This was the best of the series, by far. The tension and playfulness between Brina and Zane was just so much fun. And the setup in this book felt the most believable. I enjoyed the growth of their relationship and how Zane brought Brina out of her shell. A very satisfying conclusion to the series.

3.75 - 4 stars

He bet the ton that he would get her to marry him by the end of the Season.
She countered that if he could abide by her rules (no drinking, no cursing, no gambling, no women) by the end of the Season she would gladly accept his hand; else, he would need to make a public apology to her for starting the stupid bet.

This was so much fun than I expected it to be! My favourite in the series, for sure.

The chemistry between Brina and Zane was [insert fire emoji]. I didn't expect Brina to be this feisty - she was much more reserved in the previous books. The wagers (and the ton's investment in it) are so entertaining.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This was book 3 in the First comes Love series. This series is about three widows that come together to help families that had been impacted by a bad shipwreck. This addition is about the third widow of the group Brina. She lost her husband in the shipwreck and is punishing herself for bad thoughts. Zane is a newly minted earl that wants to get her attention. He places a bet that she will say yes to his proposal at the end of season. Brina has some of her own stipulations to add to the wager. I do think it had a good premise but it did move a little slow at times. Overall a solid read.

This was my first book by Amelia Grey and I had high hopes for this one after reading the synopsis. Unfortunately I could not get into the plot and found Brina to be a bit immature and annoying at times. I didn't realize it was part of a series, I may try again after reading the first two books. DNF at 22%

This was my first Amelia Grey, and I was happy to discover a new author who knows how to write a satisfying historical romance.

Brina is a dedicated widow, spending her time devoted to causes including the care of girls at the school she started with her friends and in giving back to the Abbey near her house.  She is very proper, driven to repent (by what it is not revealed until 2/3 in), and claims to be satisfied with her current and future life in service of others...but still attending Society functions.  Her grief is present but not over-emphasized (so I didn't include a content warning).

By contrast, Blacknight is the black sheep of his family and an infamous rake, who has had the misfortune of inheriting the Earldom.  The prospects of his duty are overwhelming and he hopes to gameify it a bit, using his infamous gambling skills, but engaging Mrs. Feld to help.  Blacknight suffer from a hard case of insta-love, and will do anything to win over the widow who has vowed to remain single.

I actually really enjoyed how Grey played with the inheritance as a burden, and showed the real downsides of the aristocracy.  His relatives haunt him with requests and their hand out, and he is supporting a multitude of loosely related people.  Coupled with two older uncles who have made it their primary mission to school him into shape, Blacknight seeks out Brina who has entranced him after an initial meet-cute.

The romance between the two build sweetly as they transition from stranger to friends and then, finally, to lovers.  When their love is challenged in the end, by some really brilliant writing, its nice to see how it is resolved.  This was a fast paced read with really seamless writing, a good romance, and two characters with a fair amount of inner conflict.  That inner conflict is never exhausting or overplayed, but does give both characters depth.

I enjoyed seeing the reforming of a rake (and maybe a bit of unwinding the widow) and the very sweet and romantic gestures that start to sway Brina's stalwart feelings against marriage.

I think the only thing I didn't like was that it didn't make sense to me that this woman, who feels burdened by grief and dedicated to service, goes to so many ton functions.  In some ways it makes sense as the happy middle between debauchery and nunnery (two options Brina explored for herself), but I think I could have used a tad bit of internal reflection on that to make it make sense.  I also would have liked a bit more internal insight into what the rakehell payoff was for Blacknight.  I suppose the thinking is that a life full of vice and adventure is payment enough, but given his transformation it felt like maybe there was just an emptiness there that was being fulfilled...but I am still not sure what.

Regardless of that feeling of wanting a bit more insight (which I think is probably a good sign of how I was invested in the characters), this was really an easy read with a sweet romance, some interesting scenes, and enough of those historical touches to create an immersive experience.  Any violence, mature themes, and intimacy are handled deftly, with a light touch, so while kisses only readers wouldn't enjoy it, I do think its appropriate for most other readers.

The third in a series, this worked great as a standalone, but I do think readers interested in second marriages for widows would enjoy the whole series.  I recommend checking this book out when it is released on April 27th, so you have plenty of time to dive in to the first two books now!

4.75 out of 6 An easy read about a widow unwinding and a reforming rake

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

For Brina Feld, she felt the loss of her husband especially hard. Widowed at 18, after being married only 3 months, she relied on the support of her parents, and her friends, Adeline and Julia. She is still in love with her late husband, and can never imagine wanting to remarry - rather she thought to join the Sisters of Pilwillow Crossings and help those less fortunate than herself. Now moved into the home nearby the school she, Julia, and Adeline set up, she is more than happy to occupy herself with her volunteer work, and teaching the girls to paint. However, she lately spent time in Paris with an aunt, and met a handsome stranger while hiding in a bedroom. Her stranger was masked, and tied to a chair, but she released him and let him flee to stop his young cousin from marrying. But he didn't leave without stopping to give her a spine tingling kiss, one she hasn't yet forgot about. And her handsome stranger isn't a stranger any more. It was Zane, the new Earl of Blacknight, and he's already put down a wager at White's that they will become engaged by the end of the Season. Zane never expected to become the Earl, but when three of his family members are killed in a carriage accident, he has to take up the mantle of head of family, and all the responsibility the title brings. He knows he's the black sheep of the family, and needs a bride to help support him, and start his family, but he wants no one other than the respected, and beautiful widowed Mrs Feld. Brina is furious to find herself the topic of a wager, and the subsequent gossip, but she proposes a counter wager: if Zane can withhold from drinking, gambling, and women until the last ball of the Season, she will accept. She never expects him to last a day, let alone a few weeks, what with his reputation as a card shark, but the season is drawing to a close, and Brina must consider whether she can face remarrying, and to someone she is falling for too.

I just loved this book. After reading the other two in the series, I knew I couldn't wait to see Brina find happiness, but I wasn't expecting to fall for her and Zane's story so much. As soon as I started the book, I couldn't put it down, and was finished in just a couple of hours. Brina was young, and in love, when her husband died, and heard the stories of how he saved half a dozen of his fellow passengers before he was unable to save himself. She only has her friends, Julia and Adeline, and their new husbands, for support, but occupies her time in her volunteering. She has never felt an attraction like that to Zane, and fights his seduction at all turns, but it's a hard fought battle that even she can't win, and I just felt that the chemistry between them was perfect. Zane knew his way around a card table, but he never expected to have any sort of responsibility on his shoulders, so finding himself at the helm of the extended Blacknight family, overseeing all of their requests and allowances, as well as the expanse of properties he inherited was a big shock. Two of his uncles offer their support, but it soon becomes clear they want to control him, and force him to fit into the mould of what they expect an Earl to be. The wager between Zane and Brina was hilarious, and it was nice to see how Zane was willing to improve himself for love, though not becoming someone completely different. The ending of the book killed me, and I was dreading that they wouldn't have their happy ending, but all in all, everyone was happy. Seeing the other couples again, in their own romances was a joy too, and I know this won't be my last series by Grey.

Meh 2 1/2 stars

This has promise but it falls short.

Brina is obnoxious and I never got a real feel for her. Zane was better but I found his conflicts with his family more interesting then his relationship with Brina.

The writing was uneven at points and the tension kept breaking.

I finished this and it was okay but i won't be revising.

DNF at 26%

I’m afraid I struggled enormously to get on with this one. The characters are annoying, ridiculously named for the period, and controlling. The writing is extremely wooden, especially the dialogue (“Good evening, Pat. You’re looking lovely this evening in your sky-blue gown.” - said no one in real life, ever.) and manages at some points to be so repetitive within a single paragraph that it looked like I was reading a draft with tracked changes left in it:

“ Mrs. Feld had been at that masked ball wearing a provocative pink gown. Not widow’s weeds. She wasn’t dressed as a widow at the masquerade. She’d worn a gown made from a tempting shade of bright pink satin.”

I’d already resigned myself to skimming through this one, but then I hit a few too many historical errors. The straw that broke the camel’s back was the moment at the ball where Brina turns down Zane’s offer to dance, which would have meant her refusing to dance at all that evening, but then accepts him a second time - with everyone watching to see what she’ll do. They converse while dancing, and the whole ballroom stops dancing to listen to their conversation. It’s just ridiculous - inaccurate both in terms of etiquette and feasibility, even in the somewhat-fantastical realms of historical romance. It just annoyed me too much, and will probably mean I don’t pick up anything by this author again.

I really enjoyed "How To Train Your Earl". The premise was fun; a sought after but disinterested and brand-new Earl of Blackknight starts courting a respectable widow (Brina Feld) so he can learn how to handle his social and familial responsibilities correctly in the eyes of his family AND the ton.
When he bets on the outcome of their relationship she surprises him by betting the Earl that he cannot refrain from gambling, swearing or drinking until the end of the Season. If he does, he wins the bet -- if not...
In the interim he brings Brina back to life as he reawakens sexual and amorous feelings in her that she had thought long gone.
Throw in two irresponsible and stupid cousins as well as well-meaning servants and friends and you have a well-written and thoroughly enjoyable romance

England - 18th Century

Brina Feld is thoroughly regretting being talked into attending a masked ball in Paris. A widow of five years, Brina has vowed never to marry again, for the pain of loss and her behavior afterwards still haunts her. But she and her friend felt it was time for her to have some fun, so she agrees to go to the event. However, one inebriated masked male has been pursuing her, so Brina hurries to hide from him. As she bolts into a room and locks the door behind her, she hears a voice behind her. Whirling around, she sees a man tied to a chair. He orders her to untie him, but she's a careful person. After discussing the intent of the man to "save his cousin", Brina finally unties him. With that, the brute kisses her and flees.

After her return to London, Brina continues with her two charitable projects. Her husband's death after the sinking of the Salty Dove (in which Stewart, her husband, rescued many people before drowning) weighed heavily on her and, with two other widows, Brina has opened a boarding school for the daughters and sisters of the crew on the ship who died. She also works closely with the women at a nearby abbey. So when the man she freed in Paris shows up at her door, Brina is stunned at her emotional reaction to this bold, handsome rogue.

Zane Browning, the new Earl of Blacknight, never in his wildest dreams thought he would be in the position he is in now. After the deaths of the previous earl, his son, and the third in line for the title, Zane is stunned to now have that title. And he hates it. All he wants to do is gamble, drink, travel, and enjoy himself, and now he has other uncles on his case, demanding that he start behaving like an earl, and take responsibility for his family. Then he spies the very luscious young woman who released him in Paris. If he must marry, this lovely specimen should be his. His uncles, however, assure him that she has made it very clear to the ton that she has no plans to remarry, despite being pursued by many.

Brina and Zane verbally spar over his intentions. But it comes to a head when Brina is told that Zane has made a bet at Whites men's club that he will get the elusive widow to agree to marry him by midnight of the last of the Season's balls. Furious, Brina confronts Zane and gives him her own orders. Zane must give up alcohol, cursing, and women for the four weeks to the last event, and then she will agree to marry him. Brina is very certain that this known rogue will not be able to complete that challenge. Zane assures her that he can abide by her rules, and that in order to prove it, they will have to see more of each other so that Brina can teach him how to be an earl.

I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful tale. The third book in the First Comes Love trilogy, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR EARL is the perfect wrap-up to a terrific series. Brina and Zane are equal opponents in this game of who will blink first. A well done background story is woven into their encounters. Don't miss this excellent story.

How to Train Your Earl is the romance between a respectable, charity-minded widow and a gamester who never expected to inherit. We enjoyed the background research on crimping and the resolution to the final conflict. We never really connected with either character or felt the strength of their connection.

This objective review is based on a complimentary advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley.

A wager between a rogue earl and a saintly widow, who will win? Zane Blacknight has just inherited the title of Earl and now has to prove to his family that he can handle the title, which means addressing his excess habits of fistfights, gambling, drinking, and womanizing. All that changes when he has an unexpected encounter with Brina Feld, one night in Paris and runs into her again in England. Brina Feld is a widow and is known and loved by all for her beauty, kindness, and devotion to her dead husband. Many have tried to court her but she has remain firm in being a widow. Zane decides to court the mysterious woman he kissed in Paris, even after finding out she is a widow and is determined to have her hand in marriage. Zane makes a wager with Brina that he will marry her by the end of the season.... and Brina accepts the wager, except Zane has to not gamble, drink, cuss, or sleep with any women until that time. If he can abstain then he wins, if he loses, he has to publicly apologize to her.. and so the games begin. Brina doing everything to tempt him to fail and Zane doing everything to try and get Brina to fall in love with him.

This was a fun romance read! I loved how the roles were kind of switched, with Brina being more in charge and being the temptress in the situation. It was nice to see Zane fall for her and overall their romance was a sweet and fun read! This is the third book in the series but you don’t have to read the other two to read this one.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Paperbacks for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I was excited to read How to Train Your Earl. I had read the first book in the series and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I did miss the second book but figured that I didn’t need to read it (I was right). So, I jumped right into reading this book.

From the beginning, the flow of How to Train Your Earl was great. The chapters were well organized, and I could tell when the author shifted from one person to another (mainly Zane and Brina). That made it pleasurable to read the book.

The plotline for How to Train Your Earl was medium paced. There was some build-up at the beginning of the book, plateauing in the middle and then having a gradual wrap up towards the end of the book. Again, it was perfect for the book.

I wasn’t a massive fan of the storyline. Something about a woman forcing a man to do what she wanted (and vice versa) made me go, “eh. “ I did like the secondary plotlines with Brina’s cousin/Zane’s cousin and the gambling. It added a bit of zip to the plotline.

I was not too fond of Brina. During various points in the book, I found her to be controlling, immature, unwilling to bend, and naive. She was passive-aggressive too. Looking back on the book, I still don’t know what Zane saw in her, other than she saved him and he needed a wife. She was also almost too independent for the era. Some of the things she did with Zane were appropriate for the period. But others (having him in her house alone, hosting a dinner at his home were two) were borderline “eh. “ I also wish that there were some flashback to when she was grieving over her husband’s death. She kept saying how badly she hurt and how long it took for her to recover.

I felt terrible for Zane. He inherited the earldom when his cousins died. On top of that, his family had treated him terribly growing up, and they expected him to be OK with them acting like he was the best thing since sliced bread. So, I understood why he latched onto Brina when he saw her, and I understood why he agreed to her ridiculous rules. It was nice to see his character grow throughout the book. I liked who he became.

As much as I didn’t like Zane and Brina together, they had chemistry. Their attraction zinged off the pages, and when they finally ended up in bed, it was terrific.

The secondary storyline involving Brina and Zane’s cousins was interesting. It added a little extra oomph to the story. It also set up, I think, for the next book in the series.

The end of How to Train Your Earl was interesting. Mainly because of how Brina acted. I won’t get into it, but I had my mouth opened the entire time during that scene with Zane. She didn’t let him get a word in edgewise. Of course, this being a romance, there is a HEA, but man, I don’t know. I don’t think that they could have a HEA in real life.

How to Train Your Earl was an OK romance. The plotline and pacing of the book were good. The flow of the book was fantastic. But there were things that I didn’t like. I was not too fond of the characters, which is a massive thing for me. The characters make or break a book. There was great sexual chemistry up to when they had sex. Then it went away.

I would recommend How to Train Your Earl to anyone over 21. There are sexual situations in the book with slightly graphic sex. There is some mild violence along with some gambling scenes.

I really do not like or regularly read what I've affectionately dubbed "Regency Widow" romances, but this one surprised me! The chemistry is gentle, and the rake here is especially rake-y, but perfect for any fans of this subgenre!

This is an OK romance but it's not going to be a favorite. Brina meets Zane in a small sitting room where she's gone for some peace and quiet during a party. Zane is masked and tied to a chair. Instead of immediately releasing him or going for help, she has a long and rather silly exchange where she discusses all the possible reasons he could be tied up while he keeps demanding to be let loose. For reasons I couldn't see, Zane (after he was finally freed) decides he wanted to marry her. I thought she was more likely to inspire a desire to escape from her as well as his bonds, she was so annoying. He discovers that she's a hard-to-get widow and places a bet in White's betting bookbook, that he can get her to accept his proposal. He then rushes to call on her to tell her about it. I didn't like him very much at that point either. So what do you do if it's the beginning of the book and you don't like the protaganists? I slogged through anyway but I found it slow going for most of it. Things picked up a bit at the end but not enough for me to give this more than a mediocre rating.

How To Train Your Earl is a spectacular historical romance by Amelia Grey. Ms. Grey has provided readers with a well-written book populated with phenomenal characters. Kudos to Ms. Grey on the characters, they make this book a delight. Brina's aunt talked her into attending a masquerade, against her better judgment. Locking herself in a room to escape a drunk she's shocked to find a man tied to a chair needing assistance. Zane, eighth Earl of Blacknight, recognized Brina in London even though she was wearing a mask when she freed him. Brina and Zane's story is packed with drama, humor, sexy bits, action and suspense. I enjoyed every page of this book and look forward to my next book by Amelia Grey. How To Train Your Earl is book 3 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.

How to Train Your Earl is the story of Brina Feld, a young, beautiful widow who decides she will never marry again after losing her husband to the sea when his ship sinks. She instead devotes her life to helping those in need.
Zane, Earl of Blacknight was never supposed to be an Earl, but when all the male heirs before him die in a tragic accident, he is expected to give up his carefree life of drinking, gambling and womanizing to become the respectable Earl that is expected of him.
One night Zane decides to place a wager at White's to get Brina to marry him. Will she play along with his game and fall for the Earl or will she stay a widow forever?

While the premise of this story sounded fun, the story just never really took off for me. The beginning was fun, when the 2 characters first met, but it got very lukewarm after that, and honestly stayed that way. I didn't feel a ton of chemistry in the main characters, there wasn't a lot of romance and excitement, as the author was so intent on keeping Brina "saintly" and the story was just very "eh" for me. Not a lot of anything. Not a lot of chemistry, not a lot of romance, not a lot of originality, just very middle of the road and basic.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my review and honest opinion.

An intriguing and easy to read historical romance. While attendance a masked masquerade ball in Paris France a young English widow escaping from an overeager, unwanted, and under the influence, suitor escapes into an unlocked room. There she finds a semi dressed man bound to a chair. He requests her to release him so he can chase down and rescue his cousin who is eloping with a very unsuitable women. Move ahead some weeks later and the new Earl sees her again on a London street and realizes that he is quite smitten with her and seeks an introduction. Thus the chase begins with seemingly impossible stipulations set for him to meet. The question is whether or not he can maintain the discipline to win the lady's heart and hand in marriage.

I have rated this book 4 stars and would purchase it for friends who enjoy historical romance stories.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for my unbiased review of same.

2.75 stars

I liked the premise, but while I was reading, there wasn't much to keep me engaged in the story. I liked the characters well enough, but quite honestly, the entire plot flew out of my mind the second I finished the book (which is why this review is hard to write).

It dragged in places, and though I wouldn't necessarily say that I didn't enjoy it, I can't say that I did, either.

This ARC was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Haven't read any of the others in this series but I still found this story very entertaining and absorbing. The Earl is a 5 star character, he just gives 100%, I didn't dislike Brina, she's full of the selfless "cause" but I think she's too caught up in appearing snobbish and I was at times disappointed in her actions. Regardless, the Earl is clearly smitten and boldly more than willing to be challenged. 3 1/2*