The Spinster and the Earl by Beverly Adam

Pages -  238 pages

Device Use -  Unlimited

Publisher -  Lachesis Publishing Inc

Published -  September 8, 2013

Sold by -  Amazon

Series -  Book 1 Gentlemen of Honor

Genre -  Regency

Sexual Content -  4/5

Language -  irrelevant

POV -  3rd Omnis (mostly h)

Synopsis

She was known as The Spinster of Brightwood Manor, and that suited Lady Beatrice O’Brien just fine.
She was happy being a spinster; happy running her father’s estates while amassing a fortune of her own; happy tending to the needs of her community; and most of all, she was happy not having a man around to tell her what to do.
But when Beatrice accidentally shoots her new neighbor, the Earl of Drennan, her life turns upside-down. Suddenly, this very arrogant gentleman, who also happens to be charming and attractive, makes himself at home at Brightwood Manor, and proceeds to court her!
Beatrice knows one thing for certain. Marriage will complicate her life. But falling in love? That’s an entirely different matter.

REVIEW

I read this twice.

Liked it a little better the second time, but not well enough to give it a glowing review.

It isn't a bad story and it isn't written so horribly juvenile as to be impossible to comprehend or enjoy -- save the odd punctuation choices and misspellings as the chapters progressed.

The author chose to write Omniscient style, and it didn't bother me one bit.

This style choice does not intimidate, irk, or befuddle me to the point of needing to vent at Amazon along with a low star score.

I feel confident in my ability to get the picture regardless of the number of heads in any given scene and find it slightly ridiculous that others argue against the omniscient style for that reason.

For me, it is more jarring to see (****) breaking up every few paragraphs than it is to simply be allowed to read the words that are written.

Tell vs Show occurred as well, and again, even if I'm now able to notice when this occurs, I still don't see the reason to nit-pick and bemoan its occurrences -- especially if flow isn't an issue.

On the other hand . . .

The Spinster and the Earl was loaded with inconsistencies and an obvious lack of basic Regency knowledge that both worked against an enjoyable read.

He is an Earl, yet is often referred to as Your Grace, making him a Duke (in my mind) and then reading reference to his being an Earl followed by his being referred to as Your Grace . . .

He 'inherits' a title, which I'm pretty sure isn't possible for that time frame, and it is his late uncle, a Duke, who bestows the Dukedom to a 3rd son of an Earl -- not first-born, but third.

Which still isn't possible for the time period.

She, on the other hand, receives a substantial income from a late aunt yet is still living with her father on his estate in Ireland, and she runs this estate while also investing through a male proxy who isn't actually an attorney or investor by trade.

Ireland is mentioned and the entire story takes place in Ireland, yet the nobility's ability to travel from London to Dublin regardless of the season seems more like airline possibility rather than horse & buggy (to me).

And when she is kidnapped, it is the bounder's intention to flee to Gretna Green, which is in Scotland, yet the bounder flees via horse and carriage -- leaving a pretty vast expanse of water between them and the target destination.

And, not to sound prudish (because I'm not) but the h and H copulated rather early in their non-existent relationship which, to me and again, does not go with the time period in the least.

If it was the author's intention to meld modern-day morality into the mind of a nineteenth century woman, it failed.

It always and will always fail because it isn't logical, practical, believable, or accurate.

If the author wants her heroine to be of a loose moral mind and possess modern-day mentality, the easy and obvious choice is common woman or widow.

Back then, it was acceptable and expected of a commoner or widow to behave the way today's woman behaves rather than for a vestal virgin of the nobility variety -- which happened to be what set them apart and became a glowing source of pride for the nobility -- hence the prize value set upon marrying an actual virgin.

The terms common whore and loose woman are around for a reason, and we have the early days in our history to thank for such things -- because they actually meant something at one point.

It took me nearly two weeks to finish this novel, but again, reading it the second time around had a bit more appeal because despite the above-mentioned issues, the story itself ended up being rather interesting even if it wasn't all that great and entirely too predictable.

I'd like to someday write a Regency, and thirty years later, I'd still like that day to arrive when and if I ever find the time to do the research necessary to pull it off with any amount of credibility.

Which makes me wonder, when I read stories like this, if the author didn't just say Fuck It, I'm going to do this and to hell with the consequences of my complete lack of skill or knowledge on the subject.

I mean, I've been tempted a few times myself! But, I just don't have the guts that others do.

Regency Romance will always be my go-to choice when wanting to read for the pure joy of reading.

The escape value is increased more so with Regency than with any other genre, and since I read to escape, it makes sense that I would choose Regency.

I'd just prefer that the story itself be actual, factual Regency and not far-fetched fantasy sprinkled with author notions of what-if scenarios tossed in the mix to convolute and destroy the escape factor entirely.

This is a series of three if you are interested.

1                                                                             2                                                                     3