The Earl of Buckleigh was once an untitled misfit, tormented at Oxford. Now, he’s overcome his challenges and is eager for the future, especially when his oldest and dearest friend, Bianca, needs help to save the annual holiday party. Ash has a plan to rescue the event, but when the bullies from his youth are up to their old tricks, he must risk everything to put the past behind him and find true … true love.
Furious when her brother refuses to host the St. Stephen’s Day party, Lady Bianca Stafford is committed to giving the villagers their celebration. In Ash, she sees salvation for their local tradition, and perhaps a future she never expected. But her brother has other plans for her—a Season and marriage, and not to Ash. When disaster strikes, everything she cares about is threatened and it will take a miracle—or a hero—to save the day.
The Red Hot Earl is inspired by the song and story, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Be sure to check out the Red Hot Earl version of the song on my website at darcyburke.com!
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Untouchables comes a Christmas Regency series! Don’t miss these holiday classics retold with love, passion, and heart.
Book One: The Red Hot Earl
Book Two: The Gift of the Marquess
Book Three: Joy to the Duke
more
I have been provided with a copy of The Red Hot Earl by the author for an impartial review. This is the first book in the brand-new Love is All Around series and this was just a great way to start off a new series. I just really had a great time reading this story. I just fell in love with these new characters and I just didn’t want the story to end. It was just such an quick and easy read. I can’t wait to see what’s next with this series.
It’s a spin the Rudolf the red nosed reindeer
Lady Bianca is intent on a celebration for St. Stephens’s Day (day after Christmas). Her brother won’t do it. So, she turns to Ash, her childhood friend, now the Earl of Buckleigh.
Ash is excited to see Bianca again but not to work with the bullies he had to endure.
Can Ash save the day?
And get the girl this Christmas?
Love can be found close at hand when you least expect it. When it is built on friendship and blossoms into a true regard, it is lovely and Darcy Burke has written one such story in the first of a series.
Ash, the now Earl of Buckleigh has overcome so much in his life. Or at least it seemed learned to manage his disease, that is, until he was around some old schoolmates who had bullied him during his days at Oxford. My heart went out to him because he truly yearned for acceptance just as he was and one day find love and have a family.
Lady Bianca Stafford is a determined young lady. After nursing her sick father for two years, he older brother finally comes home to take over his father’s place. He refuses to host the annual holiday celebration for all the villagers and tenants. She is set on making it happen though one way or another.
When she see’s Ash again after so many years, she is delighted! They use to be friends when young and he had grown into such a strong handsome man. But she also sees his struggles that she had not seen before and becomes his biggest supporter.
Romance is alive and you can find it is this story of two souls meant for each other if they will let their hearts be true.. Adored this book and cannot wait for more!
Lady Bianca “Bee” Stafford is stubborn, outspoken and doesn’t want to get married. At the moment, she is really only interested in throwing the traditional St. Stephens Day party for the village. Her brother, the newly appointed Duke of Hartwell, is being moody and mean and will not hold the celebration.
Ashton “Ash” Rutledge, the new Earl of Buckleigh, because of his cousin’s death. The same cousin along with his other titled friends who bullied him at Oxford for his spindly looks, twitching, and outbursts. After Oxford, Ash spent his time in London as a lawyer and pugilist where he learned to manage his afflictions.
Ash and Bee meet up again at a house party. They were childhood friends and easily pick up their relationship where it left off. At the party, once again he is picked on for his afflictions and she is told what she can and can’t do because she is female. They both end up standing up for one another and agreeing that they would plan on having the St. Stephens Day event on their own.
This is a fairly quick read that has compassionate main characters and is a great way to start a series! I am looking forward to the other books in this series. I was given an ARC of this book and chose to post a review.
Ash has suffered with Tourette’s all his life. While at Oxford, he was horribly ridiculed and tormented because of it. When he unexpectedly inherits the Earldom, he is suddenly and reluctantly forced into social contact with three of his worst Oxford tormentors. The only good thing – he also renews his childhood friendship with Bianca, the only person he feels comfortable around. Very good, very touching story. I received an ARC of this book. (Note – it was not called Tourette’s in the book, but the symptoms described are the same as Tourette’s Syndrome.)
Ashton Rutledge did not imagine that he would be an earl, but when his cousin Lyndon did not marry and died young, the title ended in his hands.
After all sorts of bullying at school time at Eton and Oxford, Ash channeled his anger into something more useful. Now, as an earl, he found himself having to socialize with those same guys who mistreated him.
But there was a freshness in the midst of such bad guests: Lady Bianca Stafford.
Bianca, Duke of Hartwell’s youngest daughter, had a lively spirit.
They had known each other for years, but since he had lived in London for ten years – while she preferred the tranquility of the countryside – they had not met.
Seeing her at Thornaby’s house was a pleasant surprise. Even more so when she realizes the vile manner in which the other “gentlemen” treat Ash, and she immediately goes to her friend’s defense.
But Bianca had a problem to solve.
There was the St. Stephen’s Day Party tradition offered by her father. But with his death, and since her brother Calder inherited the title, she learns that this year the party would be canceled.
This could not happen!!! The tenants eagerly waited to celebrate their year of work and abundance.
That’s when she decides she needs help making the party happen.
And Ash would be the right person for that.
However, as they plan the best way to make it happen, the latent attraction comes to the surface and they decide not to escape the feeling.
Calder wanted his sister to marry – someone calm and reputable, not a pugilist like Ash.
But Bianca had her own ideas and would not let her brother disrupt her life any longer.
5 stars
Another great new series by Darcy Burke! I can’t wait to read the next two books in the series! I love the characters and the interaction between them. H/H connected when they were children and come together again years later and together they figure out that they belong together. Love the book and can’t wait to see how the other siblings get their happy ever after.
I loved Bianca and Ash and the way these old childhood friends came back together. Bianca was so fierce in her protection of Ash and understanding of his affliction and he couldn’t be more accepting of her independent nature. Great story. I received a complimentary copy and I am voluntarily reviewing.
Lady Bianca Stafford wants to keep up family traditions, but her brother Calder, the Duke of Hartwell, has decided to cancel the St. Stephen’s Day party annual holiday party for the entire town. Ashton Rutledge, the Earl of Buckleigh and Bianca were childhood friends. Ash has suffered Ticks and was teased and bullied in school and he hope to live a quite country life. Ash has a plan to rescue the event and help Bianca, but when the bullies from his youth are up to their old tricks he risks everything for love. Bianca and Ash are perfect together, she supports and understand him and his affliction. I loved reading about them, renewing their childhood friendship and falling in love. I loved this excellent book and I voluntarily wrote a review.
Bianca and Ash are old friends who have not seen each other since childhood. There is an attraction as soon as they meet again. Bianca never wants to marry and Ash does not want to burden a wife with his affliction (possibly Tourette’s Syndrome). This story reminds us of the bullying that anyone different from the norm receives even today. It is hard to imagine in Regency time what they thought of people with Tourette’s Syndrome. They probably thought the person was mad or possessed by demons. I enjoyed this book and hope the bullies will redeem themselves in future stories. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
A cute, quick read
What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Friends to lovers
Part of a series: Love is All Around
Standalone
HEA
I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC.
The Red Hot Earl is the first book in the festive series Love is All Around. The series is about three siblings finding their happy ever after around the Christmas holidays. This book is Lady Bianca’s story and it takes place before the actual holidays. Lady Bianca’s family have hosted the St. Stephen’s Day party for the county for decades. This year her brother, Calder (Duke of Harwell) refuses to host the event. Their father had passed away recently and Calder had taken over as the duke and refused to continue the tradition. Bianca loved the holidays and was determined that the party traditions continue. While attending the Thornaby’s house party were the planning for the party begins, she is reunited with a childhood friend, Ash (the new Earl of Buckleigh). Ash was terrorized as a child by three bullies at Oxford for Tic disorder. He decides to attend the house party thinking that surely the men had grown up but after they continued taunting him, he leaves the house party early. After hearing the three men tease and taunt Ash, Bianca decides to leave the house party and find Ash. She no longer wants to try and convince the Viscount Thornaby to host the party, instead she wants Ash too. Can Ash convince Bianca to marry him even though she has said she will never marry? This was a fun, sweet romance and certainly does a great job starting the series.
Ashton Rutledge spent his time as a young man suffering at the hands of bullies at Oxford. He was quirky and prone to verbal outbursts and physical ticks that made him the target of many a prank. When he left school, he took up pugilism and became bigger and stronger and learned to better control his disease. Now he’s the Earl of Buckleigh and eager for a fresh start. Unfortunately, his old tormentors haven’t changed a bit. Even though his old friend Bianca could use their help organizing the county’s Christmas party, Ash can’t bring himself to be around them, though he vows to do what he can to help Bianca himself.
Lady Bianca Stafford is livid when her odious brother refuses to host the annual St. Stephen’s Day Party, the first one since their father’s death. She finds no help from the idiotic local gentlemen, except for the one beacon of hope that is her old friend Ash. Bianca never planned to marry, despite her brother’s desire for her to marry and have a London season, but the more time she spends with Ash, the more she begins to rethink everything she thought she wanted for herself.
I loved this merry little novella. Ash was fabulous as a hero and Bianca was lovely for seeing him for himself and not his disease. I definitely couldn’t forgive as quickly as Ash did but those elements of forgiveness and focusing on what really matters make this a perfect feel good Christmas read. I’m looking forward to the next book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Ashton Rutledge recently inherited the title of The Earl of Buckleigh when his cousin died, Ash had been tormented at Oxford for an affliction he’d no control over. Now, he’s overcome his challenges and is eager for the future, especially when his oldest and dearest friend, Bianca, needs help to save the annual St Stephen’s day party. Furious when her brother refuses to host the St. Stephen’s Day party, Lady Bianca Stafford is committed to giving the villagers their celebration. In Ash, she sees salvation for their local tradition, and perhaps a future she never expected.
Ash & Bee had been friends in their youth & when they meet again at Lord Thornaby’s house party the old friendship is renewed.
This is the first in a trilogy of books about the Stafford siblings taking place around Christmas time. I loved Ash who had struggled to overcome his affliction & had studied the law & also found boxing to help control his twitches he now finds that he’s an Earl. Bee is feisty, outspoken & endearing together they compliment each other. I found the three bullies to be extremely childish & wanted to give them a shake & tell them to grow up but maybe events achieved this. I thoroughly disliked Chill & eagerly await to see how or if he can be redeemed. I read this page turning book in a sitting & loved every page of it even though it was 2am by the time I’d finished it
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
I do so detest bullies and my heart went out to Ash at the bullying he had to endure while in school. Now, 10 years later, he’s back and although his affliction is still there, he’s learned to mostly master it and is not the weak boy he once was. He’s changed but the bullies are still around and even as adults they can’t help but pick on Ash. I just loved his character and how he proved to be the better man.
I also adored Bianca’s character, such a feisty and pure heart she has! She is so perfect for Ash and I love how she defended him to the bullies:) Theirs is truly a beautiful love story!!
I was given an ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
The Red Hot Earl by Darcy Burke
Love is All Around #1
Bee and Ash were friends as children and had not seen one another in years. Both had fond memories of time spent together long ago. When they meet at Thornaby’s house party they are all grown up and the friendship has become attraction that Lady Bianca is not going to brush aside. Ash has an “affliction” that saw him bullied as a child. He has worked hard to become the man he is and to rein in his “affliction”. The bullies of the past make an appearance and do their worse but good, in this case, does overcome evil. The two do get their HEA with the next two books in this trilogy hinted to focus on Bee’s siblings who are in some sort of trouble only hinted at in this book.
Did I enjoy this story? Yes
Do I want to read more in this series? Definitely
Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
Just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover – no pun intended.
Ash has physical problems which for the most part he seems to have overcome but the scars are not only physical that taunt him, they plague his mind from time to time.
Bianca is his dear friend but this soon changes and this story will take you on a merry journey through their current lives so that you can watch them fall head over heals for one another.
This is a really good shortish story, beautifully written, a page-turner and a stand-alone that will keep you reading and wanting more.
I loved the characters, their strengths and their weaknesses, as well as the story itself. This is a really good pre Christmas book and I am happy to recommend it to you.
I read an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) and my voluntary review above is unbiased.
The Red Hot Earl
Love is All Around Series #1
Darcy Burke
https://www.facebook.com/DarcyBurkeFans/
Release date 9/24/2019
Publisher Darcy Burke Publishing
Blurb :
The Earl of Buckleigh was once an untitled misfit, tormented at Oxford. Now, he’s overcome his challenges and is eager for the future, especially when his oldest and dearest friend, Bianca, needs help to save the annual holiday party. Ash has a plan to rescue the event, but when the bullies from his youth are up to their old tricks, he must risk everything to put the past behind him and find true love.
Furious when her brother refuses to host the St. Stephen’s Day party, Lady Bianca Stafford is committed to giving the villagers their celebration. In Ash, she sees salvation for their local tradition, and perhaps a future she never expected. But her brother has other plans for her—a Season and marriage, and not to Ash. When disaster strikes, everything she cares about is threatened and it will take a miracle—or a hero—to save the day.
The Red Hot Earl is inspired by the song and story, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Be sure to check out the Red Hot Earl version of the song on my website at darcyburke.com!
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Untouchables comes a Christmas Regency series! Don’t miss these holiday classics retold with love, passion, and heart.
My review
When an Earl who had been a bullied boy meets again his still outspoken childhood friend…
What a lovely tale it was, I loved the positive message it gives.
My daughter was at a time bullied too by a group of girls whom disparaged her for her physical look, her choice of clothing and and, the head of this group is what I think a girl uncomfortable in her own skin so she used my daughter as an emotional outlet. It is in the past but I do know the scars it left.
Ash was even worse abused, as it was for years and no one put a stop for him, only distance halted the harassment.
My heart ached so much for him, I do suppose he suffers from The Gilles De La Tourette’s syndrome. With time he learned to control his reaction and pugilism helped him to channel his anger and other feelings.
But still, he feels out of place and his new designation as a titled peer does not lessen his unease among society.
Bianca is his opposite, she is no shy miss and speaks her mind. She is one, no bully would choose as a victim as she lets no one cornering her. But when she witnesses how Ash’s old school chums belittle him at every opportunity, she stands by his side.
I loved how complementary they were, and respectful of one another’s feelings.
This lively read brings all the right sentiments, to refuse to stay mute or quiet when others are abused, but also in oneself to forgive the offenses.
4.5 stars
I was granted by the author an advance copy but also preordered mine.
Here is my true and unbiased opinion.
https://www.facebook.com/429830134272830/photos/a.431529094102934/466114540644389?type=3&sfns=mo