Captured by the Earl

by Melanie Rose Clarke. Pub Date 10/14/2021

5*. Best enjoyed when you really want a historical romance but you also want some comedy thrown in.

The Synopsis:

Lady Emma Sinclair is betrothed to the influential Earl of Peyton—or, at least, that’s what she wants everyone to think. See, the Earl of Peyton doesn’t exactly know that they are engaged as he’s not even in England and isn’t scheduled to return until after she disabuses the Ton of the engagement. In the meantime, she plans to use her newfound influence as the future Lady of Peyton in order further her own political prowess for the betterment of society as a member of the secret social justice society, The Ladies of Distinguished Purpose. And after the vote is cast, she will be able break the engagement with the Earl none the wiser. 

What Emma doesn’t plan for, however, is the early return of the Earl. 

Philip Fitzgerald, Earl of Peyton, finds himself oddly engaged while he was far away from England on a secret mission. His faux-finacee, Lady Emma Sinclair, is an intelligent woman with her own secrets, secrets he plans to find out before allowing her out of the engagement she started. 

Philip follows Emma during one secret charity outing in a rough part of town and, masked so as not to be seen and give away his secret work, saves her from a group of ruffians. Word quickly spreads to the ton about the Masked Avenger that seems to be one of their own. 

As Philip tries to hide his identity and Emma works to uncover the person who saved her in order to make sure her secret is kept, they grow begin to grow closer. Their dance of deception and secrecy can only last so long, however, and as each gets closer to the other’s truth, danger lurks right around the corner for them both. Will they be able to admit their growing attraction before it’s too late?

The Review: 

I can’t say enough about how M R Clarke writes her internal and external character dialogues. There are absolutely moments when I laughed out loud and startled the dog. Or the cat. Or my husband. The characters are just so funny. Part of that is because they are well fleshed out as imperfect people trying to find happiness and make it through whatever crazy scenario they have gotten themselves into. In this case, a false betrothal that begins to slip into a magnetic attraction and eventual affection. That’s the true mark of a mainstay historical romance, but the hilarity is what truly sets Clarke apart. 

Emma Sinclair’s imperfections are on full display. Some reviewers have said she’s a little bit of a flibberty gibbet in that she can’t see what’s right in front of her, but really she’s just in denial. It’s not that she doesn’t think it could be Philip, it’s more that she knows it’s him but that would be too good and fit too well. It’s just too perfect to fit in the imperfect world she finds herself in. Plus she is still in full denial of her feelings. Her entirely ‘irrational’ feelings. 

Philip as a spy is also so perfect. As Emma tries to uncover his secrets and the identity of her masked savior, he is able to sidestep and dispel her notions that it could be him. It speaks to his cleverness and abilities as a spy. Unfortunately, his profession is also his downfall as he has isolated his family and must repair his relationship with his sister. He also isn’t able to be true to himself until his current case is over. That also means that he cannot admit to anyone his growing affection for Emma, which lends to the overall suspense in the perfect way. It’s a true will they won’t they throughout. 

I really enjoyed this book and I am excited to start the third book in the series!

Thanks to NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for this fair and honest review.