Willa Ramsey: Everything But the Earl

Miss Caroline Crispin is on top of the world. But she’s about to take a painful fall.

As the daughter of London’s most in-demand architect, Caro has laughed and danced and pursued her interests with gusto—free from Society’s censure. So when she overhears two lords calling her vulgar names and wagering on whose lover she’ll become, she’s shocked and stung—and determined to teach them a lesson. Though it pains her to ask for help from another brutish lord…

Lord Ryland isn’t the man his father wanted him to be. But he’s about to make an excellent catch.

Adam, Earl Ryland, just wants to get married and tend his country garden, away from the bucks, fops, and gossips who pester him to box like his late father. When this gentle giant meets his sister’s friend Caro—who parries his flirtations with double entendre that would make a barman blush—he’s smitten. But there’s a problem: she’s looking to him for a different sort of partnership. And it’s a risky one.

A bit of a slow start, this book quickly became engrossing for its interesting, plucky and outspoken heroine and determined hero.

The plot is not straightforward, but new to me author Ramsey plays with will-never-marry and different class tropes a bit. The H/H find themselves admitting love towards the middle end, but fates intervene (in the form of some nasty gossip) to keep them apart. I liked that this was left of center of more traditional, formulaic plot and I think readers will find it refreshing, too, as she keeps the tension on how the characters will get to the HEA.

This is the first book in a series of Wayward and Willful (I am assuming heroines) so will strike those notes for readers on the hunt for a brassy, sometimes slightly off colour and smart heroine. Caroline Crispin is the daughter of two Royal architects, giving her an elevated status in Society even if her parents are not gentry.

Lord Ryland has come to Town to squire his sister, a friend of Caro’s (from a very interesting school I would love to learn more about), around and find her a husband. When the two meet, they interest each other and sparks fly.

The hero is more of the Beta brand, despite his hulking size. He loves Caro’s plainspoken manners and how she carries herself differently than ladies of his class. His family is a bit eccentric, and his sister has already embraced Caro as her bestie, so although their is a class difference, there is a very modern approach to it by characters.

I finished this one in a couple of reading sessions and found it easy to put down and pick up. It has some action, a bit of flirty correspondence in the guise of business letters, and a couple of parties/dances/dinners to keep the story rolling. This is not the glitterati Tonnish novel, where Almacks and Gunthers and all the other Hot Spots are hit. Instead, this is more of a character driven study about the changing classes as England hurtled towards industrialization.

There is some good, witty banter between the characters that reads a bit more like Georgian era innuendo, and a couple of funny schemes/scenes which will delight some readers. There are some historical accuracy eyebrow raising moments, so treat it a bit more like a mass market and don’t expect a true to period book in tone or details.

Overall, a great debut and promising new voice for the Regency Romance.

5 Stars 4 out of 6 A bold, scheming heroine on the fringes of Ton bent on revenge who finds love