This book was so entertaining. I was drawn into the story from the beginning and was involved until the end. The characters were complex and interesting. I found the story to be well paced and engrossing throughout the whole book. I was invested in the couple throughout the book and felt all the emotions through both the highs and lows of the story.The side characters were such an integral part of this story as well. This is the love story i needed to read at this time. If you want an entertaining and well written book this is it for you

2.5 ⭐️
WILL A FALSE MARRIAGE 


Shipping heiress Georgiana Caversteed is done with men who covet her purse more than her person. Even worse than the ton’s lecherous fortune hunters, however, is the cruel cousin determined to force Georgie into marriage. If only she could find a way to be . . . widowed? Georgie hatches a madcap scheme to wed a condemned criminal before he’s set to be executed. All she has to do is find an eligible bachelor in prison to marry her, and she’ll be free. What could possibly go wrong?
LEAD TO TRUE AND LASTING LOVE?
Benedict William Henry Wylde, scapegrace second son of the late Earl of Morcott and well-known rake, is in Newgate prison undercover, working for Bow Street. Georgie doesn’t realize who he is when she marries him—and she most certainly never expects to bump into her very-much-alive, and very handsome, husband of convenience at a society gathering weeks later. Soon Wylde finds himself courting his own wife, hoping to win her heart since he already has her hand. But how can this seductive rogue convince brazen, beautiful Georgie that he wants to be together…until actual death do they part?

I finished this book a very long time ago, unfortunately it quickly got shuffled to the bottom of my read list and had to re-read it to provide a semblance of a review.

A rich heiress, a Newgate prisoner on death row, secret marriages, Bow Street Runners , spies and submarines, oh my! This is an OK read when you have absolutely nothing else to do. Hopefully the other books in the series will prove better reading.

I received this ARC for free in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you NetGalley, Kate Bateman and St. Martin’s Press

THIS EARL OF MINE - Kate Bateman

GREAT CHARACTERS - 4 stars

#1 in the Bow Street Bachelors historical romance series

Plot - 4 stars - Georgiana is a wealthy businesswoman who needs a husband to get the fortune-hunters off her back. Her plan to marry a jailbird who is slated for death is crazy, but it seems like it will work. Unfortunately (or fortunately), she ends up marrying Benedict Wylde who turns out to be very much alive and a member of the ton who is undercover, working for Bow Street.

Writing - 4 stars - This is a new-to-me author, and I was caught up in the story right away. She set the stage from the fantastical first page and built the story from there.

Characters - 4 stars - This is where the story shone for me. Georgiana sounds crazy at first, but she's really a very smart businesswoman in a world where it just isn't acceptable for women to handle the leadership of companies. In order to protect her business from fortune hunters, she decides to marry a jailbird who is slated for death, thus avoiding future problems. Fortunately for him, Benedict Wylde is her choice, even though she doesn't know that he's a Bow Street detective who's working undercover. Their marriage starts off in a very unconventional way, then they spend the rest of the book trying to figure out how to handle their relationship. They definitely seemed to belong together. I liked the way their personalities matched--both intelligent, shrewd, and warm people. The witty banter was entertaining. And their chemistry was undeniable. Since Benedict is the second son of a father who gambled their fortune away, this of course puts doubts in Georgiana's head about his intentions, which further complicates their potential future together.

Title - 3 stars - Nothing particularly special about this title except that it refers to an earl, so we know it's based in historical England.

Cover - 3.5 stars - Lovely colors to draw the eye.

Overall - 4 stars - This was a very entertaining and enjoyable first-in-series book. The main characters were excellent, and the secondary characters and their stories (sister Juliet and boyfriend Simeon, friends Seb and Alex) only added to the fun. There were plenty of exciting action scenes, besides the hot romantic scenes. All in all, this was a very good beginning to a new-to-me series by a new-to-me author.

As I've learned to expect, a beautifully written and fun read. Bateman writes wonderfully believable historical stories with flawed but truly good heroes and heroine

Great premise. 

Marry a condemned prisoner to get out of a forced marriage.
That's the plan the wealthy heiress Georgiana hatches.
She'll become a widow and be free? Right. 
Wrong. 

She marries Benedict a second son of the aristocracy who's in jail undercover. 
He's lackluster. I wanted him to be cool and interesting. Unfortunately, he was a rake and not very good at the undercover stuff. 


3.5

DNF

Mildly entertaining but decidedly bad. The premise makes no sense, which would be fine if the book had a sense of humor but it doesn't. Seriously, her decision to marry this guy makes no sense!

I'm disappointed in myself, that I haven't read this book sooner, because I enjoyed it immensely. This book was like a fresh breath of air in historical romance genre, because of how independent the main character was. I loved how she demandend respect and wasn't affraid to voice her opinion. She knew what she want and wasn't affraid to seak it.
Her love interest, even though, very manly, like all men in historical romances wasn't overprotective and almost dismissive, but was interested in her opninion and respected it.
Maybe it was a little bit too instalovy, but it didn't impact my enjoyment very much.
Definitely reccomend.

I liked this author's writing style and would read this author again without hesitation. I'm interested in what else she has up her sleeve. Though this wasn't my favorite book, the plot being a little hard to believe, I did adore the characters. And the author, as I said, has an easy writing style which I love. I do believe many would love this book.

Oh my goodness did I enjoy this book! Kate Bateman is a new author to me, but this book has caught my attention in a great way! This Earl of mine follows Georgie and Ben on a thoroughly plotted adventure that leads to laughs and a steamy love match. Great book and I highly recommend it.

I started reading Kate Bateman's books when I first discovered them on NetGalley. She has quickly earned my trust as an author of deliciously quirky and romantic historical romance with intelligent and heart breaking characters. In the instance of This Earl of Mine, Kate has written her two main characters with very distinct characteristics and personalities.

Georgiana Caversteed, an heiress that is about to come into her own fortune, is in desparate need to find a husband other than her sneaky cousin. With hopes of finding a marriage of convenience in name only, she can inherit and keep her money without anyone the wiser. She meets our hero, Benedict Wylde, the second son of a Duke (and therefore, no real title), in prison and while he wasn't her first choice, he became her only choice. And thus, the intricate tale of Georgie and Ben begins.

This Earl of Mine is one of the titles in the Bow Street Bachelor series. I've read the other one two via Netgalley: To Catch an Earl and The Princess and the Rogue and all are equally dashing and romantic. This Earl of Mine is like the others - a toss of several various plots between the main characters and some side characters. There are a lot going on in this book and you are left in sort of a whirlwind. The ending was incredibly just and I was very happy for both Georgie and Ben.

You will read a bit more about the Bow Street Runners, which were prolific private police back in days in England. Benedict is a Bow Street Runner and quite a famous one too. While he is trying to beguile the young heiress and deter her every way possible to keep her out of danger and out of his heart, Georgie however, is determined to help her husband. Georgie is intelligent, bright, and full of heart. 

There's a bit of weaving back and forth in this story, but I was engaged from beginning to end. The mysteries surrounding the criminals were enjoyable to read and Ben did a great job as a private police. It was, however, heartbreaking at times when neither main characters wanted to realize their feelings for one another. Each thinks the other's love was unrequited. But that was what made their stories so interesting!

I recommend This Earl of Mine as well as all the other Bow Street Bachelor's series by Kate Bateman. Thank you for the ARC of this title!

Kate Bateman has quickly risen to the top of my favorite historical authors' list.

The writing is great as is her storytelling. I've read two of the Bow Street Bachelor's books thus far and find them very entertaining. Reading about strong women during the time period of the Bow Street Bachelors is so much fun.

The story takes place in London, 1816. Twenty-four-year-old Georgiana (Georgie) Caversteed has a plan. A grand plan to keep her fortune in her control, continue running the ship empire her father left her, and avoid marrying her gold digging cousin, Josiah, at all cost.

One might agree that marrying a stranger headed for the gallows the following day was a clever plan. Telling those who needed to know she secretly married a midshipman on one of her frigates, a mere sailor, was also a clever plan. Surely the prisoner's demise would leave her perfectly and secretly safe in widowhood.

Not so fast. When things do not go as planned that's when all the fun and intrigue of Georgie and Benedict Wylde's escapades begin.

I received with thanks an ARC copy of This Earl of Mine from St Martin’s Press and Netgalley.

This is my review of This Earl of Mine by Kate Bateman. This was published on 29th October 2019
I will start by saying I love historical romances and this one definitely fits what I am looking for. This is my first book by this author and will not be the last. I enjoyed the authors writing style. I will be definitely will be continuing on with the series. 

Would recommend if you love a Historical Romance

4.5 Stars!

This Earl of Mine features an amazing romance between an unlikely pairing that I enjoyed immensely.

Shipping heiress Georgiana Caversteed is used to men being interested in her money, but her cousin is the worst of them. To avoid being forced into marriage, Georgie comes up with a plan to marry a condemned criminal scheduled for execution so she can become a widow and have more control over her life. But when the man she marries turns out to be working undercover for Bow Street, Georgie gets more than she bargained for when the man shows up very much alive. Soon Georgie finds herself being courted by her charming husband who hopes to convince Georgie to turn their union into a real marriage.

Georgie was a wonderful character and I loved her from the start. She’s incredibly intelligent and knows what she wants out of life. Her knowledge about the shipping industry was impressive and I enjoyed the scenes where she got to talk about it as it’s clear she loves what she does. Benedict was quite charming and I liked that he wasn’t the usual type of hero, someone rich and titled. As a second son, Benedict has had to make his own way in life and now most of the money he makes goes to his brother to help dig the estate out of the hole their father created. The ever present need for money is what leads Benedict to begin working undercover for Bow Street and I found his work to be quite interesting.

Georgie and Benedict’s romance gets off to a bit of a slower start as despite marrying at their first meeting, neither of them expected to remain married to the other. Initially their interactions are spent trying to find a way out of their situation only for Benedict to become smitten with Georgie and him deciding to try and persuade her to stay married. The pair’s chemistry is fantastic and the banter between them was amazing. I loved the buildup in their relationship and when it finally progresses, it’s very well done. In addition to navigating their relationship, Benedict’s work for Bow Street has him searching for a submarine, something right up Georgie’s alley leading to some great scenes of the pair working together.

Overall This Earl of Mine was a fantastic read and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, To Catch an Earl, soon.

loved the chemistry between Georgie and Benedict. Benedict was just too much and all Georgie wanted was to be left alone. Now the fun begins for these too. A quick easy and fun read.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

An enjoyable regency romp set during the early days of the Bow Street Runners.  Benedict, a second son, has returned from the war against Napoleon and opened a gambling hell with his two closest friends.  Cultivating his reputation as a rogue gives him the perfect entree to be an undercover spy for the Runners, looking to uncover a plot to aid Napoleon escape from St. Helena.  Georgie, soon to come in to her inheritance, manufacturers a marriage of convenience to a soon-to-be-transported criminal in Newgate prison as a way to avoid her cousin’s unwanted advances.  Turns out Benedict is the criminal (undercover), and the marriage is real.  This was a fun, fast-moving book, with multiple storylines to keep things interesting and exciting.  I liked both of these characters; they were well-developed, and felt real.  The romance was well paced to it’s HEA, with enough back and forth to keep it interesting, but not get tedious.  The multiple storylines were nicely developed, and wove in and out of each other smoothly.  I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley.  This is my freely given, honest review.

This is the first book in Bateman's <i>Bow Street Bachelors</i> series and requires some suspension of disbelief. The heroine learned about her family's shipping business from her father and is now in charge of it. She is in a quandary: Her cousin wants to trap her in marriage to wrest control of the business, but in order to escape him if she marries someone else, she will still lose her business. So she embarks on a plot to marry a convicted felon who is in line to get his neck stretched real soon. As his widow, she will be independent. (Why she assumes that her unscrupulous cousin won't force her again to marry is left unexplored.) Unfortunately for our heroine, her felon dies before she can marry him. So she sets her sights on a sailor due for transportation to ends of the earth. This is an even better solution, because now her cousin cannot force her to marry him, and with this husband out of the way, the business is safe in her hands. (Like I said, the plot is a tad implausible.) 

The implausibility is further stretched by the hero's back story. He is a of the aristocratic class who is an agent of the government who is working on exposing a group of smugglers who want to liberate Napoleon from St. Helena. Unfortunately for him, he is arrested and imprisoned with the smugglers and is set for transportation. He cannot claim his upper class rank because that would blow his cover. So he is in prison, waiting to discover more of the plot. He thinks the woman approaching him with money to marry him is cuckoo but he is game. This is a marriage-of-convenience plot. 

There were a couple of reasons this book refused to take off for me. I like when characters are shown -- not just told -- to be competent at their work and then also shown to be engaged in that work. We are told that the heroine is good at running the shipping business, but other than a cursory telling of the things she does, we are not shown details. The hero's motivation for getting married is questionable. The other thing I found unpalatable is not really fair because it exists in a lot of the historical romance oeuvre: He is a rake who is not a rake. I really like rakes to be, well, rakish on the page, not in the past&#8212;I like to see redemption. Despite the good banter and flashes of humor and a reasonable MOC plot, the book ultimately didn't work for me.

You are a daughter that inherited her late father's shipping business and to keep your male cousin who is after your money, and the only way to get that is to marry you, you might do something outlandish in to be independent. Georgiana Caversteed decided she is going to wed a man/criminal that is headed for the gallows so she can be married and widow in sort order and then free to live her life as we please. 

She marries Benedict William Henry Wylde, but little does she realize that he is the second son of the late Earl of Morcott and well-known rake, is in Newgate prison undercover, working for Bow Street. She knows the name when she hears it and sees him saunter into a ball a few weeks later and realizes her husband is very much alive, and her plan for freedom is muddled. Benedict knew right away who she was when she said her name, and he didn't have a choice not to marry her when he was undercover in prison. But know that he has a wife, he would like to keep her because she is a breath of fresh air to his life. 

Trope: Marriage of Convenience, Mystery subplot

I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an honest review.

I love mistaken or secret identity stories and this one by Kate Bateman was great! The heroine marries a man facing death to escape her own predicament only to discover he didn't die and isn't who she thinks! Very emotional and sexy, this was my introduction to Kate's works -- I'll be back!

I wasn't familiar with Kate Bateman before reading this book, but with this book she immediately became a fave. This book was everything I love about historical romance and more. Seriously what's not to love about a book where an heiress hatches a plan to marry a criminal and pretend to be widowed to get out of another unwanted marriage only to end up married to the one person in the prison who was not actually a criminal. That premise made for a wonderfully fun romance that had me swooning, laughing, and completely captivated from start to finish. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read more from this author in the future.

Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Plot/Storyline: 📖 📖 📖 📖 📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
Romance: 💞 💞 💞 💞 
Emotional Depth: 💔 💔 💔 💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡️ ⚡️ ⚡️ ⚡️ 
Sensuality: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Sex Scene Length: 🍆 🍆 🍆🍆 

FINALLY! A book with a “mystery” and a villain that worked for me! At first, I wasn’t sure about reading this book. I thought I might hate it because books with spies and villains are not my thing. So I was worried I might hate it, but I am so glad I tried it because I was wrong. Wrong. Wrong!

I adored the premise of this book. The heroine, Georgie, forces the hero, Benedict, to marry her, thinking he is an inmate that will never get out of prison. But he’s really a spy undercover and when he’s released she suddenly has a husband.

I could come up with myriad ways to describe what I loved about this book, but I think the thing that struck me the most is togetherness. To me, this whole book feels like it was about them being together. They marry immediately and quickly learn that they are stuck in this marriage and instead of working against each other, they become a team. There is no animosity between them. No fighting. No disagreements. Just two people who are together in this crazy situation and they make the best of it. 

Their marriage and the investigation are the two things that drive Georgie and Benedict together. Georgie’s main reason for marrying an inmate is that she is so rich that no once can see her as worth anything more than a bank roll. Her mission is to become an unavailable women while still solidifying her place in society without ruination. Benedict is a penniless second son who is helping his brother pay off the debts of their father. His mission is to complete his investigation for some reward money. 

While both of their issues in life are rooted in finances, their greater battle is that neither of them are truly seen for who they are. Benedict is viewed as a rogue without scruples and a fortune hunter in his own right, when in reality he is honorable and loyal and doesn’t care one bit how much money someone has. And Georgie is overlooked entirely because people can’t see past her gorgeous sister and Georgie’s endless piles of money. So when Georgie and Benedict are thrown together, they don’t expect to find someone who can truly see who they are. And as they begin to learn about each other, they find partnership and trust in a way that neither of them ever expected. 

This togetherness is what made the “mystery”/spy/villain aspect work for me. Because it was just a backdrop to their relationship. There were interesting tidbits here and there to further the plot along, but the focus was always Georgie and Benedict.

In all honesty, Benedict is a terrible spy. He divulged his secrets too easily. Takes few precautions in his investigations. Makes decisions that involve Georgie to an irresponsible degree. Some people may be bothered by this, but frankly, I just don’t give a damn about those things. Because, as I said, these two were together through all of it! They shared the page and that is really what I want from a romance. 

I’m not sure I can properly call this a “mystery”, which is why I have been putting it in quotes. There were no people dying all over the place and their lives didn’t feel like they were constantly in danger. It was more an investigation style with a dangerous pinnacle. And I vastly preferred that it was not a whodunnit. 

There was the unfortunate villainous kidnapping of the heroine as a side story and that was resolved in a hilariously simplistic fashion. It’s probably the only thing I didn’t like about the book. It didn’t feel purposeful and the aftermath was not realistic to me. Georgie is just all “Oh, was kidnapped. No biggie.” With a flip of the hand, and everyone seems to go along with that. This is my biggest complaint about these story lines. No one is ever adequately traumatized by them. And in this particular book, it wasn’t integral to the plot in a way that there was no alternative.

However, it also happens to be a blip on the radar. One thing Kate Bateman did right here (at least in my opinion) was that this happed early enough in the book that we were able to move on and go back to the romance and end on a downpour of feels and love. And instead of the end devolving into one having to rescue the other, they worked together. Which is really all I want in a romance. 

The romance really took off in the second half of the book. It’s rare for me that the beginning sustains me until that happens, but here I was interested in the story line. The writing was so good. I loved the characters and their interactions with each other. And then once the romance truly gets underway, I just loved it more and more. 

I could really feel them falling in love. There was sweetness and joy that came about as Georgie and Benedict grew to understand each other. They had an easy going camaraderie that was fun to read, gave me some laughs, and made me melt for their companionship. I especially loved when they shared secret moments where they were amused by something that others didn’t seem to notice. They just got along and then fell in love when they weren’t expecting it. 

Their relationship also had a good dose of steam. Their kisses were hot and the sex even hotter. I do wish there was a drop more of it, but truly only a smidge and that’s because I am greedy for it. (As Becky likes to say.) I think my favorite thing about the sex is that we get a super hot love scene after they realize they love each other. I feel like that is so, so rare. Usually by that point you get a fade to black or half a scene. But I thought this one better than the first and had so much feeling. 

I could still feel them falling in love at the end. And that usually dissipates for me.  But here it was just growing and continued to develop to the very last page. In fact, I thought maybe this would be a 4 star book for me, but the end knocked it out of the park for me because it left me with all those bursting heart feels that I love from a romance. This was my first book by Kate Bateman and I cannot wait to read the next one.