying in the duel he was supposedly fighting. Edward drinks too much and gambles too deep – he always has – and that causes a rift with his mother who blames him for Robert’s death. When Edward finally gets a clue to the whereabouts of a witness he’s been seeking, he and his best friend, Bergen, headed to a house party at the home of Lord Bentley.
Hattie Longbottom is a twenty-six-year-old spinster who is as naïve as the day she was born. Since the age of sixteen, she lived in a very small village taking care of her ailing mother. She’s very involved in the church and takes all of those homilies to heart. Her bright spot is her parrot, Archie. After the death of her mother, she had the choice of living with an aunt (without Archie) or with her half-brother. She chose to live with her brother because she could keep Archie.
So, here is one of those contrived bits I mentioned. The village reverend puts Hattie and Archie on a coach to travel to her brother’s residence. This is a brother who loves his sister and cares for her – he is a member of the aristocracy, but we don’t learn what title he has – we do learn it is less than an Earl, so it must be a Viscount or Baron. At any rate – there is no way he would have allowed his sister to board a mail coach, unchaperoned (or otherwise) to travel to him. He would have sent his coach or come himself. So – that whole part of the story was just not believable to me. There are other bits that felt contrived, but that was the biggest one.
The author used a term that is new to me and I have to find out more about it because it is the first time I’ve seen it used and I have read a lot of Regency period romances. She used it in relation to winning bets. So, I’ve got some research to do. I’m not questioning the use of the term or whether it is correct or not – just something I haven’t seen before. Here’s one place it is used – “Edward was one monkey richer after five games of piquet.” I just have to find out what a monkey is!
I enjoyed the story and would try another book by this author should she choose to write another Regency. I don’t believe that is her normal genre, but I’m not sure.
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A WICKED BIRD
Losing her place on the coach, two gentlemen offer to take Hattie to her destination. Fate steps in and they are all at her brother’s houseparty. Edward, Earl of Weston, is intrigued with Hattie and her foul mouth parrott. One small mistake and Hattie is his Countess. The mystery of the death of Edward’s brother remains to be solved, until Hattie overhears conversations that answer questions. A hilarious parrott, a spinster who needs glasses and an Earl who finds a murderer and falls in love with his wife. Very entertaining.
A delightful story full of humor, intrigue and characters that had me hooked by the first page and enthralled up until the last! Anna St. Claire is one of my favorite authors and her unique style comes out as she weaves a tale of Edward, Earl of Weston with “spinster” Hattie and her amazing parrot Archie, who creates laugh out loud moments which I adored!
As Edward tries to find out the more about the mysterious circumstances of his brother’s death, he and his friend Lord Bergen attend a house party. There is a gentleman there he wants to question who may have answers he seeks.
Hattie has been forced to come live with her brother and his wife after the death of her mother who basically held her hostage as her caregiver for over ten years. Her brother happens to be hosting the house party that Edward is attending.
Through a series of events and happenstance, these two find themselves drawn together and there is not telling what may happen! Loved it!!
Loved archie
Edward, The Earl of Weston meets Hattie on a journey. He helps her as any gentleman would. She ends up at the same house party he’s at looking for a gentleman who knows something about his elder brothers death. Will Edward and Hattie get together? Some slight violence and should be read by eighteen years and older.
Earl of Weston by Anna St. Claire & Lauren Harrison
Wicked Earls’ Club Series Book Six
Edward Hunter, Earl of Weston was at a place he really didn’t want to be in his life. He never planned on being more than the second son—wasn’t raised to be an earl. But life is never what one expects. Now, he not only holds the title his brother should have had, but he is also trying to find out who murdered his brother.
Hattie Longbottom and her best friend, Archie, are heading to start a new life. The life of a spinster who has depend on her brother’s hospitality. Her traveling day hasn’t gone too well so far. And it’s about to get even worse.
Archie is a great addition to the story. A large parrot who enjoys picking up new words and yelling them. I enjoyed the story line and secondary characters, and I hope their stories will be told in future books.
**Sexual content
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/2018/02/anna-st-claire.html
While she might be an aging, religious, sheltered spinster, after a few mishaps, Hattie is coming into her own. She really steals the show because she is not the typical heroine character. I love that Edward thought she was a hoot and couldn’t stop thinking of her. Edward is a rogue but deep down he’s really a caring, considerate man who is grieving, and feeling a bit guilty of his brother’s death. A forced marriage really benefits these two who are the definition of opposites attract. Archie the parrot is unexpected delight. There were a few inconsistencies that threw me off a little, so if you’re a stickler for no errors and perfectly written historical novels, you may find fault with this one. I did enjoy it and thought it was a fun read.