London, England – Regency Period

Lauryn Applegate is a widow who married her childhood sweetheart. With no children and dead a husband, Lauryn feels as if her life is doomed, especially when she finds out her father-in-law, a squire, lost all his money and property to the Earl of Sutton in a card game. They have nowhere to turn, unless Lauryn can come up with an idea, and fast. The only thing Lauryn can think of doing is to offer herself to the earl as his mistress. She goes to him as Mrs. Smith to see if he is looking for what she has to offer. Perhaps he will give her enough jewels and money to save the squire and herself from ruin.

Marcus is not sure what to think when a so-called widow in black comes to him wanting to be employed as his next mistress. He consents to give her a two week period to see if she can please him. Mrs. Smith eagerly agrees, and they start on a very peculiar relationship that leads to some very heated encounters at night in his bedroom. Along with Marcus's brother Carter, and an old lover, the Countess d' Ellaye, these four make up an interesting group that are all very polite during the day. Marcus longs for the nights when he can have his Mrs. Smith all to himself. He knows his widow is keeping secrets, such as her true name, and he wants to find out all he can about this mysterious, yet seductive woman, because he is falling for her.

I have to give credit to Nicole Byrd for writing a story that has the perfect atmospheric feel of a Regency along with being a mature romance. But I did have some issues with the relationship between Lauryn, our secretive Mrs. Smith, and Marcus. I can understand how Lauryn has come to this decision to basically sell herself, but I couldn't understand how, in the heat of passion, Marcus would still call her by "Mrs. Smith" and not her first name or perhaps a fake name she could have given him. Their initial introduction comes off a bit cold and very much like a business arrangement, which I assume Ms. Byrd was trying to portray.

But if you can get past that introduction between Lauryn and Marcus, ENTICING THE EARL has some nice love scenes and a bit of a mystery that caught my attention. Much of the action is one-on-one conversations among the small group of people, and their were moments I could feel myself as an extra person in their party. Marcus's brother Carter lightens things up, and the countess also brings out a few laughs, especially a scene dealing with a bat in her bedroom. I just prefer a little more chase that leads to the bedroom and a simple attraction between the hero and heroine rather than something that felt like a contract should have been made up between the two. But if you have read Nicole Byrd in the past and enjoy her books, you should find ENTICING THE EARL an appealing read.

Kate Garrabrant