Title: The Earl Crush
Author: Alexandra Vasti
Publication date: 6 Feb 2025
Publisher: Corvus
Genre: Regency
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy from Corvus publishing, the author and Rachels Random Resources. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced by gruff Scottish Earl’s with explosives.
Purchase links
https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781805464006
https://www.foyles.co.uk/book/earl-crush/alexandra-vasti/9781805464006
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1805464000
Synopsis
Right girl. Wrong Earl.
Lydia Hope-Wallace’s secret life as the anonymous author of rebellious political pamphlets has led her into a correspondence with the charming Earl of Strathrannoch. When she learns he’s in dire financial straits, Lydia sets out for Scotland to offer him a marriage of convenience – to, erm, herself.
Arthur Baird, Earl of Strathrannoch is stunned when a bewitching stranger offers him her hand in marriage. But when he realizes that his traitorous brother has been writing to her under his name, he’s bloody furious.
Desperate to track down his estranged sibling, Arthur needs Lydia’s help. What he doesn’t need? The attraction that burns hotter each moment they spend together. As Lydia slips past his defences, Arthur will have to risk everything to keep her safe – even his heart…
Review
I am heavily into my regency era again and I was longing for a sweet, yet slightly spicy regency rom com that I could just sink into without having to engage my brain.
Thankfully Rachels Random Resources knew exactly what I needed, and the delightful folks at Corvus were able to satisfy my cravings with this Alexandra Vasti novel about one of my favourite characters from Ne’er Duke Well.
Lydia (my own namesake) is almost debilitatingly shy and has been secretly writing inflammatory political pamphlets under the pseudonym ‘H’.
A certain Earl of Strathrannoch has been corresponding with her for quite a while and their politics and personalities align and so, uncharacteristically, Lydia makes the bold choice to travel to Scotland to offer marriage.
But when she turns up at the Castle, the gruff Earl of Strathrannoch has no idea who she is, but believes it is his missing brother who has been writing to her in order to uncover secrets about the government.
What follows is a delicious romp about the English countryside in desperate search of his brother as they try to stop him committing treason.
I loved Lydia. Her social anxiety and crippling shyness filled me with so much empathy, although I have never thrown up in a potted plant, I have wished to run away from social situations. Her bravery in the face of her issues was so wonderful to see and made her such a well rounded, appealing character.
I absolutely adored Arthur. His gruff exterior masked a broken heart and the absolute essence of a gentleman. His insistence on helping Lydia but not coddling her just made him the perfect match.
I loved the perfect amount of spice, not too hot but in comforting amounts and with devoted longing.
I even loved the hoards of Zebra, the diverse side characters and the frenzied plot.
This was so very nearly a five-star book for me. So close.
The reason it didn’t get a full five stars was because of the swearing. I know the Scottish typically get stereotyped for being foul-mouthed but in the 1800s people lived and died by their religion and would not have used either God or Jesus in that context.
There was a treasure trove of expletives about the devil, hell and damnation but not about the other side.
They would have used sexual swears among men but it beyond inexcusable to say anything like that to women. Even “Lawks” which was a mispronunciation of “Oh Lord,” would have some women fainting.
No one was saying “Jesus f**k” or blaspheming out loud with ladies present. It just wasn’t done and every time Arthur swore in his head or out loud it really dragged me out of the story and the time period.
I know these rom coms aren’t totally historically accurate but something that obvious was grating.
For further reading about vulgar language I would recommend the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar tongue found on or posts by regency authors like Ella Quinn or Austen.
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