Mad About the Earl by Christina Brooke

Lady Rosamund Westruther has no qualms about her arranged marriage to the Earl of Tregarth.  In fact, she has many grand romantic allusions in her mind but those are all quickly forgotten when she arrives at his estate to finally meet Griffin.  Rosamund is shocked that her betrothed is not waiting anxiously for her arrival and is actually in the stables.  Filthy and having no intention of cleaning up and meeting her properly, Griffin is big, gruff to the point of mean, and visibly scarred.  Hoping to scare her away, because, really, how can this beautiful woman love someone who is so clumsy and scarred, he gives the lovely Rosamund a searing kiss that neither can forget.  It steals Rosamunds heart and it shakes Grifiin to the core to be so affected.  Rosamund leaves and returns home to await word of her wedding.  And waits and waits for three years until a letter arrives telling her to arrive in due haste for the wedding.  Well, this puts all of Rosamunds feathers up and she refuses until Griffin returns to London and properly courts her.  As Griffin has no clue how to court a woman, he is beyond exasperated but as he needs this marriage to finally happen, he is reluctantly pulled into the world of London.

I was so happy with this Beauty and the Beast romance.  Rosamund starts off a bit childlike in her dreams of a perfect happily ever after, but the time apart has made her stronger and realize that even in a marriage of convenience, respect must be given and earned.  Griffin is a delightful 'beast'.  He grew up with an abusive grandfather and was always told how clumsy and unloveable he was so he finds it very hard to believe that someone can see past his scars and truly love him, to want to be around him.  I loved watching Griffin get cleaned up from his causal country living.  His shopping expeditions with Rosamunds cousin were quite fun to read!  I loved seeing more of the relationship between the cousins and how Rosamund came to be under the Dukes care was quite unusual I thought and added a bit of freshness to the storyline.  I really hope her brother has his own story coming soon as he seems like a tortured soul that needs his own HEA.

Overall, this was another wonderful book from Christina Brooke and as I was really excited to read this one, that makes me happy :)  I enjoyed how we got to watch Rosamund grow from a silly young lady into a more mature, realistic woman who knew just the thing to say to help her scarred hero believe in her and himself.  Griffin comes across very gruff and uncaring but underneath all that, he just wants to protect his sister and prove to Rosamund he is worthy of him.  The only thing that I would have liked a little more depth too was how Griffin got his scars.  It is mentioned a few times but I would have appreciated more flashbacks to his childhood to really get more of an understanding of his horrible childhood.  And even though this is book two in this series, it stands well on its own.  In fact, it will just make you want to read the first book if you have not already!  I am very eagerly anticipating the next book in the series and hopefully many more to come!  4 1/2 stars

Ministry of Marriage series (Hello gorgeous covers!!)

June 26th