More Than a Match for the Earl

The Wallflower Academy #2

by Emily E.K. Murdoch

In the second installment of The Wallflower Academy series, an earl is about to meet his match…in more ways than one!

How long can she resist…

The earl she shouldn’t want?

Marilla Newell refuses to play by society’s rules for finding a husband. Not after her calamitous engagement to an awful earl. Living her life without sight makes it even harder to trust, so she’s immediately wary of charming rogue Finlay—especially because he’s an earl! Yet the more their worlds collide, the less Rilla can recall her objections, until she learns about his duty that threatens their fledgling flirtation…

Genres: Historical

299 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 21, 2024

About the author

Emily E.K. Murdoch is also known as Emily Murdoch.

Emily Murdoch is a medieval historian and writer. Throughout her career so far she has examined a codex and transcribed medieval sermons at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, designed part of an exhibition for the Yorkshire Museum, worked as a researcher for a BBC documentary presented by Ian Hislop, and worked at Polesden Lacey with the National Trust. She has a degree in History and English, and a Masters in Medieval Studies, both from the University of York. Emily is currently working on a new four part Regency novella series, two of which are now published.

You can follow her on twitter and instagram @emilyekmurdoch, find her on facebook at www.facebook.com/theemilyekmurdoch, and read her blog at www.emilyekmurdoch.com

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of a series of connected books, each featuring a bachelorette from the Wallflower Academy. Rilla has been at the academy the longest, is not on the best terms with her family, and is stinging from a broken engagement to an earl. So of course she meets a new earl and they have instant attraction and a bumpy courtship. It’s pretty predictable, and they seem to fall in love very quickly, but it’s written well enough, and it’s easy to root for Rilla.



Language: Mild
Sexual Content: Moderately explicit
Violence/Gore: None
Harm to Animals: None
Harm to Children: None
Other (Triggers): dishonesty, classism, ableism, bullying, systemic sexism, family dysfunction

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 I really liked Rilla, she was guarded but it was very understandable. She was saucy without being rude or mean girl-ish. I felt so much for her in this book. Finley he needed to grovel so much more. I think he and Bartlett should have communicate more it would have helped everyone. I liked that he was not a rake and seemed inexperienced.

[Cordelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes Love is truly Blind

What a different sweet love story with a dash of sizzling sex. Lord Finlay Jellico met Marilla at a mixer held at the academy she attend. He knew she was blind but he bonded with her from their first conversation. I hope all would treat her being blind as they did in this story, but I highly doubt it.

[Quinn Fforde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is better than the first book in the series, but there are still entirely too many unfinished or negative sentences that are ambiguous. Also, there is a serious plot contradiction over Miss Carr. I liked Finlay.

[Harlequin Books]

Historical Fiction, Sagas, Regency Romance
Miniseries
The Wallflower Academy (Book #2)

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Marilla Newill has been harmed by love before, and has no intention of ever finding herself engaged, let alone married, and especially not to a titled gentleman. She may be blind, be she sees more than most, and she knows when someone is disingenuous. Which is why it's so hard for her to stay away from Lord Finlay Jellico, even if he is an earl.

I think this one might be my favourite in the series. Rilla was such a strong and fiery character, and she made Finlay work for her love. She had previously been engaged to an earl, who'd unceremoniously jilted her, and she wasn't going to go through that pain again. Living at Miss Pike's finishing school - otherwise known as the Wallflower Academy - she preferred to stay to herself, or with her close friends Gwen and Sylvia. Even so, she did have to occasionally attend the events that Miss Pike put on, and that's where she met Finlay, who was sweet and charming - everything she was scared of. Finlay knew from the start she was blind, and would keep orchestrating reasons for them being together because he could she see was skittish and would take more than a little wooing for him to make her his. It was definitely worth it in the end though.