Blasted woman had been nothing but trouble since the moment he had first set covetous eyes upon her.
He blamed her sometimes soulful, sometimes skewering, sometimes sparkling and always savvy dark eyes for that. He always had a penchant for big brown eyes.
The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest has plenty of banter, wit, and romance. I guarantee you will devour this book in one sitting.
The earl she loved to hate
…until she stayed in his mansion!
Sophie Gilbert has thwarted the standoffish new earl’s plans to sell his country estate and the quaint village that forms part of it. But when disaster strikes and he offers her refuge, she must reconsider everything about this vexing, determined man. After the heartbreak in her past, it’s a revelation to feel her pulse racing and her body yearning for his touch…
This book was so much fun to read! I was sorry to see the story end because I didn’t want to leave the characters and place I had fallen so in love with. There wasn’t a thing I didn’t like about this book. The story was heartfelt, funny, and oh so romantic. I loved that it was full of entertaining antics and a cast of quirky and loveable characters. I wasn’t expecting how much I would be laughing and smiling while reading this book. It’s not something that usually happens when I read historical romances. I loved watching as the villagers set out to thwart Rafe’s plans to sell his estate.
My two favourite characters were Mrs. Fitzherbert and Archie. Mrs. Fitzherbert is a feisty lady in her 90’s. She has this no-nonsense fierceness about her. It truly was a fabulous sight watching her put the justice of the peace and the English soldiers in their places when they tried to remove the villagers from the road. Archie is adorable, and his character had my heart-melting. He added so much light and happiness to the story and had me laughing at the things he would say.
I couldn’t get enough of the relationship between Sophie and Rafe. The banter between these characters was just so on point, and I ate up every scene that they were in. I loved the enemies-to-lovers approach to their relationship. It was fun watching the battle of wills and wits between these two at the beginning of the book. There was also that primal attraction between Sophie and Rafe right from the get-go, and when things did heat up, the spicy scenes were oh so lovely.
I know that this is the first book in the series, and I hope that Virginia brings back this mysterious Stephen Basset in the next book. She really sparked my interest in this character, with all this alluding that Rafe got an unsettling feeling about him. Is he a bad guy or just a misunderstood hero?
The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest is the perfect book to read on a wintery afternoon, with a warm cup of tea and a cat on your lap.
Thank you Harlequin, Mills and Boon, and Rachel Random Resources for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
