A jaunty, joyful, sexy romance between a socially sheltered heiress and a reclusive Earl who set out together to untangle an espionage plot when his brother’s disappearance with protected information about an ammunition invention suggests violence might be nigh. Vasti’s characters are wonderfully tender as they work through their individual insecurities. The heroine’s longing to prove herself brave and strong, despite being pegged as faint of heart for her social anxiety. The hero’s longing to be chosen first by someone after being pitted against his brother by an uncaring father. They both want to be loved, and I enjoyed how openly Vasti wrote about this yearning from both characters’ perspectives. While much of the plot revolves around hunting the missing brother and uncovering the scheme afoot, we get plenty of sexy times as the couple gives in to their powerful physical attraction and uncovers the depth of their feelings for one another. We also get Vasti’s delightful humour, with briskly paced banter, a herd of adopted zebras, and a scheming staff bent on matchmaking. With a warm, gentle heart at its core, lots of lusty longing, and a high-stakes sleuthing plot to throw the lovers together, this one’s sure to bring a smile.

What a romantic and emotional read!

I was a big fan of Ne'er Duke Well, the first entry in the Belvoir's Library series, but this second entry which focuses on Lydia Hope-Wallace and Arthur Baird, Earl of Strathrannoch, is somehow even better.

Although Lydia believes she has been writing to Arthur for three years, it turns out that she has actually been corresponding with Arthur's younger brother Davis regarding her politically radical ideas. Lydia was hoping to enter into a marriage of convenience with "Arthur", not knowing that Davis was impersonating Arthur, and hijinks ensue as Lydia and Arthur team up to track down Davis on the way to their own happily ever after.

Throughout their journey, we get to know not only Lydia and Arthur, who are fast on their way to falling in love, but also the rest of the Hope-Wallace clan and Lydia's friend Georgiana; they were all charming, and I'm hoping at least some of these characters will show up in future instalments! As well, I particularly liked how Lydia, despite being burned by Davis' deception and her own shy nature, chooses to embrace change and take risks to change her life - her commitment to following her heart was so admirable.

Earl Crush is well worth a read for those who are looking for an emotionally complex book with compelling characters!

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing this book for review consideration; all opinions above are my own, and I note that I have already pre-ordered my own copy of Earl Crush!

This lovely regency romance was a true delight to read. The characters are wonderful, I loved getting both Lydia and Arthur's perspective, and the author hit the perfect balance of deeply stirring and heartfelt scenes that didn't feel forced or cheesy. She really built up this love story well, and I was very invested. There's a little bit of intrigue and suspense to keep you turning the pages, mixed in with some very spicy interactions between our main characters. The growth over the course of the book for both characters was great to see.

Overall this is a very charming romance that I heartily recommend!

This is my first Alexandra Vasti book and after this one I am going to read the rest of them! This was a fun regency read with a unique storyline. Lydia our FMC shows up to our MC home after exchanging letters to one another to ask his hand in a mutual beneficial marriage. The only problem is she was not writing to our main character but his brother who is AWOL. It was such a fun read to see how it unfolded and I cant wait to read more from this author!


Thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the e-ARC.

Vasti has freaking done it again!!! I absolutely ADORED Lydia and Arthur. So much so that I may just make Lydia my new whole personality. As always, Vasti combines romance with a deep plot and fully-formed characters you'll cheer for from the outset. Smart, fun romance with heart!

Earl Crush was a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t crazy about Ne’er Duke Well, it didn’t hold my interest enough. But Earl Crush was like night and day for me! Such a cute romance and loved the spice! After reading this and getting more background I think I will reread Ne’er Duke Well and enjoy it more.

4.5

I loved the first book in this series earlier this summer, so I was very excited when I saw this book on NetGalley. Historical romance is such a fun genre, because it often allows for the reader to escape into a world totally unlike their own. Earl Crush is a great follow up to Ne'er Duke Well! I loved the plotline, which was full of adventure and romance, and a plethora of fun characters (plus if you make the male main character a brooding Scot, I'm never going to complain lol.)

The only reason I didn't give this five stars, is for a plot choice near the very end of the novel that felt like it was added for no reason other than to add one final point of drama. However, I loved loved loved the epilogue, it is perhaps one of my favorite epilogues ever.

For Bridgerton fans, this book really felt like an amalgamation of all the best parts of the individual books in that series, so...loved that!

Loved this book. Love Alexandra Vasti—she’s a new auto read author for me. Her books are filled with so much humor and honest to god *romance* that I can’t get enough. Lydia and Arthur have my whole heart.

I loved Alexandra Vasti's novellas but I've been struggling with her full novels. They just don't have the same tautness that made her novellas so gripping and dynamic. I DNF'd the first one and I got through Earl Crush by skimming a lot because I did get bored. I like the premise well enough and the idea of the characters sound great, but the execution isn't there for me. I found the characterisation of the heroine to be overought and inconsistent. I barely remember the hero. The prose got a bit purple in places. Even the suspense didn't grip me, we could tell who the villain was the moment they were introduced. It pains me to leave this review because I really really want to love this book and I think it could have been excellent. The hero assuming she was about to marry his brother and running to London (?) to crash the wedding had me rolling my eyes - it was just all so silly.

I've been reading HR for about 17 years and it's so hard to find someone doing it decently these days. AV's novellas gave me a glimmer of hope, but alas.

Oh this was such fun and so lovely. Everything about Arthur was delightful, his gruff bewilderment and astonished happiness. Love Vasti’s writing in general and she’s never been better.

This book made my cry happy tears on an airplane. I was lucky enough to be given an early review copy of this book and I'm predicting now that this will be one of the best historicals of 2025. Vasti is THE rising star of Regency romance.

I thought it wasn't possible to improve after Ne'er Duke Well, which was IMO a perfect story but somehow Vasti was able to ratchet the feels up about five notches in this one. I'm stunned by the tenderness. One of the primary tropes in this book is two characters who do not feel worthy of the other. Pair this with a dangerous mystery plot and you have perfect a recipe for intense mutual admiration. Oh yes and there's a wild herd of Zebras. At a crumbling Scottish castle. And a tender, queer found family. It's altogether just too perfect.

It wasn’t until it mentioned the “erotic catalogue of Belvoir’s Library” that I realized it’s the same world as Ne’er Duke Well. Apparently I really like to go in blind! But it’s not surprising that I loved another Alexandra Vasti book.

The characters were fun and quirky. I really like the world Vasti is building. I loving seeing the spin where women aren’t in the dark about everything. I think it helps the overall story to not feel like all the other historical romances out there. Also loving some of the 🌶️ scenes.

Every single book or novella written by Alexandra Vasti has been a knockout—including this one. Her characters are always so relatable and seem so three dimensional. Real people with real issues. Her sex-positive stories are full of consent and mutual pining. I love how her female characters are feminine but also not stereotypical, especially with the time period of the novel. Highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this remarkable story! Opinions are my own.

Overall this was thoroughly enjoyable.
There were some inconsistencies with the elaborate plot and a lot of internal self-doubt monologues that were slightly distracting but it was well written and kept my attention.
I’ve yet to read the first in the series but I will hunt it down and look forward to what comes next.

Thanks to NetGalley for review copy.

This was Vasti’s best yet!!! I loved this book, I finished it in one day! Arthur and Lydia had the BEST chemistry and their banter was hilarious. Seriously a great regency rom-com!

Loved this book. Historical romance isn’t my favorite, but Alexandra Vasti writes exactly my taste in this space. And the books are SPICY— there were a few moments in this where I blushed, which is an achievement all on its own. I loved Lydia in particular; shy heroines are so rare in the books I read, and I related to her a lot. Overall, I really loved this.

I loved Ne'er Duke Well and was eagerly looking forward to this sequel - and it didn't disappoint! Set three years after the first book, Selina's anxious friend Lydia Hope-Wallace has screwed up her courage to propose a marriage of convenience to a penpal who started corresponding with her over her secretly published political pamphlets.

Determined to steer the course of her own destiny, with best friend Georgiana (and Georgiana's delightful little white dog, Sir Francis Bacon) in tow, she steals away to her penpal's impoverished Scottish estate to make him an offer he can't refuse: her money for the freedom to write, and live, by her own ideals and a future of platonic intellectually stimulating companionship together.

However, she is absolutely stunned to discover that the Earl of Strathrannoch has no idea who she is. Turns out, she's been corresponding with his ne'er-do-well brother, who conveniently happens to missing. And has stolen Arthur's blueprints for a highly effective sniper rifle. Shenanigans and hijinks ensue.

Like the first book, there were some quibbles of pacing for me, especially towards the end which I felt was a little too abrupt. Alex's writing is absolutely delightful and full of banter, and this book was fun from start to finish. However, Arthur grated on me a little. Not a man of words like his brother, he is frequently driven witless by Lydia and is reduced to exclamations like "dinna fash yourself". I'm one of the few people who hasn't read Outlander or been seduced (yet) by Highlander romance so rather than making me swoon, it made me want to throw something at the man for being patronizing.

Still, brave red-headed Lydia and gold-haired and golden-hearted Arthur make for a wonderful pair and their romance is lovely. I can't wait to read Georgiana's story next!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC; Releases January 21st, 2025

In Alexandria Vasti’s upcoming book, Lydia Hope-Wallace, a radical heiress with social anxiety heads to Scotland to propose a marriage of convenience to the impoverished Earl of Strathanroch with whom she’s been writing/sharing political ideals (in secret) for the last few years. Soon after she arrives, however, she finds out that she wasn’t corresponding with the earl himself but his ne’er do well younger brother posing as the earl— a brother who may be mixed up in something quite dangerous. Together they decide to work together find him and end up finding themselves pretending to be newlyweds as part of their investigation. Will their fake vows result in true love?

There is so much to love about this book- secret identities, road trips, fake marriage, protective older siblings, espionage, treason, PLUS an epistolary epilogue! It was fun, funny, and steamy. I adored literally everything about this- my favorite Vasti yet. Early Crush is out January 21st!


Thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the e-ARC; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really liked Ne'er Duke Well, and I liked this book even more! The characters are great. The plot slaps! And the sex scenes are sublime.

Yet another home run from Vasti!

We have fake marriage, a herd of zebras, found family, spies, intelligent bomb ass women, and an absolute golden retriever cinnamon roll of a man who makes consent hot as hell!

I’m not sure how you can say no to this one!!

Also if Jasper and Georgiana aren’t end game I’m going to riot!!!

Thank you to the publisher for my advanced copy, all thoughts are my own.