'Twelfth Night with the Earl' had completely delightful characters and a wonderful storyline, all wrapped up in the Christmas season. Except for the totally unnecessary graphic sex it was a heartwarming story along the lines of the traditional Regencies I love.

This story of the Demon Earl, Ethan, and his childhood friend and first love, Thea was absolutely wonderful! Ethan, has just learned that his ancestral pile out in the country has been left running, which of course is draining funds from his coffers, but even worse, means he must go close his childhood home and confront the memories there. Not all of those memories bring him happiness. Ethan has been living in London, and living up to his nickname in every way possible. Upon his arrival, after a long whiskey laden solitary trip complete with some really funny internal monologue, he finds his home the site of a Christmas gathering.
The party ,of course, is lead by Thea. It is from there that hilarity ensues!
The story is filled with delightful characters, humorous dialogue, poignant moments, and a build up of heat between these two that is more than hot enough to keep the castle fires burning- and there are plenty of fires in this tale!
I found myself smiling and even chuckling while reading this book and couldn't put it down until it's very end.
I highly recommend this book, and the entire series, as it's been vastly entertaining!

Ethan, The Earl of Devon, has finally returned home! Drunk yes, miserable, yes, horrific memories yes! However, there is one truly good thing left at his Country Estate, his , and his dead brothers childhood friend, Thea!
Thea, was taken in by the late Countess, instead of learning to play the pianoforte, she learned to cook, played outside with the boys, life was wonderful, until Andrew fell down the stairs, breaking his neck, and everyone around him, their hearts! Truly Awesome Read! I highly recommend! Thanks! Enjoy!
carolintallahassee 👒

Ethan Fortescue has been the Earl of Devon for a couple of years now and he thought his ancestral home Cleves Court in Cornwall had been closed down. He’s never wanted to step foot in it again. So Ethan decides to makes a mad trip to see it done himself. What he finds is quite entertaining. He finds his childhood friend running the place, Theodosia (Thea) Sheridan who has loved Ethan since they were children. She knows that closing Cleves Court won’t quiet his demons so she tries to help him. The little orphan imps Henry and George who are ten-year-old and their sister Martha are simply hilarious and fun to read about. This is a wonderful story where a Christmas miracle happen for the Ethan by proving that his childhood home can become a place of love and wonder has he and Thea finds their HEA.
This is my honest opinions after I voluntarily read a copy of this book that was provided to me with no requirements for a review.

Ethan Fortescue, Earl of Devon, is headed to his childhood home, Cleves Court, to close it for good. He doesn’t want to ever live there again as his childhood memories are not all happy ones. He assumes the house will be empty or maybe just a caretaker. Imagine his surprise when he arrives at a Christmas Eve party. In his house with children running around!

Theodosia Sheridan, once his childhood friend and first love, is now the housekeeper at Cleves. Thea has brought the house back to life and he doesn’t like it. She has 3 orphans staying there as the orphanage is being repaired. Thea doesn’t want him to shut down the only home she’s known and talks Ethan into keeping the house open for 12 days.

Thea hopes Ethan remembers the good times in his childhood. He doesn’t like being there with the bad memories. He does remember his love for Thea and needs her to face his ghosts. Surprisingly, he puts up with the children and begins to spend time with them.

Much more happening in this wonderful novella that I won’t spoil. Of course, there is a HEA but the enjoyment is in getting there. I highly recommend this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC. Available Nov. 14th.

I generally avoid novellas, because the paucity of pages often means a compromise in character depth and emotional richness of the story. And Christmas stories tend to be too fluffy for my taste. Well, Anna Bradley has yet to put a step wrong and she certainly proves my generalisations wrong about novellas and Christmas tales. The story starts amusingly as with a convincingly inebriated Ethan, the Earl of Devon, returning to his ancestral home just before Christmas to close the estate for good and chase the ghosts which have haunted him for years. Only in that thoroughly sodden state can he force himself to return to his neglected country estate in godforsaken wilderness of Cornwall. This house carries many painful memories for him, that they overwhelm the happy childhood he experienced here. Instead of an abandoned, dilapidated house, Ethan is horrified to find the place all lit up and in festive condition and the culprit responsible, none other than his childhood friend and first crush, Phoebe. Throw in 3 orphaned rapscallions, inevitable Christmas cheer, witty banter and the grouchy Ethan doesn't stand a chance.

What’s it About? When Ethan Fortescue, the Earl of Devon receives word that his childhood home Cleves Court is hosting a Christmas party he can’t get there fast enough to shut things down. His past is haunted by memories of the place and he just wants to close up the house and forget it exists. When he gets there though he isn’t anticipating such a lively party or his closest friend Thea at the center of the madness. Although Ethan is determined to leave Cleves Court behind, he’s reluctant to leave Thea behind again and Thea is determined to remind Ethan that not all his memories of home are bad and that they can create new ones together.




Overall reaction to the story? From start to finish, Twelfth Night with the Earl has tons of humor and heart that I just couldn’t get enough of! Since Ethan first appeared in Lady Charlotte’s First Love, I wondered at just what was tormenting him so much that he was like the walking dead, merely existing. Anna Bradley answered those questions AND managed to give an insight to who Ethan was as a child, and what changed him so drastically. Bradley also introduced the delightfully feisty Theodosia “Thea” Sheridan, Ethan’s childhood friend and the current housekeeper at Ethan’s childhood home, Cleves Court. These two were quick to butt heads but what I loved about Thea was that she never cowered before Ethan, she gave him hell even as she tried to help him heal. Tough love all the way from her and that’s part of what made this holiday novella so lovely!


Something that really surprised me though were three of the supporting characters, three orphaned children named George, Henry, and Martha were such an entertaining addition to Twelfth Night with the Earl! I’m not usually a fan of kids in romance but these three were super special. They were likable, especially when they were causing trouble but most of all, they had a rather adult way of confronting Ethan that was funny AND poignant. Martha in particular was a favorite simply because at around six years old she just wasn’t having any of Ethan’s “lordship” behavior and she let him know it! I loved those three kids and that’s something you’ll probably never hear me say again.


Click It or Skip It? Click It. Ethan deserved his happy ending and Thea was the only one with enough back bone to shake some sense into him.

Enjoy this story of second chances at love settled near a warm fire!

I have loved reading the two previous books in this series “The Sutherland Sisters” and was excited to see the character of Ethan Fortesque, the Earl of Devon (from book 2) appear. He was portrayed as a rogue in the second book but was nothing but honourable in his intentions. The third book starts with quite a witty reflection by Ethan as he makes his way from London to his country seat, Cleves Court in Cornwall. He is quite drunk but in being so, he is frightfully honest about his feelings for his family home and about his role as the new Earl. In the first few characters, I thought that this would be a short novella simply because the Ethan and Thea Sheridan already know each other and the story seemed to move at a rapid pace. However, the events that plague Ethan and have led him to his decision to pack up the house and sell, slowly unravel. Ms Bradley slowly reveals titbits of information about Ethan and the demons that haunt him and his relationship to Thea, to draw the reader in.
Both characters were so dynamic and their relationship with secondary characters (the three orphans taken in by Thea) make them all the more likeable and believable. Once again, a well-developed story by Ms Bradley and you won’t be disappointed with the latest instalment.

This is a nice little book with some fun dialogue, and is perfect for the Christmas season.
Twelfth Night with the Earl might be listed as book three in a series, but there’s nothing in it that indicates you have to read in order.
I always perk up at a Cornwall setting, and Regency (like this one) and Victorian settings for Christmas books almost always make for great reads. Not sure why he was the “Earl of Devon”, though.
From the moment the mildly drunk and very grumpy hero rode onto the page I found this book to be great fun. Author Anna Bradley writes good dialogue and lively characters - including her secondary characters.
Yes, these characters aren’t behaving all that historically accurately - this series is more on the light-hearted end of the historical romance scale - but they’re entertaining.
I would have liked to have seen fewer references to “the holidays” (it has a really American ring to it), but that’s a small niggle.
If you’re looking for a lighter Christmas read, this one was pretty decent.

One of my favorites! Loved Devon in previous novel and was so glad he got his own story. He and Thea were perfect together. Great story!

Nice story & enjoyed the plot, however I've knocked off a star as I felt the ending was a bit rushed.

ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review

Review posted to my GoodReads

A delightfully entertaining holiday read. It is full of sweet love and redemption. While this book doesn’t feature any of the Sutherland’s, it does feature one of the characters we met in the last book, Lady Charlotte’s First Love. I liked Ethan in that book even though he was somewhat presented as a bad boy. You knew he had a good soul because of the way he stood up for Lady Charlotte. I was so glad to visit with him again in this book and learn his story.

You just have to like and smile at Ethan Fortesque, Earl of Devon, from the beginning. It is almost Christmas, he’s in his cups and he’s on his way from London to his country seat, Cleves Court in Cornwall. He’s thinking about all of the bad things that have happened in his life and especially about his wastrel father and he has this conversation with himself. “Too much . . . . earling? Earlishness . . . ? Lordshippery … .?” You can tell he has a good sense of humor.

Ethan had vowed never to set foot in Cleves Court again. He wanted to let it molder into the ground, to put it and everything in it from his mind forever. He thought his father had closed it up two years ago just before he died, but has just recently learned that it had been left it up and running. Ethan doesn’t care that it is almost Christmas – he wants it closed and closed now!

He’s tired and cold as he approaches his childhood home. He expects to find his old housekeeper and maybe one or two other servants in residence. Imagine his surprise when he arrives to a brightly lit home with carriages in front and the sound of Christmas carols wafting out to him. Well, he’ll put a stop to that right away – how dare they have a party in his house, without his permission.

Theodosia (Thea) Sheridan, has loved Ethan since they were children. She wants, above all else, to help him learn to deal with his pain and to learn that he cannot run from it. She knows that closing Cleves Court won’t quiet his demons – they’ll follow him wherever he goes if he doesn’t deal with them and make peace with them. Her challenge is to get him to stay at Cleves Court long enough to realize that and to make his peace.

You’ll meet three delightful imps in this story – Henry and George who are ten-year-old twins and Martha their six-year-old sister. They are orphans who are staying at Cleves Court while the orphanage is being repaired. These three have impishness and mischievousness fine-tuned to an art. Maybe they are just what Ethan needs to push him along the way to deal with his ghosts.

I hope you’ll give this lovely book a read. It is so much lighter and sweeter than the other two books, Lady Eleanor’s Seventh Suitor and Lady Charlotte’s First Love, in the series. It truly is a lovely holiday read.

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

This novella gives a happy ending to a secondary character of the previous book in the series, Lady Charlotte's First Love.

The Earl of Devon was a true friend of Lady Charlotte's and had proposed marriage even though neither of them had been in love with the other. The offer had been initially accepted then rejected after Charlotte's first love came back in her life and they had their second chance at love.

Ethan, the Earl of Devon, was a decent, compassionate character and I am happy he got his own story. However, I find the way how he is initially depicted in this novella not to be consistant with his background: there is no real reason why this man should suddenly resort to cursing and drinking in this book when he did not do so in the previous book, since he had already endured all the personal tragedies that supposedly justify his behaviour.

At least he seems to find himself again half way in the book and the romance with the childhood sweetheart he never forgot is quite sweet - literally since he is as desperate for the girl as for her apple tarts LOL.

It's a nice Christmas novella that can be read as a standalone. It lacks the angst and general emotional depths of the previous books, mailny due to its short length, but it's still a pleasant read.

This novel was an enjoyable read for the holiday. It continues sometime after the second novel in the series left off. I enjoyed the mix of christmas and romance.
Ethan Fortescue, the earl of Devon, has tragedy in his life and has not been able to get past his guilt. He is given the nickname demon and uses London as an escape from Cleves Court, his family home. He returns to close the house only to discover it is still running by the only woman he has ever loved.
Theodosia Sheridan has been running Cleves Court for the last two years, the only home she has ever known. She will do anything to keep the house open. When Ethan returns, she tries to help him remember the good times but also to help him let go of the past. She loves Ethan, but he does not make it easy for her. He is determined to close the house but Thea is opening up his heart again. Thea only has 12 days to change Ethan's mind. Thea is trying not only to save Ethan's home, but also trying to save him. Christmas is the season for miracles and forgiveness, but will it be enough to prevent the closing of Cleves Court?