You Never Forget Your First Earl

Love will find a way!

This novel went to a place I didn't expect. It developed not only an interesting romantic plot but provided extra fascination by describing Brussels at the time of Waterloo. However one cannot read of these times and this place without thinking of Georgette Heyer's, An Infamous Army. I still think of Heyer's Duchess of Richmond's ball and all those young men leaving for death and destruction after dancing gaily, then slipping away as duty and honor calls. Quinn's novel aptly recalls these emotions (as Quinn points to her personal and obviously very raw feelings in her author's note. Bravo!)
Geoffrey, Earl of Harrington, needs a wife to take up a post in Brussels. Elizabeth Turley has set her sights on Geoffrey but he show more needs to come up to scratch for theirs to be more than a marriage of convenience. Elizabeth is a wonderful character. Geoffrey just needs the right sort of nudge to blossom. The search for love between these two, alongside the dangers they find themselves in, makes for a great read!

A NetGalley ARC show less

Men are just so clueless when it comes to love and relationships with women. Geoffrey, Earl of Harrington, first son, and heir to the Marquis of Markham, is evidently the king of clueless. He just assumes that, because he has expressed an interest, the lady will be likewise interested. He has his list of qualifications for a bride and when he finds one who meets those qualifications and his sight is set on her – he just expects to get her. He has absolutely no clue – none, nada, zip – that they wouldn’t want him. He has no desire to fall in love – he has friends who married for love and they are either in agony or ecstasy. No, he just wants someone who meets his qualifications and it would be nice if there was a bit of passion show more between them. It really isn’t that he’s conceited, it is just that he is clueless. He thinks that the ladies will have the same attitude that he does – you find someone with the right qualifications, and you make a match. It is the business of a relationship. That attitude has cost him one woman (The Marquis and I (The Worthingtons #4)). Will he realize that he needs help before his time runs out? He has to have a bride very quickly now that he lost the last potential candidate – he only has a matter of weeks to pursue someone, marry her, and leave for the continent to assume his new diplomatic position. You just have to love him because he really is so clueless and naïve. I loved watching him grow and learn!

Lady Elizabeth Turley has been the overlooked jewel of the season. Her more beautiful, vivacious friends have garnered all of the attention and now it is the end of the season and she has no prospects. There is one man who caught her attention (Harrington), but he was completely focused on her friend Charlotte all season – now, Charlotte is marrying someone else. Elizabeth is both interested and hesitant when her brother invites Harrington to tea so they can be introduced. She’s interested because she’s been attracted to him all season and she’s hesitant because – if he loved her friend Charlotte and she married someone else, how can he be ready to love again so soon? Yes, you have it, Lady Elizabeth wants a love match. Since men find it hard to say those words, how can she tell if he loves her or not?

Both Geoff and Elizabeth follow the advice given to them by others and they are off on a merry chase. I love Geoff’s reactions to his grandmother’s list of things for him to do in order to secure Elizabeth’s hand. True to character – he looks at the list, picks a couple of easy things and ignores the rest. Then, he is surprised when that doesn’t work. Finally, though, he does embrace the list and wins the fair maiden. That doesn’t mean all is well in the neighborhood.

After Elizabeth overhears a conversation between Geoff and his father (after the marriage), she comes to believe that Geoff doesn’t love her and will not love her. Now, what is she to do? Well, she follows advice from her mother-in-law and her grandmother-in-law – who both had the same problem with their husbands. If you want to know how well that works, you’ll just have to read the book!

The largest portion of the book takes place in England with Geoff and Elizabeth dancing around each other. But, the latter portion deals with them traveling to Brussels just before the battle of Waterloo. Those were some perilous times and Quinn’s scene-setting is brilliant. You feel you are right there with the tension and the threat of Napoleon overrunning you at any point. It is also amazing to see what a household had to go through to re-locate during that time. It certainly wasn’t like just calling the moving company and off you go.

Elizabeth really came into her own once they were traveling. You will come to admire her very much. She is calm, caring, concerned, organized, and brave beyond belief. She really is what a heroine should be.

I really liked all of the secondary characters in the book. Well, all of them except Elizabeth’s father. He only had a small part to play in the book and he was mostly very melancholy and still, years later, consumed with the loss of his wife. However, his absence left the door open for us to meet and come to admire Elizabeth’s brother – Gavin. He’s delightful and I can surely see a book in his future! Another one I’d like to see a book for is Lord Littleton – he needs to fall in love and have his HEA. 

This is excellently written – as are all of this author’s novels. The plot is well thought out and the scene setting is perfect.

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"I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher." show less

I should have known that when I was only halfway through the book and Elizabeth and Geoffrey were happily married that something bad was bound to happen. Getting married was easy - being married was another story.
Ella Quinn does a great job with her characters and the setting of Brussels just prior to Waterloo. The trip from England and facing the war brings out the best in both characters.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley to read in exchange for a fair review. You Never Forget Your First Earl is book number 6 in Ella Quinn’s The Worthingtons series. I do think you need to read the whole series as the hero and heroine in this book have appeared in the other books and knowing a bit of their back stories will make your enjoyment of this book more complete. Geoffrey Lord Harrington starts out this novel as a pompous ass on his way to propose to Lady Charlotte Carpenter because she is the most sought after lady on the marriage mart and he needs to be wed in order to take up a diplomatic position in Brussels.... never mind that Charlotte does not wish to travel among a host of other reasons why Geoffrey would not show more suit her. The set down he receives is not quite enough to make Geoffrey reconsider his ways and his courtship of Elizabeth Turley looks to be heading to disaster too until he receives some good advice from his grandmother and Elizabeth who does likes him decides to make him work at his courtship. As always Ella Quinn has written a delightful romance and our hero learns that perhaps love is not quite as bad as he thought it would be. Quite steamy Publishing Date May 29, 2018 #YouNeverForgetYourFirstEarl #NetGalley show less

Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author. I normally like Ella's book, and I didn't hate it, but it wasn't my favorite..I did like and enjoy Elizabeth however I kind of wish she had a better man than Geoffrey. I found him standoffish and stuck up. Poor Elizabeth loves him and thinks he feels the same, but she was in for a rude awakening. Does Geoff fix this mess. Does he realize that he does truly love her or will he be too late? Well you need to find out..