The Highland Earl Pages: 385 
Series: Lords of the Highlands #6
Genres: Historical Romance
Setting: London, England
Source: ARC, NetGalley
Also in this series: The Highland Duke, The Highland Commander, The Highland Guardian, The Highland Renegade, The Highland Rogue, The Highland Laird
Goodreads
Mr. & Mrs. Smith meets Outlander in this action-packed Scottish romance where a marriage of convenience leads to secrets that could be deadly.
With two young sons to care for and a large estate to run, John Erskine, the widowed Earl of Mar, needs to remarry as quickly as possible. And beautiful Lady Evelyn Pierrepont would be the perfect match. But there's more behind the English lass's calm demeanor than she's letting on, including a smoldering allure not even John can ignore.
Evelyn has no desire to wed the rugged Scottish earl, but at least she'll be able to continue her work as a spy-as long as her husband never finds out. Yet the more time Evelyn spends with John and his boys, the fonder she grows of their little family, and the last thing she wants to do is put them in danger. As alliances shift and enemies draw closer, soon everything they hold dear is at risk: their lands, their love, and their very lives.
The Highland Earl continues a series I have been completely in love with (Check out my previous reviews)! In this story, we have John, the Earl of Mar and Evelyn, the eldest daughter of a Duke and a spy in her spare time. John and Evelyn enter a marriage of convenience: he needs her dowry and someone to be a stepmother to his two boys and her father likes having his family tied to someone with a prominent position in the Queen’s cabinet. Evelyn had no say at all. But her spy handler, Mr. Dubois, convinces her this is a perfect opportunity for her to gather more intel for the cause.
Evelyn is smart, but she is also a bit naive. While she has been spying on her father, that is relatively low risk for her and doesn’t require much risk. She is also the daughter of a well off Duke and has lived a pretty privileged life, so she is a bit daft when it comes to certain things and tends to not believe others would seek to hurt her. John was only recently widowed and sees Evelyn as a means to an end. She can give him more heirs, her dowry will eliminate his father’s debts, and his boys need a stepmother. But he vows he will never love again.
As naive as Evelyn could be at times, I really connected with her. She is a young woman who wants to make a difference for something she believes in deeply. We should all be this passionate about a cause! Also, she knows this is a marriage of convenience, but she is a 21 year old woman who had secretly wanted love. But, she preserves. She enters the marriage and makes plans to adjust to her new life while still fighting for what she believes. She even slowly begins to grow into her roll as stepmother and has a few interactions with the boys that brought tears to my eyes. She takes ownership of her mistakes and seeks to make amends. We should all be as kind and goodhearted as Evelyn.
They are married fairly early on the story, so they jump right to the steamy times! While these two might not really understand each other or know each other well, they are compatible in the bedroom! The Highland Earl combines deep emotion, danger from the British, accusations of treason, and a man and woman trying to get to know the person they married in the mists of it all.
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: a few
- Trope: widower, single dad, marriage of convenience
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: stand alone
- Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
- HEA: View Spoiler »
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authors like Maya Banks, May McGoldrick, Monica McCarty, Kathryn LeVeque…then you will probably like The Highland Earl!
The Highland Earl
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