The Earl I Ruined

Written by Scarlett Peckham

Narrated by Holly Chandler

She’s beautiful, rich, and reckless. When Lady Constance Stonewell accidentally ruins the Earl of Apthorp’s entire future with her gossip column, she does what any honorable young lady must: offer her hand in marriage. Or, at the very least, stage a whirlwind fake engagement to repair his reputation. Never mind that it means spending a month with the dullest man in England. Or the fact that he disapproves of everything she holds dear. He’s supposedly the most boring politician in the House of Lords. Julian Haywood, the Earl of Apthorp, is on the cusp of finally proving himself to be the man he’s always wanted to be when his future is destroyed in a single afternoon. When the woman he’s secretly in love with confesses she’s at fault, it isn’t just his life that is shattered: it’s his heart. They have a month to clear his name and convince society they are madly in love. But when Constance discovers her faux-intended is decidedly more than meets the eye, not to mention adept at shocking forms of wickedness, she finds herself falling for him. There’s only one problem: he can’t forgive her for breaking his heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lantern Audio
• Release date: Apr 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781949278163

Scarlett Peckham

Scarlett Peckham writes steamy historical romances celebrating alpha heroines. Her USA Today bestselling debut novel, The Duke I Tempted, was named a Best Romance Novel of 2018 by BookPage and the Washington Post. Scarlett lives in Los Angeles, where she enjoys trying to think of new ways to say “wicked,” collecting vintage romance clench covers, and dressing her cat up in bowties.

Reviews for The Earl I Ruined

[pelusa41-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a new author for me and I did enjoy the book, but I have to admit that I was a little shocked of some of the content. I am not a prude, but was just surprised that this was an issue that was brought up in that era, I mean I have read lots and lots of historical fictions and I know all about the rakes and brothels, but again still didn't expect this but by no means think that it is a bad book. So we meet Lady Constance and she had wrote a poem on Lord Alpethorpe who she claimed was the most boring man out there. She ruins him with the type of information she diverged and now wants to assist him in cleaning up his name and also protecting hers if her brother finds out what she did, (apparently I missed the first book) Anywhoo the rest is enjoyable in their fake relationship and the feelings they had never admitted.

[KelciiLou · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Alternated between Kindle ebook & Scrib'd audio.

I really enjoyed the first of the series - The Duke I tempted, but this one was a huge miss for me.

SPOILERS BELOW -

First off the premise I'm actually here for our Julian needing to support both his mother, sister & niece works at Charlotte Street as a "courtesan", but he enjoys the lifestyle too which I appreciated. Unfortunately we don't see him interacting with this place at all as he stops right at the beginning of the book.

Now now.. Constance is an insufferable brat. Her apologies mean absolutely nothing because she turns around and makes the same mistakes. I really dislike when other characters in a book list their favourite traits in a character, in this case Constance, that at no point rings true. Im told that she is selfless, giving etc, no shes wealthy, ignorant, naive and frivolous. We get told that she enjoys spending time with the outcasts of society but goes ahead and swiftly judges those outside of certain circles.

I also don't like when the secondary leads' main character trait is that they love the other MC, okay... cool cool cool cool cool... anything else for us? I struggled to understand how he thought his comments made to Constance in the past were protective as claimed, she perceives them as a sign of dislike and I'd have to agree, how could they have come from an alternative place? Also a couple of times its mentioned that he adored/attracted to her since the first time he saw her... she was 14 he 18.. come on guys I know its historical, but its being written in todays time so we don't need it and if we are here for historical accuracy I have some questions over the outlandish size of Constances dowry.

There's so much more but Im lazy so I'll finish on this, the story is just miscommunication central, over and over and over.

[leighannewrites · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Lord Apthorp, I am here to do what integrity demands when one's actions have, however inadvertently, ruined the reputation of another person. I have come to offer you my hand in marriage."Scarlett Peckham is a Golden Heart winner for Historical Romance and I can see why! There is character and a her unique author voice in her writing that I absolutely love. She has a flavor for beautiful writing that fits the historical setting. Many historical romance books I read nowadays read and feel very modern, but in The Earl I Ruined I felt as though I was watching a BBC period drama. With that said, the writing wasn't over complicated and might I say dry like a Jane Austen novel (please don't hate me, I do love Pride and Prejudice) which I think lends itself well for modern readers. Although, I believe it presented itself as a sexy romance because of the warning at the beginning (which I appreciated), this is a very slow burn romance! The characters are flawed in a realistic and human way and are still very likable. My only criticism would be that all the sexiness was packed towards the end. I would've maybe liked a bit more sexiness than what was delivered throughout the novel, but that is just a personal preference. If you're looking for a fresh, witty historical romance, I highly recommend The Earl I Ruined! Little note: I didn't read the first book since it's not my cup of tea. In the Earl I Ruined, the hero is the dom position although it is never really shown, just spoken. This really focuses on the fake-engagement and the hero and heroine voicing their unspoken feelings about each other. I received an ARC copy via Negalley. In no way has this influence the opinions of this review.

[sammelsurium-831072 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a story about two people that are very good at communicating all the things they hate about one another, and very bad at communicating all the things they like. The conflict between them is quite compelling, and I really appreciate the emphasis on building relationships based on mutual respect, in spite of sexist contemporary norms. significantly better paced than the previous book in the series.

[jorgeousjotts · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a 2nd chance romance with a false engagement and a bit of enemies to lovers thrown in. It has some good things going for it, but it was brought down for me by the heroine (who was naive and impulsive), and what felt like excessive drama of them getting in the way of their own happiness and taking 'two steps forward, one step back' over and over again.

[lycomayflower · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Lady Constance ruins the Earl of Apthorp's reputation and puts the future of a bill he's sponsoring in Parliment in jeopardy, she concocts a scheme to fix it--which involves their pretending to be engaged. This would be complicated enough on it's own, but--surprise!--Apthorp has been secretly in love with Constance for years, and Constance quickly finds herself falling for him. The story treads a number of well-used romance tropes (and there's a number of beats where many things would be solved if the characters just talked to each other), but the story is well enough put together, the characters are interesting enough, and the ancillary bits of their relationship are unique enough, that I was content to sit still for it. In particular, Julian frequents an establishment we would call a BDSM club if this were a contemporary romance, and the exploration of his desires and how he explains them to Constance and her reactions are worth the read in and of themselves.

[cathygeha · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Earl I ruined by Scarlett PeckhamThe Secrets of Charlotte Street #2Two people that danced around one another for years, played games, misconstrued situations, said hurtful things, hid their feelings and then had to come up with a way to repair a ruined reputation could not have been more entertaining than Constance and Julian. I don’t know if you have ever written something that was not for public consumption that became common fodder but Lady Constance Stonewell had that happen to her and the impact it had on Julian Haywood, the Earl of Apthorp, sees her trying to fix things and THAT sees them engaged but with an expiration date. Little do they realize that their perceptions might be misperceptions and that the time they spend together might make them want more than a pretend engagement. With balls to attend, money matters to deal with, family matters to contend with, people to convince and a steamy scene or two this book was a joy to read from beginning to end. I kept thinking that Constance was immature and often didn’t see the bigger picture or how what she did might impact others but in spite of that I can say that I was thrilled for the couple when they finally achieved their happily ever after. I am rather curious about who will have their story told next and can’t wait to find out. Thank you to NYLA and NetGalley for the ARC – This is my honest review.5 Stars

[nelispelusa · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a new author for me and I did enjoy the book, but I have to admit that I was a little shocked of some of the content. I am not a prude, but was just surprised that this was an issue that was brought up in that era, I mean I have read lots and lots of historical fictions and I know all about the rakes and brothels, but again still didn't expect this but by no means think that it is a bad book. So we meet Lady Constance and she had wrote a poem on Lord Alpethorpe who she claimed was the most boring man out there. She ruins him with the type of information she diverged and now wants to assist him in cleaning up his name and also protecting hers if her brother finds out what she did, (apparently I missed the first book) Anywhoo the rest is enjoyable in their fake relationship and the feelings they had never admitted.