Henry St. Giles, the Earl of Cravenswood, longs to find his soul mate. Now that his two best friends, both reformed rakes, are happily married, the need becomes an obsession. When they challenge him to find a wife by the end of the season or marry his neighbor, the innocently alluring Lady Amy Shipton, he can’t believe his luck. He wins, either way. But in a darkened garden, a case of mistaken identity, a drunken kiss, and a dropped emerald earring, leads Henry on a Cinderella hunt. He knows the woman he held in his arms could be the one he's searched for all his life. He just has to find her.
Lady Amy Shipton is determined to marry for love instead of sharing her husband like her mother did. So why did she let her handsome neighbor and romantic fantasy, known as the Sinful Saint for his bedroom prowess, seduce her in his garden? And what can she do when in the middle of their passionate encounter; he whispers another woman's name. Now Henry is hunting the owner of the earring Amy left behind, and she's determined to retrieve it before her identity is revealed. She's not about to give her father the ammunition he desperately wants in order to force her down the aisle.
Type: Historical Romance, London
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
To Challenge the Earl of Cravenswood was a pretty delightful little read that brought together so many of my favorite storyline devices. Reformed rakes, meddling friends determined to see their friends together and a case of unrequited love finally coming to light and all with a fairy tale twist.
Henry and Amy were both so easy to love. They're sweet and funny and just good people. I really liked the fact that they'd known one another since she was a child and while she may have always had a secret fantasy of him, Henry had never noticed her until it was nearly too late. Amy's was an interesting heroine. She's very..., well, she can't seem to help herself and her curiosity which was rather entertaining and Henry's a determined hunter when it comes to finding his mystery woman.
I loved watching things develop between the two while he was still trying to figure out who she was and after. There are some really hysterical little set ups and some oh-my sexy scenes. This is definitely one sexy little historical with a little voyeurism and self loving going on and some delicious moments involving a breakfast table...
Then the most erotic sounds flooded her hearing, arousing groans, soft sighs and the sound of skin intimately touching skin. Don't you dare turn your head! But the urge defeated her. She moved and let her eyes stray to the mirror.
Heat flooded every inch of her skin as she breathlessly watched Henry St. Giles take his earthly pleasure.
While some parts did feel a little repetitive and certain phrases and actions didn't really ring true to the time period if you just focus on the story of Amy and Henry falling in love it's
truly a delightful read that'll have you laughing, smiling and falling for two wonderful characters as they finally find their hearts desires and one another.
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What do you think of To Challenge the Earl of Cravenswood?
Do you like takes on fairy tales? Meddling friends that bring a couple together?
Have a favorite reformed rake?
