Unfortunately, I didn’t engage with the characters and found the plotline too simple. I don’t post negative reviews, so have declined comment.

Waiting for an Earl Like You by Alexandra Hawkins is a fun romp of a story. The characters are complex and growth throughout the story. A true parable on the dangers of little lies...but oh so fun when it's not happening to you. Highly recommend.

Sandy M’s review of Waiting for an Earl Like You (Masters of Seduction, Book 3) by Alexandra Hawkins
Historical Romance published by St. Martin’s Paperbacks 3 Jan 17

I’m a sucker for books about brothers. In this case, I was definitely jealous of Olivia, our heroine, because she’s grown up with Thorn and Gideon, the twins next door, also known as the Earl of Kempthorn and the spare. As children they played together, leading to a close friendship between Olivia and Gideon. Thorn has taken his responsibilities seriously even from an early age, so he had some jealousy of his own going on too when he stood back and watched his brother and friend. Now Gideon is home after branching out on the continent to make his own way, and Olivia is once again in the picture, a woman in her own right so many years later. Thorn has a lot to take care of…


He feels Olivia may be after Gideon to lure him into wedlock, and that just won’t do. Especially because he’s a bit attracted to the lady, but he’ll not admit that to anyone, including himself. But he puts himself in her way whenever possible, even pretending to be his twin and capturing a few kisses when they’re alone. He even finds himself rescuing Olivia from her soon-to-be-stepmother’s wrath a time or two. Despite these gentlemanly times, Thorn has a stiff upper lip that is caustic at times and takes him down a few notches in the reader’s mind.

But then you see how he feels about his brother, hates that they are now at odds, and that Gideon won’t confide in him as he used to. That brings Thorn up a bit for the reader. Gideon has had something happen during his travels, and while we’re given only hints, we won’t discover what that something is until his book. For now we are left to only imagine, so, heavens, it could be something closer to home for all we know. Whatever it is, it makes Gideon a much more sympathetic character than Thorn.

Olivia is a sassy heroine, for the most part. She’s been given a lot of leeway as to freedom to do as she chooses, so she’s used to doing what she wants. She does acquiesce to her stepmother, all because she doesn’t want to upset her father. When deal old papa catches Thorn and Olivia sharing a kiss, however, he makes certain a wedding is in his daughter’s future. Thorn, however, wants a pretend engagement, still not acknowledging his feelings for Olivia. Even through that stiff upper lip, it is enjoyable to watch him fall before he realizes what’s happening to him.

I like the added touch of the cameo of the Marquess of Norgrave in this story. The entire sequence featuring him caught me by surprise, as it had to for all readers of the series so far. All in all, a good addition to the series, and I’m looking forward to finding out Gideon’s secrets.

Grade: B

I loved Justin and Olivia's story!!

Twins often switch places and have many tales to tell, but what happens when you start to fall for someone and she thinks you are your twin?? Justin, his twin Gideon and Olivia have known each other since they were kids. But Gideon and Olivia have been best friends for most of that time and Justin has been a tiny bit jealous of that friendship since it started. Not only because of her closeness to his twin but because he has feelings for Olivia. Can Justin find a way out of the mess he has made and find his HEA with Olivia??

This was a great addition to the Masters of Seduction series and I really hope that we get Gideon's story next!!

I absolutely adored this story. Some of Thorn's antics had me shaking my head, while others just had me like Awww! I really enjoyed getting to know these characters and the writing was wonderful!

When I think of this book the first thing that comes into my mind is a cake that swells as it's getting baked, but then for some reason it deflates. The story had the right ingredients, but the actual result wasn't good. I bought the part where Thorn said that he had feelings for Olivia, but when Olivia said that she also had feelings for him I wasn't convinced. She realizes that Gideon was Thorn way too late in the story in my opinion. She seemed to get along better with Gideon than Thorn and in the beginning I was worried about that. I didn't buy that story about the first kiss either. Something big happened in the end and the only thing I could think of is that it came out of nowhere and it didn't have a reason to exist. The only thing that was on the focus this whole time was Thorn's deception and his love interests, but then that thing happened and I was wondering how and why that thing popped up. By the end of the book I wasn't very impressed and I found the ending abrupt. It didn't seem like the right way to end the story. Hopefully the next book will suit me better because this one was a miss like the first book in the series.

I am not sure if it's me or the writing quality has decreased. I loved the Lords of vice series, but this one is not working for me and I am getting a little worried. Olivia's father had a split personality. One minute he was a cold person and was looking out only for his mistress/ wife to be, without giving his daughter a second thought and the next minute he was a caring father who loved his daughter. Something is not right about him.

I am not happy with this book and the series in general, I will continue reading the series in hopes of finding a gem, but I feel like the author should step up her game. I don't feel like recommending the book.

I was intrigued by the plot line, I love this era of the genre and I was excited to read it. I found the beginning was good and the banter was well done.. then, I just lost interest. There seemed to be about five men being referred to by different names. For example one man maybe referred to by his title, his first name, his last name, his nickname or just "cousin" or "brother" and when this happens to all five men and they were all in the same room, I found it confusing to keep track. In the end this did me in and I didn't finish the book. Perhaps I will try a different book from this author as the plot and beginning had potential.

This is the first book by Alexandra Hawkins that I have read. There are other books that preceded this one in a series. Although I found this an OK read, I really was not enamored of the characters, actually some of the secondary characters seemed to be more interesting. The storyline does have some intrigue which I prefer in a book, and several characters who could turn out to be the major villain. I like to be kept guessing who it will turn out to be, and this read does do that. I just could not commit to Thorn and Olivia as the hero and heroine. Thorn is more believable, as the heir and is a little standoffish even with his twin brother. As a child he watches the friendship between Gideon and Olivia, wishing he could be apart of it, yet afraid to allow himself to join them. As adults they are thrown together once again. This time Thorn takes action to have Olivia for himself. Olivia comes across as way too naive (even though Thorn states this many times). She constantly puts herself into harm's way by not paying attention to her surroundings or being too trusting of the wrong person. However, I will not judge the author's work by this book, instead will read others before reaching a opinion.

This historical romance was okay, but it wasn't one I connect with well. Olivia and Thorn weren't some of my favorite historical romance characters, and I didn't like the way Thorn pretended to be his twin. This one fell short for me.

Justin Earl of Kempthorn or Thorn as he was called by his family and friends. His nine year old cousin Muriel appeared as he found a young boy who wet his pants Thorn gave the boy to a servant and asked his cousin if she knew the boy’s mother. Muriel said she did know the mother and would go get her Then Muriel said his brother was missing and Lady Felstead left it to Thorn to find his brother Forty minutes later and Thorn still hadn’t found his brother, Gideon and Thorn were twins Gideon and Thorn were hard to tell apart. Gideon had left but now he was back.Gideon had announced that he was leaving England to seek his fortune and did not require Lord Filstead’s heir to accompany him on his travels. For the first time his brothers abandonment left Thorn alone in the world. Then he found Gideon with a lady. Thorn then yelled at Gideon that he had been sent to remind Gideon that he was the guest of honor. Perhaps Gideon should think more of his mother and less of himself.
I just didn’t enjoy this story. It just seemed to drag for me. It didn’t hold my interest and I didn’t force myself to finish the story But I am sure there are readers out there that will love this it just wasn’t for me.

Absoluely loved this book. There is nothing better than a sweet romance

The blurb of this book caught my interest, I thought the idea of identical twins and a girl (Olivia) who has been friends with them sounded interesting, like it'd be a cute and sweet story.

I think I'd have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous books, I often found myself confused and couldn't enjoy the reading completely because of it, but other than that it was a very entertaining story. I liked Thorn, he's sort of the brooding guy type, which tends to be one of my favorites so it was hard to resist. I liked how despite how he thinks he's just be playing a game, pretending to be his brother to Olivia, he fins himself falling for her. There are some interesting twist along the story as well.

Now I do think the writing could improve and some things aren't as believable but overall it's an enjoyable reading, specially for fans of the genre.

The Earl of Kempthorn has a secret, he has an obsession with his twin's friend. To anyone on the looking at Thorn they would think that he has no love loss for Olivia Lydall. But as he finds himslef impersonating his twin in order to spend time with her you find that he has suddenly become very possessive of his time spent with her. When he starts approaching her as Thorn he finds that while she smiles at his twin, she scowls at him. But sparks fly between them and when they find themselves caught in a compromising position, Thorn finds he is quite happen to be caught.

Olivia Lydall has a problem. She is kissing both twins, little does she know that they are both the same man. She wants to be drawn to Gideon, but for some reason Thorn is the one she cannot stop thinking about. Now she has found herself bound to him and her only hope is to keep her heart safe from the one man who has the power to bring her to her knees.

Another great installment in this series.

I definitely have to read the rest of this series. I truly did nott like Thorn in the begining and Im wondering why Olivia did not know he wasnt Gideon when they lived beside each other. Overall i enjoyed this book and camt wait to read more.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
With an intriguing premise, I was eager to read Waiting for an Earl Like You. Sadly, I had difficulty getting into the novel, putting it down several times, and having it take weeks to complete. This is simply a book and a reader not being a good fit situation.

Thorn and Gideon are identical twins. As a neighbor, Olivia is several years younger than they are, but was the twins' shadow when they were growing up, with her liking Gideon's charismatic personality best while feeling harassed by Thorn.

This novel features a popular premise of being 'compromised' leading to the alter, combined with the angst and intrigue with the twist of twin-switching. Thorn plays both himself and his brother, and this is where I had great difficulty with the novel due to the execution of this portion. It muddied the narration, as if the narrator was picking up traits from one twin to the next, not keeping to a solid characterization. Plus, the issue with both twins in the same location but not dressed the same, making me fear for both Olivia's and everyone else's intelligence if they can't take note of the clothing choices to determine who is whom.

As for the romance, Thorn wasn't truly himself, so I couldn't buy into Olivia's and his great love affair as she wasn't falling for the 'man' he was. It's hard to develop a connection to a character when he's a bald-faced liar, with the heroine not falling for who he truly is. This also played into the muddied characterization of Thorn, because his traits weren't consistent due to the impersonation – as a reader, I felt I didn't know him either.

With the suspension of belief and those happier with a slower paced storyline, I feel readers could fall in love with the story. Sadly, it wasn't my cup of tea.

A very enjoyable read! Historical Romance readers are sure to find this one entertaining.

This was a poorly written novel that felt like a mish-mash of romance tropes, ideas, and "obligatory moments" without any heart or soul. I couldn't connect to the characters at all, they didn't feel real, and the story and dialog felt forced. It was a chore to try to get through it. It felt as if this author attended some romance writing workshops and then "tried" to write a book, but just doesn't have the mo-jo.

Miss Olivia Lydall has been friends with the Thorn and Gideon since she was a little girl. For reasons unknown to her the friendship she built between Thorn and herself dies away and Gideon becomes her one true friend that she can talk to and experience new things with...or so she thinks!

Thorn has wanted Olivia for years and instead of telling her he has been pushing her away. The only problem is that when he thinks she is the furthest thing on his mind she pops up thinking he's Gideon and draws him back in all over again.

And so the story begins...can Thorn continue to hide the truth from Olivia or will Olivia figure it all out leaving Thorn with one less friend and a broken heart? Read and find out!

I voluntarily reviewed this advanced review copy of this book.

I really liked this book. I loved Thorn and Olivia together as well as the back and forth between Gideon and pretty much everyone in this book. Thorn struggled with his title and the expectations of how he should act and the things that he wanted to do when no one watching. Olivia struggled with what she thought would make her father happy and what she really wanted in her life. Together they find each other in a way that is simply beautiful and unforgettable.

Alexandra Hawkins did a great job keeping this book fun, romantic and mysterious in a way that makes you forget that this is a historical romance and remember that keeping it old school is just as fun as any current day book you pick up. Very good job can't wait for Gideon's story.

I already read a few of Alexandra Hawkins books and I liked them all qui29875932.jpgte well but I really enjoyed reading this one. Well, honestly said I couldn’t put it aside. It was quite a different storyline – it’s the story of Justin and Gideon, identical twins. Justin, the Earl of Kempthorn, so shortened “Thorn” and Gideon, the long “lost” son (hetravelled and made a fortune) who just returned. Both are helpless rakes but Justin is the serious one while Gideon likes the play with the female gender.

One day, the Netherwoods, the twins’ parents, gave a return party for Gideon, Thorn finds Gideon on a boat with the neighbor’s daughter Olivia. Olivia has always been smitten to Gideon because he knew how to play her, while Justin had always been watching them. A small mishap makes all three of them taking a bath in the lake …

Next to all that Olivia’s father wants to remarry a lady Olivia isn’t very fond of (well, whoever likes a stepmother?), plus the lady wants to marry her off, nevertheless she is old enough to take a husband. The girl likes the country, her flower collection and manages her father’s household well. But she has to go to London have a season. Since her father is kept on the countryside she travels with Thorn’s parents and the twins, lives in a townhouse next to Thorn and Gideon which is only separated by an iron gate.

The twins always liked to play a prank on one or the other person by changing personality, because it is impossible to tell them apart.

I really loved this book because the dialogues were fierce and the leads were equal – Olivia and Thorn are so much the same but she is played badly by him and I am not sure if I wouldn’t have tried to hit him really hard with an umbrella or something like that. I mean he kissed her and let her think that he is his brother Gideon.

Maybe the kidnapping in the end was a little bit over the top but I didn’t care.

In the beginning it took me quite some time to get into the story because I wasn’t sure if it is not Gideon who makes people think he is Justin or the other way around – especially if it came to Olivia.



It’s one of the books I finish at 1:30am with the knowledge that I have to get up at 6.

5*

The twin thing was interesting at first, and I enjoyed how it furthered the relationship between Thorn and Olivia.