The Formidable Earl by Sophie Barnes

 Ida Strong’s father is wrongly executed as a traitor and the haughty Earl of fielding is trying to help her clear his name after he accidentally almost got her killed. 

Another great historical romance by Sophie Barnes with mystery and suspense thrown in. A story with many twists and action - great read.

I have always enjoyed reading Sophie Barnes' books.   She is a terrific writer.    This book is romantic, engaging and sweet.   I like the mystery and the characters too.    Another fun read!   :)

This is one of a series but has the potential to be read as a standalone from Sophie Barnes, whom I usually love.  Her characters are charming and oftentimes pop of the page which I appreciate!  That is no different for Ida Strong, our heroine and orphan.  She's had a hard upbringing, one that found her declaring to out the true criminal after her father's execution for his being an alleged traitor.  I found Ida to be appropriately paranoid given what she was up against, but also kind hearted and deserving of a romance.

However when Simon her supposed hero came in, I wasn't sold...  He find's Ida at a brothel, and knowing who she is, and WHY she's hiding, he manages to tell all of London by morning!  What?  I get that she needed to be out of the brothel for the two of them to interact, but why did he do that?  That made me less interested in him as a love interest for sure.  

But despite that his friends believe him to be so prim and proper, he sets Ida up in a house to help hide her from the damage he's caused.  Truly magnanimous...  He also offers to help her find the true criminal because he was in the military with her father years ago..  So they start off and in hiding her, he takes her to a ball?  It was all very confusing.  

Eventually, I could see the sparks between these two, but I think it was too late for me,  We learn some pretty horrible things from his past and then the option he chooses before our happy H/h couple gets there happily ever after really soured me unfortunately.  I feel like they're good together but Ida had to forgive a lot, even by regency romance novel standards.

I'll naturally keep reading Sophie Barnes, but this was a miss for me..

My opinions are freely given and my own.  Posted here, goodreads, B&N, Amazon(when live) and on my instagram.

I really enjoyed this book. Simon, the Earl of Fielding, cares too much about what society thinks. Of course, he falls in love with someone no one in society will ever approve of. Ida, the main character, is smart and headstrong.  I like that she doesn't wait around, and tries to solve the mystery of her father's betrayal on her own. She also doesn't have any interest in being merely a mistress. I'm not sure that I needed such a detailed plot about England and France and Napolean, but the main characters kept me reading. For folx looking for romance and some steaminess without being super explicit, this is the perfect read.

This book didn't do it for me. The thing about a series is - the books have to work both in order and as standalone, because not everyone will read the previous books in a series. I haven't read any in this series and I felt like I was jumping into an in-flight story. There was no prologue, no setting the scene. 

At the opening, Ida Strong - the daughter of a former soldier executed as a traitor to the crown - has been exposed as living in a brothel in St. Giles by Simon Nugent, Earl of Fielding. As she runs from the brothel trying to maintain her cover, she's attacked and Simon saves her. Then the plot is set in motion: he knew her father when they fought together, and they team up to solve who framed him... with her being installed as his (fake) mistress.

I didn't understand Ida's backstory, and we later learn she was in a previous book (The Forgotten Duke). Simon was apparently featured in the first book (A Most Unlikely Duke), where he lost his fiancé to the duke. 

I just found the book boring, rambling, and a bit ridiculous. Simon takes her to the Huntley's ball, even though she doesn't think it's a good idea. Because <i>what if someone recognizes her as the traitor's daughter???</i> Valid. However... she goes... and then IMMEDIATELY TELLS EVERYONE THEY'RE INVESTIGATING WHO SHE IS!!

Simon was annoying. He was supposed to be a prim and proper dandy I think... but he just came off as an uptight prig. And I guess we were supposed to think that him having an affair (and refusing to marry Ida) made him... less uptight? Or because he eventually wants to marry her... that's what makes him less uptight? Also there was a very brief mention of his younger brother. He had gotten a duke's daughter pregnant, refused to marry her; her brother had called him out, but Simon gave him a ticket to escape to America; the girl died in childbirth, and the boy was raised as her brother's child... and Ida says "it's not your fault what happened". Uh... YES IT IS! Or at least, letting your brother escape instead of forcing him to make right what he'd done?? And then it's just... never mentioned again. Saved for a future book, maybe? Yikes.

Like I said, this book just wasn't for me. I think it could have been edited heavily and the plot/pacing could have been restructured to make it more smooth. 

*ARC provided by Netgalley

I always love a good “haughty lord gets his comeuppance” regency story, and The Formidable Earl delivers this trope in spades. Simon, Earl of Fielding, is discriminating, snobby, and above fray. He won’t muddy his boots with anything that falls beneath is exacting standards, which is why it’s shocking when Simon encounters a friend’s daughter, Ida, and feels compelled to come to her aid. As Simon’s adventures with Ida develop, his heart begins to learn that the loveliest things in life cannot be held to his cold, unemotional standards. A solid  romance set in my favorite time period of Regency love.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. Decent premise for the conflict/adventure, but felt a bit rushed. The characters (male, particularly) didn't really get to evolve over time, and the progression of the story was similar. It just jumped from this extreme to that one. People did 180s in what they thought and how they acted, instead of developing. Same with the action. It all gave a bit of a moustache-twirling villainy feel to the bad guys, and a near-deus ex machina feel to the resolution.

I have very mixed feelings about this book.
Ida Strong's father was wrongfully sentenced to death as a traitor, and Ida has been in hiding ever since.  When Simon sees her, he is shocked to learn she is alive, as he knew her father.  Simon feels he in indebted to Ida's father for saving his life, and in turn must help Ida find justice for her father's death. 
The basic plot was fine, had some action, some romance.  I loved Ida's strong character and determination.  I was not too crazy about Simon.  I found him to be very pompous and cold, and even when he tried to be warm and caring it didn't quit work.  
All in all not a bad read just not one of my favorites by this author.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Formidable Earl is a fantastic read filled with mystery, action and sizzling romance. Highly recommend this read. Although, it can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading Sophie Barnes previous books in the series. 

Thank You Netgalley for the ARC.

An interesting story about the daughter of a wrongly convicted traitor and a stuffy earl who worries more about appearances than people. I enjoyed the romance and Ida, but just did not care for Simon. I think the author intended for him to be unlike able at first and then transition into a caring person but maybe it just took too long to happen for me.

This book has a lot of potential, but because it has so many filler scenes and isn't straight-to-the point in terms of narration, it lessens my overall enjoyment of the books. I skimmed a lot of pages because there's too much unimportant detail, some phrases are reiterated over and over again, and the narration always segues to another thought instead of finishing one conversation first before starting the next. There's a chunk of scenes in here that serves no purpose and could've been removed to make the book more concise and not annoying to read. The characters also lack depth and chemistry, and throughout the whole reading experience, I'm just waiting for the book to end to end my misery.

An Earl who worries about doing what society dictates as proper behavior finds his world turned upside down. The daughter of a soldier who saved his life is in danger. She wants to prove her father wasn't a traitor, he wants to help. As they look for answers, he becomes more compassionate and understanding. He'll do anything for love. 
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the character development was good and the plot moved along nicely. I thought it was a nice twist on a historical romance.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Orphaned Ida Strong knows she needs to keep hidden. Her father proclaimed a traitor and executed four years ago, she's got a target on her back for her very public proclamation for finding the true traitor. So when Simon Nugent, the Earl of Fielding, identifies her while she's hiding in a brothel, she's know even more at risk. Simon knew Matthew during their army days, and never believed the rumours of his treachery, but his wouldn't do anything to harm his reputation and speak up. Feeling guilty, he needs to help Ida, and working together, they try and discover the truth about the plot to free Napoleon. However, when people discover Ida the daughter of Matthew Strong, and is living in Simon's other London home, they assume the worse, and thought Simon is growing more and more in love with her, he won't harm his reputation by marrying her.

I haven't read the other books in this series, so probably missed a little of the backstory of the characters, especially Simon's jilting by Gabriella, and how Ida met Guthrie and was rescued by him, but I didn't think that was a real hindrance. Ida was such a strong and headstrong character, and she definitely stood by her morals and her aspirations. Being with Simon, opening up to him, was hard, as she's struggled to trust people since her father's execution, and knowing that the best she can hope for is to become his mistress is very difficult. Simon is definitely set in his ways, and his flawless reputation is everything, but little by little the shell is broken, and we see the real man underneath. Him and Ida together had a lovely relationship, and one that definitely developed naturally for the situation they were in. I enjoyed the secondary characters, such as the Duke of Huntley and Guthrie becoming involved in the investigation, and though I'd worked out who was the true traitor quite early on, the reveal was still enjoyable to read. Some parts of the book, such as the ending, was a little contrived, but all in all, a good read.

Ida has been in hiding since her father was declared a traitor and hanged. Simon outs her to the ton and then has to protect her from enemies that are looking to silence her. Together they must find out who set her father up as a traitor. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

fun story. I love the mystery. I loved how Simon wanted to do right by Ida's father for saving his life by keeping his daughter alive and find justice for a man he greatly respected.

I was a bit shocked by the ending. The entire story hinges on Ida's desire to see justice done on her father's behalf. Yet, at the end she's out of the picture while Simon solves the mystery, sees justice done in her father's name, and she doesn't even ask about it. I get that a lot happens to the girl but COME ON the men handled it and she was completely left out? So that made me angry on top of the idiot hero who really was a coward and a bit of mewl. He was a self-righteous prick for most of the book, it would've been better had he been killed and the heroine had found someone better. Anyone better!! The only reason he realized he "loved" her is because she created boundaries and said no more sex. That's not love, that's just lust... ugh.

What happens when a falsely accused traitor’s daughter seeking justice for her dead father and a bored Earl get together? This book apparently. The story follows Ida Strong, she’s just trying to clear her father’s name and try and survive the continuous attempts at her life. She was the stronger part of the book and I found her story to be interesting. Now onto the reason why I did not like the book and why it impacted the rating... our love interest, good ol Earl Simon Nugent. Simon was a lukewarm slightly daft character, he was judgmental and if I’m being honest, I was not having it with his “I love her but she’s not good enough to be my wife so I’ll definitely keep her as a mistress and marry a wife only to have as a breeding for the future heir” I wanted to slap him suffice to say. He really hindered my liking of the book and by the time it was over I had sincerely hoped Ida ended up with someone else. Guthrie, her parental figure, said it best “ Ida deserves better” and I whole heartedly agree. Every thought Simon has makes me want to question why he even wants to be with her. All in all, if we disregard the entire love plot and Simon’s part in this, the story of Ida investigating and trying to seek justice for her father while navigating various death threats was much more interesting. 

* Thank you Netgalley and Independently Published for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*