The Earl’s Unexpected Journey Of Love

Fairbanks Love & Hearts #4

by Jessie Bennett

A pretty charitable lady just wants to help people.

An adventurous and wild young Earl not seeking a bride. He has a hidden agenda to safeguard his inheritance. Keep it a secret or risk of losing his inheritance?

Will they find an unexpected love far away from their homeland? Will they find what they are looking for on a foreign land?

Earl Joshua Allan Hershey has always loved adventure, especially his last trip, which almost cost his life on several occasions.

He’s just returned to visit friends at Worthington Manor, hoping for a rest after the harrowing journey, but his attention is immediately diverted by another lovely visitor, and he can’t seem to take his mind off her.

Although he can’t decide whether he wants to do it or not, Joshua soon finds himself volunteering to escort the lady as she travels to Africa. He oscillates between wanting to get to know her better and hoping that she’s not the same woman as all the others he’s met, but wonders if perhaps she is his chance to take possession of the inheritance he will lose if he does not wed soon.

Lady Juliette Anne Ellingham has finally achieved the dream of a lifetime, getting to do her father’s missionary work in Muambo. He has worked his whole adult life for these people, and she greatly desires to bless them in the same manner before she finds a husband with whom to settle at last. However, she never expected Africa to provide her with the finest gift imaginable.

She must first say goodbye to her beloved father, who will not be joining her for this missionary trip, and the two are extraordinarily close. It could be months before they see each other again, and a small chance that something will prevent them from ever meeting again. After all, they are traveling far and danger lurks everywhere…

Will Lord Joshua finally find the wife he desperately needs in order to claim his inheritance—and will she be as intelligent as he hopes?

Should Lady Juliette accept a marriage proposal without knowing the suitor as well as she would like—and is this her chance at true love?

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2017

About the author

Jessie Bennett has always loved the romance of the Regency period. She wants to use her ideas, knowledge and interest in the era to create stories and characters that resonate with her readers. She aspires to be the next Jane Austen, combining grace, love, and simplicity in her work..

She lives in Norfolk County, England. When she’s not writing, she likes to take long walks in the countryside with her husband and beloved dog.

Reviews

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the blurb, I expected more of an adventure. This book was disappointing and at times, it was too preachy even for this preacher's daughter. The plot wasn't as interesting as it could have been. How many historical novels involve a ship wreck and the hero/heroine being stranded on a island? There was so much potential in the premise of this novel, but it fell flat for me. There should have been more descriptive language to help the reader feel like part of the story. There should have been more insight revealed about the characters' attraction to one another. This book lacked PASSION! Where were the steamy kisses, the tender caresses, and the heated gazes? A CLEAN novel can still show passion between the main characters.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Jessie Bennett has written an amazing story of persistence, a journey of love, hope, understanding, mystery with a high sea adventure, the ship they are on goes down at sea, due to a fire and lands them on a deserted island in Africa, a wild animal attack, oh and the heroine, and her lady's maid maid are doing the work of missionaries.
A great addition to the "The Fairbanks Series - Love & Hearts", series, an amazing Regency Historical Romance Fiction with twists and turns. All the stories in this series can be read as a alone.

Lady Juliette Anne Ellingham, the daughter of missionaries, is strong, opinionated, adventurous and has a fearsome soul. Earl Joshua Allan Hershey is an adventurer, a bit subdued, quiet, with a great character, honor and must meet his father's stipulation in his his will, in order to gain his inheritance.

In "The Earl's Unexpected Journey of Love", readers will find a journey of love, a perilous and dangerous journey, plenty of action, adventure and the power of love and faith. While this story is a clean, sweet, Regency Romance, it is not "preachy", but does contain elements of faith and an honest love. Readers will find themselves enthralled and captivated by the solid characters, the details to her storyline and her secondary characters adds depth and strengthens the story. The lurking dangers, the attraction between the hero and heroine, and the adventure they find themselves in, add to this Regency Romance. I enjoyed watching Juliette and Joshua on their journey of love and adventure.
Ms. Bennett has captures my attention from the first page and holds me glued to the page of her stories, and this story was not a disappointment. I was excited to read a story of missionaries, Africa adventure and romance.
An enjoyable and satisfying story! Perfect for an afternoon read. Fans of Clean Romance, adventure, Regency Romance, missionaries and adventures in Africa are sure to enjoy the "Earl's Unexpected Journey of Love". Another great read by Jessie Bennett!


Rating: 4
Heat rating: Sweet/Clean
Reviewed by: AprilR

[Kat Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wild Regency Romance

In The Earl's Unexpected Journey Of Love you will find a wonderful Regency Romance. A sudden and unexpected situation throws two young people together in an unusual and unexpected adventure filled with suspense, emotion, and curious occurrences. The characters are so well developed and multidimensional that you almost feel like they are friends. I loved that this story had more than just the usual Regency Romance. Jessie Bennett has done it again! This is a wonderfully different yet romantic and exciting Regency Romance without explicit sexual scenes, which I appreciate.

[Sherry Westendorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I love regency stories and this one is very good. It is fun, exciting, sweet, adventurous. They made this journey of theirs enjoyable to read and hard to put down. I recommend it. I was given a review copy and voluntarily review it.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juliette has always wanted to travel the world with her father now she gets her chance. Something has come up and he cannot leave when she does so he finds someone to escort her until he can meet up with her. Joshua is picked for her escort and their journey begins. This is a very different kind of story not true to form of most Regency Romance which makes it a good read. I like how the author went outside the box to give you a very entertaining read. She throws in a few twists you won’t see coming that will surprise you. It starts out a little slow but picks up as their misunderstanding come to a head which slows down the romance. When a storm hits it pulls them back together as the overcome the fear..

Sometimes the characters seem younger than they are but it could be because they very shy and quiet and never really had a love before. I really liked the mystery as it unfolds the author bring to light an interesting read. The plot was well written and holds your interest. The characters are a little shaky but interesting. It is a clean and sweet read with a light touch of inspiration. I really enjoyed this fun read full of twists with some danger.
*********************

[BrendaLee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Earl's Unexpected Journey of Love.
The Earl is to go to Africa with Lady Juliette in the place of her father. Earl Joshua and Lady Juliette are adventurous and love to travel.
Earl Joshua knows if he goes he might not be able to inherit his Father's fortune because he needs to find a wife to fulfill his fathers wishes. But he is adventurous enough that he wants to travel with Lady Juliette and keep her safe.
Well falling in love with each other and little mystery and a whole lot of adventures makes for a good story.
Will Joshua and Juliette get there safe?
Will they get to marry in time for him to inherit his father's money? You will find the answers by reading this book.
Great characters and a great plot that you will enjoy reading about. I love the fact that it's a clean story with a little faith mixed in but yet very interesting.
I was given this story by the author

[Dixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Juliette and Joshua as people. Both were kind and charitable individuals who were focused on doing good works for the benefit of others. As such, neither had much experience in understanding the opposite sex when it came to romance. I'm not a fan of "instalove," so it was a stretch for me to go so quickly to the angsting over does-he-love-me / does-she-love-me. I liked that they had an adventure and had to face adversity and a life-threatening experience together, as that is a known emotional intimacy builder, but was disappointed that the danger never really played out to the point of being the catalyst for them to work together to overcome the obstacle keeping them from sharing their feelings.
I voluntarily accepted and read an advanced reading copy of this book and offer my honest opinion in response.

[Teri Donaldson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful read and not your usual Regency romance.
Juliette wishes to travel to Africa with her father. He sends her ahead with Joshua, the Earl of Swansea, and his uncle. A storm approaches and the unthinkable happens. The situation proves that Juliette is not a typical young lady of the ton. She is smart, resourceful and calm. Joshua, knowing that he must marry by his upcoming birthday, is not interested in attending yet another ball. He would rather travel with Juliette and get to know her better. It's a relationship based on trust and relying on the strengths of each other. This was a very refreshing and unique story.
Ms. Bennett has delivered yet another interesting and wonderful book.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Earl’s Unexpected Journey of Love is a sweet and clean Regency that provides readers with a journey to love for our hero and heroine, a journey to adventure for Juliette (along with the other characters who are experienced adventurers), and insight to the strength found in faith and love. This story about a group of adventurous missionaries to Africa holds the reader’s attention from beginning to end. Watching Joshua and Juliette come to know and love and trust each other was delightful. They were strong characters, but a little unsure about falling in love and trusting each other. The secondary characters were played their parts in the story very well. An enjoyable read!

[Jessica Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Earl's Unexpected Journey of Love is a sweet, clean romance with hints of faith throughout. I found the beginning a little slow as the characters become attracted and infatuated with each other's virtuous personalities.Not quite love at first sight but close enough as love grows unexpectedly between the Joshua and Juliette. The second half of the book speeds by with action, danger, and adventure before a nice sweet HEA rounds it out completely. A good read if you like sweet clean romances backed with faith and a little action and adventure. My voluntary review is based upon a review copy.

[Nancy Garbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Sweet Regency Romance

The story of Lady Juliette and Lord Joshua, Earl of Swansea, has a tone mindful of Pride and Prejudice. The beginning is a bit slow as the two are drawn to each other, but assumptions and misunderstandings cause their relationship to falter. A storm at sea gets them and their adventure moving, which also sparked my interest and enjoyment of the characters and their story. This is a very sweet, mildly inspirational romance. I was provided an ARC for my honest review. I recommend this book and look forward to reading more from Ms. Bennett.

[Andi G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A journey indeed. A wonderful, adventurous and romantic journey that will take your breath away and keep you on the edge of you seat until the end. With well constructed and interesting characters, a nicely woven tale with intrigue, adventure and a heartwarming love story, this lovely historical romance that will not disappoint any avid reader of the genre but also those who love a good story capable to completely absorb and keep the reader in it s course.
I voluntarily reviewed for the Arc team.

[Phylis Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

This was a fun, exciting, adventurous story. I liked the characters they seemed to be shy until they started talking to each other and stopped over thinking. The author Jessie Bennett has done it again with this wonderful adventurous story. You should just read this it is well worth your time. Thanks

[Kety · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! The main characters are strong but timid with fun and complementary secondary characters. The environment well described as the development of the story. When you start to read this story, you are not able to put down the book until the last page.
If you like love romance with surprise and mystery, this book is for you!

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action Packed Adventure Leads To Lifelong Love

This story surprised me with its adventurous plot twists! I thoroughly enjoyed tagging along with Joshua and Juliette on their voyage of discovery. Jessie Bennett writes in a unique style reminiscent of Regency Romance written by Jane Austen.

[Suzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice clean romantic adventure

A sweet love story wrapped in a tale of adventure. Juliette finally gets to go on a trip to Africa to assist her father with his missionary endeavors. Joshua is a young earl who finds himself falling for her and accompanying her on the journey. Their adventure begins at sea and love blooms!

[Barbara McClelland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly a great story.

I thought when I began to read that this was just another story.. I was pleasantly surprised as the story unfolded.it was a quick read and a book with adventure.

[Louiseann Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

The beginning was a little boring but got more interesting as they started the voyage. I was amazed at the findings on the island and amazed at how fast they were rescued.

[Tom Prejsner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romance

Thank you for sharing these wonderful romance novels series books. Please keep writing more of these wonderful books. Thank you

[Debbie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual Regency Romance read

This is not the usual regency story. It gives another view about a young couple looking forward to getting spouses but also wants to continue their charitable works as missionaries in Africa. At first meeting both realize that they feel something for the other. We get a peep of these two characters mottle through their confusion of their feelings and insecurities. Oh yes, they are heading out together for Africa. No spoiler alert here but they encounter problems on the trip. It is a new outlook for a HEA. I recommend this book for romance readers. I received this book free for a honest review.

[Patricia Schuette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique new story

This one is about people who are missionaries that travel the world.. The young lady has long dreamed of traveling with her father and he finally gives her a chance to travel to Africa. the hey meet a young man and his uncle who have just returned from there.

[Eva Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book i've read by this author and i loved it. The adventure and the romance are spot on. the author made me fall in love with characters. when they cried i cried when they laughed i laughed. This is a Stand-A-Alone with a HEA

[Deborah Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story. This was more of romantic adventure. It is a Christian romance. There is little to no sexual content, there are a few kisses and some hand holding. There is some violence, a seaman is attacked and wounded. The adventure is the heroine going off to do missionary work on her father's behalf. The hero had just returned from there and is worried about the dangers. He agrees to escort her. They do not, however, reach Africa but become shipwrecked. This novel is suitable for young readers.

[Katina Fragakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for mystery and action, the second half of this book has it! When two male missionaries, the daughter of a missionary, and her lady's maid take to the seas sailing with supplies intended for African missions, complications abound. It should be enough that Joshua, Earl of Swansea, and Lady Juliette are attracted to each other, but don't have a clue of how to read each other's intentions- the result of mutual inexperience in love and romance. On top of that, the ship goes down due to a fire, they wash up on an uncharted island, and one of the crew is mauled by ?an animal. Thank goodness they didn't have to wait too long to be rescued.

I liked Joshua's persistence in ferreting out the truth of the animal attack, but he was over-protective toward Juliette, omitting pertinent facts. Juliette was his match in that she would not accept partial truths. The couple's innocence was frustrating at times; they resembled teenagers in a hormonal storm, sans intimacy. In the end, I cheered for Joshua's wisdom in insisting that the natives were fine as they were and did not need the assistance of missionaries to "improve" their lives. And Good News, Joshua and Juliette perfected their position as missionaries, as Juliette reveals in the Epilogue that she is increasing!

[Charline Bonham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Juliette Anne Ellingham needs a companion/escort for her trip to Africa to join her Father on a mission trip. She is taking her trusted maid but needs a man to keep her and her maid safe. This is her 1st trip to Africa and she is excited but not sure who she wants to join her.
Earl Joshua Allen Hershey has just returned from a mission trip to Africa with his Uncle. After meeting Lady Juliette, he decides he'd like to accompany her and tells her Father he will be available. There is a fire on ship; loss of friends; uncertainty about a rescue. Much adventure and they are not to Africa.

[Connie Hutchens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of The Earl's Unexpected Journey Of Love, by Jessie Bennett. I enjoyed reading this lovely book. She is an amazing writer and is able to bring to life her character, right from the pages of her books. This book is an emotionally charged, clean and spiritual read. Two hearts searching for so long and then unexpected events bring them together, as they would put it "By the hand of God". This is an Author that I would love to red more of.
The book is so full of emotions and life. Jessie Bennett brings her characters to life, right off the pages of her book. You will laugh, cry, be sad and get angry right along with the characters. Thank you so much for this book!!!

[Ann L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joshua Hershey has always loved adventure, and has returned to visit friends at Worthington Manor, where he meets Lady Juliette Ellingham and he escorts her on her missionary trip to Africa.

Has Lord Joshua finally find the wife he desperately needs in order to claim his inheritance—and will she be as intelligent as he hopes?

Should Lady Juliette accept a marriage proposal and will they get a happy ever after.

This was a wonderfully sweet book which I enjoyed.

I voluntarily received an advanced readers copy from the author and my views are entirely my own.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventurous

This book was full of adventure. It wasn't like the usual romance novels that I read. It is fully clean. We see the thoughts and budding emotions from both sides. But it doesn't really focus on their growing relationship. It tells the story of their adventure together.

It is a great example that travel back then was not easy and didn't only get them from point a to point b. Many times, the travel itself became the main adventure. It taught some good points of view about behavior, motivations, and treatment of others.

I was very impressed. I would enjoy reading this in a book club and discussing several aspects of the book.

[Debbie Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Regency Romance

This is a beautiful book with two excellent characters who are not looking for love, but keep thinking of each other when they part. It appears in the book that neither has a clue about romance and it makes for awkward moments. The trials they face bring them together. My wife and I enjoyed this story very much and would recommend it to anyone who likes clean romance, Danny Scott.

[Barbara Literski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventure and Love

I enjoyed this book about helping with Mission work in Africa. The one trip that Lady Juliette was going to go on had a disaster on the third day. It's an adventure and you wonder how things will work out.