I really loved this book. The characters were some of the best I've read about.
I loved how the author broke from the notion that love interests should be perfect, and how love is supposed to be the only driving force behind any decision.
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I found how imperfect Simon was endearing. He had to face obstacles and his own prejudices to be able to love Ida completely.
I can't stress how refreshing his character development was, the author kept him struggling with the role society put him in, which led him to actually hurt Ida's feelings, albeit unknowingly.
When he finally got his priorities straight, I was so proud, I actually teared up in some parts.
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Ida is also one great character, she knew what she wanted, and she was ready to fight for it. You could feel how besotted with Simon she was.
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The plot was great, I'd have preferred for some more action, all the fun stuff were revealed toward the end. I think the revenge arc could've been stronger.
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I absolutely loved the ending, it was wholesome and emotional. I got my closure, and was happy they got their HEA.
Overall, this book is definitely a success.
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*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

London 1821

Simon was very conscious of his standing in society and always tried to act the part of respectable. Oh yes to a boring, staid fashion. But things in the past had made him this way.

She was in hiding due to her father being hung as a traitor and everyone thought she was dead too. But all she wanted was to prove her father innocent and find the man who was the real villain.

When Simon recognizes her, her cover is blown and now he feels he must protect her because he had not been able to save her father.

But attraction flairs and a journey of suspense and finding love and redemption ensues!

Another installment of Sophie Barnes 'Diamonds in the Rough" series. This time it was Simon and Ida HEA. I enjoyed the build-up to the story. There were parts in the books that I felt were slow but it was able to come together. I enjoyed the book.

Simon Garrison Nugent, Earl of Fielding, is tired of looking for the perfect bride. Simon will spend the time hanging out with his friends instead. Simon still attends all societal functions as long as his friends are there. When some of friend’s tease Simon and mention Amourettte’s, a brothel. Simon can’t turn down the bet. Ida Strong the traitor’s daughter, is kept hidden there so everyone would not hurt her Ida’s aunt promised her father, the traitor to keep her safe. Ida can’t help but be curious, so sneaks out to the landing to watch. In so doing she meets Simon who is there wanting her. When Simon realizes it is Ida, the daughter of friend that was wronged. Simon plans to correct a wrong and keep Ida safe. His good intentions to help also throws both in danger, but what complicates matters even more is love.
What a delightful suspenseful romantic historical romance told brilliantly! The mystery is at first alluded too, but as the book progresses it slowly unfolds, heightening what he did to cause dire events to happen. The story did drag a little especially when it seemed that the snobbish brash hero, Simon would not admit how he really felt. Sure, there isn’t any question on who he is, but at times he was so frustrating. Yes, he’s an Earl so he must act like one so his title makes it easy to sympathize with why he acts the way he is. Ida the feisty damsel in distress heroine might be in danger manages to try to escape her reality. She was truly a great character and despite Simon’s attitude willing to risk everything. This is still a wonderful story well worth the read!

I thought this was a fun, sexy, and sweet romance. Adding the element of mystery really stood out to me in a great way as it was a bit different than other romances that I typically read. Of course, I loved that!

I really enjoyed Simon and Ida's story! I loved watching these two solve what had really happened with Ida's father. This was a great addition to the Diamond's in the Rough series!

This is the 6th book in Sophie Barnes Diamonds in the Rough Series. It features Simon Nugent, Earl of Fielding who recognizes that he is a flawed man and he wants to make up for the person that he has been. When a former friend's daughter gives him the chance to do a good deed, he decides this is his opportunity to do something right. Unfortunately, he is extremely attracted to Ida Strong.

Ida Strong only wants one thing and that is justice for her father. She has no room for any romance with anyone. She finds trusting others very difficult, but as she begins to develop feelings for Simon, she begins to trust him as well. This is a lovely romance that has a slow build. It is an entertaining read for lovers of Julia Quinn and Mary Balogh.

I was provided a copy of this book by NetGalley for an honest review of the materials.

I am a big fan of Romance books and I found this one to be a very enjoyable read. I will be looking for more books from this author.

An enjoyable historical romance whit a great heroine and not so great hero for me unfortunately.
While I liked them as a couple and their banter and steamy scenes and the mystery, the hero stepped on my toes too many times to like him and hence my lower star rating.
But it’s a great story overall that many lovers of the genre will definitely enjoy

I want to start off by saying that the title is not fitting, the earl was not quite formidable so I give it 3 stars. But then again I guess titles are picked to grab the reader. I have thus far read all of the previous books in this series and I’m sad to say I did not fall for Simon as I did the others. Simon Nugent, the Earl of Fielding is so pompous, self righteous and on top of that he’s a bore. I found myself rolling my eyes and wanting to do him harm a few times. Ida Strong on the other hand you will absolutely love. Her strength of character, her resolve, her humanity and everything she is, screams to you for her to get the win and so she saves the entire book in my opinion. She pursues the clearing of her father’s name relentlessly and the fact that Simon did not try to air him more nags at the reader at first but as the book proceeds one gets that it was a bit more complicated then that. That is all I will say to not give the plot away. Overall it was a good read, I just feel failed a bit by Simon that’s all.

I received a complimentary download of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed here are completely my own and sincerely given.

I love mystery, suspense, action stories, as opposed to boy meets beautiful girl, have sex, story ends happily. This was an enjoyable read, girl in trouble, seeks help from handsome Earl to put an accusation of treason to rest. I loved the couple, the settings, these are more to my liking. Good read!
I highly recommend! Thank you Netgalley!
carolintallahassee. com

This was my first full length novel by Sophie Barnes, although, I’ve read several of her novellas and have loved them. Usually with historical romances you don’t necessarily need to read them in order. Even though I have the first five books sitting on my bookshelf, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to begin with book 6. I was wrong. I honestly felt like I was coming into the middle of the story when this began and, throughout, I felt like I was missing something. So I don’t recommend starting in the middle. Other than that, this was an ok book. I didn’t really feel any chemistry between the two main characters and I thought the mystery was lackluster. It doesn’t effect my desire to read the other books in the series however.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book in the Diamonds in the Rough series that I have read. The book can be read as a stand alone but I found that it would have helped with secondary characters if I had read some of the previous books. I really wanted to know more about Gunthrie and Huntleys pasts and why they were willing to help Ida.
My biggest problem with this book was that there was to much talk about finding the man who framed Ida's father as traitor. I just wasn't that interested in it and I wanted more romance.

I absolutely loved the main female character Ida Strong. Oh Em Gee she was spectacular! She had charm, manners, useful skills, such as know how to use a gun, cooking, knitting and she had a wonderful sense of humanity. She valued character over what society thought. She had determination and grit. She never gave up and she never gave in. She made informed decisions and was able to think quickly on her feet. She did not let her personal feelings get in the way of making her decisions. (Well at least a majority of the time. LOL) When she did stray it landed her in a whole heaping pile of steam seething dung worth of trouble. She had people who believed in her, protected her and loved her. She had the most profound impact on Lord Simon Nugent, Earl of Fielding. Simon for all intense and purposes lived by societies rules and kept himself on a respectable path. He would never dream of sullying his title or reputation. He was pretty much a stick in the mud. Led a very unspectacular life. Pretty boring according to his friends. They challenged him to breaks some of his rules. This led to his meeting Ida and his life was never the same. In her thoughtful way she showed Simon by how she thought and lived her life how different his could be. This resulted in a difficult transformation in Simon. But as time when on the transition took place almost at the point when all could be lost. This is an exciting story of Ida trying to prove her father's innocence four years after he was sentenced to death by hanging for treason. She knew he was innocent and was determined to ferret out the guilty party. Simon had caused Ida's life to be in danger. He felt obligated to help her. But more importantly her father Matthew Strong was a good friend of Simon. Matthew had saved Simon's life during the war and he felt guilty he had not done more during his trial to help his friend. He had a chance to redeem himself with Ida now and would move heaven and earth to help her find the guilty party and he actually had to humble himself in order to get the help he needed. This book is a page turner. I had a hard time putting it down. The action is nonstop and on top of all of this was the blooming romance between Simon and Ida. The relationship was hard on both of them. Ida did not want to be a mistress and Simon felt he could not offer marriage. What a conundrum that luckily would be solved before the bad guys killed Ida or got rid of her some other way. This story had gripping and consuming twists and turns that kept the reader totally off guard as to who the guilty part was. An excellent read. I highly recommend it.

Love love ida. She stands up for herself, has an opinion and is overall amazing. This was a wonderful book and the romance was enjoyable. Simons transformation was great.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Simon Nugent, the Earl of Fielding is arrogant and possessive and haunted by his past choices. When he identifies a young lady Ida Strong while she's hiding in a brothel, she's know even more at risk. Ida wants justice on behalf of her father and she’ll take any risk to achieve her goal. She has a hard time trusting the handsome Earl of Fielding but she can’t fight the attraction between them. He agrees to work with Ida so they try and discover the truth about the plot to free Napoleon. She's struggled to trust people since her father's execution, but who can she trust to help her solve the plot? A captivating story with romance, mystery and intrigue. I have voluntarily read and reviewed these excellent story.

This is book 6 in the series; I’ve read a couple of the others and could follow along reasonably well what was happening here. You may have to take some things at face value if you don’t want to go back and re-read the previous books.

Ida Strong’s father died a traitor. She’s hiding in her aunt’s brothel until she inherits the money set aside for her, on her twenty-first birthday, at which point she will… do something that’s never actually explained. She doesn’t seem to have a plan. Any plan she did have would have been derailed the moment she was recognised by Simon, the Earl of Fielding, and her identity promptly spread over all of London.

I can’t begin to express my utter distaste for Simon, but perhaps you’ll begin to share it when I tell you that when Ida protested him ordering her to hide away in his spare townhouse, he threatened to have her locked up in Bedlam.

Yes. The infamous insane asylum.

Instead of maybe suggesting he could post guards on the doors or servants inside the house to watch over her and protect her from those who want her silenced, he threatened to send her to Bedlam. This is straight-up a villain move. It’s horrifying.

I came VERY close to a DNF right there, but I prefer not to critique a book without complete knowledge of it, so I read on, thinking that it had better be a particularly epic grovel.

Reader. There was *NO* grovel. NONE.

Ida tells Simon after the Bedlam threat that he’s the most awful man she’s ever met (you got that right, sister) and then… just… forgets about it. He does a bunch of other rotten things, including literally saying to her face that he can’t marry her because of her reputation when it is ENTIRELY his fault that her reputation was ruined IN THE FIRST PLACE. Something he never even acknowledged.

Ida was brave and gutsy and apparently, utterly unable to remember Simon’s awfulness for more than five minutes at a time. I’ve never met a woman this bad at holding a grudge. There were moments when I was cheering for her, like when she stood her ground and refused to be Simon’s mistress because she firmly believed she and her future children deserved better. And then the story would switch to Simon’s POV again and I wanted to throw the book out of the window because he was such a spineless, craven worm. He let her languish in prison because he was too cowardly to put enough pressure on his uncle to make the man cave in and retract a false accusation, and because of it, she nearly ended up transported. As a romance hero, he failed in just about every possible way, and consequently, I’m afraid this is getting a one star from me.

I was so excited to be given this next book in the Diamonds In The Rough series!! I couldn’t wait to read Ida & Simon’s story! It did not disappoint either! Simon is our sexy Earl, who has told he is proper, boring, & a rule follower...he is now set out to prove his friends wrong! When he busts into a brothel he demands Ida assist him! Omg! Guys she doesn’t work there & has been in hiding from someone who is a threat! These two really have a great meet-cute. Simon & Ida actually have a connection...in more than one way! Simon had served with Ida’s father in the war & wants to help Ida prove her father wasn’t guilty! Simon is determined to make things right for Ida! These two seriously go through so much on their journey & both weren’t looking for love. But of course HEA! I really enjoyed every action packed slow burn to love pages! All in all a great addition to this wonderful series!!

Title: The Formidable Earl
Author: Sophie Barnes
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Overview: Simon is our hero and he is rather stuffy when we first meet him. Quite the prig actually. He is above reproach and never does anything outside the rules of Society, and therefore is exceedingly boring. He is an Earl and (as we commonly see) is stuck in the view of having to marry someone of similar rank.

Ida is a young woman living in a brothel that her only living relation owns, her aunt Phillipa. She isn't a whore, but lives here in hiding as her life is in danger should anyone know where she is. She isn't a weak heroine, but neither is she the strong leading lady that we see in many romances today. She dreams of marrying for love, a relationship like her parents had.

Our leads meet when Simon goes to Phillipa's brothel after his friends inform him he is quite boring, predictable and ALWAYS follows the rules of Society. When he enters the brothel, he sees Ida on a second floor landing in the shadows and assumes she works there. Ida, shocked but not wanting her aunt's business's reputation to suffer, comes down and speaks with Simon. Without getting into all the details, Simon figures out who she is and after he is thrown out of the brothel, he goes to the papers as she is somewhat infamous.

Pros:
- It's an interesting storyline. Ida's father is wrongfully accused and convicted (and sadly executed) for treason, which he did not commit. After Simon outs Ida's whereabouts, she sets off on a mission to find who framed her father. It is a storyline that had a lot of potential.
- Ida is someone I think many readers could relate to; she isn't perfect or the strongest of women, but she is relatable.

Cons:
- Where was the steam?! I have read several books by Ms. Barnes and I do not recall them skimping over intimacy like this book did. Did I miss this somewhere?
- It bothered me how Simon offered Ida the role of his mistress more than once, even after she'd made it abundantly clear she was not interested. Authors do this sometimes and it bothers me because I would be done with a man who did that, full stop (regardless of how much I cared for him; to me this is a clear indication the feelings are not mutual). I understand the times were different and she needed to find a way to look after herself, but she did have money coming to her once she reached her majority, so its not like she'd be destitute.
- The mystery had a lot of promise, but the ending feels clunky. It gets overly complicated and then is rushed to finish it up in an acceptable numbers of pages. As a reader, this drives me nuts. If a story is good, I will read as many pages as the author wishes to write. When a good story is rushed, that can ruin a story in my opinion.
- There is a LOT going on in this book, too much in my opinion. There were some things I think should have been edited out as they were glossed over, so why mention them in the first place (e.g. what happened with his brother/nephew)?

This was a decent read, but the lack of steam between the characters made their relationship feel flat to me. The chemistry was there at times, but felt off in places (and not the usual turbulence a new relationship may experience). I give the book a rating of 3.5 stars as the storyline was interesting, but I felt there should have been more development of their relationship, steam, and more editing/work done to the mystery being solved as it felt rushed. Also, the epilogue is about Ms. Barnes next book, not about how Ida and Simon are doing in their happily ever after. I'm a stickler about this, but I LOVE epilogues and was VERY disappointed to not get that last glimpse into their lives.

I received an advance readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Stubbornness meets head on!

So an upright, uptight Earl, Simon Nugent, Earl of Fielding, meets his nemesis in the form of Ida Strong. The daughter of a condemned traitor, Ida has one aim, to find justice for her dead father. Simon had a hand in that, and his regrets about that incident haunts him. I couldn't help but lock into that Sinatra line 'Regrets I've had a few!'
Out of the blue, discovering Ida hiding in a brothel shocks him. Now comes a time to help Ida, but unknown threats around Ida's commitment to learning the truth hamper any growing feelings Simon might have for her.

An ARC from the author via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)