The Earl’s Wicked Seduction: Historical Regency Romance Novel

Amazing Characters. Full of life, emotional, raw, fervent goals, genuine and both the H/h posing as someone they are not. At first our heroine Grace Miller did not impress me. She was insecure, easily terrified of anything unfamiliar. Then as the story continued, she gained my compassion and sympathy. She was eighteen and had the weight of an adult twice her age on her shoulders. Her family spent every penny possible to create a new image for Grace to avoid people knowing of the disgrace her family suffered. She had to elevate herself from a maid of all work to a daughter of some privilege. A daughter of a successful tradesman so that she can marry well and save the family from ruin socially and economically. She grew up working hard but in a very close knit, loving family. She had her mother and father and two younger brothers. She was pressured into the ploy to marry well and was never comfortable with it. She felt false. She was the kind of light hearted young woman who lived as she was. With nothing to hide or be ashamed of. On the other side of the village was the Worthington estate where Thomas was the Earl of Worthington and his mother the Dowager Countess lived. Thomas wanted to marry and knew it was time to marry. He was approximately twenty-nine almost thirty years of age. He was trepidatious, wary, cautious of marrying. His best and most loyal friend Simon courted a wonderful, kind, thoughtful young lady. He fell in love and married her. “In just the three months since the wedding, she had become selfish and demanding to the point of being rude and dismissive of her husband in public . . . and actually seemed proud of treating him that way.” Thomas had reason not to trust the faces of the young ladies put before him. Thomas came up with an ingenious way to get to know the young lady’s real persona by hanging around posing and working as a coachman. Simon did not like the idea at all but understood why Thomas wished to do it based on his own marriage. Thomas became Adam Wheeler, coachman for the Worthington estate. Thomas’s character was true blue. He was intelligent, thoughtful, clever, charming and a very good Earl. Everyone in Birdwell thought well of him and respected him. He did not realize his actions would be the cause of heartache in the end. Grace’s mother bid her to go to the market and take her two brothers John fourteen and Noah twelve with her. While in the village she met Adam Wheeler and was taken by him. He seemed very interested in her and was kind to her brothers. After their tasks were done, she hoped to run into him again. Thomas was impressed by Grace’s openness, kindness and gentle authenticity. She was down to earth, honest and loving from what he could tell. Yes, he thought he wanted to get to know her better. Things were going as planned for Grace to snag a well to do husband. Her aunt and uncle set the high standard of seducing the Earl as her objective. Grace felt the burden constantly of having to lift up her family into better circumstances. She was tutored by her aunt in deportment, dance and table etiquette. There were three assembly balls scheduled, one a month. This was Grace’s time frame to gain the Earl’s attention. Before setting off to the first ball she became emotionally ill. She was terrified of giving herself away and thought of herself unworthy of the nice clothes her aunt and uncle provided. But then she saw Adam on duty as coachman, she was somewhat relieved to know one person. Even if he was not attending the ball. Which she wished he was. There was an urgent situation with the pair of horses attached to Adam’s coach and before she could even think, Grace rushed over to rescue the horse without thought to her person or her clothing. Adam/Thomas was really impressed. He ought to have been paying closer attention to the horses but he had been watching Grace. While the ball was going on, Thomas’s objective was to listen to the young ladies when they came out for fresh air. He wanted to find out if their persona that they presented to the public was the same as when they were away from everyone. He was disappointed to find that some were vain, others haughty and most were fortune hunters. But he knew Grace was not like that or so he thought. Both he and Grace were playing a part for their own personal reasons and knew not that the other was doing the same. Before the second ball, Grace spent more and more time with Adam and the attraction was very clear. She was falling in love and could do ought about it. She was torn between what her heart desired and her obligation to her family. Little did she know someone from her past was living in the area and knew all her secrets. He was angry and resentful that she dared to rise above her station and was planning on exacting revenge for what her family had done to him. Grace knew nothing of this until the end of the second ball. Reuben was driving a coach and waiting for his patrons who were at the ball. He saw Grace and became enraged. He went to the pub and started drinking. The second ball was a masquerade. Thomas/Adam found Grace. They danced and talked and shared some quiet moments together. Everyone at the ball was staring at him guessing he was the Earl, but due to Grace, Simon and his wife’s adamant difference of opinion, people were swayed to believe Adam was not the Earl. When Grace was leaving the ball, at the entrance Reuben confronted her and insulted her publicly exposing her as a fraud. Adam took exception to this and fought him for her honor. When things were getting bloody, Grace pleaded with Adam to stop, that everything Reuben said was true. Adam/Thomas was dumbfounded. Grace’s aunt and uncle lead her away. Grace cried and cried and cried wishing the earth would open up and swallow her. But her mother, aunt and uncle would not let her be distracted from her purpose. If it could not be the Earl, then she hopefully would find a worthy partner in a tradesman’s or farmer’s son. A disappointed Thomas was at Feathering Park the home of his best friend Simon. There was much to discuss. There was facts and truths to face and it was distressing for Thomas. He knew he could not walk away from Grace without knowing why she perpetuated the farce. He realized he loved her but would not marry her if she was a fortune hunter. One evening Adam visited Grace at her home. This is where I will stop and just say that the author poured her heart into the rest of the book and it brought me to tears. Just as we all know it ends with unexpected revelations, surprises and an HEA. Such a wonderful book. This is a must read. You will not be disappointed.