~3.5~

A Winter's Early is about second chances and forgiveness. The story is not frivolous or light or Christmasy in any way. It's melancholy and bittersweet, with creeping notes of joy.

Even though Sherborne betrayed Richard many years ago, Richard leaves his home in Sicily, where he's living in exile, to return to England the second Sherborne sends a note stating it's a matter of life and death.

Sherborne isn't being entirely honest, but he's not lying either. He isn't dying, but he's in possession of an infant, one he found on his doorstep. Currently, his servant, Paulina, along with a wet nurse, Hermione, are taking care of the baby girl, whom Sherborne dubs Parsley (because Rosemary is too plain).

Sherborne asks Richard to take the baby with him to London, where Richard's cousin, Beth, runs an orphanage for abandoned children. Richard is furious at being summoned for such a task, but when Sherborne asks him to stay one more night, he does.

This book definitely reads like a historical: the setting, the dialogue, the characters' actions and reactions. Unfortunately, the steam is muted, and the romance gets buried by the baby plot and the arrival of Beth (Richard's cousin).

I don't think I'm giving anything away as it's revealed early on in the story (which is told from a dual POV) that Sherborne is not the one who betrayed Richard. Sherborne was hurt by the letter being published almost as much as Richard was. It's also fairly obvious who the culprit is.

I had some issues with this: Why would Richard have immediately assumed Sherborne's duplicity when the letter was not anonymous? Why didn't Sherborne at least try to explain to Richard that he wasn't guilty?

Granted, their relationship at the time was fraught with insecurities and built on frantic coupling and intense passion, but sixteen years go by, and the MCs are still living in misery without each other: Richard, too quick to judge and blame, and Sherborne, staying silent for nearly two decades due to a misguided sense of honor.

While I liked Arturo (Richard's servant and friend), I wasn't a fan of Paulina and Hermione at all. What exactly did they expect Sherborne to do when he found an abandoned baby? He did more than most, and they didn't deserve his generosity toward the end.

Also, the caravan of actors arriving with the bear (who didn't deserve to be tied up in captivity) added nothing to the plot and served only to create chaos. Why was this even included except as an artificial means of moving the plot along?

Greene's writing is quite polished, even if the descriptions and introspective monologues took up far too much page time. An epilogue wouldn't have been amiss, as the ending offered just a hint of a HEA, with the last chapter cramming resolution and big decisions into just a few pages.

I have mixed feelings about this story but wouldn't discourage anyone who enjoys historical MM romance from reading it.

I did not expect to like this as much as I did. I was swept up into the story from the very beginning and it never let me go. I felt very strongly for Richard and Sherborne and was kept enthralled as their love story drama unfolded. My favorite part is the way they rekindled their old romance in a way that let them grow and move beyond the angry, jealous passion of their youth and into a warmer, steadier love, as well as the way each new event only deepened their connection.

The writing was beautiful, too. The prose was easy to flow along with, with no awkward stumbling blocks, and the emotion was beautifully rendered. The sex scenes were necessary to the story and each furthered Richard and Sherborne's emotional connection. The did not bother me as the more gratuitous scenes do in most romance.

The minor characters were endearing - though not as much as Richard and Sherborne, except perhaps for Parsley. I enjoyed reading about all of them and I thought the ending especially beautiful.

The plot was admittedly rather thin and some events a bit contrived (and it was hard sometimes to figure out who was speaking during dialogue -- I can't believe I'm going to say it, but it could have used a few more dialogue tags), but overall it was a lovely Christmas story that I can definitely see myself reading again.

I will definitely be seeking out more of Annabelle Greene's books.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin - Carina Press for providing an e-arc for review.

A Winter's Earl by Annabelle Greene is quite a ride! Featuring one of the most profound character arcs I've read in a while (from completely unlikeable almost to the point of 'I can't keep reading this' to 'oh okay actually he might be improving as a human being' around the literal 40-50% to 'genuine sympathetic character I'm glad I'm reading this'), a completely redundant baby who gets less genuine attention than Branson the spaniel, some really awesome lyrical writing and place-setting / description, and some great characterisation and dialogue. This is the nice, gothic-Christmas-adjacent moody m/m romance your heart is looking for, provided you like an awful lot of melodrama (and gosh, I really do).

I'll get the ugly stuff out of the way first. I couldn't stand Sherborne as a love interest until around 44% into the book where he started to become a human being. He starts out profoundly unlikeable, not just because of his past, but because of his mindset. In the present, he's melodramatic, unsympathetic to others, selfish, hot-headed and immature. He thinks a legitimate response to jealousy is to cause someone else physical harm, and at one point observes that he's not inspired to be a gracious host if his guest doesn't like him, which indicates he doesn't actually understand what 'gracious host' really means (i.e. it's not conditional on your guests coddling you with kid gloves).

After this, there's a sharp turnabout in the quality of his dialogue with others, and in the ways he starts thinking, and I think it's honestly worth waiting out if you find him as unlikeable as I did. It's really quite a skill, to turn him around so profoundly.

The baby is an insignificant part of the plot, and 'Parsley' is unmemorable and a clear plot device. I was surprised she wasn't even mentioned when summoning Richard back to Sherborne, because the blurb indicates this is the reason Richard returns (it's not, he returns because he's imagined something very different).

Now for all the good stuff.

Beth is a great character. She's complex, lovely, interesting, has some great lines of dialogue, flawed while still maintaining integrity and enlivens every single scene she's in. From the moment she comes into the story, the whole book comes alive whether she's in the scene or not.

The descriptions in this book are so great, I really felt the sense of Sherborne's castle, the wintry setting, all of it really created a rich and immersive experience which showed attention to detail and a lot of love for place that isn't belaboured.

Greene's prose is lyrical and beautiful, with many quotable lines of dialogue, without being purple or heavy-handed, which can be an issue in some Regency and Victorian-style romances. It's effortless and a pleasure to read (though maybe she's a little *too* good at crafting an unlikeable character, lol). Seriously though, the writing style is wonderful, and I found myself not stalling at all because of pacing or feeling disconnected or anything like that.

Every character feels individual and distinct and well-crafted and gets their own 'pattern' of dialogue that suits them. From Richard's shorter sentences, to Sherborne's more evasive way of speaking, to Paulina's 'I have no idea what she's thinking 99% of the time,' to Beth's loquacious compassion, to Arturo's earnest, sincere and straightforward mannerisms. This feels like a proper cast, and not 8 versions of the same character, and as weird a thing as that is to compliment, it's a great strength and shows a lot of love for character-driven stories which I really appreciate.

The evolution of the chemistry between Richard and Sherborne was a pleasure to read, and I thought really logical, it mapped and mirrored the evolution of their connection to one another in a way that felt seamless and gave every scene of lovemaking a real reason to be there (not that there needs to be a reason, but these had one, every time).

All in all this was a pleasurable and enjoyable and solid read that I nearly abandoned because of Sherborne's initial characterisation (hence the one star ding, plus the emphasis on a baby plot device that felt forced). Pushing through that, however, revealed what turned out to be a well-knitted adventure with some great, meaty characterisation and arcs, some excellent twists and reveals, and a lovely happy ending to boot. I think anyone looking for a moody Christmas romance with a HEA and a lot of beautiful dialogue will not be at all disappointed with this one!

I have received an ARC of this book by NetGalley, and CarinaPress/Harlenquin and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review. The Pub date of the book is November 9th. This review will be posted on my Goodreads, Facebook page and Instagram.
After some shitty days without reading, I finally came back and started with this perfect little thing. I can also say that although it's perfect it was fucking sad too - for some time. Just what I love about some books and stories.
Time is powerful and here we deal with so many years of feelings and sadness because of one simple mistake. And the guilty? Oh boy. But love is powerful too and this book tells us something about it. Not only between de MCs but to others. Kindness. Forgiveness.
We have fun characters, beautiful moments, a cute little baby potato with a cute name, and friends. Christmas was the perfect scenario to write the story because it's magical and we can wish and hope that some dreams come true, right?
I loved this book.
Richard and Sherborne went through complicated moments and years of separation that almost destroyed them to no return, but one little baby started the change of their lives again. Slowly and with some difficult decisions. Sometimes we do things that we think are better for another and suffer and don’t see that we need to reach out and ask for help too. they were so different and so perfect together. They needed to say things that were left unsaid years prior and try to see a better path for the future.
I was sad, anxious, irritated, and happy. All this made me love the book even more because reading with emotions is what I like while reading. Like want to shout to de MC: "JUST TALK TO HIM YOU CRAZY!" or "JUST FUCKING LOOK AT HIM!" Something like that... yeah I'm crazy but which reader isn't?
I hope this Annebelle keep giving us these stories. She has a beautiful and funny way of telling us stories. Her other books are very good too.

This book by new-to-me author Annabelle Greene is about an Earl, Richard, who is exiled from England because a letter his lover, Sherborne, published in the newspaper revealed their homosexual affair. Having not communicated for 16 years, Sherborne sends him a letter to return to England because it is a matter of life or death. Richard goes, even though Sherborne has ruined his life, only to find the matter was a baby left near Sherborne’s home. Both men go back and forth between anger and hate and love and passion so much in this book. Add in a traveling circus, and the story just gets even more absurd. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Harlequin Carina Press for my honest review.

1.5 stars. To be honest, I found this a slog, though a large part of that comes down to personal preference, I suspect. I cannot resist a historical, and lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers is very much my jam, so I was attracted by the past betrayal aspect; unfortunately I ended up disliking most of it in execution.

I thought the premise of reconnection was pretty flimsy but that alone wouldn’t have bothered me that much had the central relationship been compelling. The potential was there: enforced proximity, oodles of delicious bitterness over a pretty massive past betrayal, pesky feelings that never quite died.

But the way the characters went about it drove me bonkers. Wilful miscommunication is one of my biggest pet peeves, and the fact that these two just wouldn’t ever have One Damn Chat (TM) about their past absolutely ruined the story for me. There are so many moments when they’re just one honest conversation away from completely solving their main issue, and then Sherbourne either doesn’t talk for contrived reasons or Richard shuts him down for equally contrived reasons. It was an obvious gambit to maintain an artificial source of conflict that just didn’t have the weight to justify the way it was dragged out, and I lost patience with it very quickly. It didn’t help that what we do learn about their past relationship wasn’t really enough to make me root for them in the present – it sounded like it had been very much more about youthful infatuation/lust rather than anything more, they seemed to have either fought or fucked, and the thing is, they don’t seem to have matured all that much in sixteen years and still act like sullen teenagers. I cannot be arsed to root for two grown men who can’t get their shit together enough to TALK. (There was also way too much melodramatic emphasis on DESTINY for my liking. Everything was DESTINY. Snow storm? Destiny. Other people’s manipulations? Destiny. Every personal decision or random happenstance? DESTINY.)

I also simply didn’t like Richard. He came across as a self-righteous prick with anger-management issues and his classist attitude was really off-putting. Yes, I get it’s a historical but I hated his superior, snobbish attitude with the servants. There was a puzzling number of scenes where it was made abundantly clear that he needed to assert his master position – and needed all staff, whether his own or someone else’s – to be “properly” subservient and grovelling in order to feel comfortable with the dynamics, and I have no idea what the point of it was other than to make him seem like a massive arse.

The surrounding plot with the baby was… okay, if weird at times; the mystery elements felt a bit shoehorned in. I appreciated the sapphic side plot, but not the way their HEA is entirely dependent on the male MCs’ magnanimity.

I’m rounding up because the writing was nice, I enjoyed the Shakespeare references and the wintry atmosphere was appealing, but overall, this was a miss for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin - Carina Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a pleasant surprise. It´'s a book with two characters who were lovers for a time and then ended the relationship with hurt feelings and misunderstandings. Years later the two meet again. With Sherborne orchestrating a reunion with Richard and hoping to win his love back.

It's a very emotional book, having these characters remembering the past but in a different way leads them to be enemies. And reconnecting will take not only honest conversations but also open hearts: to forgive and start over.

The book is beautiful, it has moments to laugh (with Sherborne's desperate plans to keep his ex close), moments of mistrust (with Richard's broken heart) and sad but sweet moments.

I love that Richard is this most reserved and serious character; and Sherborne the most sentimental and funny one. The book creates a beautiful balance and I love it.

I'm so impressed! I heard great things about Annabelle Greene when she came out with The Vicar and the Rake. (Yes I own it, and no I haven't had the chance to read it yet - but you can bet I'm moving it up!)

A Winter's Earl has an inctricate storyline and Annabelle Greene sets it all up beautifully. I'll admit, there were a few times I was biting my tongue to keep from yelling out loud at Sherborne... but STAY THE COURSE, it is so worth it! Clearly Ms. Greene knows what she's doing.

Alongside the complexities of the interpersonal relationships, Annabelle Greene paints a very descriptive picture of the goings on within Sherborne's home. Between preparations for the encroaching holiday, the colorful cast of characters, and the realitiy of living in an ancient, drafty castle, A Winter's Earl is beautifully written.

Thoroughly enjoyable for the holidays (and every day), I highly recommend this one!

Quite a lovely work of historical fiction, in which a disgraced earl faces his return to England and the encounter with the man, who ruined him. A story of redemption and love with a surprising secondary couple, which warms the heart.

Richard Ashbrook has lived life in exile in Sicily since his betrayal and outing by the man he trusted and loved, while Sherborne Clarke remained in England, a poet finding it increasingly difficult to write. When asked for his help, Richard finds himself traveling to the English countryside and stranded at Sherborne's home in a snowstorm. There are allusions to Shakespeare's play "The Winter's Tale" (including the abandoned baby and the bear), and I thought this a clever way to tell this story of redemption and second chances. I look forward to more from this author.

I was mostly curious to read A Winter’s Earl because I wanted to know just how the author would redeem a character who had done something that, to me, was wholly unforgivable. In the end, I perhaps didn’t get to see just that, although the second chance romance was still a good one, and overall this was a book I enjoyed.

It’s based on A Winter’s Tale, which I have to admit, is a Shakespeare play I know very little about. Here, it features the betrayal of Sherborne’s outing of Richard to the newspapers, followed by, 16 years later, his writing a letter to summon Richard back, on a matter of life or death. This matter simply turns out to be a small child, but, due to inclement weather, Richard finds himself stuck in Sherborne’s home, and stuck with the presence of the man who ruined his life.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the second chance romance. I’m of the opinion that second chance romances ought to be angst-ridden. The whole point of them is that, for whatever reason, the relationship didn’t work out the first time around and maybe even ended acrimoniously. Thus, there needs to be angst for me. And this book delivered on that.

On top of that, I did feel like, on the whole, the redemption arc for Sherborne (inasmuch as it turned out he needed one) was pretty solid. It wasn’t perfect, and there were times I thought it could lean into it more, but it was believable and one you could root for. I think it definitely helped here that the book was in dual POV. If we’d only had Richard’s POV, I could see it being harder to get behind Sherborne.

But despite that, I felt there was something of a distance between the reader and characters, in that it felt almost like they were at an arm’s length, rather than fully allowing you to engage with the emotions. I’m not sure why this was—perhaps the writing style?—but I think it’s the main reason I couldn’t rate this more than 3 stars.

However, if you’re looking for a Christmas romance, one with a fair bit of angst, and a good redemption arc, then I would still recommend this one.