No Earls Allowed

The Survivors #2

by Shana Galen

It is a truth universally acknowledged
that a lady can do anything a man can
backwards and in high-heeled dancing slippers.

Lady Juliana, daughter of the Earl of St. Maur, needs all the help she can get. She's running a ramshackle orphanage, London's worst slumlord has illicit designs on her, and her father has suddenly become determined to marry her off.

Enter Major Neil Wraxall, bastard son of the Marquess of Kensington, sent to assist Lady Juliana in any way he can. Lucky for her, he's handy with repairs, knows how to keep her and the orphans safe, and is a natural leader of men.

Unfortunately for both of them, the scandal that ensues from their mutual attraction is going to lead them a merry dance...

The Survivors
Third Son's a Charm (Book 1)
No Earls Allowed (Book 2)
An Affair With a Spare (Book 3)

Praise for Third Son's a Charm
"Shana Galen's deliciously brooding hero and delightfully quirky heroine turn this tale of adventure into an endearing love story that kept me up all hours reading....Wonderful!"-Sabrina Jeffries, New York Times bestselling author

"Shana Galen delivers again!...A sharp, poignant battle of wills between a wonderful wounded hero and the only heroine brave enough to get past his defenses. Don't miss it!" -Eileen Dreyer, New York Times bestselling author

"Shana Galen charms readers with poignant and unforgettable characters, humor, and a passionate page-turning tale that's impossible to put down... Galen is an amazing talent and never disappoints."-Lorraine Heath, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Regency, Audiobook, Fiction

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 6, 2018

About the author

Shana Galen is three-time Rita award nominee and the bestselling author of fast-paced, witty, and adventurous Regency romances. Kirkus says of her books, "The road to happily-ever-after is intense, conflicted, suspenseful and fun," and RT Bookreviews calls her books “lighthearted yet poignant, humorous yet touching." She taught English at the middle and high school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston's inner city. Now she writes full time. She's happily married and has a daughter who is most definitely a romance heroine in the making.

Want to know more? Visit Shana's website at http://www.shanagalen.com and sign up to be notified when Shana has a new release http://bit.ly/ShanaGalenNews

Reviews

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a light-hearted romance that takes place during 19th-century England.

She is the daughter of an Earl. He is the bastard son of a Marquess. 

She is trying and failing to run an orphanage. He has been recruited to help her. Personalities clash but chemistry keeps bringing them together. 

The story is told from the alternating points of view of the main characters. The novel is funny but moved a bit fast for my taste and the plot oscillated too often around the orphanage's children and their mischiefs. What I loved the most was the book cover, it is beautiful.

All in all, this is a light-hearted story, I recommend it to readers of period romances.  

I received an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley 

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute! If you love children in your historical romances, you'll love this one. Juliana is the daughter of an Earl, but she's currently living at an orphanage and taking care of the boys there all by herself. Neil is the bastard son of a Marquess and sent to look after Juliana. I loved how he helped out at the orphanage and acted very militant and hardened but was really a softy on they inside. The romance was super cute and I loved how they fell for each other. The ending did drag, though, and the conflicts felt a bit repetitive. But the boys in this one definitely stole my heart!

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

He was always ready to dance with the devil…

I didn’t know what to write about No Earls Allowed. Well, I knew what I wanted to write but it seemed a little inappropriate to start my review talking about sex. Obviously, when we're talking about romance books, the intimate scenes can play a pivotal role in whether you enjoy the story or not. So, I suppose it's not a bad thing that I'm going to tell you why one of the highlights of the story was the sexy times. Inappropriate or not...here goes.

I think I may have overdosed on smut. Shocked? Yes, well I’m a little gobsmacked myself. I’m even starting to skim or get distracted when I’m reading or listening to the sexy times.

So, what made No Earls Allowed different? I think it may be that the hero, Neil, took the repercussions of passion leading to children born out of wedlock VERY seriously. From his own experience, he knows what it’s like to be ostracised, talked about and neglected because of his parents. It was refreshing to see someone take responsibility for his passion and wasn’t willing to risk a mistake for his pleasure. Don’t get me wrong, Neil still manages to get and give pleasure. It just wasn’t all about...his silky steel member (😳) needed to be thrusting (🤨) into her tight, sweet and wet folds (🙄). ***Not a quote, just how all sexy times read to me these days.***

Anyway, what made me stop and appreciate the sexy times especially in this one, was that lust didn’t overtake common sense. Some of the sexiest scenes I’ve read have been more about the touching, the feeling and the connecting. Neil was still able to show how much he wanted and desired Juliana, but, managed to stay strong in his beliefs and choices. Juliana was able to take a risk with her reputation because she trusted Neil. Juliana knew that he wouldn’t damage her reputation or put in jeopardy her role as a carer to 12 orphaned boys.

I suppose, in all that dribble, I’ve managed to tell you quite a bit about the story. Our hero is an intelligent man who is not ruled by his own pleasure and our heroine takes the job of caring for 12 orphaned boys very seriously. What happens around both Neil and Juliana are exactly that, surrounding them. Once they learn to accept each other, they realise their strength is in fighting their battles as a team.

This was the first story I’ve read by Shana Galen and I found myself captivated by her Survivors. This band of men who had bonded through the war appealed to me. With no questions asked, each would put on their dancing shoes to "dance with the devil" and have the others back. I loved that it wasn’t just a physical protection they offered each other. They all cared about their mental well-being too.

I really enjoyed No Earls Allowed. The characters were interesting, the storyline kept my attention from start to finish and the connection between Neil and Juliana jumped off the pages. No Earls Allowed touches on subjects like PTSD, infidelities, parental rights, bribery, intimidation, extortion and child abuse. I didn’t read the first book in the series, but I am very tempted to go back…and I’m REALLY excited to go forwards. I can’t wait to get my hands on Rafe…the sexy Rogue’s story.

Stacey is Sassy, received a complimentary copy of this story. The copy provided is not the final copy and may be subject to edits and changes.

[Caz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've given this a B at AAR. Another book where the title bears very little relation to the story.

No Earls Allowed is book two in Shana Galen’s Survivors series, and like the first book, Third Son’s a Charm , features one of the men who had belonged to a specialist ‘suicide troop’ formed during the Napoleonic wars.  The group consisted originally of thirty, all of them single men, some of them younger sons, some of them by-blows - but all of them expendable; and under the command of Major Neil Wraxall, the men were given the most dangerous missions, missions from which they were not expected to return – and many did not.  By the end of the war, thirty had become a mere dozen, and even though the war has ended, Wraxall continues to carry a mountain of guilt for the eighteen men who did not return as well as for the death of his half-brother Christopher, the oldest legitimate son of their father, the Marquess of Kensington.

Neil’s life as an illegitimate son has perhaps been easier than many others in his situation given that his father acknowledged him from birth; he provided for him, made sure Neil had a good education and upbringing and then purchased his army commission.  In spite of that, however, Neil still feels his status – or lack thereof – as a bastard, and has never really felt as though he fit in or belonged anywhere apart from with his company of men in the army.  Now the war is over, he spends most of his time at his club with his closest friends – Ewan Mostyn and Rafe Beaumont - or alone, wallowing in guilt and consuming large amounts of strong drink in the attempt to keep the nightmares at bay.

When Neil receives a note from his father asking to see him, he isn’t too surprised. Neil performs the odd service for the marquess now and again, and he takes himself off, wondering what his father needs him to do this time.  The last thing he expects is to be asked to retrieve an earl’s daughter from an orphanage for young boys located in one of the less salubrious areas of London; but Neil can’t imagine it’ll be difficult and arrives just in time to discover the earl’s daughter in question being importuned by an unsavoury character.

Lady Juliana (Julia) is the one remaining unmarried daughter of the Earl of St. Maur, and is currently residing at the Sunnybrooke Home for Boys in Spitalfields where she is trying desperately to keep the place running without sufficient funds and staff. When her sister, Harriett, was alive, the home had been one of the charities to which the two of them donated, although it had been Harriett who had been the truly tireless supporter of that particular orphanage and several others; but after Harriett’s death in childbirth, the home has become something of an emotional crutch for Julia, who sees devoting herself to Sunnybrooke as a way to keep Harriett’s memory alive. The earl is naturally concerned and wants Julia to return home to the world of the ton as befits her station in life, but she will hear none of it. The boys need her, and given the way her beloved sister’s husband treated her, Julia has decided she wants nothing to do with men or marriage.

Added to Julia’s many problems – pilfering from the pantry, the resignation of the cook, the leaky roof and a trio of escaped pet rats – is Mr. Slag, the local crime-lord who is pressing her for payment of a large sum of money in exchange for his ‘protection’ – or if not money, he insinuates another way in which he would become her protector. Julia has just got rid of him – for now – when Neil arrives and stops her dead in her tracks. With his dark hair, well-muscled build and startlingly blue eyes, he’s the most gorgeous man Julia has ever seen and, lost in contemplation of all that male beauty, Julia fails to recall she’d been cooking breakfast for the boys when Slag had turned up – a fact that suddenly makes itself known courtesy of the burning smell emanating from the kitchen.

Neil hadn’t planned to spend the day sorting out breakfast, wrangling rats and a group of young boys alike, but he quickly realises that the notion he could simply tell the lady that her father wants her home and then escort her there was rather wide of the mark and that she’s not going to meekly obey the earl’s summons. He decides instead that the best way to get Julia out of there is to make sure the orphanage is safe (none of the door and windows lock properly), clean and dry (the roof leaks and the boys are slobs) and that proper staff are engaged… but it quickly becomes apparent, even when the place is tidier and more secure, that Julia isn’t going to go back to her father’s house. And if she stays at the orphanage, then Neil stays, especially when he discovers that one of Julia’s servants is working for Slag.

No Earls Allowed (a title which seems to have no bearing on the actual story) is an enjoyable and entertaining read, but I found the premise of an earl’s daughter running an orphanage while still being accepted by the ton to require quite a large stretch of my credulity. I did, however like that Ms. Galen gives Julia underlying and unacknowledged (to herself) reasons for her determination to run the place, rather than making her a blithe Lady Bountiful type – as I said earlier, it’s clear she’s using the place as some sort of emotional crutch and, as her former governess points out, that she’s using it to hide from life. She’s determined and gutsy, and I liked her – until, towards the end of the book, she turns into one of my least favourite heroine-types, the one who, when told to stay behind for her own safety (and because the hero wants not to have to worry about her while he’s confronting the bad guys) insists on tagging along and then has to be rescued. And while Neil is a wonderful hero – handsome, kind, honourable and just plain decent – he has his moment of stupidity near the end, which just feels tacked on in order to provide a bit of last minute drama. Which it doesn’t.

Some of the best moments in the book are provided by the interactions between Neil and the boys. I’m not normally fond of children in romance novels, but I’m pleased to say that Ms. Galen writes them all well, and does a great job of showing how they bond with Neil and adopt him as a father figure, and how he so naturally steps into that breach and takes charge of them and the orphanage. The romance between Neil and Juliana is sensual and nicely-developed; they have scorching chemistry and in making Neil a man who knows all too well the stigma of illegitimacy, of being ostracised, talked about and looked down on, she has created a hero who is a little different from the norm, a man fully aware of the consequences of passion and so unwilling to visit them upon an innocent child that he has remained (technically) a virgin – although luckily for Julia, he’s not inexperienced (!).

I enjoyed meeting Ewan and Rafe again; their unquestioning loyalty and the snarky banter between Neil and Rafe are other high points, and overall, I enjoyed the No Earls Allowed in spite of my reservations. I’ll definitely be reading the next in the series when it comes out later this year.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect book to escape into. I am really enjoying this series.

[Lisa (Remarkablylisa) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating 4.5 stars. Honestly could be PERFECT but the dramatic villain made it hard for me to care. I just like our couple together so much :3 and I love him!!! He's soooooo fking adorable and sweet.

[Joanna Loves Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on narration alone, this would be no more than 3 stars, but I liked the story enough to bump it up. This series is appealing due to the camaraderie of the men. They have each other's backs, and I think that helps create an atmosphere that is fun to dive into. Series can be problematic when they are too tied together, requiring you to read them in order, but they are fun if you have some great side secondary characters until it's their turn to bat. This series definitely has that going for it, and you could surely read this before the first. I really enjoyed seeing Ewan (who had a super cute moment of holding a sleeping child) and Rafe (charming and funny, as ever) again.

My biggest holdup (besides the narration) was the implausibility of Juliana's situation. She has taken over management of an orphanage, and it's NOT going smoothly to say the least (a huge understatement). The reasons that she felt she needed to, what drove her to this calling, ended up convincing me of her desire to be there, but I don't know how her father, an Earl, let her without proper staffing. That was the biggest failing to the story to me.

Neil has some typical demons for that PTSD-bastard born hero. It wasn't new, but I thought it was believable. He was a very decent and supportive here, the kind I love. He also was half Italian (in heritage, not in speech), which proved to be a treat for my imagination.

The romance occurs over the course of a few days, which I know will be too short for some. I didn't think it felt rushed. In fact, I thought the pacing was very nice. Juliana needed help. She needed Neil. Neil needed to be needed. They made sense to me. I also was so very appreciative of the choices they made in terms of intimacy. Both MCs are virgins and stay that way until AFTER the wedding....I honestly cannot think of the last book that did this where it wasn't a marriage of convenience. I know I've read other, but is has been awhile and certainly is not the current trend. Even when emotions were running high, they *GASP* thought of consequences.


Could not resist this gif...

Ultimately, I thought this was very entertaining story that most would enjoy -- a touching story that focuses on relationships in various ways (familial, parental, adoptive, friendship) and the importance of self-worth. I would not recommend listening to it, and I image it may not appeal to readers that have issues with headstrong heroines or shorter-burn falling-in-love timelines.

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started good enough. The heroine is in an unusual position for a noblewoman in that era and her love interest is a war hero. Sounds exciting. And it mostly is. Some of the action scenes in there are really good, had me holding my breath. There's not one boring moment in this book. Stuff is constantly happening, things are moving and I became completely engrossed with the story and the characters, that when someone in the story mentioned it's been two days since the main characters were introduced, I was taken by surprise. To me, it seemed much more time had passed.
The physical chemistry between the characters is off the charts. Their attraction to each other is well described, you can feel it and I enjoyed reading it.

My enjoyment was diminished, however, by the characters and their actions and decisions, that were mostly either annoying, frustrating or just plain dumb.

Juliana is an earl's daughter and also a matron of an orphanage that is in dire need of help. It's quite a risk that she's taking because she might face ruination if the ton finds out and also because the orphanage is located in a pretty shady part of London.
I liked that about her. The author did an amazing job of showing us how deeply she cares for the boys there and even their pets. I mean you really have to be dedicated to tolerate rats as pets. This is the only thing I wholeheartedly agreed on with Neil.

She was also in over her head, which is pretty clear from the very start. In comes our hero to save the day, which is where it started going downhill for me. I wasn't a big fan of Neil in the first book either, but I decided to give him a chance because I liked the first book a lot.

Neil seemed the type who likes to control everything and who likes to order people around. Which was okay when he was a Major IN THE ARMY.
I didn't like his arrogance and how he undermined Julia's authority in front of the children. He is there for only a short period of time and I felt he had no right to talk down to Julia, especially not in front of the kids.
Another thing that I really could not stand about him was how he was so hung up on the fact that he's a bastard. It makes the main conflict very predictable, just an unnecessary obstacle, that I think the story could've gone without.

Obviously, I'm not the biggest fan this book will have. But I still love the author and her works, and I'll definitely continue reading the series because I'm quite curious about the rest of the Survivors. Especially Jasper. Here's to hoping he'll get his own happy end someday.

A big thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing an ARC via NetGalley.

[Sammy Loves Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute love story with a very naive, stubborn heroine!!

Loved the hero!!

[Caz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review from 2018

I've given this a B- for both narration and content at AudioGals.

No Earls Allowed is the second book in Shana Galen’s Survivors series about a group of former soldiers who were members of a specially formed suicide squad during the Napoleonic Wars. Of the thirty members, only twelve returned, something that continues to haunt the unit’s commander Major Neil Wraxall, illegitimate son of the Marquess of Kensington, who also lost his younger half-brother during the conflict. Now the war is over, he spends most of his time at his club with his closest friends, Ewan Mostyn (Third Son's a Charm) and Rafe Beaumont, or alone, wallowing in guilt and consuming large quantities of alcohol in order to keep the nightmares at bay.

Lady Juliana (Julia), daughter of the Earl of St. Maur, has been struggling to make sense of her life since the death of her beloved sister, Harriett. One of the charities the sisters supported was a home for orphaned boys which Julia optimistically renamed “The Sunnybrook Home for Boys”; and since Harriett’s death in childbirth, her work there has become something of an emotional crutch for Julia, who sees devoting herself to the care of the twelve boys in residence as a way of keeping Harriet’s memory alive. Her father is worried about her and wants her to return home, but Julia is adamant – the boys need her, and having seen the way Harriett’s husband treated her, Julia has no interest in men or marriage, so returning to the usual round of balls and parties of the marriage mart is pointless.

On one particularly difficult morning that has so far encompassed the resignation of the cook and a trio of escaped rats – Julia is both surprised and relieved to receive a visit from the most startlingly handsome man she’s ever seen. He arrives just in time to deter her other guest – an obnoxious man by the name of Slag – from continuing to importune her for a large sum of money that she is expected to pay for “protection”. The dark-haired, blue-eyed, olive-skinned Adonis introduces himself as Neil Wraxall and explains that his father has asked him, on behalf of her father, to come to the orphanage to make sure she is well.

Julia is suspicious – her father has obviously sent Wraxall to bring her home – but Neil is no fool and sees immediately that short of carrying her out of there, Julia will not be easily dislodged. He also realises that the building is in a really bad state of repair and decides that the next best thing – for now – to getting Julia home will be to make sure she is as safe as possible. He sets about making an assessment of what needs to be done – repairs to the roof, new locks on the windows and doors, reliable servants engaged – although even when that’s all done, he knows she isn’t going to meekly obey her father’s summons and go back to her old life. And having discovered that one of her servants is working for Slag, there’s no question of Neil’s leaving until Julia does; if she stays, then so does he.

I’ll admit right out of the gate that the premise does require a fairly large suspension of disbelief – the idea of an earl’s daughter running and residing in a dilapidated boy’s home in the East End is a tough one to swallow, although to be fair, Ms. Galen does give Julia a deeper reason for doing what she is doing than simply presenting her as a naïve do-gooder dispensing largesse. I liked Julia for the most part – she’s determined, she’s gutsy and she’s not afraid to ask for help, although near the end she turned into my least favourite heroine-type when she insisted on accompanying Neil into a dangerous situation in spite of the fact he told her that worrying about her safety would be a distraction – and then ended up needing to be rescued. *sigh*

Neil is a great hero – kind, honourable and downright decent (as well as indecently gorgeous) – although even he has his moment of stupidity before all’s said and done – and some of the best moments in the story are his interactions with the boys at the home. I’m not normally a fan of children in romances, but they’re well-drawn here, and Ms. Galen does a good job of showing how they bond with Neil and start to look up to him as a father figure, and how he so naturally steps into that role, his experience as a leader of men standing him in good stead when it comes to a bunch of unruly boys who badly need boundaries and a sense of security. Neil is also a hero who is a little different from the norm in that he is so determined never to subject an innocent child to the stain of illegitimacy that he has remained a virgin (albeit of the “I’m a virgin, not a monk” variety!).

The romance between Neil and Julia develops quite quickly – over just a few days – and while their enforced proximity and the heightened tension of their circumstances mean that it doesn’t feel too rushed, I nonetheless didn’t feel there was a great deal of chemistry between the couple, which I suspect has a lot to do with the narrator’s portrayal of the hero. I read the e-book version of this novel a couple of months back and in my review noted the strong chemistry between Neil and Julia, but that’s largely absent in the audio.

Victoria Aston is a new-to-me-narrator, although I’m sure I’ve heard her before under another name. If she’s who I think she is, she’s an experienced narrator with more than seventy audiobooks under her belt in a variety of genres. On the whole her performance is a good one, and, if not for one (rather large) flaw, I’d have been rating it quite highly. Her pacing is good in narrative and dialogue, her diction is clear, and her voice is well-modulated and pleasant to listen to. She differentiates clearly between characters, her portrayal of the various boys in the story – who range from four to twelve in age – is extremely well done and she does a good job with the cockney/London accents for them and for characters like Slag and various other bit-parts. The big let-down, though, is her male voices. While there is no difficulty in distinguishing between Neil and other characters, Ms. Aston pitches him in the same register as Julia and although the softly spoken, slightly deliberate manner of speech she adopts works well to paint him as the sort of man who is used to being obeyed and never needs to raise his voice, the teasing banter I enjoyed in print fell rather flat and try as I might, I just couldn’t picture a sexy romantic hero. And although he’s distinguishable from other characters, a few times, I was unable to distinguish between his speech and narrative. I also noted a couple of pronunciation errors; for some reason Ms. Aston pronounces “collect” as “clect” and “polite” as “plite”, and there were a few times when I was quite conscious of audible breath sounds – which isn’t something that normally bothers me over much, but which I know drives some listeners batty.

No Earls Allowed is well-written and the characters are engaging, even if the premise is a little hard to take. While flawed, the narration is by no means horrible, and if you’re a fan of the author’s or of the sort of “historical-lite” romance penned by authors such as Tessa Dare and Maya Rodale, you might well enjoy it.

[Sissy's Romance Book Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

No Earls Allowed by Shana Galen is book Two in "The Survivors" series. This is the story of Juliana and Neil. I have read the previous book but feel this is easily a standalone book.
Juliana had taken to working at an orphanage to help the children and her father has allowed her to do so. Juliana's died and her father felt the work would help with dealing with that lost but now he feels it time to move on and asked his friend to have his illegitimate son Neil, who is also a war hero to go get his daughter. Neil feeling confident this will be a quick task he can complete is finding now that it is not so easy. Juliana finds herself having to take up the job of feeding and doing other things there to keep the orphanage going a a loss of help.
Neil is taken by surprise about what he is learning about Juliana and her non-conventional ways.
I really enjoyed this book! It took me in on just the first few pages...loved it!

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Earls Allowed was an amazing romance between a heroine hoping to set things right and the hero who is determined to protect her.

After the death of her sister, Lady Juliana, the daughter of an earl, has devoted all of her time and attention to saving a failing orphanage. Her father would like her to give up this endeavor and return home so he can see her wed. Juliana though has no intention of marrying and refuses to leave the orphanage despite its lack of safety. Major Neil Wraxall has been charged with getting Juliana to agree to return home. When he arrives at the orphanage, it quickly becomes clear that convincing Juliana to do anything will be quite the undertaking.

Juliana is a very stubborn, impulsive woman who refuses to be oppressed by the men of society. She is very dedicated to her boys and is determined that every one of them will have a better life. Juliana wasn't always so involved with the orphanage, but at the behest of her sister she became involved. When her sister died, Juliana felt the orphanage was a way to honor her memory and eventually she fell in love with the boys. Juliana has a hard time believing any of the boys would do anything wrong and at times lets that blind her to what is going on.

Neil is the bastard son of a Marquess and while his father claimed him, that never stopped society from treating him like a bastard. Because Neil struggles with his bastard status, he has vowed never to father any bastards of his own and as such has remained a virgin. Neil was the man in charge of leading The Survivors, a group of men in the Napoleonic War tasked with suicide missions. Neil feels immense guilt over the fact that of the thirty men under his command, only twelve survived the war. His soldiers nicknamed him the Warrior as he was the one most willing to throw himself into battle. Neil still has nightmares about his time in the war and has difficulty sleeping without drinking.

Juliana and Neil's relationship started off a bit rocky as she immediately distrusted him and he simply wanted to accomplish the task his father gave him. While they didn't initially like each other, they were attracted to each other right away. Their physical relationship was a bit unusual as Neil was a virgin and was adamant about not sleeping with anyone. Despite his virgin status Neil is experienced in other ways with women, so they do still have a physical relationship which was very sexy. Through Juliana and the orphanage, Neil learns to care for others again and his guilt over the deaths of his men is slowly eased. Neil helps Juliana see that it's ok to accept help and that she doesn't have to rely only on herself.

A few of the other men from Neil's unit show up at various points in the book to assist him. I always enjoy getting to see the men of the unit interact as they have such a unique bond. The boys of the orphanage were a varied lot and some of them could be quite adorable. My favorite little characters though were the three rats the boys had as pets, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I loved that Neil was so hesitant around the rats and was very squicked out by them. The plot line with crime lord Slag added some great tension and led to some action filled scenes that I quite enjoyed.

No Earls Allowed ended up being a fantastic read and I'm excited to see find out more about the other men of The Survivors in future books. I would definitely recommend this series for anyone looking for historical romances with a different sort of hero.

**I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

[Guiltless Delights · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: No Earl's Allowed
Author: Shana Galen
Released: 6 March 2018
Published by: Sourcebooks
Format: ARC Ebook Via Netgalley
Pages: 386
Genres: Historical, Romance, Regency
Series: The Survivors Series Book 2
Sexy times: Yes and a heavy focus on consent.

I was provided with an ARC copy by Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own

What I liked

The Main Characters
Both Neil and Julia have such a great strength of character and history that has both led them to this point in their lives. We have a heroine who admits she was frivolous and shallow before suffering great loss and gaining a new viewpoint on life and a hero who is dealing with the guilt of surviving a war when he values himself very little. Their stories are believable and relatable. The characters have great chemistry and it never feels forced.

The Background Setting
I really enjoyed the background setting of the orphanage and Spitalfields as it does give more of an insight into what London was truly like for those lower classes. The villain feels realistic and a natural product of the Spitalfields.

The Focus on Consent
There is a major focus on consent in this book which I absolutely adore.
"He had to allow her to pull away. He’d been raised as a gentleman. He knew when a lady resisted, a gentleman released her."

Extra Points*
One of the best description of an orgasm I've read
"She felt as though her body was the fluffy dandelion seeds, blown apart by a wild gust of wind."

What I didn't like -
The hero underming the heroine
Probably my only issue was they way the hero wanted to manage the heroine and how he undermined her position in the orphanage. However this is very much a reflection of the time period and his background more than anything.


My Final Thoughts
The story grabbed me quite quickly and I felt invested in the characters from very early on.
Their stories felt well round and believable. The author never strayed too far from the main characters but still gave us a taste of some of the other heroes in the survivors club setting up the next book quite nicely.
But the best part about this book was the chemistry between the main characters. Their connection felt real and compelling and the characters never felt overdone or melodramatic.
This was my first Shana Galen book and I can't wait to read more.

[Antonella · Rating 5 out of 5]

hero of this book 😍😍😍
another great historical romance that was so delightful and fun!!!

[Sara Reads (mostly) Romance · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Sweet, Simple and No-Nonsense Stars

I love heroines-who-run-orphanage stories!! and brooding scoundrels!

What a cute read. This is the second book I've read by Shana Galen and I am on a roll so far with five stars! I think it is safe to call her a Queen of slow burn, finely paced novels! Honestly, this felt real because there was no insta love, but there was also no hate-to-love. It was about two people doing the best in the situations they were in and bonding with one another. Her couples have such wonderful chemistry, and the romance part is so well written. I love how there is no unnecessary drama or stupid decisions. Here we have two adults with their own issues, that find each other and realize they are right for each other! They were both vulnerable and very human at times, drawing from their past experiences

This book is very plot and romance based. There are great supporting characters. The children at her orphanage especially!!



They made me



So flippin cute!!!

Neil and Juliana had chemistry from the beginning, not insta-love or absurd amount of lust, but a kind of mutual respect and a slow build up of love. Neil was a bit of a tortured hero, and while the book didn't focus too much about his time in the war, it played a big part of his life. I like that he was natural born leader, that was part of his personality, and what Juliana needed. It was one of the reasons she fell in love with him and it worked out so well because his personality was such a compliment to hers!

Juliana was headstrong and sweet and very beautiful, I like that Neil loved her curviness (stupid and shallow I know but the way he described her body had me swooning! I love how he appreciated every part of her) She is very caring, obviously she has to be for her to enjoy what she does. I just love how she had a real purpose in life, which was taking care of these children. It was clear how much she loved them and I respected her for that, I also respected her for not giving in out of fear of the social stigma of a working woman.

There was a subplot of danger and it fit pretty well, and was important in the plot. I'm really excited to read Neil's friends books!

Steaminess Level:



Hot! I loved their love scenes so much, and was pleasantly surprised because I didn't really expect there to be such well done, hot scenes because their relationship was not sex based. But, Galen leaves us satisfied after Neil's and Juliana's sexy times.

She realized what she’d said too late and sighed at the wide smile on his face. “So you enjoyed my kisses. What else did you enjoy?”
“You know the answer to that.”
The finger that had rested on her shoulder slid down. “The way I touched your breasts?” He pushed her hands aside with lamentably no resistance on her part and moved the material covering her. His hand stroked over her skin, just as she’d hoped he would. “The way I suckled your nipples?” He bent and lapped at one hard tip with his tongue

HOT DAYUMM

I just love happy endings and cute romances!

[Jultri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5. I really want to like this book more, but it fell short of the first one. I like the hero, Major Neil Wraxall, well enough. He's the acknowledged illegitimate son of a marquess, but despite his father's recognition and support throughout his life, he is still a tortured soul, his illegitimacy forever marking him as a less worthy, not just by society, but more so in his own eyes. This does not change, even after his return as a hero from the Napoleon War, where he led his men on multiple suicide missions. The heroine, Lady Juliana, is the beautiful daughter of an earl, yet she has turned her back on life as a pampered society miss, preferring instead to devote her time and money to running an orphanage in a rough London neighbourhood for young lost boys. Neil is recruited by both his father and hers to return Julia back to her home and proper role. How they expected him to do so, I'm not so sure. I do like how the Neil naturally takes charge of the home and the unruly boys, and how they readily take to him and adopt him as a father figure in their lives. Julia annoyed me more. She was completely in over her head at the orphanage and yet was in denial about it. She could not see that her determination and loving was not enough to keep the boys fed and safe, and really was quite ineffectual at her task. She also put herself needlessly in danger, by insisting on jumping in where she had no expertise and could only get in the way. I'm an old-fashioned gal, and their romance moved way too fast, getting quite intimate only after a couple days of meeting. I prefer the slow-burn.

This is an ARC for NetGalley.

[Melann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classique, mais efficace.

[Nadège Nrd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une suite très sympathique.
Neil est mon personnage préféré, même si je ne l'ai pas trouvé assez sombre à mon goût.
Pour une fois, j'ai aimé l’héroïne, à qui ne j'ai pas eu envi de mettre des claques (oui, ça arrive souvent).

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

See the full review at HarlequinJunkie.com

With a heroine determined to rush headlong into trouble and a hero still recovering from the horrors of the battlefield, No Earls Allowed was an exciting romp through Regency era London with all the witty dialogue and smart writing I’ve come to expect from Shana Galen.

‘She could only think of one way to fill the ragged hole in her heart, and that was to take these little orphan boys under her wing and do what no one else in the world seemed to want to do–love them.’

Shana Galen is on a roll with her newest series, The Survivors. Each book can be read as a standalone easily enough but I think historical romance fans will like the premise behind it so much that they’ll want to read them all. This particular story had some tough bits to get through. Neil relived his time commanding troops in his nightmares, so the battle scenes he remembered were raw and a bit gory. Read More

[Jacknsusan knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

NO EARLS ALLOWED by Shana Galen is the second book in her Survivor series. Lady Juliana is the daughter of an Earl. But at the moment she is living in Spitalfields trying to run an orphanage practically by herself. Her cook and teacher have just quit. The roof leaks. And the twelve boys residing there are like herding cats. Julia's father is very concerned for her safety, so he hires Major Neil Wraxall to bring her home. Good luck with that!!! Neil is a bastard, the haunted ex leader of a group of soldiers that were on a suicide mission, and a virgin. Mr. Slag is a slumlord who has designs on Julia. He is dangerous, and Neil's mission is to protect Julia at all costs. He is determined not to fail. This was a very sweet book with a rousing ending, and I highly recommend it! I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Lover of Romance · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

No Earls Allowed is the second book in the Survivors series by Shana Galen. I have been a fan of this author for years, but I will be honest in that I did struggle with the heroine quite a bit. The story starts off with our heroine who helps run an boys home in a very unsafe part of town, and she is part of the Ton. Her father enlists the help of a son of a family friend, to try to get Juliana to see reason. He doesn't like that she lives and breathes the boys home and doesn't fully understand her passion for the boys that she cares for. Neil is a military man, and even though at first he is just doing a favor, he begins to understand and respect Juliana's invovlement in the boys home and begins entrenched in the goings on with the home.

Now there were some great things for this story, I liked the set up of the boys home and the pacing of the story is pretty well done and I had no problem staying engaged with the story and I loved how true and loyal our hero is and even though he is a commitment phobe he still stays by Juliana's side through thick and thin. But Juliana, quite frankly, was naive and makes foolish decisions. So she did drive me crazy so many times throughout the story....I definitely rolled my eyes more often than not because of her rash actions. But the rest of the story was superb. I loved the romance, the sensuality was right on point, and the charming relationship with the boys was so enchanting.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m still trying to explore the historical romance genre and I wanted to look for titles that seem more light hearted and comedic. From the cover, No Earls Allowed seemed like the perfect pick. While I did enjoy the story, it wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever read. I appreciated the attempts at humor but it wasn’t enough to take that extra step into hilarious. I see the humor they were going for and I was amused by it but I didn’t laugh out loud about it.

This is the story of Julianna, a spunky daughter of an Earl who’s not so successfully running a boys orphanage, and Neil, the bastard son of a Marquess and war hero. Their dads are friends so Neil is recruited to go to the orphanage to convince Juliana to go back home to hear father. Obviously the complete opposite happens and Neil is drawn to the boys and acts as a role model to them and thus endears himself to Julianna. Then there’s love, the defeat of bad guy villains in their way, marriage, and a big happily ever after… of course.

How’s the smut? I’m glad you asked. Here we have a rare unicorn of a story. Both Julianna and Neil are VIRGINS! You read that right, THE MALE LEAD IS A VIRGIN! That so rarely ever happens and I felt the need to exclaim it! Regardless of Neil having his v-card intact, he’s still rather carnally experienced. He’s basically done everything except for sex with many a woman. I guess you can say he’s mouth fucked his way through Europe. Spoiler: He and Julianna do get some steamy moments (lots of oral sex) but no actual sex until literally the last chapter of the book.

I enjoyed No Earls Allowed and thought it was relatively light-hearted and a fluffy read. I just didn’t love it as much as I could have. I appreciated the rom-com effort but the jokes were mostly cute instead of belly laugh funny that I’ve grown accustomed to in other romances. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of Julianna. She tended to fall into the category of so called “strong” women who are actually just stubborn as a mule. She’s not all that strong of a heroine, she’s foolhardy and stubborn which makes her more of a burden than anything else. But besides that, this was a fun enough story.

[Juliana Philippa · Rating 3 out of 5]

He was a warrior, a man who lived for nothing but combat. He’d certainly had his share of war, and he’d managed to beat the odds and come home. He didn’t want to fight anymore. And that was part of the problem. If he wasn’t the Warrior any longer, who was he?

3.5 stars
I really enjoyed Book 1 in this series, but unfortunately this didn't live up to that one. There were a few problems I had. Juliana, the heroine, liked to shorten her name to Julia. Lolol no I'm kidding, that's not what I disliked about her (I mean, it's one small thing...). I appreciated that with Juliana, we're given a heroine who has developed a great deal, though most of it has happened before this book started. She used to be a belle-of-the-ball, darling of the ton, without many serious concerns, but something happened to change all that. By the time we meet her, she has been devoting the last several months of her life to an orphanage and the boys who live there, only going to Mayfair and society events as much as she promised her father she would.

Juliana is very wary of trusting Neil and I understand that—he's sent by her father to bring her home and is therefore, in many ways, her enemy. I also understand her wariness of men in general, given what happened to her sister, but it was taken too far. It's like those romances where because of the hero's ONE bad experience with a woman, he then views all women as deceitful bitches—it makes just as little sense, and is just as annoying. Neil proves himself over and over again, but she is quite mean to him. She's also dumb as nails when she insists on going into a dangerous situation, which is just going to make it more dangerous for everyone involved, since Neil will have to worry about the issue at hand, AND now protecting her. I did appreciate in the end when she decides to go all in and is the brave one emotionally, but she was too hostile for too long, in my opinion, while also giving mixed messages—they'd have a scorching hot kiss, and then she would kind of blame him. He'd give her pleasure, and then she would accuse him of wanting pleasure himself (which he didn't, but even if he did just want to orgasm, you could at least give the guy a break no?).

Neil is not like how I thought he would be, given Book 1. There, he is super regimented and almost OCD-like, so I thought we would see more of that here. He's not that way in this book, rather he's just quite strait-laced and very focused on duty. He's such a good guy, so giving and caring, and it's nice to have a hero who is so clear on not wanting to have bastards, that he goes about that the only sure-fire way there is—he doesn't have intercourse. Even though we have heroes who swear they don't want their family line to continue, or who are bastards and never want to visit that on destiny on someone else, they (almost) always still have sex, though yes they take certain measures to prevent pregnancy. Here though, we have a virtuous virgin hero who is just too delicious for words.

Like with Book 1, we also have a last twist thrown in when the hero determines that he's not worthy of the heroine, and with all the back and forth, we could have done without one more twist. It especially made no sense since only moments before, he had been wanting that and imagining it—then, she offers him a future, and suddenly no, he's not good enough?

Neil and the boys at the orphanage make the story worth it though. There are some super sweet scenes, I love reading more exchanges between the Survivors, and the romance and chemistry between Neil and Juliana leaps off the page—I wish that she hadn't been so hostile to him though. Overall, worth reading, but won't be a reread for me.

*This review is of an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Some changes and/or edits may be made to the final published version.

[Vikki Vaught · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all of Shana Galen's historical romances, she has again delivered a tale sparkling dialogue and an adventure-packed plot. I'm so glad I accepted an invitation from the publisher, via Net-Galley, to read and review No Earls Allowed, the second book in her Survivors series.

The pacing is quick, and the story pulled me in from the first page and kept me engaged until the last word. Not only are the main characters enthralling, the many orphans in the novel, have their own nicely developed character arch.

Lady Julianna's character has a heart as big as the ocean and protects are charges, even at her own peril. When the hero shows up, they are thrown together and must work together to save the orphanage. Her heart is as big for him as for her boys.

Major Neil Wraxall's character is my favorite hero. He is honorable, brave and determined to protect Julianna and her boys no matter how hard she makes it, and her fearless attitude definitely makes it VERY hard. The sincere, caring love he gives her stole my heart, and his backstory brought tears to my eyes.

The chemistry between Julianna and Neil jumps off the page. Ms. Galen certainly knows how to build sexual tension. That's something I expect with historical romances. I fell in love with this couple and truly wanted them to find their happy ending!

If you are a fan of Regency romances with plenty of action and heart-warming characters, then you will love No Earls Allowed as much as I did. I highly recommend this book and this very talented author. Happy reading!

[Caitlyn Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m just going to say straight off that I have no idea how the title relates to the book. It’s not a line anyone says, or a vow the heroine has made. The hero is the illegitimate (but acknowledged) son of a marquis, and frankly since the heroine, Lady Juliana, has put herself beyond the bounds of acceptable by leaving home to run a boys’ orphanage anyway, he’s a good match for her.

This is a pretty cookie-cutter Regency in a lot of ways, with added plot moppets for colour, and a fight with a slumlord who is determined to make Juliana his mistress. Neil’s PTSD isn’t really addressed in any meaningful way, which I found rather disappointing after enjoying Third Son’s A Charm, the previous book in this series. It’s well written, as I’d expect from Shana Galen, but somehow fell a bit flat for me. I can’t give it any more than four stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review through NetGalley.

[Angelique · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the heroine TSTL. She was in over her head and refused to accept it. liked the hero, but I didn't feel any chemistry between them (probably because I was so irritated with her for most of the book)

[Patricia Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you would like to read a story about two people trying to help a ramshackle orphanage, this is your book. If you would like to read a romance and NOT have to suspend disbelief at much of the heroine's ridiculous reactions, this is not your book.

[Barbara Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series: The Survivors #2
Publication Date: 3/6/18

Spitalfields is the carbuncle on the buttocks of London. So, what is the unmarried, unchaperoned daughter of the Earl of St. Maur doing living at the St. Dismas Home for Wayward Youth (aka Sunnybrook Home for Boys) that is right in the middle of Spitalfields? Well, she’s doing the very best she can to care for a dozen orphans who are all prey for the criminals of Spitalfields. The roof leaks, the stores in the larder are coming up missing, the stairs are rickety and the locks on the windows and doors don’t work. Oh, yes, and she has become the target of Slag, the supreme lord of Spitalfields crime scene. Slag wants her – or more specifically her body – for his own use.

Lady Juliana St. Maur is no longer the flighty, spoiled debutante she was a year or two ago. So much has changed in her life, so much pain and sorrow has settled into her. It all really started years ago when her mother died – because she basically lost her father at the same time. He withdrew into himself and allowed Juliana and her sister to suffer from his benign neglect. Then, her sweet, beautiful, older sister married a man Juliana just knew wasn’t what he seemed. Sadly for her and her sister, she was proven correct because he turned out to be a profligate who only wanted her sister for her dowry. Then, her sister died in childbirth – but left her sweet, beautiful baby boy for Juliana to love. Imagine how bereft she was when the father of the baby showed up six months later and ripped that sweet baby, Davy, from her arms as well. Now, those orphans in her care will receive all of her love, care, and protection – and she will do whatever it takes to protect them.

Major Neil Wraxhall, acknowledged the bastard son of the Marquess of Kensington, is a troubled war hero. As the commander of a group of men formed by Lieutenant Colonel Draven, he was required to send his men on suicide mission after suicide mission until all but a dozen were gone from this world. Neil feels so much guilt and the ghosts of those eighteen men he lost haunt him at every turn – especially at night – in his nightmares. Between his feelings about being a bastard and sending all of those men – his friends and brothers – on suicide missions, he is a tortured soul. He’s lost to all that is good and sweet in the world. Neil is still on good terms with his father though – and occasionally handles small tasks for him.

Shortly after entering his club, the Draven Club, one evening, he is given a note that was delivered earlier. The message was simple – “Call on me at the townhouse at your earliest convenience. I have need of you. – Kensington”. Neil had no idea how those few words from his father would change his life. The mission sounded simple enough, all he had to do was go to an orphanage in Spitalfields and return the recalcitrant daughter of his father’s good friend, the Earl of St. Maur, to her home in Mayfair. That task should surely be quick and easy. That is – he thought that was the case – until he met the stubborn, opinionated, pig-headed young lady who had her feet dug in and absolutely refused to leave the orphanage.

What an absolutely atrocious morning Juliana was having! The cook quit, she was trying her best to cook for the boys and then Slag shows up and makes it very plain he intends to have her – then – on top of all that a tall, handsome man showed up to inform her that she was to return to her father’s home. Well – she straightened him out very, very quickly!

The book was a fast-paced page-turner that kept you interested and intrigued until the very end. The characters were wonderfully written and interesting, the story was wonderfully written and well plotted. One thing I particularly liked was that both the hero and heroine were virgins – but the book was still very sensual. Well done Ms. Galen! We also had ‘guest’ appearances by Ewan (from book one) and Rafe. The secondary characters were wonderful – especially all of those sweet orphans! While this is the second book in the series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone.

So, with all of that, why didn’t I give it five stars? Well, there were just a couple of things that sort of threw me off my stride in the book. First, there is absolutely no way an aristocrat in that time period would have allowed his daughter to live as Juliana’s father allowed her to do. He may have been inattentive, but he would not have allowed her to ruin herself and drag the family name into scandal. I also didn’t totally buy into Neil’s constant woe-is-me attitude about being a bastard. He was acknowledged, had a good education, etc. and during that time, from what I have learned, acknowledged bastards were pretty much accepted within society – they weren’t a preferred match, but they were accepted.

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[Smut Report]

Review also available at The Smut Report.

Heat factor: Probably 10% of this book is sex

Character Chemistry: They really want to have sex with each other

Plot: Ridiculous female has issues and no sense, needs rescue by emotionally scarred male

Overall: I’m annoyed

In this second installment of the Survivors series we get to know Neil Wraxall, who was introduced as the strategic leader (Warrior being his annoying moniker) in book one, and Lady Juliana St. Maur, who has just a bundle of issues, which we will likely not discuss further because we have other smut that wants reading.

The premise of the series is that there are 12 soldiers who went off to the Napoleonic wars and have a special bond because they managed to survive numerous suicide missions throughout the war. Thirty unwanted younger sons of aristocratic families joined Draven’s suicide troop and 12 came home with emotional and physical scars (aside from the emotional scars they already have due to being unwanted by their families).

The plot of this book is entirely predictable, so let’s get down to brass tacks.

1. We’ll begin with the title. I don’t know why no earls are allowed. Neil is a bastard son of a Marquess. The man who ruined Juliana’s life (by marrying her sister, which is its own thing) is a Viscount. Juliana’s father is an Earl, but there’s no question of his not being allowed because he has no desire to be where Juliana is for most of the book.

2. Neil is condescending. Several times he clearly indicates he has no respect for Juliana’s judgement at all.

“I had the situation under control.”

He let out a huff of laughter. She was obviously deluded. “Is that what you call it?”

And that’s just the first interaction. But he really wants to bone her because she’s a busty beauty, so I guess it’s fine that he thinks she’s got noodles for brains while she’s trying to take care of 12 common orphan boys in a rough part of town.

3. Juliana might have noodles for brains. She’s an aristocratic lady with no experience of childrearing who suddenly decides to take up residence in an orphanage in a super shady area of town because they need her. So yes, children need love and support but
a) They need funds for food and other necessities. Juliana makes a donation of her own money and apparently receives funds from the Board of the orphanage, but there’s not enough money and supplies keep disappearing. And yet, when Neil arrives and offers to buy breakfast for everyone she says she couldn’t possibly accept. I’m sorry, what? If you were at the orphanage for the sake of the boys and not for your own personal crusade, wouldn’t you accept anything that could support them?
b) They need structure and boundaries. These boys are going to have to fend for themselves in the world, but Juliana not only doesn’t make them do any chores or take care of themselves in any way, she doesn’t even think they can do any of those things. She just thinks they need love. Over and over.
c) They need to live in a safe environment. Juliana makes no attempts to repair any parts of the house (including windows and doors, and did I mention they live in a super shady neighborhood?) and she uses buckets and vases for all the leaks in the roof. And then when Neil (condescendingly but rightly) calls Juliana out on it, she’s offended.

Basically here we’re feeding into the notion that women have this essential mothering instinct that is rooted in naivete and impractical behavior, and men have to provide foundation, protection, and structure.

4. In the whole of her life, Juliana has apparently met not a single man that she trusts, which is why she immediately mistrusts Neil and thinks he’s either going to bail on her or is serving his own agenda. Why would she be worried about him bailing if she thinks he’s serving his own agenda? Good question. BUT STILL she trusts the manservant at the orphanage who is a product of the crime-ridden neighborhood and who is obviously not working for her own or the orphanage’s best interests. Because servants obviously don’t have agendas, right?

5. About halfway through the book (I kid you not. half. way.), the dastardly villain makes his move, culminating in a harrowing scene of fisticuffs and fire. One of the children has been “taken” by the bad guy only not because, let’s be honest, this kid is living in Spitalfields and hasn’t got a lot of morally upstanding adults or peers hanging around providing positive feedback and an meaningful community environment. So of course Noodle Brains declares that she IS GOING into the villain’s lair and NOTHING NEIL DOES will change that. Because the child NEEDS HER. Fortunately she realizes this was a supremely idiotic idea. Unfortunately it’s after they’re already in the lair, completely surrounded by unsavory characters who would eat up and spit out a naive gentlewoman in a heartbeat. Especially naive gentlewomen who are senseless enough to draw attention to themselves in a den of iniquity. I have multiple notes in two chapters about this hugely obnoxious interlude.

Side note: This is one of those “strong woman” tropes that drives me nuts. If, in fact, you are a sensible person, you should have some inkling of 1) your surroundings and 2) whether or not you have the skills needed to address a given situation. A strong woman does not interfere with strategic planning by trained experts just because she feels she should be included. She does not think she knows better than said experts even though she has no relevant experience or training. If she does have those things, bully for her! But in 9 of 10 books I read, she absolutely does not, and, setting aside the rudeness of exclusion by most of the male characters in these stories, the fact that her willfulness jeopardizes everyone else is NOT CUTE. /rant.

6. Just when you think the book has reached its climax and is winding down, you realize that you still have about half of the book still to read, and we enter Conflict the Second, a.k.a. I’m not good enough for you so I have to leave you even though we love each other because it’s best for you. And then the actual climax comes and the hero who walked away is all, “What have I done? I was so foolish. Love interest needs me because I am a hero and I will die of misery if anything happens to her.”

Frankly I was sort of annoyed that there were so many portions of this book I enjoyed because there were so many other parts that either frustrated or enraged me.

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[eyes.2c · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wounded Warrior meets his match!

I was so looking forward to the next in The Survivors series, and I was not disappointed!
This time it is Neil Wraxall's story, acknowledged illegitimate son of the Marquess of Kensington.
Neil was part of Draven's Dozen an elite troop who had fought hand to mouth against Napoleon, where death was a surety. It's these men's return to peacetime England that is the problem. "They were the only men alive who had gone to hell and come back again." Neil had been known in the group as The Warrior. Now those who'd survived were feted as heroes. Unfortunately war has not prepared the survivors for peace time. "And that was part of the problem. If he wasn’t the Warrior any longer, who was he?"
Self realization, self acceptance and love for both Neil and Lady Juliana is key.
When his father asks Neil to assist the Earl of St. Maur in bringing his daughter home from the home she's involved in in the Rookeries Neil sees no problem. That is until he actually meets Lady Juliana. Then his world implodes as the 'Virgin' Warrior finds himself in the fight of his lifetime for an unrepentant champion of orphans and the focus of a crime lord's desire.
A totally delicious read!

A NetGalley ARC