Beatrice Haddington is a young lady who never thought she deserved to be loved. After an awkward introduction to the brooding, surly Earl of Winchester she feels conflicted. He is a complete, and often infuriating, contradiction to everything Beatrice has ever wanted in a companion. Fate forces them to question the prospects of love and friendship. She wonders if a man of nobility known for his … of nobility known for his short-temper could ever truly love a poor fisherman’s daughter.
Danger, confusion, infatuation, and…unexpected affection begin to disrupt the somewhat quiet existence of James Ruteledge.
After his mother falls ill, James feels helpless in a world he no longer considers himself to be a part of. He shuts himself away from those who care about him, but the seemingly obedient, bashful presence of Miss Haddington soon forces him to face the reality of his own flaws.
Despite her mousy demeanor, James finds himself challenged by her at every turn and he is intrigued to say the least. But can he set aside his own conflicts and allow her to change him for the better?
Clean Regency Romance with a HEA that can be read as a standalone!
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arc review I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. Beatrice haddington was a fisherman’s daughter . When best friends lady marina knight the viscountess of Greenwood helps her she meets James ruteledge earl of Winchester and military man. Who she goes to work for ,but when the king of London’s Underworld Mr. ripper calls for her she finds out why. Awesome story
Interesting premise but this book is NOWHERE ready for publication
The Earl’s Envy by Madeline St. James has an interesting premise and some unusual characters. HOWEVER, it is still choppy with many errors and I believe it is not ready for publication without some extensive editing. The only reason I give it one star is because it has a beginning, a middle and an end and by golly, it’s difficult to write a book.
Pros:
1.The characters are interesting, most particularly The Ripper and the Order of the Ravens. I would like to read more about Mr. Ripper. James and Beatrice fit standard tropes for this type of story but they were adequate. I like Lady Helena, Jame’s mother. She did many things a lady of her station would not necessarily feel comfortable doing. I also liked Elias. He was steadfast, forthright and did not let Jame’s get away with anything.
2. It is a ‘clean’ story.
3. Even though Beatrice was emotional, she kept herself busy and kept assisting Lady Helena. She didn’t fall into crying fits all the time.
However, these characters are not enough to save the book.
Cons:
1. Too choppy and there were several places where the writing flat didn’t make any sense.
2. Many times the expressions of the characters did not match the mood or the event. For instance: when Beatrice goes into the Ripper’s home for the first time, she asks “Where am I?” “Home” the man snarled. Why in the heck did he snarl? He had nothing to snarl about. Beatrice was in his home. And why, if he was so rotten, did he have “sorrowful” eyes? That made no sense. There was no prelude in the book of any kind to explain ‘sorrowful’ eyes.
Why was Mrs. Buxton filled with “confused happiness”? Why did she have “a sense of barely restrained bewilderment about her”?? What EXACTLY is a “cold, fetching demeanor”??? How in the WORLD would anyone know Beatrice was “passionate” about her travels?
3. Inserting information in areas where it made absolutely no sense. For example: Everyone is eating dinner/supper and discussing Beatrice’s’ travels, what her father did with the money, etc. then RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE there are several sentences discussing how she really didn’t help with the meal but she was proud of how the guests’ enjoyed the meal then went on to describe the desserts. What the What?!?! Then we go right back into discussion.
4.The description of an “uptight frown”. Ugh. That word wasn’t even USED as a slang description until the 1930’s in America.
5.Incorrect word usage, spelling, etc. For example: not furnitureless, it should be either furniture-less, or furniture less. Everyday should be every day. Lowend should be low end, welldressed should be well dressed. wrapped “snuggly in her coat” instead of “snugly”, etc.
6. Leading sentences with the word ‘Sure’. No No NO. It didn’t happen often but it does NOT need to happen in historical novels at all. I see this trend in self published novels and it just needs to stop. Writers need to use “to be sure” or “indeed” or ANYTHING instead of just “Sure”.
7. Why did Beatrice ‘shuffle” out of her bedchamber then “shuffle” towards the kitchen? Her legs and feet were working fine up until this point and apparently worked just fine after this point. Unless she was crippled, there was no reason for her to ever “shuffle”.
8. James and Elias were having a brandy in the study. Then, “A crash from down the hall worried them.” What? Why? What does that even mean? Especially when “The door flew open furiously” just moments after the crash?
9. STOP USING “Smirk”. Everyone uses it and typically quite badly and incorrectly.
10. Stop ending sentences with prepositions.
11. Know your adverbs. You don’t do something ‘bad’, you do something ‘badly’.
12. Tons of misspelled words.
I am so sorry to leave a less than stellar review, BUT this book is NOT ready for publication! I do not feel as if I can honestly recommend this book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Clean Regency, Fast and Easy Read – a real page turner! I pretty much read The Earl’s Envy (Scandalous Nobility Book 2) by Madeline St.James in one sitting. Hard to put down. This is Regency and is very entertaining. Very heartwarming and happy ending.