Title: The Earl Next
Door
Series: First Comes
Love Book 1
Author: Amelia Grey
Release Date: May 28,
2019 (ARC)
Published By: St.
Martin’s Press
Category: Romance – Historical
– Regency
Type: Digital –
Paperback – Audio – MP3
Rating:
Heat:
Blurb:
What does a fiercely
independent young widow really want? One determined suitor is about to find
out. . .
When Adeline, Dowager Countess of Wake, learns
of her husband’s sudden death, she realizes she’s free. At last, she can do,
go, and be as she pleases. Finally, she can have the life she
has always dreamed of. She doesn’t need, or want, to remarry.
Especially not the supremely dashing future Marquis of Marksworth, who makes
Adeline yearn for his desire. . .
Lord Lyonwood, son of a philandering marquis,
will not be like his father. He wants to run his estates and watch them
flourish—and find a wife who brings love to his life. When he meets spirited
and self-reliant Adeline in a case of near-scandalous mistaken identity, Lyon
feels he’s met his match. But Adeline isn’t interested in a marriage proposal.
She will only accept becoming his lover—and Lyon finds it hard to refuse.
Unless the fire of his passion can melt Adeline’s resolve. . .
By reading any further, you are stating that
you are at least 18 years of age.
If you are under the age of 18,
please exit this site.
Favorite Lines:
“Picky?” Lyon shifted in
his chair. It was unusual for Marksworth to deliberately rile him. Though he
couldn’t say his father didn’t know what he was looking for in a wife. “I’m
selective.” ~ Lyon
“I just heard the call
for the waltz. Since you won’t marry me, dance with me.” ~ Lyon
Vocabulary Word:
Swathe
\ ˈswät͟h , ˈswȯt͟h, ˈswāt͟h \
variants: or swath \ ˈswät͟h , ˈswäth , ˈswȯt͟h , ˈswȯth \
Definition of swathe
(Entry 1 of 2)
2: an enveloping medium
swathe
\ ˈswät͟h , ˈswȯt͟h, ˈswāt͟h \
swathed; swathing
Definition of swathe (Entry 2 of 2)
1: to bind, wrap, or swaddle with or as if with a bandage
Excerpt:
The short hair at the back of Lyon’s neck rose. He’d never met a lady who could rile him so quickly. “They were already running around screaming when I arrived.”
Her lovely winged brows flew up in skepticism, and that bothered him all the more.
“They were playing,” she assured him.
“At this time of the morning? Barely past sunrise.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, keeping her gaze solidly on his. “In another hour it will be afternoon.”
Really?
He managed a light shrug. He hadn’t realized it was that late. His thumping temples made it feel as if he’d just gone to bed when the racket had first startled him awake. “No matter the time of day, just seeing a man and hearing him call to them loud enough they could hear over their own voices, shouldn’t have frightened them.”
“Perhaps it wouldn’t have if you didn’t look like a ruffian or as if you’d just—”
She looked at his tussled hair, and then let her gaze flutter down his face to the open neckline of his shirt. Lyon sucked in an unexpected breath of arousal that not even his pounding head and lack of sleep could hold at bay. She was too tempting.
“As if I just got out of bed?”His voice sounded huskier than he’d intended.
“Yes,” she admitted softly, lowering her lashes, obviously uncomfortable and as if feeling suddenly shy to admit to such an intimate thought to him.
“It’s true it could have upset the girls because I’m not properly attired. I was sleeping when the noise started.”
“Noise?” she scoffed, staring up at him again with renewed resistance to his claim and seeming to overcome her moment of gentleness along with the truce he thought they’d reached a few days ago.
He nodded. “I walked over thinking only to ask them to be a little quieter.”
Her eyes rounded instantly and her hands clenched tightly at her sides. Clearly she had no fear of doing battle with him and felt prepared to do so. Not that after their first meeting that should amaze him.
“You admit that?” she demanded.
“With no hesitation.”
She listened to him in stunned disbelief and then said, “What do you have against children?”
That took him aback, and he resented her implication he didn’t have a fondness for children. He would welcome the sound of children playing one day—in the future. He looked forward to his sons and daughters laughing and romping about the grounds of Lyonwood. “Nothing. I like children.”
She folded her arms across her chest and harrumphed defiantly.
“I don’t have a problem with them,”he insisted. “Just the noise they were making earlier.”
“You are unbelievable, my lord! You complain about delightful squeals from girls having an enjoyable time when I am sure you will enthusiastically sit in the midst of more than a hundred men shouting and yelling insults, swears, and jeers in your ears at a pugilist match, a horse race, or a cock fight. Yet, you let the sounds of little girls having a playful time disturb you. What kind of man are you?”
The fiery countess wasn’t going to budge an inch, but neither was he. “The usual kind, my lady. I expect to hear caterwauling at those events. And they don’t take place in the morn when respectable people are sleeping.”
“Are you saying the girls aren’t respectable for playing?”
He would not let the intriguing lady get away with a statement like that no matter how fetching she was with her sparkling eyes, rosy cheeks, and indignant manner. Controlling his anger, he said, “You are deliberately mistaking my words, Lady Wake.”
“How can you say that? There is no other meaning that makes sense to what you said.”
“It’s not that I don’t like children. I’ve never been around them." Not for many years anyway. “I didn’t realize they could be so loud. Girls were running around everywhere and no one was even chasing them.”
“That’s no excuse. Children need time to enjoy a few minutes of normalcy. You are an impossible man to deal with. What is wrong with you?”
You, he almost said aloud but caught himself and only replied, “Nothing.”
“I think not, Lord Lyonwood. You charge into my house and accuse me of amoral behavior before gathering the first fact about who had moved in next door to you. You watched me from your window, and now you storm into my garden to reprimand the students without coming to me first with your complaint. Not only all that, you have managed to scare the girls and their teachers half out of their wits for no good reason other than you spent your night swimming around in the bottom of a grog barrel.”
Grog?
“Your nerve is so out of bounds, Lady Wake, it would take weeks to find should anyone go looking for it.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Then let me give you another,” he said softly, his gaze sweeping down to her lips. “I appreciate and commend how you’ve come to the girls’defense.”
For a moment her face softened and she looked as if she might take his praise as he intended. But then, as he suspected she might, considering her propensity to boldness, she spoiled it by saying, “Perhaps you should try drinking a little more while you are spending all night with your cohorts at the gaming halls. That way it won’t be so easy for you to awaken in the morning at the lovely sound of girlish laughter.”
Lyon wasn’t sure if he grimaced or grinned at her comment. Today she was clearly not interested in the modicum of a truce that had been struck between them.
Fine.
“That idea has merit, Countess. I’ll only have to decide which gives me the greater headache. Too much drink or shrill merriment exploding into my bedchamber.”He stepped closer and looked right into her eyes. “I will allow that I’m not a patient man and that I like order and calm, but I’m not a wild ogre out to harm children.”
“You are just heartless.”
“No,”he insisted, not that it seemed to matter to her. “I want them to play. Just quietly. This is a neighborhood. If the little chicks can’t play quietly, then you should move your boarding school to the country and give them all the ground they want to run around.”
Highlight:
“The grounds,” Lyon said, feeling no guilt about the lie to his father. “We had a storm yesterday afternoon.”
“I was aware of it.” Marksworth picked up a cup from the buffet and poured himself coffee. “I fear there’s an even bigger storm going on in London today.”
Unlike his aunt’s news, Lyon was sure that he knew what his father was going to tell him. How could any hot-blooded man stay quiet about seeing and hearing Adeline yesterday afternoon? Still he said, “What are you talking about?”
“You and Lady Wake.”
Exactly what Lyon thought.
“I had three notes delivered to my house before I’d even awakened. The Duke of Middlecastle and a room full of others were already waiting at White’s by the time I got there. Apparently the arrival of Lady Wake in your drawing room yesterday afternoon has spread faster than the whirlwind storm that brought her to your door. By the time I’d heard all that was said about how resplendent she looked dripping from head to toe and how valiant she spoke, I was wishing I hadn’t missed the afternoon and had been there to witness the spectacle myself.”
The knot of anger that had formed in Lyon’s chest with his aunt’s tale of his neighbor’s spying started growing.
“Some of the nodcocks were arguing over who would pursue her since you hadn’t laid claim to her after she left,”Marksworth added when Lyon remained silent.
But Lyon had in the most intimate way possible.
“That wasn’t even the worst of it,” his father continued after taking a drink from his cup.
“What else?”Lyon asked, holding his anger at bay and his feelings in check. His relationship with Adeline wasn’t anyone’s business, and he didn’t intend to discuss what happened between them with anyone.
“Pritchard started asking if anyone had seen you at White’s or any of the other clubs last night and no one had. You can imagine how that kindling added to the flame of intrigue about widowed Lady Wake without me even telling you.”
Another oath whispered under Lyon’s breath.
He looked his father straight in the eyes. “That doesn’t mean I was with her.”
“Of course it does,” he argued effectively, lifting the lids off the serving dishes and looking inside. “Because everyone wants to believe you were with her so they can gossip about it.”
Lyon plunked his coffee onto the buffet, causing the cup to rattle in the saucer. This was madness. “I will vehemently deny being with her last night. I won’t have her reputation ruined over a half-dozen carriages piled up at the front of her door.”
“Very gentlemanly of you,”Marksworth said, putting the cover back on the last bowl. “But no one would believe you. I took care of it for you and now you don’t have to say anything about it to anyone and Lady Wake will remain unblemished.”
Lyon’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”
“I told them you came over to my house to find out why I missed the card game and stayed to have a late supper with me.” Marksworth stopped, took a sip of his coffee, and then smiled. “The whole lot of them believed it.”
“Because they aren’t fools,” Lyon finished for his father.
“Exactly. They don’t want her reputation ruined. They want it pure as the first blossom of spring so they can pursue her themselves.”
Lyon huffed a short laugh. His father and his aunt had managed to cover for him and Lady Wake before he’d even had a chance to defend Adeline himself.
“Why did you miss the card game?”
“Do you really want me to tell you?”
“No,” he said. “I can guess.”
“Good. You’d be right that I was spending the afternoon with someone else. However, I was rather remarkable in delivery of the made-up dinner between us,” his father said. “Though I really didn’t have to put too much outrage into my denial of your whereabouts. They had already made up their minds to court the lovely widow who captured everyone’s attention, scandal or not. Knowing they didn’t have to compete against you was all they really wanted to know. So what I said settles any mark against her reputation for now, but I fear they may talk about how improper, suggestive, and stimulating she looked in her wet clothing for years to come.”
Lyon wasn’t likely to forget the image anytime soon, either.
“At least now you know where you stand.”
Yes. Lyon knew where he stood with the men. The problem was he didn’t know where Adeline stood.
“Have you had a bite yet?” Marksworth asked.
“No.”
He looked at the place where Cordelia had been sitting, but didn’t ask any questions about who might have had left the half-eaten scone. Instead, he grabbed a plate in one hand and lifted the cover off a bowl of steaming scrambled eggs with the other. “Good,” he said. “Me either. I’ll eat with you. All this talk of gossip has me starving.”But before he picked up the spoon and dipped into the fluffy yellow mound, he turned back to Lyon. “There’s one thing I forgot to tell you.”
Lyon didn’t know what that possibly could be. Between his gaming club, Mrs. Feversham, and Aunt Cordelia, nothing seemed to have been missed.
Still, he asked, “What?”
“The wager at White’s as to which of us will be the first to have a son. The bets are more than one hundred to one in my favor.”
That didn’t surprise Lyon or please him.
“You might want to keep that in mind the next time you want to visit Lady Wake. At your age, if you’re going to finally have a son, he should be a legitimate one.”
“Marksworth, you go too far,” Lyon said in a warning tone.
“It’s not the first time and I daresay it won’t be the last. I’m your father and have the right to say what I damn well please to you. You don’t have to like it or agree with it. She’s young, a countess, and from what I heard today, she’s a raving beauty and certainly looks shapely enough to bear you a healthy son. If she caught your fancy, as I have reason to believe by the murderous expression you’re giving me, you’re going to have a lot of competition for her hand. You best ask for her before someone else steps in front of you.”
Lyon’s jaw tightened as he struggled not to respond. The last thing he wanted was what happened between him and Adeline playing out in the gossip halls and gaming clubs, or in his father’s mind. A shudder went through Lyon. He’d already considered that marriage would put a quick stop to any gossip about her. His chest constricted.
Lady Wake, his bride?
His admiration for her, his desire for her, that continuous leap in his chest at just the thought of her was immense. Were his feelings for her what he’d always been looking for in the lady he wanted to be his wife?
Love.
Review:
Adeline is finally a free woman – to a
point. She is still controlled to some extent by her brother-in-law, but upon
her husband’s death, she gained the freedom she so desperately craved. She
thought she was marrying a man who truly wanted her but instead, she was tied to
a man who cared nothing for her and only her ability to give him an heir. And
she failed at that despite his rigorous remedies and tonics. Given the tragic
way in which her husband – and hundreds of other men – perished, she is united
with a couple of widows who become her best friends. As a way to pay tribute to
those who lost their lives and provide aid to some of the young girls who lost
their fathers, the three women begin a school for girls. Everything is coming
along nicely until an encounter with her neighbor, Lyon, who gets things
started on the wrong foot. And every moment from there is an effort to battle
back from that awful misstep. It doesn’t help that Adeline is dangerously
attracted to him, but as a widow, she now has a chance to experience the
passion that has, up until now, been constantly elusive to her. But indulging
in that desire might have more consequence than she ever dreamed – and what
Lyon is asking for is more than she is willing to surrender.
Lord Lyonwood – has always known that if
he ever settled down, it would be for love. Up until he meets the lovely Lady
Wake, living conveniently next door, he never even came close to making that
connection he so deeply desired. Now that he’s found it, he’s got to find a way to
hold on to it because Adeline is the definition of resistance. Not to their
blazing passion, but definitely to his proposal of marriage. Her list for
rebuffing him is long and until he can get to the bottom of her fears and
assuage them, he won’t be getting what he desperately wants – Adeline as his
wife. But fate has a way of intervening and before too long, there might be a
glimmer of hope on the horizon. Between his sexy smolder and his continual
actions of kindness towards the girls in Adeline’s school, he intends on
wearing her down until she gives in and admits their love is something to
cherish.
This book was so freaking good!
Admittedly, I have had quite a bit of success with books by Ms. Grey. She has a
talent for HR that always sucks me in and leaves me feeling bound to the
characters, always bereft at the conclusion of each book. I never want them to
end…but they inevitably do. I eventually recover, and then it’s on to the next
read. But it’s always good to find an author you can trust to bring about such
strong feelings. It was no different with this book. Ms. Grey pulled me in
immediately again and never let go until the very end. As a first in series, it
was a fantastic beginning. Every single character was such a joy getting to
know and I cannot wait to be able to revisit with those who return as the series
progresses. I absolutely adored Marksworth, Lyon’s father. He was a gem. He
comes off a bit pompous initially, but then he throws out these amazingly
insightful and supportive comments that make him ridiculously likable. Even his
love/hate relationship with Cordelia, Lyon’s Aunt, is nothing short of
hilarious. Contentious to observers, yet entertaining in a satisfying way. I
also appreciated how glaringly different each of the three widows is. United
in tragedy, these three come together to do good within their community despite
riding the line of controversy within the ton. Adeline, Julia, and Brina may be
very different personalities, but their friendship is one of strength that will
last a lifetime. Together, they decide to help bring about a means for the
girls left fatherless to learn valuable skills that will help them support
themselves in the future. They also each had very different marriages so they also
have different outlooks on what moving forward following their proper mourning
should look like. I definitely look forward to seeing how things play out for
Julia and Brina when their stories come about. You guys! There is even a nosy
neighbor across the street with a looking glass! LMAO – what mischief that
could bring about…not unlike a pair of crimson stays and a case of mistaken
identity…but you’ll have to get to the bottom of that mystery yourself.
For Lyon, this is a story of knowing
what you want and going after it, even if the gratification isn’t immediate.
After all, those things most worth having, aren’t immediately obtained. Or so
they say. He also has to step outside his box a bit in learning to appreciate
Adeline’s passionate nature and the girls she is trying to help. Once he
embraces all of her, he sees their future with clarity. Adeline has a much
different path. Stuck in the horror of her marriage and fooled by her husband’s
phony affection, she doesn’t entirely trust herself. Heart-broken over being
barren and not wanting to force such a burden on Lyon, she balks. In her
journey to provide a future for the girls, she finds a different possibility of
a future for herself. But she has a lot to work through before that possibility
even enters as the slightest hint of an idea. And of course, just as she is
making progress, something rather alarming occurs that could crush her despite
her fierce spirit. As their relationship grows, her trust in Lyon allows her to
consider his advice in some startling situations which benefit her ability to
create some rather brilliant solutions to the issues at hand. It’s truly lovely
to see the progression of Lyon and Adeline’s relationship as it evolves from
one end of the spectrum to the other – reluctant neighbors, tolerance,
friendship, passionate longing, lovers, trusted confidantes, completely in
love.
This book has everything a historical
romance should. I am thrilled to have experienced yet another book by Ms. Grey
and look forward to diving into the rest of this series. As a story, the
overall plot is fairly predictable, but even knowing what would come next in
some cases, I remained engaged with the book and the characters. The passion is
given in the perfect amount. The sexual content descriptive, but not raunchy.
And not overly done, either. Just a couple of scenes in which anything actually
takes place. Also included is the most adorable epilogue, which made me fall in
love with Marksworth all over again. I sort of wish he had a book, but since we
already know his story…OH! Maybe a novella explaining his current “situation”
and how that came about since it sort of came out of nowhere. I would one
hundred percent be on board for that! Having had a chance to get to know Julia
and Brina a bit as well, I am more than ready to see what is in store for one
of them next. I am thrilled to know that my love of Ms. Grey’s work extends
beyond the RAKES OF ST. JAMES trilogy as those have been my only previous
reads. Given that validation, I stand firm in my statement that anyone who
loves HR and has yet to experience Ms. Grey should remedy that tragedy straightaway.
She quickly fast-tracked to a must-read author for me. I’m sure it will be the
same for many others as well. And what better way to check compatibility than
to read this wonderful introduction to the FIRST COMES LOVE series?
Kindle
version provided by NetGalley/St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest
review.
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