Review: Blame It on the Earl

Blame It on the Earl by Jane Ashford
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
This book was just not good. It started off quite promising, but very soon it took a turn. Sarah meets Kenver when he accidentally pulls her off of a cliff--yes you read that correctly. The two find that they have to spend the night in a water-logged cave before they are able to climb to safety the next morning. And of course, upon being discovered, Sarah is presumed ruined and Kenver must offer for her. They are soon married but Kenver's parents are extremely disapproving of the match and Sarah must find a way to navigate her new life.
This book just felt so strange. The beginning pages, in which Sarah and Kenver develop a connection while spending the night in the cave seemed to be a great start. But as soon as the two were discovered, things began to feel off. Some of the wording, dialogue, and details felt misplaced, but I was willing to overlook it. When Kenver revealed to his parents that he was about to marry, however, I really began to have issues with the book. Kenver felt like a spineless adolescent, and I just found I could not root for him. I had a hard time identifying with Sarah, at the same time, however. She came across as a Disney princess from the 50s or 60s, all sunshine and innocence and naive sweetness that was threatened by her mother-in-law, the "evil queen" in the situation. It was very sophomoric and unoriginal. The way in which the two (especially Sarah) came into the marriage completely clueless as to how their new family dynamic would work was also bizarre. If the author had let the two characters talk more that first night in the cave, and get to know each other better, then the book would have felt much more organic. Sitting up all night in a cave would have been the perfect opportunity to share confidences, family backgrounds, and their true personalities. But instead they sat there and held hands and then were shocked when their hasty marriage wasn't "happily-ever-after" right off the bat.
The pacing was strange, the characters were flat, and the plot was just really kind of boring. This struck me as a book trying to be like the traditional Signet Regency Romance stories of the 1990s. But those books had compelling characters who made you root for them, not roll your eyes because they were so clueless.
I would not recommend this book.

View all my reviews