A great first book in Amelia Grey’s First Come Loves series. The Countess of Wake is a made a widow after her husband dies in a shipwreck. She and three other widows whose husbands were on the same boat start a boarding school. The comings and goings at the school catch the attention of Lady Wake’s neighbor, the Earl of Lyonwood.

The author did a great job developing all the characters including the other two widows who I’m assuming will get their own book. And the young pupils totally stole the shore. It was interesting to see both of the main characters struggle with the expectations of society.

I have read a lot of historical romances and found this to be a fresh of breath air. A lot of romance novels tend to follow the same template and the only thing that separates them is the conflict between the characters that keeps them apart. What I found so refreshing about this book was that Adeline is emotionally scarred from her first marriage but never sinks into the "I will never love again" mindframe and that Lyon isn't some rogue that needs to see that real love exists. It is believeable that Adeline would be opposed to getting married again so it didn't come across as an excuse to keep the characters apart. I also appreciated that it was the man in the story who had to convince the woman she could trust him rather than the other way around which seems to be another common plotpoint in romances - it's always nice to see the man have to put a little effort into the relationship and be the one who is forgiving of the other's flaws. My only complaint is about the circumstances which make Adeline finally agree to marry Lyon - I just wish she had come around because she realized she trusted him rather than for an outside reason.

Adeline and Lyon are well developed and interesting characters. I also really liked Brina and Julia based on the brief introductions we have gotten so far and I can't wait to read their stories as the series continues. I hope we get at least some glimpses of Adeline in the future books - especially a followup on what happens with Nora. The writing style makes this an easy read and the pacing helps keep things interesting. I hadn't intended to read it so quickly, but once I started I found I couldn't put it down!

I rarely DNF books but I hit my point at 19%. This book started out with a great hook, where the countess and earl meet under confusing circumstances with a misunderstanding on his part about the girls' school that the countess wants to put together, because she has a good heart.

I stopped at the part where she is talking to her friends, because it was incredibly boring. I slogged through the passage where the earl speaks to his aunt about how the neighborhood is not going down. I learned more than I wanted to know about the characters - and I simply wasn't hooked at all past the very good meet cute.

Very enjoyable start to Ms. Grey's First Comes Love series. Three young noble widows, connected by the loss of their husbands in the same shipwreck, decide to start a trade boarding school for the sisters and daughters of working class men lost in the disaster. One of them, the Dowager Countess Wake, chooses to live in the mansion in front of the school. Rumors of large quantities of beds, coupled with strange women coming and going at odd hours, send the Earl of Lyonwood charging next door to investigate and misunderstandings ensue. The hero and heroine have both felt trapped by the expectations of the Ton. Lady Wake, wounded by her husband's infidelity and scorn over her infertility, is unwilling to risk another marriage and needs to discover her true self within the confines of her widowed status. Lyonwood, under pressure to marry and provide an heir, wants to wait for love and resents constant comparisons with his charming and youthful father.

Ms. Grey does a very good job of introducing each of the widows while retaining focus on Lady Wake, and she makes the love and rivalry between Lyonwood and his father believable. I look forward to seeing how the remaining widows deal with their own relationships. One of the schoolgirls , Fanny Warren, has the potential to steal the show from her patronesses and I have fingers crossed that she and friend Mathilda get a short story or novella of their own as adults looking for HEAs.

really enjoyed this book. It was a quiet thoughtful read,BUT the last few chapters made the book! It tugged at your heart the pain and internal struggle they both felt, cant wait until the next book

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series! The premise is really interesting and I do love a bad first impression "re-do"! Adeline is a widow who decides to give back to those that need help - in the form of a girls school for the children of the men who were killed in the shipwreck that killed her husband... but she has to deal with her neighbor, Lord Lyon. After a bad first impression, sparks fly!

I received this book as an ARC thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

Lovely historical romance with good characters and interesting storyline. Interactions between characters was good.

The Earl Next Door by Amelia Grey is a spectacular historical romance. Ms. Grey has given readers a book that will have them hooked on this story in the first two pages and keep them glued to their e-readers until the end. Adeline has been a widow for two years. Her husband was abusive so he wasn't a great loss for her, but she saw the families of the sailors that were on the ship with him that also perished and felt that she wanted to do something for those families. Her and two of her friends that lost husbands on the ship decided to open a school for girls to learn sewing so they could support themselves when they were older. Lyon, the Earl of Lyonwood, got his face soundly slapped when he accused Adeline of opening a bordello in the house next door to him. Lyon and Adeline's story is loaded with drama, humor, sizzle and a stellar cast of characters. I loved this book from cover to cover and can't wait to read my next book by Amelia Grey. The Earl Next Door is book 1 of the First Comes Love Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*3.5 Stars*

“I’ve waited to find the love of one woman sharing my bed, my mornings and my nights beside me in all things till death do we part. You are the lady I want. The only one I’ve ever wanted. I love you.”

Lady Adeline Wake has found herself a widow after her husband is one of the many casualties of a shipwreck. Bonding with two other ladies that also lost their husbands, these widows set out to help the daughters of the working crew members on the ship. Their idea is to open a boarding school for these unfortunate girls and teach them basic life skills, such as reading, writing and learning to become a seamstress. Adeline has found the perfect location for their school, but little does she know that the property next door is owned by the future Marquis of Marksworth, Lord Lyonwood. First impressions are everything in society, but unfortunately for Lady Wake, hers and Lord Lyonwood’s begin under false assumptions.

Badgered by his aunt and her busy-body friend, Lord Lyonwood storms over to tell his new neighbor that she would have to open her whore house elsewhere. When he barges in with his accusations, he comes face to face with Adeline, Dowager Countess of Wake. Struck by her raw beauty and passion, he is immediately smitten. With a smack to his face and a proper dressing down for accusing her of running a house of ill repute, Adeline begins to realize just how empowered she is in being a widow…perhaps to the point where she’s willing to put her past behind her.

Adeline and Lyon start their courtship in a most unconventional way, and their journey towards a happily ever after will take time, patience, understanding, and of course, love.

To be honest, I almost did not finish this book. After about ¼ of the way in, I struggled with connecting with the characters. So I set it aside, read a completely different genre, and came back to The Earl Next Door. I’m so very glad I did. While the beginning was a wee bit “meh” for me, I did so love Lyon’s persistence and Adeline’s ferocity. When they were in a room together, you could see the sparks fly. Amelia Grey has written a second chance romance I would recommend to fans of this genre.

THE EARL NEXT DOOR by Amelia Grey is a lively account of the journey toward love taken by Adeline, a widowed Countess, and Lyon, the actual Earl next door of the title. Since they experience a horrible misunderstanding at their very first meeting, it seems as if their journey will be brief and end abruptly with only animosity all the way around. How Adeline and Lyon overcome these misperceptions makes for a lovely story of gradual attraction and the HEA we all hope for.

Adeline was widowed when her husband died following a maritime disaster. The ship he was on sank and there were many lives lost, both passengers and crew. That tragedy has shaped Adeline’s new life in surprisingly positive ways, as she has made fast friends with two other women who also lost husbands at the same time. Rather than languish, Lady Kitson Fairbright and Mrs. Brina Feld share Adeline’s new mission with equal enthusiasm. Together, they have founded a small, residential school for the daughters and sisters of the lost crew members of the ship, in order to teach them seamstress skills and ensure they will have a means of supporting themselves.

However, the Earl next door is not enchanted by their philanthropy, nor does he fully comprehend what is happening in the building behind his neighbor’s home in London. This leads to misunderstandings and clashes - right up until the point that Adeline and Lyon realize how much they desire each other. But, despite their great attraction, there are ghosts from the past that appear insurmountable and will keep them apart.

I found the story in this free advance reader copy via NetGalley to be enjoyable, but the overall book to be a disappointment due to poor editing and proofreading. I would just be settling into a scene and would be jarred from enjoyment by issues such as a misspelling (rush rather than ruche) a convoluted sentence (“Stay of out this” rather than “Stay out of this”), use of an incorrect homophone (describing a person’s role as a protector as a “roll”), and even having an gown that was repeatedly described as amber admired as crimson several pages later.

The storyline, itself, was quite engaging, but these are only a few of the proofreading and editing issues I noted. The sheer number of them made for a jerky and irritating read. For this reason, I cannot give an enthusiastic recommendation to THE EARL NEXT DOOR.

Another series to look out for.
A widow finally finds her wings. Stowed away from the world following her marriage and being married to a disinterested and unkind man takes a toll on Adeline. When her husband dies and she is out of mourning, she finds her purpose in life.
She buys a house and starts a boarding school for underprivileged girls along with her two friends. Only, her neighbour is an interesting man and there is a growing attraction that neither can ignore.
A delightful story of romance, this one was well written and was a wonderful read.
Looking forward to the other books in the series.

A wonderfully sweet story with likable characters, witty dialogue and lots and lots of steam. If you're a fan of historical romance books this is a must read.

When Adeline Wake becomes a widow, she realizes she is free, free from a loveless marriage, free from isolation, free to do as she pleases.
She along with two other young widows, widowed by the same sinking ship, starts a school for the girls whose fathers also died that day to try to help them have a better life.
The property abuts Lord Lyonwood's estate, he's not interested in marriage either, but something about Adeline has him in thrall at first sight.
The women go about starting and running their school and he goes about running his estates and avoiding entanglements until they are entangled.....deeply.
Ms. Grey writes with humor, sweetness and sensuality and a gift for describing people and scenes to make this an engrossing tale. I hope to read about the other widows soon..
I requested and received a NetGalley Arc.

Adeline, Dowager Countess of Wake, is a very young widow who lost her husband at sea. She has two friends who are also widows, who have decided to open of a school for young girls who have lost loved ones in shipwrecks. Unfortunately, her next door neighbor, the handsome Lord Lyon, Earl of Marksworth barges into her home thinking that she is running a house of ill-repute. Thus starts the sweetest attraction between the two who have no attention of either marrying unless it is a love match or remarrying. Neither could deny their feelings in the end that made it a nice HEA.

This is a first time read by this author. Although the story did not excite me much but it did hold my attention. The plot starts off nicely, but a bit slow. I would like to have seen more development between the H/h during the story. It was well-written and very much entertaining. The cover was beautifully done. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I received a copy of this ARC provided by the Author/Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

It's a winner!
I laughed and I cried at the antics of two little girls, the nosy neighbor and the Earl's frustration with the widow next door. Grey hit the mark with this witty, enchanting love story.
A free copy from Netgalley for an honest review.

I really liked this sweet book. There was great chemistry between our main characters, when they first meet in an unforgettable interaction. I liked that Lyon didn't let society force him to do something he didn't want to and when he found what he wanted he didn't hesitate but was still respectable of the woman he loved. For Adeline after her marriage, she was not looking for any attachments but her neighbor continuously lights a fire within her that was long dormant. She try hard to resist but she makes the brave move to get all that she wants and needs.
I found all the character likable and will enjoys seeing more in future books
I just reviewed The Earl Next Door by Amelia Grey. #NetGalley

This story was a sweet story. I liked the characters and the premise. Have read others and enjoyed them also, we'll keep stocking our store with Grey titles

I really liked the beginning of the book. A widow who lost her not loved husband in a ship accident opens a boarding school for girls who lost their father in the same accident.
Next to her lives a young to be Duke who doesn't like the noise the kids make at all and has an aunt who had a friend who watches everybody with her spyglass.

Nice, idea!
I think my favorite scene was when Adeline storms into Lyons home while he had his card game. The second was when she tries on the red corsage in the beginning. Unfortunately we don't have a second scene with this corsage - it would have made sense to have one though.

The love scenes were nice, the character development rushed towards the end. The whole ending was rather rushed. I hoped that we get to find out "together" that she is pregnant because it had to happen anyway.

Unfortunately rather average.

*I got this arc from Netgalley in exchange to an honest review *

A beautiful cover for a lovely story. When 3 widows open a school for the less fortunate girls the neighbor shows his ugly side. While he is a real humbug one of the widows finds him irresistible. Thus the fun story begins. I like the mixed feelings, the wayward girls and the ending. There is plenty to like in this book. I am glad I read this one.

This is the first book in the series. I loved it! 5 stars. It was a great story and worth reading. I enjoyed the characters and the story-line. The trouble making girls were a fun addition. A must read!