Title: A Most Inconvenient Earl
Author: Claire Delacroix
Series: The Brides of North Barrows #4
In: Twelve Lords for Christmas (Miscellaneous)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Historical romance, Regency romance
Pace: Slow
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2022

I spent a lot of this novella just thinking that Eurydice is such a weird name. Definitely not one that I’ve ever read before. And yet, as I read more and more of this and steadily fell for the strong willed young woman, I decided that I actually really liked the name. Mostly because I thoroughly enjoyed her quiet gumption and practicality. Then there’s the fact that even as she falls in love, she maintains her dignity and sense of self. She doesn’t just bow to whatever her marriage of convenience husband desires because it’s simple for him. She still manages to navigate a world which looks down on her with her head held high.

Another part of why I just adored Eurydice so much is the way in which she finally reveals her feelings to Sebastian. Instead of being a sweet, romantic moment where they whisper the truth to one another. It is a moment in which her ire is up and she completely dresses down her unfortunately ignorant husband. It’s the perfect culmination of the two characters’ romance and a great reminder that the women of historical romances, whilst maybe not entirely realistic are so damn wonderfully articulate.

This is actually the fourth story in the Brides of North Barrows series, and I kind of like that I was able to read about the final couple and then I get to spin back around to the first. After all, the first couple of this series is actually the ones who are trying to stop Eurydice and Sebastian from eloping. It gives their marriage a fast-paced, illicit feeling that I absolutely gobbled up. Then, there’s a potential duel because, why not? There was actually quite a bit of action that leads Sebastian and Eurydice to figure out how they feel about each other. And I was there for every step of the way. And now I get to go back and find out all of the cogs that eventually led to this moment!

Even though this is a Christmas historical romance, it wasn’t a huge driver of the story. It does create an important backdrop and drives one of the plot points. But it is more of a pleasant accompaniment than the actual reason that Eurydice and Sebastian end up together. It does give the feel of many happy Christmases though. And I like to imagine that Eurydice is finally able to heal the difficulties of Sebastian’s past Christmases.

Image source: Goodreads