I'm not gonna lie, this was a lot harder to read than book 1 in the series.

I completely understand where the author was coming from and what she was trying to communicate with how the book displayed the relationship between a Black man and a white woman in Regency England, but it was hard to read how almost uncaring some of the heroine's decisions seem to be just out of sheer ignorance of the complete trauma, fear, and uphill battle the hero had to face as a minority in a position of power in an era where some people still enslaved people who looked like him.

I wanted to yell at her to be a little more compassionate and see why he was making the decisions as he did instead of going against what he was arguing for or suspecting him of undermining her.

Overall, I'll still read the series because I think it's needed and necessary, and well done, but not quite as compelling as book 1, but perhaps because the issues addressed are a lot deeper here.

Marked as DNF. Couldn't get into it unfortunately. Thank you for the digital copy though! I hope to come back to this author in the future.

This was an interesting story that kept me engaged until the end. The racial diversity perspective in these times is brilliantly depicted, an area I've noticed that’s continuing to develop in Regency romances. It made my heart happy. It was romantic, sweet, and I loved it.

I love the way Jemima stuck to her true self throughout the book. It was a great read and I love the fact that ther is much diversity in this book. I really loved this and look forward to reading more books by Vanessa Riley

Cute story, but it dragged on a bit too long for me. I felt like the author could have wrapped things up quicker.

Während Daniel Thackery, Lord Ashbrook beim Untergang der Minerva seine Frau verloren hat, hat bei dem gleichen Unglück Jemina St. Maur ihr Gedächtnis eingebüßt. Ohne Aussicht auf Besserung wurde sie in Bedlam untergebracht. Daniel hilft schon länger seiner Tante Lady Shrewsburry mit ihrem Kreis Widow‘s Grace bei der Unterstützung unterdrückter Frauen. Einige Zeit später befreit er für diese auch Jemina aus ihrer Haft. Diese hat sich seitdem such dieser guten Sache verschrieben. Bei einem ihrer nächtlichen Einsätze findet sie heraus, dass Daniel mehr über das Schiffsunglück und ihre Familie weiß und Ihr nicht verraten will.
Eigentlich bin ich ein Fan von Amnesie Plots, aber die beiden Protagonisten und ihre Geschichte konnten mich nicht ganz überzeugen. Das große Geheimnis konnte man von Anfang an erraten. Die Ganze Geheimnistuerei ging viel zu lang. Die Geschichten um Willingham waren zu komplex und konstruiert und konnten mich nicht fesseln. Ich habe nur zu Ende gelesen, weil ich die ganze Auflösung wissen wollte. Erst das letzte Drittel des Buches ließ sich zügiger lesen.

It's safe to say I have never read anything like this before. And it's also safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The one issue I did have was that in all the mysterious twists and turns, I did get confused a lot and found myself having to go back pages (or even chapters) to verify details - which on an ebook can be quite inconvenient.

I really appreciate the new angle that this story (and series, although I've not read book 1) lends to the historical romance genre.

I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for new Vanessa Riley releases in the future.

I cannot rave about Vanessa Riley enough in her second installment in this series. I really lov that I now have a series of Historical Fiction with black characters . and listening to Vanessa break down certain aspects of the book (like how and why Daniel would end up with this baby) made it all the better.

So many stars that I can't even add them on this review LOL

This author is one of the few, if only books that I enjoy that contains regency romance. I enjoyed the story, and was very pleased with the book as well as the story line. The writing style is different, but that's usually the case with regency stories, it's not the same as the dialect here in the US. I was rooting for Jamina right from the very beginning of the story. And the toddler in the story made it that much better and enjoyable.

I received a copy of the book via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review

I read the first couple of chapters in this book and I was absolutely hooked. I literally couldn’t put the book down after that. Daniel and Jemina are such beautifully written characters, they pull you into their heart wrenching romance. I get that it was important for the development of the story that Jemina had to look for the truth of her own past but it didn’t make sense sometimes on the page. Even then I loved this book and would highly recommend it.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*

First, thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an e-galley of An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler.

This book is perfect for fans of the Bridgerton series with an air of mystery. Jemina has been through more problems in her life than many - one of the few survivors of a ship wreck coming from Jamaica and then landed in Bedlam with amnesia and no recollection of anything prior to being rescued.

Fast forwarding two years, Jemina has been released from Bedlam due largely in part to the Widow's Grace and Lord Ashbrook. As she joins the Widow's Grace in their adventures, Jemina vows to uncover more of her past. Who was her husband, where is her baby, and what life did she leave behind?

Daniel is facing his own internal struggles, having claimed a toddler from the wreckage assuming the baby was the offspring of his intended. In the two years Jemina has been struggling to piece her life back together, Daniel has been attempting to adapt to his new role of Lord Ashbrook and keep the secret of his proxy marriage.

I have tried to read this twice now and it's not going to be for me. I didn't love book one but I wanted to give this one a chance. - sadly it wasn't going to happen. Maybe I can try it again later in the year and see how I go.

After finishing A Duke, The Lady, and a Baby I was so curious as to what would happen with Daniel Thackery and Jemina St. Maur. I love the premise behind the series, the secret society of the Widow's Grace helping widows regain their lives. Daniel's fierce devotion to his daughter is absolutely adorable and melted my heart, I love the contrast of that with his reputation as a formidable lawyer. Jemina St. Maur is a great character, she's quick-witted, patient, and kind. My heart ached so much for her. This book didn't take the twist I thought it would which made me love it even more for not going the obvious route. An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler is a really great historical fiction!

I just love Vanessa Riley’s writing and this was no exception. I love that her historical romances center characters of color and the realities of living during this time period. She does such a great job exploring topics such as colonization and enslavement, highlighting what was really happened at the time. I love the romance between the two main characters, Jemina and Daniel. There’s a real connection as they share many of the same struggles and create their own family. Even with the intimate scenes being closed doors, you’re still able to see how much passion there is between Jemina and Daniel. I do wish there was a little more steam, but that’s a personal preference as a romance reader! Overall, this is an excellent follow up to A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby and I highly recommend this series as a fresh spin on historical romance highlighting diverse characters.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series so I was really excited to pick this one up and get into it.

Sadly it took awhile for things to get going, and then when it finally did there were some things that I just didn't enjoy. I didn't like the lack of communication and secretes in the story, I didn't really feel the passion and connection most of the time (at some points I did, I liked them together early on) and there were just several things that didn't fully make sense to me.

A key part of the story didn't have a strong enough connection in the beginning. It was brought up after the fact to try and explain things away but at that point it didn't really feel genuine.

That being said, when the characters did talk to each other I REALLY enjoyed that writing. And In general I liked the book but I just didn't love it.

I will read more from the series though. I still enjoy the writing and the over all concept behind these stories even if this one wasn't my favorite.

This was a great read. I featured it as Book of the Day on all my social media platforms, and I included it in my monthly roundup of news releases for my Black Fiction Addiction blog. I also interviewed the author.

After reading the description I was excited to start this one and really expected to love it. Sadly after 20% I ended up adding it to the DNF pile. The plot felt predictable and boring and none of the characters stood out to me or made me want to know more about them.

An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler is the second book in the Rogues and Remarkable Women series by Vanessa Riley. While the book stands fine on its own, I think returning readers will enjoy the book more than newcomers to the series.

Surviving a shipwreck en route to London from Jamaica was just the start of Jemina St. Maur's nightmare. Suffering from amnesia, she was separated from anyone who might know her, and imprisoned in Bedlam. She was freed only because barrister Daniel Thackery, Lord Ashbrook, was convinced to betray the one thing he holds dear: the law. Desperate to unearth her true identity, Jemina’s only chance is to purloin dangerous secrets with help from The Widow’s Grace—which means staying steps ahead of the formidable Daniel, no matter how strongly she is drawn to him. Married only by proxy, now widowed by shipwreck, Daniel is determined to protect his little stepdaughter, Hope, from his family’s scandalous reputation. That’s why he has dedicated himself not just to the law, but to remaining as proper, upstanding—and boring—as can be. But the closer he becomes to the mysterious, alluring Jemina, the more Daniel is tempted to break the very rule of law to which he's devoted his life. And as ruthless adversaries close in, will the truth require him, and Jemina, to sacrifice their one chance at happiness?

This is a historical romance with big truths about how women and people of color have been treated in the past, and sadly still are by some today. The characters are fighting for happiness, and finding the truth of past and identity- and thankfully finding what they need and happiness along with it. It was a little more emotional and heavy of a read than I was really prepared for, but I did not reread the blurb before reading- just went by title and cover even though I know better, so that was completely on me. I really liked the characters- but the humorous banter and some of the situational humor were my favorite parts of the book. I also enjoyed the secondary characters and am glad that some already have their own story told, and some will be told later in the series. I felt like the author went into a great deal of effort to do the research and portray the characters in a thoughtful manner, rather than just checking of the boxes to be diverse and thought provoking. I really enjoyed that they included additional information on the historical people, climate, and landmarks of the time at the end of the book. I love a book that engages me on multiple levels, and this did happen here. I enjoyed the read all around- although there were definitely moments that hurt my heart.

An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler is a thought and emotion provoking romance. It will break your heart and then piece it back together.

I really enjoyed this book. It was the second in a series of widows wronged in unfortunate turn of events. A unexpected love story of 2 widowers trying to find their way. At times you thought the world was against them, but love and goodness in the world triumphed in the end. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

The book was a but slow at the beginning and the fact that our protagonist’s ship capsized and she lost her memories in the accident was an automatic turn off for me as its too cliched. The widows’ club was what kept my interest.

At times the story became a but confusing as author kept changing characters POV as well as the time in some chapters.

All in all it was an interesting story that kept you reading to find out how it ends.