The Earl I Ruined

Scarlett Peckham

Dec 2018 · NYLA

About this eBook

She’s beautiful, rich, and reckless...

When Lady Constance Stonewell accidentally ruins the Earl of Apthorp’s entire future with her gossip column, she does what any honorable young lady must: offer her hand in marriage. Or, at the very least, stage a whirlwind fake engagement to repair his reputation. Never mind that it means spending a month with the dullest man in England. Or the fact that he disapproves of everything she holds dear.

He’s supposedly the most boring politician in the House of Lords...

Julian Haywood, the Earl of Apthorp, is on the cusp of finally proving himself to be the man he’s always wanted to be when his future is destroyed in a single afternoon. When the woman he’s secretly in love with confesses she’s at fault, it isn’t just his life that is shattered: it’s his heart.

They have a month to clear his name and convince society they are madly in love...

But when Constance discovers her faux-intended is decidedly more than meets the eye—not to mention adept at shocking forms of wickedness—she finds herself falling for him.

There’s only one problem: he can’t forgive her for breaking his heart.

Ratings and reviews

When Lady Constance Stonewell accidentally ruins the Earl of Apthorp’s entire future with her gossip column, she does what any honourable young lady must: offer her hand in marriage. Or, at the very least, stage a whirlwind fake engagement to repair his reputation. Never mind that it means spending a month with the dullest man in England, Lord Bore Julian Haywood, the Earl of Apthorp, is on the cusp of finally proving himself to be the man he’s always wanted to be when his future is destroyed in a single afternoon. When the woman he’s secretly in love with confesses she’s at fault, it isn’t just his life that is shattered: it’s his heart. Constance discovers her faux-intended is decidedly more than meets the eye not to mention adept at shocking forms of wickedness she finds herself falling for him. An entertaining, enjoyable read, the second book in the series but easily read on its own. The book is well written & the characters have depth. I liked Constance but at times she grated on me & I must admit I found her very immature at times. I did love Julian, a strong man who had lost everything but had done whatever he could to try to restore the earldom, he was also hopelessly in love with Constance & had been for several years. The pace was good & it held my attention all the way through. My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) This is a new author for me and I did enjoy the book, but I have to admit that I was a little shocked of some of the content. I am not a prude, but was just surprised that this was an issue that was brought up in that era, I mean I have read lots and lots of historical fictions and I know all about the rakes and brothels, but again still didn't expect this but by no means think that it is a bad book. So we meet Lady Constance and she had wrote a poem on Lord Alpethorpe who she claimed was the most boring man out there. She ruins him with the type of information she diverged and now wants to assist him in cleaning up his name and also protecting hers if her brother finds out what she did, (apparently I missed the first book) Anywho the rest is enjoyable in their fake relationship and the feelings they had never admitted.

How can a Lady ruin an Earl? Well by writing a poem about said Earl that was not complimentary and somehow it gets in the paper for all the Ton to see. So how to repair it? Lady Constance is a matchmaker and thinks that Julian, Earl Apthorp is a very boring man (or so it seems!) and after her missive, his reputation is ruined. She is such a fun, outgoing person who really has a good heart and tries her best to fix the mess she made! So she suggests a fake engagement to help his reputation and save his bill in parliament. But the funny thing is Julian has been in love with Constance for many years. What? There is a lot of back and forth between these two with a lot of angst and sometimes humor. Secrets come out about Julian's source of earnings that is totally unexpected! Can the two come together or will they pull apart? With well written characters that were very likable, rounded out his tale and kept my attention until the end. Although part of a series, this can be read as a standalone But you really want to read the first book!

About the author

Scarlett Peckham is a four-time Golden Heart® finalist in Historical Romance who writes steamy stories about alpha heroines. Her Secrets of Charlotte Street series follows the members of Georgian London’s most discreet—and illicit—private club. She splits her time between London and Los Angeles. She loves chatting about books on Twitter, turning them into pretty pictures on Instagram, and doddering around haphazardly on Facebook.