To Marry an Earl

Katherine Cartwright knows through bitter experience that true love is fiction and trust should not be bestowed easily. Now, after two unsuccessful London Seasons, her atrocious father has decided to marry her off to the highest bidder to pay for his gambling debts, ridding himself of the daughter he never wanted. A profitable deal is struck, and Kate is packed off to the home of her betrothed, an earl she has never met. Or so she believes.

When James Fenwick, the new Earl of Bowcott, learns that the girl he’s loved since childhood is being sold off like chattel, he’s determined to step in and save her. He makes an offer her father cannot refuse and insists on a proper engagement. But when Kate meets James again, her old friend cannot bring himself to admit it is him whom she is to marry. Soon, an intricate charade and a past that cannot be escaped jeopardize James’s chance at rekindling their friendship, to say nothing of winning Kate’s heart. Can love truly conquer all, or was this a match doomed
from the start?

My Review: 6/10

I had trouble relating to Kate from the first. Her situation did not seem remotely uncommon for the time: at best, a completely disinterested father, at worst, an abusive one plus a weak, submissive mother who essentially offer her to the highest bidder. That was essentially the lifestyle of the British elite, was it not? Make a match for your family that benefits them in terms of money, power, influence, land, titles, etc. I feel like a daughter's approval was rare, a love match even rarer. So I really didn't understand Kate's self-pity.

And then her childhood friend/love snags her. Who cares if they ended on bad terms? Who cares if he abandoned her? Who cares if she didn't fully trust him? She was going to be married, fast, one way or the other and she just caught the break of her life. Someone her own age, that she was attracted to, that she had a pleasant history with would fill that role. And they would have every opportunity to build something stronger and deeper than they had before. She had every reason to be filled with relief, joy and hope. To be grateful and eager. At least that's what I would have said to her had I been her friend.

Despite that, I am looking forward to checking out future books by this fairly new author.