The premise was the best part of this story. It was like watching a movie trailer and getting excited and then you watch the movie and you’re left wondering how the trailer and movie don’t match. While the story got off to a great start, somewhere about a third of the way in, the author faltered, stumbled, and eventually decided to toss in a completely new plot that made no sense. It went from a romance to a mystery and it wasn’t remotely well done. Kate started off as an interesting character, signs of an independent streak, but then that independence disappeared and she was the most boring milksop of a character.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

To Marry an Earl is an exciting, entertaining story of Kate, a young lady that has never known love. Her father does not care for her at all, and her mother cares, but lives in fear of her husband. Kate is basically given to the highest bidder, and the young man that wins her hand happens to be her dearest friend from years ago. James was her closest friend until he left without a word. Now, three years later, she discovers that he is the earl she has been betrothed to. She has promised herself to never fall in love with anybody because of all the pain she has endured in the past. As the wedding day approaches, she begins to receive threatening notes to end her betrothal. Her walls begin to crumble, and in spite of herself, she begins to fall in love with James. She doesn't want to end her betrothal. The night before the wedding at a ball, James receives another threatening note, and he announces to all that the betrothal is off. Kate doesn't understand what is happening, but the author of the threats talks her into going out into the gardens. A very exciting ending to a great book! Loved it!

TO MARRY AN EARL by KAREN THORNELL is a delightful historical romance novel which takes place during the Regency period in England. The author describes the beautiful Cotswolds where James Fenwick, the new Earl of Boycott, has his country seat, and where he is hosting a house party to celebrate his betrothal to Katherine Cartwright, daughter of the miserable Viscount Harcourt. Kate's father literally held his daughter up for sale to the highest bidder in order to pay his gambling debts, and James, who knew Kate when they were neighbours, literally saves her life.
There is a great deal of intrigue and skulduggery and we are kept wondering right to the end. Who will turn out to be the villain?!
I like the author's descriptions of the characters' feelings and the gentle romance in keeping with the times and society in which they live.
It is altogether a most enjoyable read.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Covenant Communications.
The opinions in this review are completely my own.

Karen Thornell has succeeded in writing an engaging and entertaining story. There was even a bit of suspense mixed into the storyline to keep its reader guessing on what would happen and who the villain of this story would be. I was constantly on the edge of my seat anxious to see what would happen next.

I did have a couple questions at the end that I wish were answered. Other than that, it was a very fun read and now I’m excited to read other novels by Karen Thornell.

The whole story plot was reasonable and realistic. Sometimes you read a book where the conflict seems to be out of the blue and blown out of proportion. Kate’s fear was reasonable due to the past that she had. Even though I was super angry with some decisions characters had made, the ending made up for it!!

I’m very much hoping that Karen has plans to continue this as a series. Henry needs a love story!! So do Julia and Lucas!

I received a complementary advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review. This in no way affected my opinion. It was a great read!

Kate Cartwright is sold off to the highest bidder by her father. Although Kate is horrified to hear her father has sold her off to pay his many debts, she is even more disturbed to hear she is now betrothed to the mysterious Earl of Bowcott.

James Fenwick has always loved Kate, but circumstances beyond his control forced him to abandoned her many years ago. Now that he unexpectedly inherited an Earldom, he is betrothed to her. But, she has no idea who her future husband really is.

To Marry an Earl is a sweet read. The author keeps the reader hooked as Kate gets closer to the Earl of Bowcott's true identity. Karen Thornell has written a dreamy novel with plenty of angsty romance and a delicious and unexpected mystery that will keep the reader guessing. Splendid read. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

A quick and enjoyable read. The plot was engaging and the characters sympathetic. I do love a good clean regency romance and this one was very well down. However, I will say that it doesn't stick out as anything particularly unique in this genre. It blends in pretty well with other books I've read, which is fine, but this also makes it somewhat forgettable. I will definitely be picking up more books by this author though. This book was fun and quick and put a smile on my face at the end of the day, which makes it a success in my book.

A new author with promise! I enjoyed so many things about this book. The characters were great. The story line was good. Her understanding of English regency time was good. I really like a book with lots of dialogue that shows you what is going on with everyone this had a lot of tell you going on. I felt like I didn't know the other characters at all. Her mother, the aunt and the father had more lines at the end of the book then threw the whole book. You learned about everyone threw her Point of View instead of forming your own opinion. This is something learned and developed. She did better with the main characters with this. The end drama was a little off, it didn't seem to work. BUt the end kiss was great! The romance was well done. This is a proper romance with a bit of violence at the end and some kisses.

Katherine Cartwright has been out two seasons without an engagement. Her Viscount father decides to sell her in marriage to the highest bidder to help pay off his debts. She is told that she is engaged to the Earl of Bowcott and sent with her mother to a house party at his estate to prepare for the wedding. The new Earl is none other that a childhood friend James Fernwick.

The book includes some tropes; arranged marriage, childhood friends to lovers and adds in a mystery of someone threatening the wedding. I enjoyed this proper romance and read it all in one sitting. Katherine is lovely as an untrusting and slightly confused bride to be. She has never experienced a happy family life. James is impulsive and makes some mistakes on his way to get the girl he loves. The mystery isn't hard to solve but adds a little drama.

The writing and pace are good and I will look forward to reading more from the author. The cover is beautiful and is sure to get the book some extra looks. This is a clean book for language and intimacy and I would recommend for older teens and up. Thank you to NetGalley and Covenant Communications for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

3 1/2 elevated to 4 (the cover is a solid 5).

I haven't read this author before and the cover drew me in (so pretty). It's a story of second chance as the main characters knew each other as children and teenagers.

Kate has an overbearing, cruel father and a mother who won't stand up to him. After two unsuccessful seasons, her father won't pay for anything more for Kate and decides to sell her to the highest bidder.

James, who's recently become an earl, hears of Kate father's announcement and makes an offer for her. The rest of the story goes through the difficulties James and Kate face, including learning to trust and be friends again, and mysterious threatening notes.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

A daughter sold to pay debts. A woman bought because of love.
You will not want to put this book down. The pace is steady and the suspense and missteps leave you thinking ‘just one more page then I’ll stop’. Kate’s father, Viscount Harcourt, is a drunk and a gambler too far in debt. The only thing he has left is his daughter who is marriageable age and has actually turned down suitors, usually at his demand. With his debts coming due he decides to sell her off to the highest bidder. Kate had never expected this in fact her plan was to remain a spinster and live off her dowry, which unbeknownst to her, was already gone thanks to her father. But she has no say, she is to be sold into marriage. James, Kate’s childhood friend and recent, unexpected Earl of Bowcutt, hears of the plan is determined to save her. Approaching her father, he offers more than the others bidders and wins a betrothal to Kate. But discomfort over being an earl leads to lies and evasions weakening Kate’s trust. She has been hurt before and she doesn’t want to be hurt again. James now needs to set about building trust and relationship with the woman he loves. But when notes threatening harm to Kate and James begin to arrive priorities change. The hunt to find the author and stop them before they can act upon their threats becomes top priority. I received an early copy and this is my honest review.

I am glad I got the chance to read this book, To Marry an Earl, by Karen Thornell. This is the first book I have read by this author and look forward to reading more things that she writes. This book appealed to me immediately upon reading the description. It includes a couple of tropes into one book. Arranged marriage, friends (then enemies back to friends) to lovers, suspense and mystery-this book seems to have it all. I would say that the charade didn't last as long as I thought it would and the whole time it was just overrun by thoughts of lying and deceit, so it wasn't really a fun charade.
The characters were well written, Kate's father is someone no one would ever hope to meet and it is a testament to her strong will that she turned out as kind as she did. James truly was a gentleman and seems like the perfect guy- a great Earl to his household and tenants and afforded Kate and her family every kindness he could. Their banter was fun once their friendship started coming back. It was also nice to see a glimpse into the side character's lives and some of their growth during the story. I hope that James's friends would get their own stories next.
Overall this was a great historical fiction novel. It was important to James's and Kate's relationship's growth to have had so much alone time together, but in this time period, I don't know that this would've happened so much. But other than that, I believe this was historically accurate and afforded a nice glimpse at regency life and a fun escape for awhile.

#tomarryanearl #netgalley
Suspenseful, romantic, engaging and lovely are just a few words to describe this delightful read! This is my first time reading a book by this author and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for other books written by her!