ARC Review: To Catch An Earl (Bow Street Bachelors #2) by Kate Bateman

Title:  To Catch An Earl

Series: Bow Street Bachelors #2

Author: Kate Bateman

Release Date: June 30, 2020

Published By: St. Martin’s Press

Category: Regency Romance

Type: Digital – Paperback

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Rating: 

Heat: 

Blurb: 

Kate Bateman's To Catch an Earl continues her historical Regency Romance Bow Street Bachelors series.

Working undercover for London’s first official police force, the Bow Street Bachelors have an obligation to serve the city’s best interests―even while they’re falling for the city’s most alluring women…

SHE KNOWS HOW TO STEAL A KISS.

Alex Harland, Earl of Melton and dedicated rake, never pictured himself as an agent of inquiry. But the thrill of investigation is a challenge he now embraces. When he’s asked to pursue the Nightjar, a notorious thief who is reclaiming France’s crown jewels, the case throws him into the path of the beautiful and equally elusive Emmy Danvers, reminding him of the only puzzle he’s never solved: the identity of the mysterious woman who once stole a kiss from him―and left him wanting so much more…

WILL HE SURRENDER HIS HEART?

The daughter of a thief, Emmy learned long ago how to keep her secrets safeguarded―and, as the notorious Nightjar, her love for Alex Harland is one of them. With the determined earl hot on her trail―and making her hot under the collar―Emmy has no choice but to keep her distance. But when a moment’s danger threatens Emmy’s life as well as her name, will Alex finally discover that he’s followed every clue…to true love?

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:

“I see you, Emmy Danvers.”  ~  Alex

It is not inconvenient. Inconvenient is snapping your parasol on the hottest day of the year. Inconvenient is not being able to find a matching pair of stockings. This is a disaster.”  ~  Emmy

“Let’s try something new, shall we? I call it ‘honesty’. It’s where you say things that are true. I’ll start, if you like. I’m hard as a rock for you now.”  ~  Alex

She trusted him. She loved him. She was an idiot.  ~  Emmy

Did she think she could hide from him forever? He’d chase her down. And not because of the jewels – he truly didn’t care who had the bloody things anymore – but because he simply couldn’t imagine life without her. She was a brilliant, conniving, sneaky little weasel. And he was fatally in love with her.  ~  Alex

“Leaving me, princess?”  ~ Alex

Vocabulary Word:

Perspicacity

adjective

per·​spi·​ca·​cious | \ ˌpər-spə-ˈkā-shəs  \

Definition of perspicacious

: of acute mental vision or discernment : KEEN

Excerpt:

          The dance ended, but he didn’t let go of her hand, or return to his friends. He pulled her out onto the terrace, and Emmy followed, unresisting. Hand in hand, he led her down the steps and out into the moonlit garden. It seemed like something from a dream. They ventured through an iron gate set in a red brick wall and stepped into the kitchen garden, wreathed in shadows. He tugged her under an apple tree. 
          Suddenly nervous, Emmy twisted a half-grown apple from a branch and smiled. 
          “What’s so amusing?”
          “Hmm? Oh, this reminds me of a poem I once read about fairies who like to steal apples.”She met his eyes in the dim light. Every one of her senses was alive, prickling with awareness. “It goes: Stolen sweets are always sweeter: Stolen kisses much completer; Stolen looks are nice in chapels: Stolen, stolen be your apples.”
          His gaze dropped to her lips. They tingled in response. 
          “Stolen kisses, hmm?”he murmured. “Maybe we should try it?”He reached up and untied the ribbon holding his mask in place. “Since you already know who I am, I think we can dispense with this.”
          He took a step closer, and Emmy’s heart pounded as she studied his face. Strong, straight nose, lips curved in gentle amusement. She dropped the apple and slipped her hands between the lapels of his jacket, flat against his chest. She could feel the warmth of his skin through his shirt, feel the unyielding strength beneath her palms. She had the oddest thought that this was home. The place she was destined to be. 
          He slid his hands around her waist, his long fingers almost spanning the circumference. “Will you take your mask off, little thief?”
          “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”
          She lifted herself on tiptoe and pressed closer, tilting her head and offering her lips in shameless invitation. Carpe hominem. 
          Her heart almost stopped when he bent his head and kissed her. A light, almost questioning touch. He repeated the action, his lips soft yet firm, and Emmy closed her eyes, determined to savor the experience. This might be her one and only kiss with Alex Harland, ever. 
          His tongue traced the seam of her lips. Without thought, she opened her mouth and he slid his tongue inside to tangle with hers. Emmy stilled in shock, then realized the sensation was extremely pleasurable. She flicked her own tongue tentatively against his and was rewarded with a low groan of encouragement. 
          His hands came up to cup her face. He angled her head and kissed her again. And again. Deeper. Darker. Drinking her in. It was a revelation. A glorious, swirling taste and tease that turned her bones to jelly. Emmy almost swooned with pleasure. The scent of him filled her nose, the taste of brandy on his tongue made her insides molten. 
          Minutes, or possibly hours, later, he pulled back, panting. “Your name,”he demanded roughly. 
          “No.”She hadn’t lost her wits entirely. 
          He expelled a huff of amused frustration. “If I had more time, I would discover exactly who you are.”He brushed the edge of her jawline with his thumb, then stroked it over her lips in a shiver-inducing caress. “But I’m leaving for Portugal next week.”His arms tightened around her, and his mouth thinned in displeasure. “God, I wish I didn’t have to go. I wish we’d met sooner. I—”
          Emmy placed her fingers over his lips to stop the flow of words that mirrored her own feelings so precisely. She pressed her own lips together to stop herself from blurting out, Don’t go, then. Stay here. With me. 
          Impossible. They were from different worlds, their lives on opposite trajectories. This was the only time they would ever intersect. 
          The next kiss was tinged with a bittersweet desperation, a mutual acknowledgment that this one, perfect moment was finite. Fragile. Unrepeatable. 
          “God, you taste so sweet,”he groaned against her lips. “Smell so sweet. I want to breathe you in and keep you in my lungs forever. Does that sound mad?”
          “Not at all.”
          It was harder than she’d ever imagined to pull out of his arms. Cool air replaced the warmth where his body had been. Tears stung her eyes beneath her mask as she took another step away from him. 
          “Leaving me, princess?”he murmured. 
          “I must.”
          “Will you turn into a pumpkin at midnight?”
          She managed a watery smile at his weak attempt at a joke. “No. But I have to go.”
          A good thief always knew when to leave the scene of a crime. Kissing Alex Harland had been better than she’d ever imagined it would be, but it might also prove the biggest mistake of her life. Because now, she knew precisely what she was missing. 
          She started back toward the garden gate. He picked up his mask, which he’d dropped on the grass, and retied it. When they reached the steps of the terrace, he caught her hand and tugged her around to face him. He opened his mouth to speak, but she forestalled him. 
          “Don’t say goodbye.”
          He inclined his head. “All right. Let’s simply say good night, then. Until we meet again.”
          He kissed her hand, his lips warm on her skin, and her stomach clenched. She already missed him. How was that even possible? She pulled away and started up the steps. 
          “I’ll find you,”he vowed at her retreating back. “When I return.”
          Emmy bit back a bittersweet smile. He would only find her if she wanted to be found. And she had far too many secrets for that. 
          “No,”she whispered, too softly for him to hear. “You won’t.”

Highlight:

          Alex frowned. It had taken Franks almost an entire day to discover the loss of the diamond. He’d been so engrossed in studying some new Egyptian sarcophagus that he hadn’t noticed it missing on his morning tour of the museum. Alex quelled a spurt of irritation as he and Seb listened to the man’s bumbling attempts to understand what had happened. 
          “Indeed, it was only at around four o’clock that a gentleman pointed out that it was missing and asked whether it was being cleaned.”Franks wrung his hands in obvious agitation. “I sent to inform you directly, Lord Melton.”
          Alex nodded. “Thank you. But what happened to your guard dog? You assured me he was a veritable Cerberus.”He glared down at the animal in question, who was trotting amiably beside them. Brutus whimpered, as if he recognized the accusatory tone. He tucked his tail between his legs and dipped his muzzle in a perfect canine grovel. 
          Franks’s neck turned pink. “Ah, well, it seems the thief discovered Brutus’s fatal weakness. The clever devil bribed him with steak.”
          Seb rolled his eyes. “Whoever would have thought of that?”
          “Et tu, Brute?” Alex chided the dog, but neither of his companions appreciated the Shakespearean reference. 
          “There’s more, my lord.”Franks cleared his throat as they neared the minerals gallery. “It seems the crook has taken a personal interest in you.”
          “In what way?”
          They stopped in front of the cabinet. The glass was still intact. There was no evidence of forced entry, but the diamond was notably absent. A lone black feather lay in its place. Franks pointed to a folded ridge of card, propped up next to another specimen nearby. 
          “The thief not only took the diamond, they also replaced that particular label.”
          Alex bent to read the note and his brows rose in affronted disbelief. 
          Specimen: Meltonium Harlandii. Locale: London and its environs. Defining characteristics: Inert. Dull in appearance. Particularly dense. No practical uses. Almost worthless. 
          “What kind of rock is that?”Alex asked very softly. 
          “A meteorite,”Franks supplied. “It is, in all probability, the oldest thing on this entire planet.”
          Behind him, Alex heard Seb snort, then give up any pretense of trying to quash his laughter. “Oh, that’s priceless! Alex Harland: old and thick and not of this world!”
          Alex reminded himself that Seb was one of his best friends. It would be bad form to knock his bloody teeth out. He glared at the handwritten note. It was not the same hand that had written the Nightjar’s previous message about the sugar. It was equally neat and educated, but more sloping. Slightly—dare he say it—more feminine? 
          Seb wasn’t finished. “Is this how the Nightjar sees us at Bow Street? Big, hulking lumps with no more intelligence than a misshapen rock? I believe we should be insulted, Alex. Or, you should be.”
          Alex ground his teeth. One eyelid began to twitch. If he’d had any doubt about the identity of the Nightjar, this taunting little note quashed it. Emmeline Danvers’s cheeky face rose up before him, those lips curved in a teasing smile, those damnably alluring freckles peppering her nose, and his blood began to boil. 
          Franks unlocked the cabinet and handed the feather to Alex. Alex brought it to his nose and his stomach clenched in recognition. It smelled of her. His mystery woman. Emmeline Danvers. The Nightjar. 
          One and the same. Damn her. 
          Anyone who said women weren’t capable of such things was a fool. Women were capable of anything. He wasn’t precisely sure of how she’d managed it yet—although he’d bet the sudden appearance of that sarcophagus downstairs had something to do with it—but he was sure of one thing; she was his thief. 
          “One thing I’ve always wondered,”Seb said to the room in general. “How come ladies are always referred to as diamonds of the first water? Is that a gemological term?”
          Franks nodded, glad of the distraction. “It is indeed. ‘First water’denotes the highest quality. Diamonds are assessed by their translucence; the more like water, the better. It means they have a perfect cut, color, and clarity, and lack internal flaws.”
          “We all have internal flaws,”Alex growled. “And external ones too.”He touched the scar at his temple, then turned on his heel and strode toward the entrance. 
          “Where are we going now?” Seb demanded cheerfully. 
          “To the Danvers residence. Good day, Mister Franks.”
          Alex jogged down the stairs, out of the main entrance, gave directions to the driver, and jumped into the waiting carriage. 
          Seb scrambled in after him. “You really think it’s her?”
          “Without a doubt. I even met her here yesterday when I was talking to Franks. That woman has some gall.”
          Seb gave a crooked smile. “There’s something incredibly attractive about competence, don’t you think? I find it almost . . . arousing. In certain circumstances, of course.”
          Alex shot him a disbelieving look. “You think we should admire her sangfroid?”
          The little imp certainly had a cool head in a crisis. He had it himself, gained from his years in the Rifles, an ability to think clearly when bullets were whistling past his head. In a colleague, it was an excellent trait. In an adversary, it was irritating beyond measure. 
          Seb’s expression grew serious. “She might not have had a choice, you know. There may be extenuating circumstances.”
          “Everyone always has a choice,”Alex said grimly. “She knows the difference between right and wrong.”
          “Maybe her only option was choosing the lesser of two evils?”
          “Stop playing devil’s advocate,”Alex growled. “You sound as if you’re on her side. She’s a bloody criminal.”
          Seb shrugged. “I just think it’s odd that you’re so angry. You’ve never reacted like this with any of the other criminals we’ve been involved with.”His face took on a slyly innocent expression. “Maybe it’s because none of the other criminals had such perfect breasts.”
          “You shouldn’t be noticing her breasts!”
          Seb chuckled, delighted to have drawn a response. “You just seem, I don’t know, emotionally invested in this one. I’ve never seen you so animated. There’s more to this than upholding the law.”
          “You know what they say: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer . . . especially if they’re female.”
          “That should be the Harland family motto.”Seb chuckled. “Maybe we should get it carved above the fireplace at the Tricorn?”
          Alex winced. Seb made it his business to know everything about everyone. His personal motto was “knowledge is power.”And for all his teasing, he’d hit the nail on the head. Emmeline Danvers’s involvement felt like a personal betrayal, the shattering of all his foolish dreams. He’d held a false image in his heart for all these years, fostered stupid longings that should have been quashed long ago. The image of purity, of innocence, of that laughing shimmering girl, had been an illusion. 
          “I will catch her. I always get my man.”
          Seb spread his arms along the back of the seat with a grin. “See, that’s where you have a problem. Because in this case, your man is a woman. A very attractive woman.”

Review: 

Emmy is a thief, though not by choice and not without morals – if the two can be reconciled. Thrust into the profession by her late father, she believed her days of burglary far behind her following his passing. Unfortunately, an evil nemesis by the name of Danton has forced her back into the dangerous lifestyle. If she refuses to comply, she and her family will be implicated in the past thefts and sent to the gallows for sure. Reluctantly she dons the disguise she had thought retired for good. But a wrench appears in her plans when Alex Harland heads up the Bow Street investigations surrounding the missing jewels. The one man who fires her blood; whom she stole a kiss from those many years ago; who she always wanted but could never have. She really has no choice but to find some bit of fun within this predicament by taunting Alex at every turn. But he’s closer than she suspects and suddenly her pursuer becomes her savior. However, she has still committed crimes and with both of them sitting on opposite sides of the law, their endgame remains unclear.

Alex is caught up in every aspect of his investigation. The thrill of the chase and knowing he always gets his man is a rush like no other. But when a sensory slap from the past and deep longing for the one who got away suddenly intertwines with his missing jewel case, he is pummeled with conflicting emotions. And even then, the excitement proves too great to resist. Hot on Emmy’s trail and certain she is the one he is after, he pursues her relentlessly, trying to get a leg up on her because the minx always proves one step ahead of him. Not to be outdone, he makes his move. But the details of her actions are not what he expected and before he knows it, Alex is struggling with his ingrained honor-bound reputation and desperately wanting to protect Emmy. But how to protect her after the threat is neutralized will mean diving deep within himself and realizing just how profound his feelings for Emmy have become. Or maybe they always were. But convincing Emmy of his plan to save her and her family once and for all will require laying every single confession on the table – including the impact from that fateful night several years before.

Eeeeeep! This book is fricking fantastic! I have not read anything from Ms. Bateman before, so I also have not read the first book in this series. And glory be, I didn’t need to either. There were slight references to the previous book, but absolutely nothing that interfered with my ability to completely immerse myself within this book. Sure, the concept is a bit far-fetched. A lady of society moonlighting as a thief. Unlikely. But it was so much fun and I absolutely adored the characters. So ultimately, I didn’t give a fig whether it was a likely scenario or not. I adored the introduction and melted during the final chapter. The characters were phenomenal and I enjoyed getting to know every single one of them, except for Danton, of course – the dirty rat! Benedict was not a very big part of the story, so I didn’t get to know him very well. However, his brief interaction was on the marl and displayed the great friendship between the men. And Seb, well, he was immediately likable and I look forward to his book. Rounding out this fun cast, was the Danver family and their saucy maid, Sally. She happens to be quite skilled in several areas that help Emmy and Luc facilitate their thefts. It’s all quite exciting. Luc is the ever protective brother, but also key to helping Emmy complete her “jobs”. Injured in battle, he is somewhat limited in his abilities but is sure to help in whatever capacity he can. And then there is the unforgettable Camille. Grandmother to both Luc and Emmy and as fantastic as they come, Camille knows her own mind and while some views are rather unconventional, she isn’t afraid to let her thoughts be heard. She’s also sharp as a tack and tends to get straight to the heart of things rather than beating around the bush.

I also adored Emmy’s penchant for learning words in other languages that have no direct translation in English. Emmy already had quite a few entertaining words to share and, of course, Alex added a few of his own to her unique, but brilliant collection. Overall, this was a super fun read, packed full of humor, and just a bit of suspense. I loved the continual game of advance and retreat that Alex and Emmy played throughout the story, each wanting to gain the upper hand, yet scheming to keep their cards close to their chests. They couldn’t give up every secret initially, and so they would lunge and parry with one another, trying to outdo the other. Being on opposite sides of the law also helped to add a bit of flair to the plot. When everything seems insurmountable, love still prevails. And with Emmy continually leading Alex on a merry chase, she clearly emerges as the singular woman who would be able to hold his interest even after he captures her. Neither Alex nor Emmy would be content to live a rather bland life, but together the thrill they inspire in one another makes for a rather tantalizing future. Despite Emmy being a thief and Alex a man of the law, they both stole one another’s hearts long before they acknowledged it. Ms. Bateman is a fantastic author and I cannot wait to experience her work again! I am quite looking forward to Seb and the woman who will capture his cynical heart. Within the space of these tantalizing pages, Ms. Bateman has instantly become a must-read author that I plan to enjoy as many times as possible. Lovers of historical romance are sure to fall in love with this author and these memorable characters instantly.

Kindle version provided by NetGalley/St.Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.