Beware the 'chocolate box' lid dream!

Brave New Earl (The Way to a Lord's Heart #1) by Jane Ashford    

There were many things about this story that plain annoyed me. Mostly that a young woman Miss Jean Saunders who storms into an Earl's country estate, claiming to be his wife's cousin, a woman he's never met, and demands he hands over his son. Why the Earl didn't just throw her out on her ear is quite beyond me. Prior to this scene we have met the kindly yet duplicitous uncle, the fallen-to-pieces grieving widower, and now enter stage right the overbearing do-gooder surrounded by hints of something about her upbringing. Yes, Benjamin Romilly, Earl of Furness was not paying attention to his son due to his melancholia after his wife's death. Well in fact he'd handed him over to his staff and the child had run wild. But really, as if a Lord of the realm is going to hand over his son and heir to a woman he doesn't know, despite her claiming relationship to his wife and her parents, just beggars belief. So what we have is this regency comic farce developing with overtones of Alan Ayckbourn. Contributed to further by insights of Benjamin's uncle, Arthur Shelton, Earl of Macklin, who seems to be trying to act out as some sort of regency Yoda to a set of bereaved Regency gentlemen.
I really liked the orphan Tom, and the gentle irony that Jean gets more than she bargained for with her introduction to young Geoffrey. Definitely not the 'chocolate box', ride into the sunset with adoring child being saved from a scoundrel of a father she'd imagined. The reality is a rather shocking wake up call. But to be fair Jean is made from stronger stuff.
However an interesting concept for a new series and I'm looking forward to see how future stories develop having decided that this is a romantic farce with comic overtones.

A NetGalley ARC

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