Escaping the Earl by Lauren Smith – a Review

Description
Peregrine Ashby, Earl of Rutland
A gentleman.
A reluctant aristocrat.
Desperate to avoid marriage.

Peregrine Ashby, the newly and unexpectedly titled Earl of Rutland, is muddling through the affairs of becoming a suddenly wealthy and titled man of means. The last thing he wants to worry about is a finding a wife. After the disaster of his parents’ loveless marriage, he’s sworn off wife-hunting.

But when he stumbles quite literally into a mysterious beauty wearing a mask at a ball who begs for his help he can’t deny her. Her request? Make love to her beneath the stars and save her from a terrible marriage herself. After the magic of the night is over and the mysterious beauty has vanished, he remains haunted by her and what might have been…

Sabrina Talleyrand flees her home when she learns her brother has sold her in marriage to a foul man. Knowing the one thing that will stop the marriage is no longer being a virgin, she seduces the first man at a masked ball that attracts her attention. But making love to the handsome dark haired stranger with amber colored eyes has left her changed in more ways than one…

Review:

Escaping the Earl by Lauren Smith is the 16th book in her League of Rogues series. This book starts with a young woman seeking help in escaping a marriage that she does not want and a man with a title and commitments he didn’t ask for!

Peregrine is so confused with running his new title and everything that comes with it! He certainly doesn’t want to find a wife at the moment!

Sabrina needs a man! Any man will do, except the man her family want her to marry! She needs to get rid of her virginity! If she does that, then the horrid man claiming her have in marriage won’t want “used goods”! Donning a mask, she is determined to attend a ball and become a “fallen woman”

Both Peregrine and Sabrina fall for one another both literally and figuratively. And spending a magical evening together they both wonder about the other, but as masks were worn to this ball, neither know who they are! But it doesn’t stop them from thinking about each other.

And when she takes up employment with a lovely man with a cute daughter, Sabrina breaths a huge sigh of relief. Her life will continue as a nanny to the lovely family that has taken her in.

Peregrine on the other have is still wondering about the mysterious young lady he had a midnight tryst with. And so when he encounters her months later he is surprised that she’s only a nanny and not some lady! But he’s going to peruse her and maybe get what he’s been dreaming about for months.

A historical romance with a slight twist. Most historical books I’ve read have the young woman hanging onto her virginity until either marriage or the right man. But this one has her seeking to just give it away to the first man! And usually the man is an arrogant bore or a rogue, but Peregrine is neither.

This is the first book in this series I’ve read, and I’ll definitely go back and visit the League of Rogues Series at some point. But I have read other books by this author and I’ve been thoroughly entertained.

Plenty of angst and a little steam for this book. Both it’s not a marriage Peregrine offers Sabrina, it’s a role of mistress! His parents marriage was a disaster and so he’s never going to fall into that trap.

Sabrina is heartbroken! She wants a family with Peregrine, she’s given him her body and heart. What’s a girl to do? Luckily the family that have taken her in can supply the answer and they leave the town and Peregrine be find!

It’s a shortish book with plenty going on. But you’ll want to know if Peregrine and Sabrina find a HEA, or will she fall for Rafe and his lovely daughter…..

Your going to have to find that out for yourself. ?

Reviewed by Julie

Copy supplied for Review