Thank you NetGalley for a fun read to the start of a what I think will be a great series. Lilly finds herself married to Henry, the Earl who she has known her whole life. Her father has died and she is not sure what is next in her life. Henry sits down with her and explains what he wants their life to be. They have a very happy year when suddenly Henry dies and Lilly is missing him so, but decides she will get along with the nephew who will take the title. Edmund expects an elderly lady and is very shocked to find the widow is so young. Of course he starts out by saying the wrong thing. They are attracted to each other but he tries to marry her off to another bachelor. This does not work out. Can they find happiness?

Young and innocent Lilly marries the elderly Earl of Langford at the request of her dying father.
He protects her and watches over her until he passes when his nephew becomes the new Earl.
Unfortunately he is surprised by her youth and they begin with a contentious relationship.
Lots of angst and misunderstandings until they finally understand each other.
Romance abounds despite their initial meeting.

Loved the characters and storyline on this novel. I love a strong, independent and creative heroine. Overall enjoyable.

Let me just say, when craving a true romance, my first instinct is to always go to historical fiction. There is nothing better than a rogue gentleman, a proper English lady, and the whole of the ton to spice up your reading pleasure. With Loving an Earl, Christine Donovan was able to weave some of my favorite things about historical fiction, into a romance fit for English aristocracy.

What I liked:
- A true gentleman English Earl who rescues the vicar's daughter to ensure she has a safe and easy life.
- The friendship and bond that always seems to exist between decent men (albeit rogues and rakes) of the English ton who have grown up together and inherited titles together
- The inclusion of the lower class and the struggles they faced
- The romance, the denial of love, and the AH HA moment of realizing you can't live without the other

What I didn't like:
- Em and the Duke's story weaved in but not really told (I am sure they will get their own book, but it just felt unfinished)
- There were times the story felt disjointed. Honestly, I think it could have been something as silly as the breaks in the story that made my brain stop but they story didn't transition. (Yeah, this won't make sense until you read it)
- Crazy as it seems, I need more lust and tension. Really great historical fiction thrives on it!

I did enjoy the story and will continue with this series as it progresses. Thanks to Christine Donovan and Net Galley for the ARC for an honest review.

1.5 stars rounded up because the writing style is generally competent. Some historical details worked, others didn't (why would a viewing be referred to as a "showing", for example? It would have been called a wake during that time). Some awkward phrasing. But mostly it was the weak/inconsistent characterization that was the problem. Behavior and dialog were molded to the whims of the plot and just weren't realistic. In particular the MFC's ongoing childishness was not my cup of tea. Why didn't she just open up to the MMC from the beginning instead of pitching little fits and fretting all the time? It was just silly.

I hope in future books this author is able to work on meshing characterization with plotting. Enemies to lovers is a tough trope to pull off without a deft touch.

While Loving an Earl had all the right elements of a romance novel, the writing style felt like it was trying to fit a formula rather than flowing naturally. The story did a good job of creating the necessary conflicts between Lilly and Edmund, but the execution made it difficult for me to fully connect with the characters or the romance. The storyline felt too forced at times, and because of that, the characters’ personalities didn’t shine as much as they could have.

If the author works on refining some minor technical writing aspects, it could vastly improve the overall storytelling. There’s definite potential here, and I appreciated the effort put into crafting the tension and challenges between the main characters.

For me personally, I struggled to get through the writing, but I’m still open to trying more from this author in the future. I’d love to see how their style develops over time.