This was the main buddy read for the Unapologetic Romance Readers group for December 2017. I'm still waiting on the November title from the library, but the library didn't have this one at all, so I went ahead and bought it and read it during those dark morning hours that you have to suffer through when you travel time zones and consequently wake up two to three hours before everyone else--and the sun. Good thing for Kindle Paperwhite, eh?The story here follows Anna, a widow living with her mother-in-law and one servant and whose household is going through some financial difficulties. She decides to get herself a job to help, and finds a position serving as secretary for the local earl, who has just moved back to the area and who no one has seen yet. Of course, Anna finds out quickly that she has seen the earl--he nearly ran her over with his horse a few days before, leading to a rather awkward encounter. And of course the two are attracted to each other, but there are Problems. Like Anna being barren (which, come on, she clearly isn't) and Edward wanting a family to continue his line, and him being engaged to another woman in order to pursue that. You know. Stuff like that. There's also a very minor blackmail subplot, but most of the book involves Anna trying to seduce Edward, even going so far as to get herself into a brothel so she can have sex with him without him knowing it's here.
This has a good premise and good writing, and I felt the characters had great chemistry, but looking more closely at it, there are definitely some problems. Edward has a violent temper, doing things like throwing objects at his steward's head, and it seems like maybe that's not a great person to get involved with. Anna is confident enough to go to London to seduce Edward, but not if he knows it's her--and then gets miffy when he doesn't realize afterward. Uhm...what? And when she tells Edward she doesn't want to marry him, he won't take no for an answer. I know, I know, it's a romance and they need to end up together, so clearly he's going to have to ask her again--but he outright harasses her way past the point that was acceptable. And he continues to sleep with her before breaking off his engagement to his fiancee, which is pretty slimy in and of itself. The whole "woman sneaks into a brothel to have sex with the man she desires" trope is also one I've encountered before and not one I'm fond of.
That said...I didn't dislike this. I think Hoyt's writing is really good, as I mentioned before, and I think it carried the book through its rather questionable character and plot points. She can write good tension and good banter and a good sex scene, and there is also a minor side romance that was quaint; it's always nice when love isn't exclusively reserved for the main characters. Also, I liked how the blackmail plot was resolved. Anna makes a questionable (again) choice regarding it at first, but then realizes what she's doing and works to rectify it. Of course things still go downhill, but that was more Edward's fault than Anna's. The main story is also framed by a fairy tale book also called The Raven Prince, which follows the structure of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" but with a little less work needing to be done on the heroine's end to get her man back. But while I liked this device, I'm not entirely sure what purpose it served since the two stories don't really parallel each other at all.
This was my first Elizabeth Hoyt book, though I have a bunch of hers on my to-read list. Based on it, I would read more; some of my other favorite historical romance authors have made some questionable choices in their back catalogues as well, and I've loved other works of theirs. (Lisa Kleypas comes immediately to mind.) Hoyt's writing was strong enough for me to not just toss her to the wayside, and I'm interested in seeing what she might have to offer in other plots, preferably ones with less issues involved.
2.5 stars out of 5.
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