Series: The Duke's Estates, #2
Traits & Tropes: unexpected inheritance; titled hero; fish out of water; class difference; hidden identity
Publication Date: 02.22.22
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; England
Heat Level: 0
Rating: 2.5/5
Jonathan Merrill has just had his comfortable life in Boston upended by the news that he is now the Earl of Ferrington. He arrives in London to reluctantly accept the responsibility, hoping to find a family at last, only to find unrelenting criticism and vitriol from his great-grandmother. Seething with hurt and disappointment, Jack decides to go see his ancestral seat and then plans to return to his life in Boston.
Harriet Finch is drowning in resentment at having been forced off to her grandfather’s grandiose country estate. He intends to exchange his wealth for connection to a title, using Harriet to do it. She longs to escape his plan, but with herself and her mother now out of money and dependent on his largesse, she has little recourse but to go along. When she meets a handsome stranger, she begins to see a way to rebel with a suitor her grandfather would never approve of, but she’s shocked and livid at the deception when she learns who Jack really is. Her grandfather is, of course, thrilled at the prospect of an available title so close by. Jack is willing to accept the unwanted title if it means a loving marriage, but Harriet must first determine where her priorities lie.
This story was perhaps a bit too sweet for my taste, but I did enjoy the way Harriet and Jonathan got to know one another in an organic way, outside the bounds of high society. Jack’s desire for a family and a sense of belonging were endearing and relatable, making him a hero one wants to root for. I think Harriet ultimately wanted those same things, but the way she went about it was mostly nonsensical and her questionable decision making is where this story went off the rails a bit for me. She came off as rather vapid much of the time and quite a few of the dialogue between her and her two friends felt like useless filler. I even remember one of the girls saying something along the lines of not knowing why she’d said what she did, so the conversation didn’t even appear to make sense amongst the characters themselves.
My principal issue with Harriet is that she blew Jack’s “deception” way out of proportion. Sure, he failed to disclose to her that he had a title, but it wasn’t like he was trying to deceive her or manipulate her for his own gain. He was simply trying to come to terms with a major upheaval in his life and attempting to understand just what his new role would be and what the title meant. He didn’t grow up titled so it’s not like this position defined him in any way or made him disingenuous. If anything, he got to know Harriet on a more genuine level for not bringing the title into play. For some unknown reason, Harriet judged Jack from the first, labeling him as some sort of rogue, for no apparent reason, then continuing to underestimate him throughout the book. I’m still not sure why she did this, but she came off as pretty spineless and quite inconsiderate. At one point she’s even surprised to learn that Jack had friends in Boston. This just struck me as such a snobbish and unnecessary thing to say, especially since she’d professed to like him at this point. She focused only on the fact that he’d kept something, ultimately a trivial thing, from her and didn’t spare a thought for the upheaval he faced or how he might feel. I was cheering for the love here, but it just continued to feel like Harriet was criticizing every kind thing Jack attempted to do, holding up some rigid, unattainable standard despite professing to have no care for the opinions of society.
I know she was in a tough situation with her need to get away from her spiteful grandfather, but this didn’t make her any easier to like. The plot of this story felt a bit weak in general. I kept waiting for the grandfather to get the set down that was coming to him and was disappointed that he never faced any real consequences for his machinations, though at least Jack’s vitriolic grandmother did get put in her place. I was happy to see Jack finally get the chance to establish the family he’d always longed for, but I definitely felt the love between the secondary characters more than I did between Jack and Harriet.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2884941259
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5382987456
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