The Earl and The Country Girl - Review

Felix Brightman, the Earl of Enderley, suspects his land agent Bilby is stealing from him. To uncover the truth, he devises a plan to go undercover as a stablehand at his estate in Cornwall. Felix, confident in his abilities as a spy trainer, believes he can successfully carry out his scheme.

Alice Wright, a country girl from Cornwall, comes from a family of perfumers and helps her mother run their apothecary. She dreams of becoming a perfumer in London and studying under Madame Clemence Dubois. However, her plans take an unexpected turn when she literally runs into Felix in her lavender fields. Alice quickly sees through Felix’s disguise.

Felix proposes a deal: if Alice helps him expose Bilby’s wrongdoing, he will help her achieve her dream of becoming a perfumer in London.

Both Felix and Alice are determined not to let love interfere with their futures. Felix views love as a source of pain to be avoided, while Alice sees it as a distraction from her ambitions.

As the story progresses, Felix and Alice struggle to hide their growing feelings for each other, masking their emotions as mere friendship. I enjoyed how the story immerses readers in the historical world of the London ton, a society vastly different from today. The novel delivers exactly what one would expect from a period piece set in this era. The characters are compelling, although I wished for more insight into Felix’s past. The epilogue provided a satisfying conclusion to the overall story.

Thank you, Entangled Publishing, LLC, and NetGalley, for this ARC to read and review.

Eva Devon writes a marvelous story. Alice is a totally adorable character. She has a delightful personality that readers will enjoy. Felix is fiercely loyal to his friends and fun to be around. The plot of the story is very interesting and easy to follow. The dialogue between characters flows easily. This is just a really awesome and romantic story that you will want to purchase and add to your library.

Felix is doing such a terrible job at pretending to be a stablemaster that local apothecary’s daughter Alice realizes that he’s a fraud pretty quickly. Felix is actually the earl who owns to village and estate and he’s trying to find out if his estate manager is embezzling funds. In exchange for Alice’s help in learning how to play his part, he promises to set her up as a perfumer’s apprentice in London. The books is split pretty much into two parts, with the first being all the village happenings and catching the villain there; then when we go to London, Alice gets to learn the trade she’s so interested in. Plus, we get Felix and Alice start an affair with each other, knowing that neither are interested in marrying each other. Alice is afraid that having a husband will derail her dreams and plans, while Felix is afraid of any attachment at all because he doesn’t want to cause or feel loss or grief. But you know they’ll fall in love with each other anyway, and at least they’re having a good time along the way.

Felix Brightman, the Earl of Enderley is sure the land agent he hired for his newly acquired estate in Cornwall is robbing him blind, but he needs proof. So hatches a plan to travel to the estate incognito, how hard could it be considering he trains spies for the military. But his disguised is blown within minutes of encountering Alice Wright, a local woman and he strikes a bargain with her. If she will help him fit into to his role as stablemaster, he in turn will help her launch a career in London as a perfume maker, promising to introduce her to London’s premiere perfumer. An agreement is made, and Felix is surprised by how much he enjoys Alice’s company, but they could never be more than friends, as Felix is adamant that he will never fall in love. At least that is his plan.

Alice Wright comes from a family of perfumers, but since the death of her father, her mother has not had time to make perfume, opting rather to be an herbalist and run an apothecary. Alice believes that her mother gave up on her dreams to marry and have a family and has decided that she will never succumb to love and give up on her own dreams, even if her dream seems impossible. Or at least it was before she met Felix. After helping Felix with his problem, he in turn helps her achieve her dream of learning the art of perfumery from London’s renown Madame Clemence Dubois. But dreams are funny things and sometimes they change, leaving Alice to wonder if it is possible to love another and still have dreams for yourself?

I honestly don’t know how I feel about this book, it wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t really drawn into the story. I liked Alice and Felix, but I never really felt their connection, for most of the book they played at being friends with benefits and they never really convinced me that they were more than that. I also felt that Felix held onto his “I can’t fall in love” raft for way too long and didn’t do nearly enough to make up for that. Overall, it was a quick, light read with a fair amount of angst, a villain who is almost forgotten, warm love scenes and a grieving duke (who I hope finds his own HEA), a somewhat rushed ending and a sweet epilogue.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own. *

The title had me wondering about the "country girl" and I really like the cover art. Felix, Earl of Enderley lives a very privileged life. He's smart, powerful, kind, and an advocate for the people. Alice works with her mother in an apothecary. She's clever, lively, blunt, and a dreamer. Felix enlists Alice's help to find out if his land agent is a thief. They work very well together. There was so much growth for each of them as individuals and together. It wasn't easy by any means and they had their own traumas to process. I found myself wanting to knock some sense into the both of them. Very good read, I'll continue reading books from this author.

A great historical romance!

Alice & Felix are fun to read about. They are both strong-willed characters that learn a lot about themselves by the story's end.
I always love when a character vows to never fall in love, they always falls first and hard (haha) which was definitely the case here. Felix and Alice have instant chemistry and they like each other right away. I did like that they spend a lot of time together trying to figure out the estate matter. This gave them plenty of opportunity to learn about each other and for love to grow.

This is a sweet romance with low stakes. The steam is nice but it doesn't overwhelm the story or feel out of place.

Very enjoyable historical romance! Especially if you're looking for a Bridgerton fix!

This is a slow paced, cozy, romantic read. Low anxiety moments, sweet commentary and 3🌶️ spice. It was a nice quick palette cleanser read.

There was more description than dialogue which was fine.

While the characters may have reached climax, the story itself was anti-climatic with everything that could have cause tension being wrapped up off-page and everything tied up neatly with a bow.

The Earl and the Country Girl is a historical romance featuring Felix, a duke who wishes to never fall in love, and Alice, a country girl who just wants to make perfumes.

Felix first meets Alice on his undercover trip to his country estate, where he is attempting to sus out whether or not his estate manager is lying to him. Alice catches on to Felix's ruse almost immediately, and coaches him how to be of lower class until he discovers proof of his estate manager's failures.

As the story progresses, Felix wants to help Alice achieve her dreams and takes her away from the country to the big city to study under a famous perfumer. They spend their evenings together and a romance continues developing though they both deny their feelings. As Alice learns about life in the city, she realizes more about who she is and what she wants in life. Quality side characters include the perfumery store owner and Felix's best friend, both who help the main characters realize what they truly want in life.

This was a quick read and a sweet romance that includes spice, a fire, perfume combinations, and two characters learning what matters most.

I forgot how much fun historical romances can get when reading. The banter is great, it's a little instalove but the tension between the two do them is there. It's a dual pov which I love with romances. The story does take a turn in the plot halfway through. I wish it just had the singular plot about the estate which seemed to make it more rushed for an already short novel. It's very quick paced has the spice you want from a book like this and a fun read if you have a Bridgerton hangover.
Thank you NetGalley and Entangled publishing for the opportunity to read this e-arc! This is my honest opinion!