This book was wild. Buried under a seemingly normal regency romance is an entire serial killer subplot. It’s a bit gory towards the end. I think as a romance this book is fine, but you might actually enjoy it more if you like true crime or thrillers.

Love HRs that feature strong characters with a rebellious nature to their attraction. I was not disappointed with this novel and would definitely revisit this!

I've never thought of Jacob as a Victorian name, but it wasn't enough to throw me out of the story.
I liked the references to Edmund Kemper, since I'm pretty interested in true crime. I liked how Charlotte and Jacob came together, but it seemed like things would be resolved in a weird way: figuring out the killer, and Suzette coming to try to take money from them.

This was a new author for me. I enjoyed the book, but I expected it to be a lighter read than it was given the title. Yes, it was a historical romance, but there was more murder and drama with not enough romance. That is just my opinion, of course. Having said that, the book was well-written and the characters were well developed and interesting. I just prefer a lighter read than what this was.

Jacob Ashland’s life has taken an unexpected turn. He’s now the Earl of Ashland and expected to marry. But he’s done that before and had his heart ripped from his chest. When Charlotte shows up at his door needing protection, he offers to marry her––in name-only.

Charlotte, an orphan, suspects her sinister cousin of terrorizing London. When her maid disappears, she fears for her own life and runs away. Lord Ashland offers marriage, and it’s the perfect solution. But it isn’t long before she finds herself falling for her new husband.

Unfortunately, he won’t allow himself to love anyone ever again. And she knows her dark secret could destroy everything.

This was the first book I have read by this author. At first I was a bit thrown off with the killings but I kept reading and it turned out to be a good story. I though Jacob and Charlotte were a good pair despite Charlotte being stubborn at times. Look forward to reading more.

I love pretty much everything Sharon Cullen writes, and this was no exception. This was a fun historical mystery/suspense romance with some good twists to keep me reading until the wee hours. Orphaned Charlotte lost her parents and was sent to live with her horrible aunt and cousin. She decides to run off to fend for herself on the tough streets of London instead of living in fear with no one to turn to. When a friend tells her about Jacob and urges her to seek him out, she is hesitant to allow Jacob to help her because she has some serious trust issues (understandably), but she eventually gives in. Jacob is a widower who must remarry, but he does not want to go through losing another wife; however, he recognizes that Charlotte is in need of his protection and marries her anyway. I was a little put off by Charlotte's character at times because she could be quite the drama queen, but in the end, I thought they made a great couple.

An unexpected historical romance. This is not your normal historical romance story. It involves a serial killer, and a solicitor turned Earl. This was a darker book as the killings are grisly and the romance element is not centre stage. It definitely was different and a change from what I normally read. It kept me engaged throughout. If you want to try something a bit different give this novel a go. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley

This was a book that I couldn't put down. Even though the mystery is very obvious, I wanted to find out what was next. I can't wait to read what's next.

How have I never read anything yet by Sharon Cullen?

An Unwilling Earl was one heck of a read. A serial killer in Victorian England...an "unwilling" earl and still-grieving widower who is also an armchair sleuth with a pretty decent track record...a marriage of convenience (or marriage of safety and convenience, maybe?) and a future countess running for her life, in hiding as a street urchin...yes, please to all of the above!

Though it all seems like quite a lot, Ms. Cullen brings all of that together--and more!--into one heck of a story. I loved Charlotte and Jacob, both together and individually as characters. The suspense portion of the romance made my true-crime reading and listening heart want to stand up and applaud (please tell me that the Co-Ed Killer influenced this story at least a little...) even while my romance-loving half swooned at the lovely romance at the heart of it all.

Excuse me while I go add more of Ms. Cullen's books to my TBR...

Rating: 4 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately this was an uninspiring historical romance. The hero accepts the job of finding a missing woman who ran away from home and when he finds her he falls for her bravery and beauty. She runs to escape a cruel guardian and becomes receptive to the hero's request to help her. They slowly build a meaningful relationship but it takes them a while to overcome their own apprehensions. The story is pretty slow and very little chemistry between the characters. Although the heroine is fiery I wasn't particularly taken by her. Just not what I expected.

A standard romance mystery novel that will leave romance lovers well satisfied but mystery lovers a bit disappointed

I really liked this book. A great romance story with mystery and intrigue inserted makes for an entertaining read.

Received in excahange for a honest review.

I am on the fence with this one. On one hand I like the story of Jacob and how he is an earl but doesn’t want to be one. How he isn’t your typical earl and doesn’t act like one. I like how he helps others and is kind and generous. But I didn’t like how the romance area of the story was. I didn’t like how Jacob pushed Charlotte away when it came to his feelings even though he loved her because of his past. I wasn’t a fan of him comparing Charlotte to his past the way he did. Charlotte is a different person than his wife was. Two different people, personalities and pasts. Charlotte was fighting a ghost and that wasn’t right to me. Other than this I truly did enjoy the story.

Charlotte was strong and independent. I enjoyed how she found a way to survive and how she helped solve the mystery of what was happening to all those people. I enjoyed Jacob and his friend being amateur sleuths. I liked how charlotte knew she could trust Jacob-this was really tentative at first but as time went on she saw who he was and that is a honorable, kind and gentle soul. Her and Jacob belonged together. Both thrust into situations neither asked for and both trying to survive the best they can. One has a more dangerous route and ends up in the path of the other. When their paths cross it changes them both. Jacob learns to let someone in and love them. Charlotte learns to trust again. They find their way into one another’s hearts. For Jacob this was a constant struggle and that struggle sometimes bugged the crud out of me but overall it was enjoyable.

The story was fun,and entertaining. It had so many elements going on with friendship, love, mystery and trust. The characters were alluring and drew you into their predicaments while rooting for them to come together and be with one another.

I found this Victorian romance very cute in parts! Charlotte is a heroine who invites you to sympathise with her because she has so much pluck, and Jacob is a hero whose kindness makes him very easy to like. I liked that he was a widower, and the story focused on him realising that he could love again without losing any of his love for his first wife - Charlotte, too, was very sensitive to this.

The story is interwoven with a murder mystery which seems to owe something to the murders of Jack the Ripper, with lower class women being decapitated by a serial killer. I didn't really feel that this added much to the story, although it was entangled with Charlotte's backstory. Her horrible aunt would have been enough reason for her to leave home, and I found the murders to be quite graphic.

It was slightly let down by a couple of things - firstly, the use of 'I guess' is prevalent, especially towards the end. This is an Americanism and is definitely not appropriate for the speech of the upper classes in this period. I also found the single chapter where the viewpoint switched to the killer to be quite jarring and unnecessarily graphic. This is a book where the juxtaposition of romance and mystery does not work for me - with historical romance I am looking for an optimistic read, not a bloody one, and the synopsis definitely does not indicate that the murders will be such a large part of the book.

I enjoyed the concept of this book- serial murderer during the early Queen Victoria Days. Crystal Palace is featured in the book. Nice touch. I was pulled into this book and couldn’t put it down -at all. Just enjoyed the characters and the story.

Wowza...loved this...characters, storyline, world...you name it; a slow burn and a wonderful read!

Please note that an ARC was generously provided in exchange for an honest review of which this is both honest and completely voluntary.

I loved this story. It had a bit of everything, romance, mystery,murder, and intrigue. The characters were smart and kind. The love story was very nice. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This is a fantastic regency romance with plenty of drama and twists in the plot to keep you guessing. An easy and enjoyable read.
I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review. All views are my own.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a new book from Sharon Cullen. I have to say I loved this! Charlotte is in hiding and Jacob is a newly minted Earl. They meet and sparks fly. The romance was great and story was fast paced and fun. Looking forward to more from this author.