I received a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you to NetGalley, Zebra Books, and Ella Quinn. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

In 2016 the Worthington family made their debut in Three Weeks to Wed. There have been many standalone books featuring siblings and various relatives since then. All are standalone stories, but it's been nice to have a thread running through each one allowing me to keep up with previous characters' lives. If you haven't read any of the others, I don't think it'll be a problem, jump in where you are. This book features Charlie Carpenter, Earl of Stanwood, it's finally his time.

I can tell you this much without giving away anything that the blurb hasn't covered. The plot starts out with Charlie being a hero and entering a card game to win a property that the miscreant Lord Ognon bet which happened to have his dependents living in it. Raised right Charlie can't let people be turned out of their home because Ognon can't play cards worth a darn. Charlie is a true Regency romantic hero gentleman at this point, I like him. He stops by the estate intending to sign it over to whoever lives there to find out it wasn't Ognon's in the first place. This is how we meet his love interest Oriana Ognon, the owner of the estate. She's independent, plucky, responsible and the estate is in very good shape. He's intrigued from first meeting, but she takes a dislike to him. A gentleman courts a lady he's interested in but it's hard when she wants nothing to do with him. It's cute how hard he tries to prove he's worthy.

About 2/3 of the way through the book Charlie changed. He went from gentleman to just a man. Once they kissed he was all about getting her alone, not a little like most romances but all the time. I felt the story took a backseat and I began to dislike him. Things like he knows she's exhausted so he makes love to her slowly and then lets her sleep. Huh, not very nice. He smirks, he tries to arrange Oriana sleeping in his room even though his family, including children, are there. Not well done of him. Sneaking around is to be expected but blatant disregard for reputation was too far for me. Everything works out in the end, there's a HEA, but I never thought of him the same again.

#NetGalley #ZebraBooks #AWorthingtonWedding #HereCometheGrooms #Worthingtons #regencyromance #romance #EllaQuinn

This author’s first entry in her new Here Come The Grooms series pits a quickly besotted Earl against a ‘having none of it’ spinster. It is a continuation of the two previous Worthing series and has appearances by those characters. Our two main characters are Miss Oriana Ognon, daughter of a Viscount, and Charles (Charlie) Carpenter, Earl of Stanwood. If you have read the preceding series, you will have already met Charlie.

While Oriana doesn’t particularly dislike men, she definitely distrusts them. First her father, and now her cousin have gambled away all of the assets of the Viscountcy. If it weren’t for her maternal aunt, Oriana would be without a home or support. Thankfully, her aunt left her a lovely home and the funds to support herself and her home. That, however, doesn’t stop her wastrel cousin from gambling away the deed to her home and she is besieged by a constant stream of gamblers who show up at her door to lay claim to it. She has to prove, over and over, that the home is hers and that her cousin has no right to gamble away the title. MEN! She’ll never trust one and certainly not one who shows up after having ‘won’ the title to her home.

Charlie never gambles – except playing for pennies with his family. He always wins! So, he doesn't doubt the outcome when he decides to play cards with Viscount Ognon after hearing he was wagering away one of his holdings – one in which his young female cousin lives. Charlie will win the title and then sign it over to the young woman who lives in the home. Nobody should gamble away assets needed to provide a roof over the family’s head and Charlie will right this one wrong anyway.

The greeting Charlie gets when he shows up at Oriana’s door is not what he expected. She hardly gives him time to speak before booting him out the door. Well, well. Charlie has been looking for THE woman who will pique his interest. It seems he has just met her. So, now, how will he convince her that he is a good, trustworthy man and not an inveterate gambler?

I was really looking forward to seeing Charlie’s HEA, but, for me, it just fell flat. The first 40% or so of the book was pretty good and I could see the story's potential – then, not so much. For one thing, I never felt that I got to ‘know’ Charlie or Oriana and I didn’t really feel their connection. Some of the page space that was used for deciding who was eating dinner where, which back path they were going to take from one estate to another, what they were going to have for dinner, and the myriad interactions with former series characters could have been used to further flesh out Oriana and Charlie as well as strengthen the almost non-existent plots of the villains.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a light read, a charming meandering tale about an earl who falls head-over-heels for a woman he tried to rescue, but the lady didn’t need rescuing - or so she thought. She also thought him a gambler like her sleezy cousin, and dismissed him. So, with a little help from his family, her aunt and the villagers, he sets out to change her mind...

While it was a nice story, there are several reasons why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I could have...

First of all, if you’re going to introduce a generous busload of family members (apparently from a previous series) as side-characters, please include a family tree. There were just too many of them and it was confusing.
The whole story felt very neat and tidy, too convenient, too easy. There were no major roadblocks, no grand gestures, no conquering. Just minor, easily handled hiccups.
Obstinate wary Oriana I liked; I understood her hesitancy and her aunt is a gem. Charlie on the other hand, is a bit too pristine and perfect for my taste - a few flaws would have been nice. There was chemistry but there was no fire. I also think the steam in this book would have been better served as deliciously suggestive closed door, instead of awkward uneasy quick open door. Without the passion it felt out of place and just didn’t work for me.
The bad guys had potential, but I like my villains devious and conniving, and their plotlines well-developed. Why have two of them pop up separately as minor disturbances, all bark and no bite?
And finally - my pet peeve - Belgium. My country was mentioned several times in this book, but it did not exist at the time this story takes place - independence was declared in 1830! Feel free to take some creative liberties with historical accuracy if they work for your story, but please not with simple historical facts.

An enjoyable story! Charlie knows what he wants when he sees it. The love of his family has given him a strong desire for true love. He will settle for nothing less. Its fun to see how he woos the woman he picks as she is not so sure she even wants marriage. An enjoyable story with villains and obstacles to face where love reigns.

Feels much more like a sequel than a spinoff series. The sheer amount of characters+ their details I was informed of early on was a little jarring. Maybe I’d read the other worthington stories and return back to this.

This is the first book in the new series about the Worthington grooms.
The book is interesting, but there is so much detail about all the other family members that take away from the storyline and are confusing.
The chemistry between Charlie and Oriana was wonderful after they got to know one another.
There were a couple of minor hitches on their way to their happily ever after that I felt could have been told in more detail.
All in all, if you like the Worthington series it was a good read.
I will definitely read the next one in the series.

A new Ella Quinn! Charlie thought he was doing a good deed when he went to Oriana to give her back her land after he won it from her rotten cousin only to find out the cousin never had the right to gamble it to begin with. His life, and hers changes in that moment. It's fun to watch their relationship grow, the dialogue is snappy, and it's just plain fun. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

A good read! I’m a huge fan of Ella Quinn- I always enjoy her books and of course I enjoyed this one too! I thought it was a good fast and witty read with good characters and dialogue. A must read!

I have greatly enjoyed reading about the various Carpenter and Vivers young women finding love in Ella Quinn’s Worthington books, and was extremely excited to learn that the next book would focus on Charlie. But my hopes and dreams were dashed upon the rocks when the plot setup, which was very interesting, about Oriana’s cousin gambling with the deed to her home and Charlie stepping in to save it was solved in a few chapters. We spend the rest of the book following the most tedious account of two people getting married ever. Even the later complications that come up feel so low stakes that I could not understand why the main characters were acting as it the sky was falling.

Charlie’s exact age is not mentioned in the book, but he must be 23/24 based off being 16 when Grace and Matt get together in the first book and their eldest child being 7. Oriana’s age is also not mentioned, but Charlie does say they are close in age but he is older so she must be 22/23. Considering it felt like every other member of the Worthington clan’s age was expressly stated the main character’s ages not being on the page was odd. And with how large the family is a family tree is desperately needed so that a not insignificant chunk of the books doesn’t have to be dedicated to introducing the characters and explaining who they are in relation to everyone else to the readers. Either in the back of the book or on a website if the editor Ella works with still thinks family trees insult the intelligence of readers. Insult away because I need it. Please give us the birthdays. And back to the point of mentioning the ages, I understand wanting to write Charlie’s love story, but this feels very early for it to happen.

The side and recurring characters are the highlight of the book and truly what got me through. Every one of them is a gem. The family, the servants, the town people, and the dogs brought me so much joy. I felt more invested and interested in the blossoming romances between the background characters than the main characters. I must know if there will be more puppies for the sisters to each have their own great dane.

I think if Charlie and Oriana were a few years older and if we had higher stakes for the complications (and less “I’ll dine here tonight” “oh good them I’ll dine there tomorrow” “I’ll send the groom” “no a footman would be better” “I’ll pick you up then drop you off then turn around and get the servant and switch the wagon and hire a horse and etc etc etc.”) I would have enjoyed it more.

Some technical notes. Small spoiler warning. I assume these are fixed in the final copy for publication. But to be safe here is what I took note of:
Chapter 7 Oriana written as just "Orina" for the only time in the book. an error?
Chapter 8 "Oriana could not but notice..." Is the word help missing between not and but?
Chapter 13 What did all this mean?" the " is an error she is not talking out loud
Chapter 16when he lifter her in spikes of heat... comma between in and spikes? genuinely had to re-read the sentence to understand he was not lifting her into spikes.
Chapter 17 two well educated peers saying "ain't" and "don't" took me out it for a second.
Chapter 18 the use of literally feels out of place
chapter 19 Thay must be included in the trust. error. They
chapter 23 No," Oriana gave her head a shake. missing " in front of no.
Chapter 25 the use of massively feels out of place
Chapter 29 the fact that there are many sets of twins in the family comes up and Oriana mentions they run in her family as well. but is later shocked to be having twins and has to be reminded by her aunt that her grandmother had a twin. This seems like a huge oversight and will frustrate readers.
chapter 32 No, miss." Kerby sniffed. there is a " missing in front of no.

Let me start off by saying that I have read most of the books in this series. So I can say with full confidence that while the love story between Oriana and Charlie can be read as a stand alone, you are likely to be really confused by the sheer number of background characters that appear. Especially when said characters are all introduced at once. It's overwhelming for anyone, including someone like myself who had already met these characters in prior novels.

Overlooking that aspect though, this one still had it's troubles. And sadly, the majority of them (for me) came past the halfway point.

The book starts off strongly enough with Charlie, attempting to do a good deed meets the steadfast Oriana who is more than used to dealing with gamblers thinking that have won her property when it was never her cousin's to wager in the first place. I liked how wary she was of him at first, and how it was the small comments and actions of others that got her to finally see him in a different light. I enjoyed their interactions after she decided to give him a chance as he continued to prove himself to her (although him knowing what colors would suit her best because of his sisters was a little corny in my opinion, it was also kind of cute as well). So he proposes. She accepts. They anticipate their vows.

And then all hell breaks loose.

Because you see, having her cousin being up to no good, paying ruffians to damage her tenants properties and whispering rumors about his upcoming marriage to Oriana wasn't enough, the author decided to throw another monkey wrench into their plans. This in the form of a supposed betrothal agreement between his daughter and Charlie. Only, this contract doesn't make any sense considering the man with whom it was supposedly made was banned from stepping foot onto Charlie's estate back when his father was the Earl.

Of course, despite claiming to be in love with him and freely giving herself to him multiple times, the moment Charlie tells Oriana about the supposed betrothal agreement, she shuts down. Immediately believing the worst in him and asking herself how he could possibly not have known. Which I mean, considering the man's name had already come up in a different conversation in which Charlie told Oriana about the falling out between the two families should have given her a clue it was likely not to be true.

The problem is, how do they go about proving it isn't true without harming the daughter's reputation?


*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

And this is where I lost interest. Because after chapters of these two solving the problem of who was causing damage to Oriana's lands, but having nothing when it comes to his supposed betrothal suddenly his family comes to town and they have a solution. They have Charlie "compromise" Oriana at a ball that everyone is attending. And when the girl's father attempts to bring up the arrangement? Charlie throws it in his face that no such arrangement existed.

You read that right. He throws it in the man's face at a ball. Attended by everyone in the village.

I'm sorry, wasn't the whole problem finding a way to extradite him from this issue while still protecting the daughter's reputation? Why didn't Charlie, his solicitor, and either his friend or one of his many brothers-in-law just pay a visit to the man's house and quietly warn him off continuing to pursue this falsehood?

I would think bringing the facts to light in the middle of a ball would do the exact opposite, but then the author manages to smooth things over by having one of Charlie's sisters introduce the daughter to two eligible bachelors. Which was another point of interest with me considering the daughter said that Charlie was too old for her, but the two men his sister goes on to introduce her to are both friends of Charlie's ergo the same age as him or older.

***END SPOILERS***

All things considered, I enjoyed the majority of this novel and I will almost certainly continue to read more in this series, I just hope that the author either provides a family tree we can reference, or chooses to not have all of the characters from prior novels show up.


DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

A Worthington Wedding
by Ella Quinn
Pub Date: Nov 26 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Charlie, Earl of Stanwood, is at his gentleman’s club when he overhears from a nearby card game that the Viscount Ognon plans to gamble away a property in which some of his family live. Charlie takes a dim view of those who mistreat their dependents, and though he rarely gambles, he always wins. This time is no different. Triumphant, Charlie is determined to sign the property over to the appropriate family member . . .

Miss Oriana Ognon comes from a family in which the men are incorrigible gamblers, while the women mitigate the losses. Fortunately, she inherited her estate from a maternal aunt and is independent of her cousin, who repeatedly attempts to gamble it away. Needless to say, when the Earl of Stanwood comes to call, he is promptly presented with proof of Oriana’s homeownership—and no offer of refreshment. . . . Even if he was the handsomest man she’d ever seen . . .

Intrigued by headstrong Oriana, Charles sets out to discover more about her—and concludes she may be exactly the wife he’s looking for. Meanwhile, Oriana learns more about Charles, and her interest is piqued. But as saboteurs and rivals compromise their possible future together, they just might find themselves in an irresistibly compromising position of their own . . .

What is the saying about good deeds that pave the road to hell and so it is for poor Charlie, Earl of Stanwood. Charlie who is not a gambler, enters a game to win a property so he can safeguard it for the gambler's ward only to find that the lady actually owns the property outright, wants nothing to do with a gambler like Charlie even as Charlie has determined that she will make the perfect Countess for him. A bit slow but therein begins this rout with a large number of family members and retainers all vying for space on the stage of this romance.
Oriana has had to send back numerous gentlemen with a flea in their ear when they come with tales of owning her property which her guardian has no ownership of and no right to gamble. Needless to say, the first meeting between Charlie and Oriana definitely starts off on the wrong foot. Oriana is however intrigued at how Charlie is treated on his estate which adjoins hers and they mutually matchmake a romance between two members of each of their villages.
Charlie slowly begins to grow on Oriana as she finds him more progressive than most gentlemen of her generation. Of course, her aunt takes a hand in trying to foster a relationship between the two. The story is a bit slow but if you've read the Worthington's you get to visit with the ever-growing tribe. 
This is the first in a trilogy of gentlemen seeking their brides, so we'll see more of these wonderful folks as the series progresses.

Oriana does not intend to wed, especially not her gambling cousin who just wants to get his hands on her dowry. When Charles wins her lands back in a card game he goes to give them to Oriana. He finds instead that she owns the land independently and was never in danger of losing them! Charles is impressed with Oriana’s independence and her almost all female staff. Attracted to her, he knows he must work hard to convince her that not all men are like her lying cousin. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for my honest review.

A Worthington Wedding is the first in Ella Quinn’s Here Comes the Groom series. It is a spin off from The Worthingtons but can be read as a standalone although it might take a while sorting through the many family members. Charlie, Earl of Stanwood, overhears that the Viscount Ognon plans to gamble away a property vital to his family. Determined to intervene, Charlie wins the property and seeks to ensure it goes to the right family member. He meets the fiercely independent Miss Oriana Ognon, who has inherited her estate and is wary of her gambling cousin. Intrigued by Oriana's strength, Charlie believes she could be the perfect wife. Can Charlie and Oriana find a future together whilst navigating threats from saboteurs and rivals?
This is an enjoyable story. Charlie is honourable, dependable and honest. Oriana does take time to trust and really thinks the worst of Charlie before realising that he not like her male relations. They are eventually a likeable match though.
I received an advanced review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I keep hoping that Ella's style of writing will change, but this book followed her Worthignton line, too many characters, too many inconsequential details, a heroine who just stubborn and annoying (supposedly strong and independent) and a hero who's just a little bit on the wrong side of being too perfect. Overall, it was a little bit boring for my taste.

#netgalley #AWorthingtonWedding

The first book in the Here Come the Grooms series which is a spinoff from the author's The Worthingtons series.

This is not a bad book but it was overloaded with detail about food and family members and I did start to wish the story would get on with it. There were also many, many characters but luckily I only needed to really identify with half a dozen of them. One of them was a really delightful Great Dane dog who deserved much more page time!

The story was interesting, the setting was well written, but some of the scenes between the two main characters (the bedroom kind) seemed forced into the narrative and did not add anything to it. It was okay to skip them. Three stars from me for this one but I will be happy to try #2.

The Worthingtons and the Carpenters have been intertwined since Matt and Grace came together in 3 weeks.
Always marrying for true love.
Grace’s brother Charlie is the Earl of Stanwood who is an honorable man.
He overhears another man gambling away an estate and leaving dependents without a home.
He joins the game to win the deed but when he goes to present it to them, he finds not all is as it seems.
Oriana owns the estate and her cousin is just foolish lying and gambling.
Charlie likes Oriana, her independent spirit and her caring for her employees and tenants.
But even if he knows she is the one, he has to go slowly to earn her trust.
Beautifully written love story that can be read alone or with extra enjoyment of family characters.

The Worthington Wedding by Ella Quinn is the first book in a new series called Here Comes the Grooms. Charlie, Earl of Stanwood overhears a man throwing a property into the betting anti. The man bragged about how he owned it but some female cousins lived there. Charlie decided to intervene by winning the property with the intention of giving it to the cousin. Little did he know what that would lead to for him.

Miss Oriana Ognon outright owned her property. The men in her family were gamblers, so the women solved it by passing the property through the female line. However, her cousin would bet her property and then the men would show up angry and her cousin would say that she needs to marry him to be safe. Oriana was not amused when Charlie showed up and acted like he was her savior.

Despite the inauspicious beginning, Charlie and Oriana begin to make progress, mostly due to Charlie’s mechanisms. I love how Charlie had to work hard to get Oriana to take him personally. I love how the Worthingtons all helped Charlie. I enjoyed the novel. The Worthington Wedding by Ella Quinn is a good read.

This was definitely not the book for me and this is the second book by this author I’ve tried and I don’t thing her books are for me in general . There are way too many characters in this overall series and I’m bit sure why they are all mentioned all the time - so confusing - maybe it’s better if you start from the beginning in bit sure

Overall a slow story and not that exciting

Charlie’s story is as gentle as his personality is. It’s great to have followed the series in order, it’s just such a tight knit family that in every book you’ll get to see all of your favorite characters all over again. I advised you to read them in order, so you appreciate them more, if you read them as a standalone you might not want to read the others since not all the stories are as exciting or the characters as engaging to be honest. I personally enjoyed more the stories of the older sisters but since I love the family and how they interact with each other so much I’ll keep reading until the the last of the siblings has his or her story.

Charlie is the oldest brother of the Carpenter family and the heir to the Standwood Earldom. He was a little boy when his parents died and has since been protected by his eldest sister, Grace and her Husband, Matt Worthington. Now, it’s his time to go back to his life and responsibilities as the Earl. Being the noble boy he is, he couldn’t stop playing the hero and save a lady from a potential threat. The problem here is that the Lady didn’t need the hero in the first place.

Miss Oriana Ognon has always despised gamblers and silly male members of the ton, so when Charlie suddenly appears as a hero telling her he won her house in a game and he’s planning to give it to her, she dismisses him as a gambler and clarifies that he had been tricked because the house was always hers and not her cousin’s in the first place. As they get to know each other, Oriana might realized she probably misjudged him and together will have to work against two persistent threats to their future happiness.